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AICN COMICS REVIEWS ULTIMATE SPIDEY! Warren Ellis' DOWN! INDIE JONES! AND MORE!!!!
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#17 | 8/9/06 | align=right> #5 |
(Click title to go directly to the review)
ULTIMATE EXTINCTION TPB
INCREDIBLE HULK #97
DOWN TPB
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #98
SECRET SIX #3
Indie Jones presents…
CHEAP SHOTS!
Tales From the Crevice: Alan Moore’s WildCATS
ULTIMATE EXTINCTION TPB
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Brandon Peterson
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Baytor
“Doubtless, a lot of old readers will hate the Ultimate take on the Galactus/Surfer stories. My only consolation is that most of those people are now too aged to harm me in any serious way.” – Warren Ellis
I love that Warren Ellis is running amok in super-hero universes. Far too often, the guys writing super-hero comics are serious fans, and serious fans, well, they often don’t have the capacity to realize that some of the concepts they’re working with are kinda stupid. In point of fact, the entire Marvel Universe was co-created by a man who didn’t think much of what came before and took a sledgehammer to established concepts like kid sidekicks and the infallible hero and crafted something that no one had seen before. We call him Stan Lee and he is one of our Comic Gods.
Forty years later, we get Warren Ellis and despite his insistence that he hates super-heroes, he’s got that beautiful mercenary spirit that forces him to go in there and do a good job no matter what he thinks of the source material. Okay, sure, he’s going to point and laugh a fair bit, but if these things can’t take a bit of mean-spirited humor from a misanthropic Englishman, then they’re far too fragile to have any right to exist and we may as well just relegate the long-underwear crowd to the dustbin of history. Thankfully, they’re made of tougher stuff than that.
Which gets us to ULTIMATE EXTINCTION, which bears only the most superficial resemblance to Stan & Jack’s story from four decades back, and that, I think, is the right way to do it, because what’s the point of remaking the story if you’re not going to make the thing your own? Another more “respectful” writer might have prided themselves on keeping as much as possible, but given the set-up of the Ultimate Universe, a big guy wearing a weird hat and a purple toga is going to be seriously out of place…and unless you’re aiming for comedy, it’s probably not something you’d want to introduce to today’s comic readers, who are far too sophisticated for that sort of thing unless they remember it from the comics they read a child.
Yes, I’m rolling my eyes as I type that.
The run-down for those who aren’t already interested is that a big bad alien is coming to kill us and use our planet for fuel to go to the next inhabited planet and do the same to them, and it’s up to the combined resources of the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and the Ultimates to make sure this doesn’t happen. As you can imagine there’s a lot of characters running around, but the main focus is only on a handful so things tend not to get too confusing. If you’re a complete Marvel newbie, you might have a bit of trouble keeping some of the names straight, but anyone with the most basic knowledge of the main Marvel heroes will have little trouble navigating this story. While there’re two other books in this trilogy, there’s only the tiniest bit of past knowledge you need to brush up on, most of which just explains how they got the information and technology they’re using in this story. I was never too clear why there were a bunch of clones of a bald tattooed chick running around, apart from they needed a big action sequence for the Captain Americas and Wolverines to do something while the Big Brains did the heavy lifting, but I didn’t mind too much.
The plotting, as you would expect from an Ellis book, is on the slow side, taking a bit of time to let the characters be a bit more than just plot-holders, letting them get in a few amusing character bits without bogging down the plot too much. He lets the artist, the talented Brandon Peterson, do a lot of the talking, so it’s a fairly quick read. A more frugal scripter could probably cut this down to three issues without rushing the plot, but Ellis lets the story be BIG without crowding every panel with “something happening”. I recall this being a tad annoying when I read it monthly, but reading it all in one sitting, the whole thing unrolls like any good piece of fiction.
Another thing I think Ellis is smart enough to realize that the super-hero genre is a bit of a null genre, being only as interesting as the genre that fills it. There’s been a tendency over the years to extract this content out and replace the mad scientists and would-be world conquerors with bad guys in tights that exist for little more than beating up and getting beaten up by our similarly clad heroes, and filling the void with soap opera…lots of soap opera. Ellis shoves a white-hot dose of straight science fiction into the super-hero candy-coated shell and emerges with something that’s a hell of a lot more interesting and fun than watching the Fantastic Four wale on Doctor Doom for the billionth time.
This is a good plot, entertaining character interactions, and a good number of explosions. This is the fun stuff that makes me rethink my drift away from the super-hero genre the last several years. I just wish there was a lot more of this stuff out there.
INCREDIBLE HULK #97
Writer: Greg Pak
Artists: Aaron Lopresti (pencils), Danny Miki (inks)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
Ok, I’ve been following this story arc from the beginning, commented on the appearance of the Silver Surfer a few issues back in a Cheap Shot, and took some time to really mull over what’s been going on in the HULK title for the last few months and I think I’m finally ready to throw out my two cents and 800 words about it all. In a nutshell, this “Planet Hulk” storyline isn’t awful, but there are some serious flaws that the whole thing suffers from. Let’s start out with the positive though.
First and foremost, I can appreciate the ballsy path the storyline is taking. This is a tried and true action yarn that reaches for epic proportions and succeeds in some aspect. You have the Hulk exiled from Earth by the Illuminati and sent to a peaceful, uninhabited planet where he can cause no more destruction and possibly death (depending on whether you are talking to Bendis or Dan Slott). Somewhere along the way, the Hulk’s spaceship gets sidetracked and he ends up on a world better suited for John Carter or Conan. It’s a primitive world where slavery, royalty, and the gladiatorial ring are still in existence. It’s a world where technology of the future meets the barbaric customs of the past. The planet is a Mos Eisley-like place where all sorts of vile aliens come to fight, live, and rule. The Hulk, who proves his iconic status by being able to stand out as his own character no matter what situation a writer puts him in, actually kind of likes this place. He gets to let loose with some of his anger occasionally in the gladiator ring and has become honor bound to a group of aliens who have survived and escaped slavery in the gladiator pits as well. It’s nice to see this side of the Hulk. He’s found a kinship among these characters who have had to fight to survive. Remember that line from SIN CITY when they’re describing Marv—that he was a man born too late and better suited to be living in a time of gladiators and warriors? Well, that’s the Hulk in this story. He’s finally in a place that makes sense to him and with people who actually understand what he’s been going through on Earth all of this time. It’s nice to see the Hulk almost content with his situation, going with the flow, and not focusing on the eventual @$$-kicking he’s going to give the Illuminati when he finally does get back to Earth. In issue #97, the Hulk takes the role of a freedom fighter, freeing those enslaved (including a dinosaur-like beast with a toothy maw) and rising up against a tyrannical empire. It’s the type of action that wouldn’t be accepted on Earth, but on this planet and in this situation the Hulk can truly be seen not as a monster, but as a hero. The situation the Hulk is in and the setup are nice ones that highlight the Hulk’s character and present him with a problem that he has yet to encounter. The writers are doing something new with the character and that’s a welcome sight in my book.
But there are problems with this series--the main one being the absence of something that has been a constant in almost every Hulk book since its inception.
There’s no Banner.
Bruce Banner, the Hulk’s alter ego, is nowhere to be found in this story, and that’s too bad. It’d be interesting to see how his fellow warriors would react to this fierce warrior if they knew that beneath all of those muscles lies a frail scientist. It’s one of those lost story potentials that really bothers me as I read through each chapter of this series. This book is just as much Bruce Banner’s story as it is the Hulk’s and to have the book ignore that fact looms over this book like a dark cloud every time I read it.
Apparently, the Hulk we have in this story arc is the “Smart@$$” Hulk that Peter David ended up with towards the end of his run. It’s supposed to be kind of an amalgamation of the mindless brute, the crafty Mr. Fixit, and frail yet brainy Banner himself. I think…though I’m not sure that’s the Hulk we have in this book and that’s the biggest problem with the Hulk since Peter David left all of those years ago.
Say what you will about Peter David’s extended take on the Hulk, but one thing he always did was give you a clear picture as to which Hulk you were dealing with in each story. He played around with all of the incarnations at one time or another and threw him into a boatload of offbeat situations, but when he did so, you knew which Hulk to expect. Since David left, there really has been no clear indicator as to which Hulk is in which story. Is it the mindless brute? No. Is Banner still even part of the equation in “Planet Hulk”’s Hulk? No clue. It’s nagging questions like these that have bogged down every story for the last few years to the point where I don’t even know if the writers know what Hulk they are writing themselves.
So although this is an interesting setup and a surprisingly detailed new situation presented in this story, the book itself lacks a sort of foundation to let the reader know the basics of the character. Taken solely as an adventure yarn, I guess the story is pretty decent, but if you’re going to use the Hulk and ignore the transformations and all of the stuff that goes with the character, you might as well be doing a Strong Guy or a Demolition Man story.
DOWN TPB
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artists: Tony Harris, Cully Hamner, Billy Tan, Brian Ching
Publisher: Image/Top Cow
Reviewer: Baytor
Back in the mid-80s, Arnold Schwarzenegger made this awful, mostly forgotten movie called RAW DEAL, which, for most of its run-time, was a fairly involving tale about Arnold infiltrating an organized crime family. Had it stayed the course, it might be remembered fairly fondly (despite some rather clumsy writing and poor acting from the lead), but it devolved into a typical run-and-gun Schwarzenegger flick in the final act and its fate was sealed.
DOWN is a lot like that. The first three chapters tell a rather brutal story of a cop going deep undercover to assassinate another undercover cop who has gone native, and to do so, she’s required to kill a lot of folks in order to gain her target’s trust. This is not something done lightly, and it’s clear from Ellis’ script and Hamner’s art that this is taking a considerable psychic toll on our heroine; but it goes along its path, not quite sure if the end justifies the means.
Then on the final page of the third chapter, the story collapses, as our heroine crosses a rather important line and starts acting contrary to her established nature. There’s an explanation of sorts, but things are happening at such a pace that the explanation doesn’t feel like something this character would do on the basis of a single encounter with her intended target. And if that twist isn’t enough, there’s another one (this one set up properly) that reverses it and leaves us with a deeply cynical conclusion.
Perhaps things would have been different had this story been its intended six issue length, as the first two chapters are very leisurely paced, while the final two are done in Ellis’ Pop Comic fast-paced mode. A couple of issues added to the middle of the third book probably would have given the characters some much needed time on-stage to cement their relationships with one another.
The second part of this TPB is a reprint of Ellis’ TALES OF THE WITCHBLADE story. It’s a murder mystery, set in the near future, when medical science has extended our lives indefinitely and murder is virtually unknown. After a gruesome double-homicide, the lead investigator calls on the Sexy Gloved One, as she’s the only person on the planet that has handled a murder case.
In many respects, it’s the more enjoyable of the two stories, as Ellis has a fondness for forensic detective shows such as CSI and QUINCY, and he demonstrates a good knowledge of the genre, as he takes us through the paces with the examination of the disfigured bodies and the almost magical discovery of evidence through pseudo-science, knowing that the real meat of the story is uncovering why this murder happened.
All-in-all, it’s a good story with a more satisfying conclusion than DOWN, although I rather dislike the lifeless pin-up art that is Top Cow’s house style.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #98
Brian Michael Bendis: Writer
Mark Bagley: Artist
Marvel Comics: Publisher
Ben Reilly: The Real Vroom Socko
Say anything you like about Bendis (and trust me, I’ve said almost everything you can say about his work) but you have to admit the man has balls the size of Ohio. For the love of God, he’s retelling the Clone Saga. The fucking CLONE Saga! The story that was the bloated bane of my beloved 90’s, and the bald bastard is making it work. How does he do it?
Well okay, it’s not perfect. I mean, there’s a Waterworld reference in the first page. Talk about 90’s crap. But this issue does manage to buck convention, or at least the stereotypes folks like us @$$holes have built up around Bendis. So far in this Clone Saga for a New Generation we’ve had the usual Bendis conversation pieces, the same usual funny business, some heartfelt dialogue, one helluva fight, the shock of a lifetime, and a final page that chills. And I’m not just talking about the story so far; the last issue featured the same level of varied storytelling as this one, and each one is crammed to the gills with both plot and nuance. I’ve seen Bendis going on about how Dan Slott’s next book is one of the best things he’s ever seen. It could be that some of Slott’s better habits are rubbing off on the man. God help us all if these two ever co-wrote something together.
While the last issue featured a fight with Scorpion, the first of Peter’s clones, this issue had a tussle with Spider-Woman. We don’t see her face, but if Bendis’ words and Bagley’s body language are any indicator, this gal might be Spidey’s equivalent of X-23. Having said that, I really don’t think I’d mind seeing this new girl stick around. There’s something about her that works for me.
But it’s the shock at the end that’s got people talking. For the sake of the two of you who haven’t been spoiled yet (and the one who don’t recall the 70’s origins of the Clone Saga and haven’t put two and two together) I won’t reveal it here. But I will say that it involves my favorite supporting character in the book. I don’t know what Bendis has planned here. I don’t know if he’s going to follow the same beat as the original or what, but I do know that he’d better not fuck this part up. A thousand clones could descend for all I care, killing each other and leaving Spider-Woman the new protagonist of the book, just as long as this one character is handled properly. If not, I will hate Bendis forever.
Honestly though, I don’t see that happening. This story is Bendis doing what he does best. Hell, he’s doing the stuff he normally doesn’t do so great amazingly here too. We’re only one issue away from the big 100, and this title’s the best it’s been in a while. Don’t miss out on this one.
SECRET SIX #3 (of 6)
Writer: Gail Simone
Artists: Brad Walker, Jimmy Palmiotti
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Baytor
It’s always a joy to see DC converting one of their old titles into a super-hero book, because there simply aren’t enough of them on the shelves these days. The super-hero genre is one of the founding genres of the medium and their sad state of neglect is downright shameful. One can only hope that we’ll see more of these super-hero titles to help bring much needed diversity to our local comic shelves.
SECRET SIX is a book that just inspires this level of sarcasm in me. One quick glance through the issue will find a well-versed DC reader thinking so much of another title with the S.S. initials (one that was similarly converted a couple of decades back into a super-hero title) that you simply wonder why they didn’t call this book SUICIDE SQUAD. They both have the same basic set-up: a group of super-villains take on nigh-impossible missions around the world and both books have Deadshot in a leading role. Throughout the three issues to date, I’ve been waiting for The Wall to show up and start throwing her considerable weight around, because non-stop DCU references are what this book is all about.
I was a hardcore DCU fan about a decade back, and this book is striking two wrong notes on this front. First, I keep recognizing stuff from 10-20 years ago and I’m thinking “they’re still going on about that?” Second, I, with an impressive (albeit out-of-date) knowledge of the DCU, have only the vaguest clue who half these people are and Simone isn’t exactly laying out the characters in a clear way, cutting between costume and civilian identities several times an issue. This story seems to be intersecting with a lot of other storylines from the DCU, with even more being referenced in passing, and much of it isn’t being explained very well. Doctor Psycho wants to kill them for some reason or other and Vandal Savage is trying to kill his daughter’s girlfriend for some reason or other and they’re being dropped into some fight for some reason or other and now they’re about to fight the Doom Patrol for some reason or other.
Now, I’m being really unfair here, because if you pay close attention, you can figure out the reasons for most of these things, but the story never seems to emphasize the major points, so it’s drifting from scene to scene with only a quick line of dialogue (“Blake’s got a lead on them dames that shot me”) to mark the moment. But if you don’t know who the hell Vandal Savage is, then you’re out of luck, because there’s little to no attempt to explain who he is, apart from being the deranged father of one of the cast members.
Another thing that gets me down about this book is its attempts at humor and shock. I say “attempts” because the book never made me smile (despite several obvious attempts), nor made me flinch (despite a character slicing off his own hand). I’m not overly familiar with Simone’s work, but I found myself properly amused by her ATOM; here she seems to be trying too damn hard to be cute and funny in scenes where it’s hard to be cute and funny. This is one of them grim ‘n gritty books and one would expect the humor to be a lot darker, but instead we get lame gags about Jello and fruits wearing hats.
Maybe I’m not who this book is for. I put aside my interest in super-hero universes about a decade ago, and favor stories that tell a complete story without the need of company wide cross-over events to explain half the back story--where if a guy shows up in the first issue, they tell us who the guy is instead of expecting us to know if from reading some other book. This book seems to have, like much of the DC Universe, disappeared up its own continuity hole and I spending half the book just trying to figure out who everyone is and what the hell it is they’re doing…and that’s simply not what I look for in a book.
I'm out.
UTF (Undead Task Force) #2
Ape Entertainment
I like this series. To me, it’s the comic book equivalent of a Walter Hill film. It ain’t flashy or showy, it’s just pure action and proud of it. The story is something you’d want to see as a film—a vampire gets himself locked up in LA’s most notorious prison and converts the entire prison population into vampires. A riot ensues, but the prisoners are still in the prison. A team of government agents trained to deal with this sort of thing is sent in to contain and eliminate the problem before they find a way out of the prison and cause some real damage. That’s the premise and with issue two our team finally infiltrates the prison. The action moves pretty quickly from there on out as our team finds that they are outnumbered. This classic “contain the problem or die” scenario is well done with very capable artwork by Tone Rodriguez. Check this one out. - Bug
THE SAVAGE BROTHERS#1
BOOM! Studios
Seems the zombie genre in comics is at an all time high these days. Eventually, I’ll probably get sick of all of these stories with zombies and survivors in this scenario or that scenario. But not yet. This story is very Ennis-esque as a couple of fun-lovin’ rednecks decide to cash in on this whole End of Days hoopla and seek out loved ones and put them down for good so that they don’t wander the earth eating brains and standing in front of me in the damn supermarket when all I freakin’ want is some gum, some TP, a pack of condoms, and a sixer of Red Stripe! By the end of this issue, the Savage Brothers are forced to make a decision whether to become heroes or continue to profit off of Armageddon. It was a quick read with a lot of lowbrow humor, but I like that sort of thing and if you do too, you might want to check this one out. - Bug
WORMWOOD: GENTLEMAN CORPSE – Birds, Bees, Blood, & Beer #1
IDW Publishing
The highlight, as always, is Ben Templesmith’s artwork with this book. Like McKean, Ashley Wood, and I’d even lump Ted McKeever in there as well, you buy one of these artist’s books to soak in the rich manipulation of lines and colors, darks, and lights. These guys, while maintaining their own styles, push the boundaries of the medium. Their dedication to this craft is evident in every panel and this is the type of book that one uses when trying to convince people that comics are an art form. It’s just an added bonus that Templesmith has created such a great character to bring to life. Wormwood is an alien worm taking residence inside a rotting corpse. His sidekick is a mechanical man of his own creation, and he just hired another gun in his arsenal, a cutie whose tattoos come to life. If you like Steve Niles’ CAL MACDONALD (and shame on you if you don’t), you’ll like this series. Templesmith seems to be just as talented at story as he is with illustration. A beautiful looking book and a promising new series. - Bug
WASTED MINUTE #3
Yellow Nightmares Press
Because they will take everything
They will take your lunch breaks and your nights and your weekends
Your passion and your courage
Your time and your energy
Your heart and your soul
Your life and your dreams
And it will never be enough
They will take it all
It is NOT a question of how much they will take
It is a question of how much you will let them take
Before you stand up and scream…
ENOUGH!
Number of days since I last worked full-time…786
Number of days since I last set foot in a cube…484
---from the inside cover of WASTED MINUTE #3
I read that little ditty and immediately knew I had to share it with the AICN Comics readers. If that doesn’t make you want to stand up, put your hoof through your computer monitor, and walk out of your dull day job to follow your dreams, I don’t know what will. At WIZARDWORLD Chicago, writer Lewis Helfand sold me on the concept of this book: it’s about superheroes who have day jobs. Simple enough and a concept that has been utilized in comics from the beginning, but never given center stage. This comic does this. In many ways, this book is like CLERKS meets THE INCREDIBLES except it centers on former heroes who are literally being sapped of their energies, not from death rays or evil plots, but by the tedium that comes with a desk job. Like CLERKS, it’s the observational humor that makes this entertaining as the former heroes bitch about the idiocy and monotony of working for The Man. This book will definitely appeal to anyone who has “wasted time” at work thinking about being anyplace else. It’s an indie book, so don’t expect high production values or all pro panels. But this is the type of book that hones in and addresses thoughts and feelings we all have from time to time. Writer Lewis Helfand proves not only to be someone to come up with a catchy theme for his book, but his sensitive storytelling and careful wordplay proved to be impressive as well. I plan on tracking down more issues of this innovative indie. - Bug
Remember, if you have an Indie book you’d like one of the @$$holes to take a look at, click on your favorite reviewer’s link and drop us an email.
Remember, if you have an Indie book you’d like one of the @$$holes to take a look at, click on your favorite reviewer’s link and drop us an email.
GREEN ARROW #65
DC Comics
Hey! AIDSy the teen sidekick is back in this issue! Yip…eee?
This issue marks another perfect example of the strengths and weaknesses of Judd Winick’s writing. The book is paced evenly enough at first, with a nice fight scene involving Green Arrow, AIDSy, and Brick (the mob boss turned street enforcer) against a gaggle of drug addled cannibal/vampires. It’s spliced pretty well with some political debate, but the problem is that the debate is so heavy-handed and unevenly represented that the piece just slides into crapsville as quick as you can say “I hate AIDSy the sidekick!” I liked the idea of a politician who also happens to be a super hero the first time I heard of it…when it was called EX MACHINA. David Spade imitations aside, as much as EX MACHINA is a prime example of how to smartly splice politics with super-heroics, this book shows how it’s done badly. The political debate starts as a sidebar to the action piece, running alongside what the main character is doing on the streets, but as the story goes on, it elbows the action out of the picture and literally crams its political views down the readers’ throats. Although quite liberal myself, even I was offended at the way Winick characterized the liberals as the godly and right, while the conservatives were characterized as caveman-like hate-mongers. It’s sloppy, easy writing from someone who is seriously shooting himself in the foot every time he decides to turn his comic book into a soapbox. To top it all off, Winick neuters his main character by having Hal Jordan swoop in and fix the situation with a flick of his ring finger when GA had been fighting said menace all night long. He does this in front of AIDSy nonethefuckingless. “Way to make me look like a complete split-tail, old chum.”
Good action/bad everything else/Ollie = no balls. - Bug
A MAN CALLED KEV #2
Wildstorm Comics
Up until now, the KEV books have pretty much a one-note joke that’s been going on about two mini-series too long. He’s an ex-SAS homophobic loser that keeps getting teamed up with The Midnighter and hilarity ensues as he’s embroiled in some larger-than-life super-hero plot. The joke was only mildly funny the first time they did it, and Ennis isn’t adept enough at super-hero plots to have mined the concept for anything but the most obvious jokes. The main redeeming features of them have been the more down-to-Earth moments involving Kev and his military buddies, and, thankfully, that seems to be the entire focus of this mini-series.
This month, Kev looks up an old buddy, the owner of the infamous tiger that had been the root of all of Kev’s troubles in the last three outings. And, well, that’s about it. It’s 22 pages of boozing, smoking, joking, poking, outings, and stops just short of revealing the Big Story behind this adventure; and that’s enough for me. For those familiar with Ennis’ stories, you know he’s always got to take a bit of time out to let you get to know these people, so he can twist the knife in later on when very bad things start happening to likeable people. So, sit down a spell and laugh along with the merry band. In another couple of months, you’ll be crying like a baby when one of these people takes a shotgun blast to the gut. - Baytor
BEYOND! #2
Marvel Comics
What’s that in the air? Do I smell a sleeper hit? Sure do. This book left me pleasantly surprised with its first issue, but with this second one I’m hooked. It helps that there’s an appearance by Dragon Man. But the true standout is the reappearance of a character that hasn’t been around in ten years. Much like MARVEL SUPER HEROES SECRET WAR before it, this book seems to embrace the Marvel U and what makes it special. Don’t buy that “world outside your window” crap that Quesada tries to pawn off as the Marvel mantra. The best thing about Marvel is the fantastic characters and stories told in a sophisticated manner. This is high adventure storytelling where the characters act the way they have been acting for years and the thrills come at the characters non-stop and in the classic Mighty Marvel Manner. Dan Slott lovers will like this book. People who like fun adventures will like this book. Those of you who don’t want to pick up 200 crossover issues to see all of your favorite and not so favorite heroes interacting with eat this up. - Bug
52 – WEEK 13
DC Comics
Week Thirteen (25% of 52) features Ralph Dibny and some former JLA'ers infiltrating the Cult of Conner and the attempted resurrection of Ralph's late wife, Sue Dibny. It also delivers a throwaway piece with Black Adam and Isis freeing slave children, probably included so that we may witness Isis in action. The cult storyline takes the majority
of the issue, and I can understand the somewhat questionable actions of the “heroes,” who never cause considerable property damage or physical harm; they are simply available to break up a charlatan and thief who might be poisoning others. They do not start any literal fires, but be sure to re-check the panels to witness who does. This issue initially did not work well for me and it's because Todd Nauck's pencils are somewhat cartoonish in nature. Had this been a more whimsical storyline, such as many, but obviously not all, of those in featured in YOUNG JUSTICE or WILDGUARD, I would have been more accepting. To me, Nauck justifies his artwork with a single, creepy panel towards the end of the book that put a chill down my spine and made the entire issue worth the money spent. - Squashua
WOLVERINE ORIGINS #5
Marvel Comics
In this issue, we get the secret origin of Wolverine and his lost love Silver Fox. Oh wait, that’s not a secret. That story was told in an early issue of Wolverine’s last series. This was just a poorly drawn rehash of that story interspersed with whoever Wolverine is fighting in this issue. So far, this series has been a complete waste of my time. No longer though…because this is the last issue I pick up. Should’ve done this four issues ago. - Bug
It Came From the 90’s
By Vroom Socko
Now, I didn’t read everything that was published in the 90’s, mind you. There were plenty of books that I passed over, and even more that weren’t that great (this is true of every comics era, mind you.) For example, I don’t think I touched a single book WildStorm published. It wasn’t something I did intentionally, mind you. There just wasn’t anything that stood out for me as something I simply had to read, no matter what.
That is, until Alan Moore became the writer on WILDC.A.T.S.
I don’t know about you but I’ll try out anything that Moore does, even if it’s 13 issues of work for hire about an alien war set on Earth. Of course, Moore being Moore, he turned the entire title on its ear. The team arrives at their homeworld to learn that their war has been over for centuries, making the Earth the equivalent of an island in the South Pacific filled with Japanese holdouts. But he didn’t stop there, setting up the heroes’ homeworld as a dystopian nightmare filled with political parasites who help drive the team apart. Then there’s the crew who stayed behind on Earth, who start a major war on crime with the help of new member Tao. If you’ve read SLEEPER, you know what a mistake that is.
One of the things I love about this work is that each element has essentially the same plot, that of good people doing what they think is right and finding themselves suddenly and unexpectedly in shit up to their neck thanks to people manipulating their every move. That Moore tells essentially the same story twice without drawing attention to the fact is a blast. Each aspect has its own nuances and touches that help keep the reader riveted. And Tao is an absolutely fascinating and chilling character.
There’s also the fact that the book has some hilariously funny moments. One of the people reforming the Earth team comments that “There’s always three well-known loners, a giant guy, and two bimbos that nobody’s heard of.” (Almost sounds like the New Avengers.) Majestic is constantly commenting that things were so much simpler back in the ‘60s. The cyborg called Ladytron gets in a fight with Overtkill, then complains that his head doesn’t come off like on the action figure. Some of the heroes hang out at a bar called Clark’s that’s full of background gags. And there’s an absolutely hilarious funeral at a church for robots. You can see a whole mess of ideas in these stories that are clear precursors to the stories he told in TOM STRONG and TOP 10.
Then there’re the two issues that crossed over into the Fire From Heaven event at WildStorm. Not that these issues stand out in terms of quality or anything. I just find it hilarious that Alan Moore, his own man when it comes to storytelling, took part in a multi-writer crossover event. Of course, I only read the issues that Moore wrote, which means that I will probably go to my grave without ever learning why the last three pages of issue #29 feature an appearance by Marvel’s Silver Samurai and The Hitcher from "The Mighty Boosh".
This isn’t Moore’s best work by any means. But all things considered, it’s still a damn good comic, as well as a prime example of the reason you shouldn’t write off a weak concept, especially when it gains a writer who’s the best there is. Of course, it’s also an outstanding example of why you shouldn’t write off a decade like the ‘90s.
Question for Discussion:
What creator/s and which title do you never expect to cross paths, but would love to see the end result of?
What creator/s and which title do you never expect to cross paths, but would love to see the end result of?
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there" ... It's called NEXT WAVE, where's the review for #7?!? That was awesome and deserved at least a cheap shot!
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It's 8 in the frickin morning. You're not supposed to upload this til like, 8 in the evening.
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I think comics need to not be afraid to visit styles like Nauck. He's very talented and his characters feel more human than many of those ultra-realistic looking books that are out there. I feel his characters more. OK... that sounds creepy.
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That what is says on the new Absolute Edition version. How odd!
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God, I can't stand Judd. He suffers from white guilt so much that he just can't avoid turning everything into a half-assed political discussion. And AIDS. I swear to God, if Judd wrote "Garfield", Odie would come out of the closet and Nermal would develop feline-HIV.
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The guy can act. Say what you want about is pretty boy looks and stuff, but he can act. I'll definitely be watching. This was on IMDB.com's news section.
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...is an issue, sure, but you can't be referring to the Tony (Starman, Ex Machina) Harris parts of Down.
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Civil War just hit a big delayed and took down alot of books with it. Fuck Them
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I don't have my books in front of me, but Nauck recently did a Marvel book (I think) and I noticed how good his artwork was. I think it had a lot to do with the inker and the colorist, but Nauck's work looked more substantial and for the first time, I was impressed with what I was seeing. Hated his style on YOUNG JUSTICE. The cartoony style was a total mismatch when David chose to write stories with depth and heft.
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...but I just saw the post where John Byrne calls Dave_F an asshole. That's awesome.
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However, I think Kingdom (which followed the one-shot Gog) was set in the normal DCU, but I could be wrong.
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Can somebody tell me what the shocking end of the ult. spidey issue was? Is it Gwen Stacy? The Jackal?
Just moved to Chicago and haven't found my local comic shop yet. -
Don't read ULT. SPIDEY, so someone else might be able to help you out there. But I suggest Graham Cracker Comics or Chicago Comics. Graham Cracker has a few locations around Chicago (one in Lincoln Park and one in the Loop) and has a very friendly staff while Chicago Comics has a great selection of indie books.
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Wait, so Joker, Penguin and Two-Face are all going to be in the next Batman film? (Although I guess it could just be Dent in this film, and save 2-face for later). I don't see Phillipe as Dent, though ... he looks too Euro. Why not Jake Gylenhall (or however it's spelled)?
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That's the only Planet Hulk story I've read (I'm tradewaiting), but as I recall, it sets up the possiblity of Banner returning at inopportune times.
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He's got to be charismatic and a pretty boy. He's someone who would have been Batman under a different set of circumstances. So if you're casting Two-Face, you kind of have to look for someone who fits Batman's type. Almost the way Raimi is going with the Eddie Brock thing in Spidey 3. There have been stories in the comics where Gordon actually thought Harvey Dent was Batman a few times. So when you're thinking Two-Face, a Batman casting should come to mind. Everyone always thinks of serious and steady actors like Guy Pierce or Liev Schreiber, but I fear that these guys lack the charisma needed for the role. And you don't want them to go over the top and be a Joker clone like Tommy Lee did in Batman Forever. Phillippe may not be a bad choice, although someone like Jeremy Sisto or Dominic West from THE WIRE would be more ideal. Charismatic, athletic, yet able to convey tragedy in a reserved performance.
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Someone just emailed me about that issue. My store sold out of it and I never got a chance to look at it. I'm going to search that one out and probably give a follow-up review after I read it. Still, the story in the comic, lacks Banner, which is a big flaw. And you shouldn't ahve to read an outside story in order to get the whole storyline.
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Although you'll find a comic book store lodged into nearly every cranny in the city, (For a while there were four
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Love the term "tradewaiting."
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1) Planet Hulk is off the chain. There is no Banner. That is why they called it Planet Hulk. It is the Hulk unleashed in an alien environment using his strength and wits to survive. Pretty sure they made this clear from the outset. 2) Whoever came with "AIDsey the sidekick" should be promoted to High Lord Comic Geek on this site. That shit is gold.
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It's a pretty common phrase on the Millarworld boards.
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Yeah, I know Ellis himself shot that down as a possibility, at least in the context of Global Frequency. Still. So long as Miller doen't insist on writing it, we should be okay.
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Couldn't agree with you more Bug. It's a complete waste of ink that book. I gave up on it with issue 4 and i'm glad i did because 5 looked horrible when i skimmed it at the lcs. Beyond is great too. Has anyone else noticed that in 52 they've all but given up the plot device of the story being told in real time throughout the course of a week. Some issues take place entirely in one day of the week (the Isis issue comes to mind).
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Is n reference to his much later stuff, All-Star Batman nd Robin in particular. I know it's popular to bash the book, but it really is that bad.
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I'd check that out. Moore is great. I get the sense that he writes this stuff in his sleep; give him any comicbook-y idea at all and I'm sure he could turn it into a masterpiece. Too bad he's probably going to be put on trial for obscenity when LOST GIRLS comes out. I hope he represents himself 'cause you know the published transcripts are gonna be a verbose, super-intelligent, and darky hilarious mind-scrambler of a read...
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Is a reference to his much later stuff, All-Star Batman nd Robin in particular. I know it's popular to bash the book, but it really is that bad.
This may be a double post. Ah well. -
Two of them, Homecoming and Gang War. Homecoming's still in stock at amazon.com.
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Although it has been answered already I'll ring in. My old TPB copy of Kingdom Come also bears the Elseworlds symbol. But really, anyone that likes comics and has money needs to buy the Absolute edition. The annotation are good, but hell the sketchbook is almost worth it on its own. Oh, and how about Mark Waid implies that there will be a true sequel down the road, hot!
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... was tasteless. I have no other word for it, and it's not a word I often use. It was unnecessary, cheap, ugly, and just plain tasteless. Screw 52, I'll be enjoying the latest issue of INVINCIBLE, thank you very much.
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I have the money, but there's no way I can justify spending that kind of money on a book I already own. I'm not an 'extras' kind of guy.
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Baytor, your review of ULTIMATE EXTINCTION was spot on. It felt like mature, fully-fledged story, and the more of these things the Ultimate line churn out, the more the cracks in the armor of comics are showing. it takes an unusual combination of distance and love to generate a story that improves on an original in style, but maintains the substance, and that is what Ellis did. I don't know how popular this book was, but it really did convey that big-picture Zemeckis/Cameron style in a way that only the original, with all its dated trappings, did. The split story between Capt. America and the "action" and Reed Richards, Prof. X and Nick Fury and their cerebral plot were well balanced. A great book and a great review.
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Yeah, Peter walks into his house and Gwen Stacy is standing in it. At first I thought this Ultimate Clone Saga was going to be about time travel (which isn't necessarily *less* headache-inducing), but it's looking more likely that the characters whose doppelgangers keep turning up are indeed being cloned.
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I'm just saying. He'd be awesome.
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Can't you post your reviews on a Friday? This way you can read the Wed. comics and write about them the week they come out? Next week will you guys finally break out your review of Secret Wars #1? Bwwwaaahaahaaahaahaahaaaahaahaaha!!!
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Not the story, but the cover! What made this cover so special? The borders. Not only did the entire picture fit inside them, but the bitching return of the letters page shows that next month's image will also fit! Although I can't stand that ugly shade of purple. Ultimate Spiderman hasn't had two consecutive border fitting covers since issue 63! Huzzah! For a while, they were even putting nasty foregrounds in front of the borders. Seriously, what the hell? Why bother even making borders? borders, borders, borders. Yeah, it was nice to see some border restraint.
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I think he'd be too kooky in the role as Harvey Dent. As Ambush Bug said, you'd want someone you'd be able to believe was Batman if circumstances had turned out differently.
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I thought it was hilarious. Hats off to Gail Simone for a great comic in Secret Six #3. Baytor, you didn't even mention the art which is some really nice stuff from Brad Walker.
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No, I'm not quzzing, I just want to know.
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Fuck PSH as Penguin, Nolan's probably going to cast Chad Michael Murray or whoever happens to be gracing the cover of TeenBeat this week
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AIDSy is the new Speedy, who was a former teen prostitute and recently found out (in a very special episode of GREEN ARROW) that she contracted HIV. So of course, it made sense to thow her on a battlefield with a bunch of sharp and pointy projectiles. Winick has been shoving her in our faces for over a year now. She even joined the Titans. She's one of those characters who when the AIDS issue is not addressed, it makes you wonder why she is there. And when the AIDS issue is addressed, it's done so in a preachy after school special manner. She's not a character as much as she is a chance for Winick to once again preach on a soapbox about whatever issue he saw come up on Oprah that month.
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But I think he might be too short.
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Is it safe?
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Now this is only helping furthur my thoughts on the teenage superhero. There's a lot more races, a lot more sex (and homosexuals) and a lot more drugs. It seems that just about everybody but Robin is auditioning for The Real World.
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She was one of the shitheaded additions to GA introduced during Kevin Smith's atrocious 12-issue relaunch of the title, along with turning formerly child-friendly characters Stanley And His Monster into a story about child sexual abuse. Mia is an HIV-positive reformed 15 year old hooker and high school student. Of course, if you have a blood-borne disease, the first thing you do is slap on a costume and start using weapons with SHARP POINTS AND EDGES, because there sure as shit isn't any chance of accidentally spreading the disease that way. I mean, what are the odds that in the heat of battle the girl is gonna get injured, unintentionally leave blood on the arrow, and then shoot somebody? Or prick her finger on the arrowhead? Or bleed on one of her own teammates or friends or whoever she's trying to protect? Smith managed to significantly filthy up what was a supposedly all-ages title, and Winick turned that into an opportunity for endless, heavyhanded pontification. Those two reasons combined are why, around three years ago, I walked away from a title I had collected for around a decade. Never looked back, never questioned it. Winick is a crap writer whose inability to comprehend the social issues he thinks he's addressing renders each "political" story he writes an affront to good taste, good storytelling, and intelligence.
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Baytor--now I have to wonder if that name is because the reviewer enjoys "baiting" the readers of his reviews. After reading the review of Ultimate Galactus, I have no idea whether to buy it or not. The review simply re-caps the story, which sounds the same as the original, and includes Mantlo-esque disdain for long-time fans (who, face it, are the bread and butter keeping the industry alive). Why would old-time readers not like it? What is "new" about it? I generally love Ultimate TPs and am debating buying this one, can someone help me? Then Baytor reviews Secret Six, a widely-liked book Baytor doesn't like at all. In fact, Baytor hasn't liked Super-Hero comics for a decade, so why in the world does Baytor review Super-Hero comics? I don't get it. But since SS is an example of DC at it's best nowadays--freshening up old characters, lots of action, lots of plot, lots of character development--and Baytor just dumps all over it, I have to wonder if that was just to "bait" super-hero comic fans into reacting.
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Yeah, Judd Winnick is really fucking it up. Brian K Vaughn and Geoff Johns (and Heinberg, too, I suppose) have really done well with delinquent kid supers. Actually, no. Scratch Heinberg. I do enjoy a nice Young Avengers yarn, but the drugs and homosexuality seem really forced, as though, he's trying to be as politically correct as possible. Oddly, he forgot that there's only one minority on his team. Two, if you count Hulkling. Must've been some OC rubbing off on him.
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I think she is a great character, so there.
P.S. Just read 52. OMG! -
Bug, I always enjoy your reviews (even when I don't agree, I appreciate your opinion)and now you have convinced me to check out Beyond, even though I disagree with your dis of Wolverine Origins, which I am enjoying and haven't really liked Wolverine comics in years. And despite the fact that Steve Dillon draws all his characters in the same (unattractive) manner. And while I haven't seen Byrne's name-calling of Dave F, just the fact that he did so really shows that Byrne is the dick I have heard he was for lots of years. (and I too was once one of his "faithful 50.")
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"Question for Discussion:
What creator/s and which title do you never expect to cross paths, but would love to see the end result of?" -- Alan Moore's POWER PACK. -
Just plain don't like his writing style. Makes me not care about his opinions and discount his reviews. The rest of @$$holes, even superhero and Grandpa Challenger, never come off as trying to be too cool for comics. They like 'em and don't care what anyone else thinks. Someone was the lowest rung on the geek ladder in junior high.
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I'll believe it when "Variety" runs it. This is a rumor that's been circulating for a while -- just like Matt Damon being close to signing on to Star Trek XI as a young Captain Kirk, really, and probably just as false. Take a look at chickychow's post ("[paraphrasing:] First Ledger, now Phillippe, next Chad Michael Murray?"). I think the rumor was generated as a prank specifically because people associate Phillippe and Ledger with the "Teen Beat" scene. Like I said, I wouldn't hold too much stock in it just yet. For what it's worth, I do think they could do better.
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John Byrne's Lost Girls? Hello? This thing on?
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I think he's handling the toughter, more real world topics of teen relationship (heterosexual and homosexual) in a manner that adds to the story rather than screeching it to a halt like Winick often does with his hot topic issues. In this issue of GA alone, GA brings up Hurricane Katrina, segregation, HIV, and charicatures both liberals and conservatives in a kindergarten-like black & white manner. EX MACHINA on the other hand, examines both sides of the political coin and has Mayor Hundred find a sort of middle ground. It's a much more objective and fair take on politics than Winick's slanted, Garafolo-speak.
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was a whore, so I'll just ignore this information. I've only seen her in Teen Titans, and she came off as a nice bookish kid, so... cool! I've got to dig that. I also recently discovered Mirror Master, a character from a relatively whimsical and friendy comic, was a cocaine addict, so I'll just be putting these two bits of information in the "what the fuck? Why the hell would they make up this crap? It adds barely anything to the character. This is just ridiculously stupid and unnecesary. pile" along with Mass genocide Magneto, Super D-Bag Secret War Nick Fury and Deathstroke gun threatening Batman.
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In fact, just about anyone besides Jeff Smith or Dan Slott seems at odds to write a power pack comic. Check it out-Garth Ennis, Brian Michael Bendis, Kevin Smith, Steve Niles, Frank Miller, Brian Azzarello, Mark Millar, Neil Gaiman, and of course, Whipping Boy of the day Judd Winnick, to name a few. As for me, I say Marvel Super Heroes by Harvey Pekar!
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You're fast becoming one of my fave reviewers on the column. Good job dude and nevermind those guys, they don't really count.
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I applaud your intellectual honesty. I tend to lean to the right so GA #65 definitely felt over-the-top to me. I appreciate that an admitted liberal can call a spade a spade and concede when a writer is getting overly preachy. That being said, I
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Or has blackthought's "..." input increased considerably over the past couple of weeks? I think he might be dying.
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Sorry, why would you let someone, who don
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I fucking hate the fucking clone fucking saga in fucking Spiderman. It was the worst fucking storyline ever fucking concieved. It ruined the fucking comic as we fucking know it. Its like the fucking Midclorians in fucking starwars. FUUUUUCK!!!!
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Not mentioning Brad Walker... yeah, should have, but I've never been a big follower of artists and concentrate on writing; and I plain forgot about him. Good, solid stuff, and no real complaints about it. And, sorry, just didn't like Gail's sense of humor on the book; this is a dark book and her humor just never felt right in the middle of it... and having not read Villains United, this was my first exposure to Ragdoll and I flat-out didn't get him (after I wrote the review, I checked out reaction to the book on Newsarama and found their comments far more enlightening than what I read in the book). I read all three issues in a sitting, like the first one okay, but thought it got bogged down in trying to keep track of the Continuity shooting around in the thing. Being a big DC fan back in the day, I probably caught more references in that book than I did in Ultimate Extinction (I have only the most superficial knowledge of the MU), but I also missed about three times as many references as UE and felt lost half the time. Moral of the story is that I don't like Continuity-Driven style (I was the source of many of Prof's GREEN LANTERN #10 quotes months back, although he punched them up to make me sound far more stupid than I usually do), and will likely avoid them in the future... I've been attempting to widen my comic reading habits because of this gig and checking out mainstream DC and Marvel books (which I tend to avoid) is part of that. Personally, I think books like Secret Six are completely review-proof... if you're emersed in the DCU at the moment, you're likely to like it; but if you're like me who enjoys just reading stories (and not universes), you'd probably be unlikely to even go close to it, because the concept has been dead in the middle of the last couple of years of heavy DC Continuity.
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Dude, i think you might be taking this critique business too seriously. First of all, you gotta remember it's superhero comics (Hint: They're silly). Second of all, a dude is entitled to read whatever the fuck he wants. And is also entitled to not liking it and if he's a reviewer on the column he might as well write about it. I know i've tried out stuff that i wasn't particularly into in the past which has sometimes gone well and sometimes gone badly. And i've always been entitled to my opinion, just like Baytor is.
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Ultimate Civil War by Mark Millar. Just to spoil another Ultimate writers day. And instead of that obnoxious half page picture thing, they could just use really big borders.
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...I enjoyed Secret Six. And the name "Baytor" is likely from the Ennis "Hitman" series, which had a demon named Baytor in it. I'm not reading Green Arrow. In fact, I will NEVER review a Judd Winnick book (unless I pick one up by accident) because I refuse to purchase them. The last one I picked up was the Titans/Outsiders crossover when Superboy and Indigo went nuts. Titans issue? Completely readable to anyone just picking up the title for the first time. Outsiders issue? Absolutely incomprehensible.
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When news breaks like Two-Face casting for The Dark Knight, instead of posting it, it is almost like they are mad that they didn't get it out first, so they'd rather not mention it at all or give us a talkback. I wish they would. This sort of thing has happened before.
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Vale, I know these guys don't really count (much like I don't really count), but I address one charge. I think the role of the critic is to give an honest accounting of his opinion and give enough information for the reader to give credence to or discount it. That's it. From reading a lot of reviews, I often find the negative ones far more telling of finding stuff I *want*, because the positive ones are trying their best not to spoil the experience for you... the negative ones are going, "this is bad, this is why it was bad", and if, for example, you really love Continuity, you should know from my review that it has loads of it, and that you can safely ignore my opinion if that's the sort of fan you are. And, sure, the Ultimate Extinction review is "too cool for school", that's sort of the vibe of the comic (and I'll probably revive that for the inevitable Nextwave review). If you hate my attitude about the book, you'll likely hate Ellis' attitude toward the book, because he flat-out doesn't care about your comic collection. And probably the only thing more useless than a comic reviewer is a music reviewer... most of us are extremely locked into our tastes and don't venture far from them, yet I know that I read far more reviews of books I read than books I don't read, and I think I'm not alone on that count by the reaction in the feedback. At best, a glowing review of an Ultimate Extinction might put someone over the edge after having heard a lot of good things about it... other than that, I don't extend much (dare I say it) hope that my reviews make much of a difference, apart from informing people that there's a collection of Alan Moore 2000AD stories out there or that Gemstone is reprinting EC comics.
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Young Avengers and Runaways "delinquent young supers?" Although I am an oldie, I work in a high school, and if Looda thinks comic characters are too gay, multiracial and druggie, reality must be quite horrifying. While I agree that Winick is preachy, Weinberg certainly isn't. Comics have been the equivalent of "Friends" for far too long--a bunch of straight-arrow white people inhabiting a realm which in reality is quite diverse. While I don't like preaching, I appreciate seeing people, of all ages, more reflective of the world I live in. And lots of gay people, and plenty of non-whites, also read comics. Like me. But many more.
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With your post, there's almost enough for this to be an OFFICIAL AICN comics talkback with all the usual trappings (i.e. writer sucks, writer is awsome, reviewer sucks, character sucks, reviews are late, etc.) (Now if only someone would call me a cocksucker)
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I think you may be laying it on a little bit too thick with all the Quesada-hating. I mean if you have to say something negative about the guy every time you write a good review for a Marvel title, i think you may have a problem and it's time to get some professional help. Why is it that every time Marvel publishes a crap book you act like it's all his fault, but when you review a good Marvel comic you act like it all happened in spite of him? Hey guys...i think this comic i wrote, i think it might be a good one. Quick, let's slip it to the printers while DaQ's on his poop break so he can't ruin it with his obviously misguided world-outside-your-window mantra and crazy over-the-top and hyperbollic shenanigans!
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Can't you just picture the 60s era young scrawny nerdy science student Peter Parker riding on She Hulk's back? Flakey Foont vs. Dr. Strange? Mr. Natural counseling Galactus; in therapy because of his eternal hunger issues and penchant for naked silver men? In a perfct world, I tells ya... in a perfect world...
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If someone could answer that question.
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Vale, I count as much as you do. And your comment to joergn is maybe one that applies to you and the rest of us. Which is, not at all. But the rest of us are just as unimportant as you and Baytor
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You cocksucker, i don't think you know all that much about an AICN comics talkback, dude. And GAB's post gave me an image i'll never be able to shed: That of an ape with Giant Balls screaming FUUUUUUCK! For that, i thank him.
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Can Alex Ross draw/paint young people? He depicts everyone in their forties.
Excellent topic. -
Sorry to hear you lost your sense of humor. Did you check your other pair of jeans? I was clearly making a joke because, well, that'd be kinda ridiculous...me, talking about how much i matter and those other guys don't. Me, the important Vale person. The level of ridiculousness is so unbearable you'd think no one would be able to take it seriously, but you'd be wrong. And i'm sorry my post about everyone being entitled to their opinion doesn't apply to any of us in any of our free countries. Oh well. Back to being really important and counting a lot. Cheers.
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I think it's more like AICN doesn't feel it incumbent upon themselves to post unsubstantiated casting rumors just because they appeared on IMDb. You think they scooped anyone when they ran the news about Ledger signing on as the Joker? When the casting for Harvey Dent is made official, you will hear about it, and you'll hear about it here. A more interesting phenomenon than AICN "hating to be second" is TalkBackers loving to pick nits with the way AICN conducts itself, for usually-insane and -arbitrary reasons. Are you going through an extended period of adolescence, and AICN is your surrogate authority figure or something? Is that why you think so little of the site yet your online identity is informed by it? Anyhoo.
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Yeah, it probably came off like that, but in reality, I love Runaways. Young Avengers is a great one too, if I didn't already mention it. But here's how I see it. Runaways came before Young Avengers, and you have to admit that Chase Stein, at LEAST, is just a D-bag with a knife. (In an early issue, Nico even comments on how they look like the real world cast) Runaways came up with a gay character first. Over at DC, there were already a few drug heroes. Heinberg took what he liked from previous stories and added these elements to his own Young Avengers comics. Having read about it before, the ending of Young Avengers #6 was a nice, sweet, momosexualtiy is the new thing! type of moment. In short, I think Heinberg just wanted to fit in with the rest of the pack. In his spot, I probably would have done the same thing. Also, the drugs in Young Avengers were a nice touch to the story. It made sense, and made for some great character development. Any drugs I was complaining about came from The Flash.
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Should @$$HOLES be removed from this website? Their "news" is neither cool nor is it current. It is trivial at best. Week old reviews that just drag on and on and on and on and on and on. I say can the Comic A$$HOLE reviews unless they can get up to date.
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Am struggling with how much of these books to talk about. If these were discussions about books we all read, then I'd be spoiling away; but reviews... I have to assume that they haven't read it (despite knowing that most of the people reading *have* read it), and trying to avoid discussing it in too much detail. I would have loved to have talked about the big twist in Down, but I couldn't figure out how to do it without potentially destroying someone's enjoyment of the book, cuz I know a lot of people won't have the same problem I had with the book. Ultimate Extinction ends up being light on content, with me mostly commenting on Warren Ellis in a super-hero universe, and probably could have stood a bit more focus on the events in the book. But I'm afraid you guys are stuck with the attitude.
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I want you to leave and never come back you utter piece of shit! What the fuck man?! Am i, like, too pissy to grasp the friendly nuance of everyone's posts or is the hate getting through as unfiltered as i'm percieving it? I fucking LOVE the @$$holes and this fucking talkback is one of the best places on the internet, so no, they should not be removed from the site, you stupid semen encrusted shit stain of a human being. You're gonna make me pop my aneurism and i won't have that! GET OUT! NEVER COME BACK, YOU PATHETIC LITTLE TROLL!
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IGNORE him. THAT'S how you make trolls go away, guys. Your anger is what they crave. Don't give it to them.
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Sometimes the anger is overwhelming, you know?
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Marc Silvestri on Runaways. Teenagers with huge tits. Teenagers with latex clothes.
Teenagers with big guns (but no pouches) Teenagers who are constantly pissed off. Really pissed off. -
...there are plenty of times where a bogus story is floated on the interweb and within hours everybody posts it and gets burned. As a result, when stuff like this breaks some of the people behind the scenes here track down industry contacts to confirm whether it's Bullshit...Or Not? and then run the story. They still get burned, cuz they're not perfect, but they've also broken stories saying recent rumors are completely false. I'd rather just wait the extra few hours to get the real deal, frankly.
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Sorry but its 12 years of bottled rageand indignation bubbling to the surface. 12 years i've waited to find somewhere i can moan about that storyline. TWELVE YEARS. And if it pleases you, you're a cocksucker.
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Hippy sluts with huge tits! Drug addicts who are really pissed! Drug addicts who shoot at the cops with huge freaking guns! Cops who are really pissed! Fat Freddy's cat having huge claws capable of ripping off latex clothing of hos! Did I mention everybody wears latex! And they could have jackets with 876 pockets to hide their drugs in! And they could live in a building where the walls, floor and ceiling were the same color and shade! And they could replace their van with a Robot! A robot with shoulder mounted laser cannons! And the robot could have huge tits! Damn, I'm amusing myself quite well today.
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Yup, it's from Demon/Hitman. Wrote a couple of game reviews years back for the Gamespy network and am the one responsible for the Blood I & II walkthroughs at PlanetBlood. Used to love putting "I... AM BAYTOR!!!!" as my sig. Haven't used it much in recent years, but revived it for the inevitable Master-Baytor jokes.
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I wasn't even around for the original clone saga. But ever since I really started reading Spidey (just before the relaunch) I've been a huge fan. And you know what, Sins Past wain't nothin' If I was around for the Clone Saga, I too would have a bitch fit. Oh, and El Vale already called me a cocksucker. Also-MIDICHLORIANS! FUCK! FUCK! ARGGG! THAT'S FUCKING STUPID! THAT'S THE STUPIDEST FUCKING THING I'VE EVER FUCKING HEARD! ARGHHHHHH! MIDICHLORIANS FUCKING SUCK! FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!
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To fucking right. FUUUUUUUCCCCKKK!!!
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...that Bilboring and El Vale are one and the same.
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That is beyond insulting, actually. Haven't you been around the talkbacks enough to realize just how lovable Vale really is? Ask the cogs. *** loodabagel and Ape Balls, are you guys reading the Ultimate Clone Saga? It's pretty sweet, highly recommended. Maybe it'll wash the taste of the original right off your mouths? I don't know, but it's a great read so far. And i think you guys might be right about the Midichlorians. *** Where are the Cogs, man?! Squashua just called me Bilbo, i need some help here guys, i can't believe this is happening.
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Vale is a loyal Cog. The highest of the Warrior Class in the AICN Comics talkback. Dildoring is...well...a dildo who hangs out in a place that he obviously does not like and tries to get attention any way he can. Kind of like a three year old, except more gaytarded than that.
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At least I think I did back wehn she first came out. It's the booze y'know. Rot's yer brain.
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Who the fuck waits until the day before an issue is supposed to arrive, THEN announces it'll be a month late? The trucks would already have to be packed full of the comics and at the goddamn stores by the time the "announcement" was made. Believe you me, the stores figured it out when they didn't get their huge allotments of CIVIL WAR #4. That the issue is going to be a month late is bad enough, but the way Marvel handled it is beyond reprehensible. How do you wait until a product is supposed to be in the stock room and then say "oh, by the way, we didn't actually SHIP THE FUCKING BOOKS?!?" And this is nothing for the readers compared to what the storeowners are going through--they were counting on those sales to make their numbers this week, and now not only do they not get it, but there's a second bye month, not to mention a shitload of late-shipping books. Hell, Marvel knew about this weeks ago, but was there a SINGLE WORD about it at Wizard World Chicago? Nope. Just "wait til you guys see Issue 4!" Yeah, like we got a lotta choice on that one...way to screw over your retailers and fans, guys. Seriously. I'm glad Millar and McNiven are so happy about it, but they're pretty much the only ones.
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Yeah, apparently you're not publishing it AT FUCKING ALL. Hey, y'know what happens when non-comics readers get interested in a periodical that doesn't come out on its officially announced schedule? Non-comics readers decide it's a huge pain-in-the-ass hassle cuz they don't wanna have to check back every week for just one or two titles that are incomprehensibly off-schedule, then realize it's just a coupla comic books and not REAL publishing, and they don't bother to come back. Adios, "new readers"....
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I haven't seen the Ultimate clone story. If I'm honest, I've only just picked up on the Ultimate Spiderman series after my girlfriend bought me 3 volumes of it for my birthday. I'd kinda fell out with Spidey after the clone storyline so I'm really excited by this revisioning (even thoughI picked up on it about 5 years to late). And I'm definitely right about midichlorians. Little bastards.....
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Love you muchly.
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I started reading Ult Spidey like a month ago when the first issue of the clone Saga came out (completely coincidental, i just thought i'd check it out) and i look forward to every issue now. It's really good stuff. Sadly, there are midichlorians involved, but that's just a minor complaint.
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Wrong dude, just wrong. Like, Bug said, "The highest of the Warrior Class" bay-bee!!! Where's Buzz? I got ya back, Vale. ; )
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To hear Dave's take on this whole Civil War being delayed deal since he's a retailer.
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you ARE right about those midi-chlorians. A Cog Rogue if there ever was one I say!!!
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Heath's here! Da fug have you been man?
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Alan Moore's Superman, Batman and X-Men.
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Picked up Capn Jack from the vet Monday and stayed home with him killing zombies. Tuesday I ran around town with errands and saw The Descent, which is the best Alien movie since Aliens, only without the aliens, but still awesome. And today I have returned!!! Now where da fug is everybody else? Shigs on vacation, but the others?
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Last man's prolly workin' hard, blackthought "..."ed and then i think died, but hopefully not, our very own Turtle popped ot of his shell for like 2 minutes and then dissapeared. Psy hasn't been spotted yet...i don't know what's going on. Anyway, god...i bet Descent never gets here, ever and i'm fucking dying to see it ARGH! Cross my fingers.
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,,, ,,, ,, is the "
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That's in reference to the Witchblade backup story in the Down TPB. It's a good story, but I hate the Top Cow house style. No complaints at all about the art on Down. Both Harris and Hamner did a good job on it.
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worst comic art ever
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nah...not broken just bogged down comp right now...fuggin' rendering...so yeah...proper now...
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that be-yatch is...if he was i'd gladly curb him.
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Spoil it for me please. I read the first 3, but my shop sold out of the 4th one before I could pick it up. I kinda forgot what happened at the end of the thirs issue too.
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If i started calling myself the resident Top Cow connoisseur?
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what prey tell?
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Hell no. Your Top Cow reviews are
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I love Dillon's art, but he's got no feel for super-hero art. He worked pretty well on Punisher (and Judge Dredd before that), but when it comes down to heroes in tights... his work just doesn't work. Also don't think the story takes proper advantage of Dillon's expressive faces (yeah, they tend to look alike, but he can convey emotion extremely well). The story is just people scowling at each other.
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true dat, Baytor, i rememeber thinking his art from the Ultimates Annual was...awkward. But the guy's probably the best actor with a pencil currently working. When's City lights coming out dammit?! *** Heath, share your views with me after you read my Hunter-Killer review. Worked hard on that bitch. Thanks.
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At the end of the third part, she kills a civilian after a car accident. Just shoots him in the head because he's trying to get insurance information or something. In part 4, she ends up killing two cops (one that she knew and liked), all to save the life of the guy she was sent to kill in the first place (she somehow fell in love with him at their first and only meeting). She ends up killing the cop that sent her in... that one worked. And she caught her New Love raping a girl, so capped him... then set herself up as the new crime boss so she could kill as many of these bastards as she could, because she found that she really liked killing. Really cynical, and the end should have worked a lot more, but I just don't buy the murders of civilian and the two honest cops... there just wasn't enough in the story to suggest that she loved the Bad Guy enough for that.
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And fuck anyone who thinks otherwise! Despite the massive shifts in editorial management, it still managed to be some of the greatest Spidey Stories ever! You trying to tell me ASM 400 was shit? The Lost Years? Redemption? Blood Brothers? Web of Death? The whole fucking thing ROCKS, spare 12 or so issues. And for something that went on for 4-5 titles over 2 and a half years, thats a damn fine ratio of good to bad. A fuck of a lot better than that The Other garbage.
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I enjoyed her ATOM book. Plotwise, it's a bit weak, but it's got character & wit and I never felt lost. Then Secret Six really should have been called Villains United 2... I really don't think it's a proper introduction to these characters. I came in cold and found it confusing and muddled... it very well might come alive if you know the backstory (maybe the linkages would have stood out more if I weren't trying to figure out other things), but I'm well past following universes, focusing on individual books. Much of what I need to do is figure out the lay of the land again, and if you ever see me reviewing a Geoff Johns book, you will know it's because I feel like writing a bad review. Know there's a lot of Johns fans out there and he technically a decent enough writer, but he's like the total opposite of what I like. With SS, I really didn't know that it was going to be in the same vein... but, truth be told, I had been looking for a Bad Review to write for a while, they're just fun to do. As I'm sure it's fun to complain about me doing it :P
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...that Baytor and El Vale are one and the same.
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I do not recognize that any of you really exist... you're just a bad burreto I ate once.
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mark bagely quit ultimate spider-man. it occurs to me that john romita jr is not currently drawing a spider-man (or any ongoing) series
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That's the problem with these new-fangled comic artists... just no staying power. In my day, Dave Sim did 300 issues of Cerebus, rambling on about how women are evil for half of it, and we liked it! Bagley barely got into triple digits... I'm complaining to John Byrne.
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Damn, El Vale said it before I could.
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Why would he leave when i've just started warming up to his art? Fuck. I blame Shigeru, for some reason.
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Yeah, that sounds off to me too. *** About Dillon, I think he's awesome in the facial expression category and Vale and Baytor were spot on with his range of emotions BUT I'm just so sick and tired of everybody looking the same! It really showed in Wolverine Origins because there are so many different popular characters popping up in that title, but I needn't worry myself with that one because I'm not going to pick it up anymore. Namaste.
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Dillon used to draw some of the ugliest, horse-face women in comics. Eventually he got to the point where his women all looked like Tulip, which was a major improvement... but to see what he did with Kit in Hellblazer after Will Simpson made her a major babe was heart-breaking.
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I'm telling ya. Bush, pull in a few favors and wrangle up the IP addresses. He's a faker.
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*rubs chin detective-like*
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*Rubs penis*
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goddamn people cant ever pay their mortgages on time and have to wait till the VERY LAST DAY(Today) to do it and it has been fucking slammed here in your boy kal's workplace. good reviews guys! now i want to get that planet hulk trade it sounds awesome. El vale is most certainly not dildo-cock-ring. unless the cogs have been viciously infiltrated.but seriously we warned junior dildo boy before and i agree with ignoring but also calling him dildo and letting him know how unwanted he is works for me too!
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This is getting weird. Umm, glad to hear from you, Y. Killing any zombies?
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Nooooooooooooooooooooo! Why?
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especially bu such an esteemed and august body.not currently but when i get home oh its on! im in a zombie killin frame of mind after today. working in a call center blows.im interested in the wasted minute comic because i can certainly relate. ***im pretty sure psy is still down and shig is vay-caying but where is thalya and great a?
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And Bagley quit cause he's a PUSSY!
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fucking figures! one of the artists i really like will no longer be doing one of the books i actually enjoy nowadays. any idea where hes going? can we get some New Warriors love!??***thalya and turtle sitting in a shell....
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...I betcha that's Slott's new book. With Moon Knight.
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but if i can get a new warriors book with none of that lame reality tv bullshit and some bagley art i will be converted
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we have the highest amount of posts on AICN? just like in the old 'all week' days!lets keep the discussion going! i think we have aqu@f@g tb in our sites!
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I'm disappointed about Civil War's delay, but I'm not leaving. I'm actually enjoying the whole thing a lot. I really hope Hulk has something to do with the finale. I guess I'll find out in February 2007. The upside is I save cash short-term ($6 for a comic in Australia, remember). ***** I enjoyed Kevin Smith's Green Arrow run, but I didn't stay on long after he left. I vaguely remember AIDSy. Nice review. Glad I'm not reading any. ***** That Ultimate Extinction looks appealing. You mentioned it's part of a trilogy - as in a trilogy of TP's? If so, what are the other two as I'm going to have to buy up on something until Marvel sort their shit out. ***** El Vale, you wouldn't make a good Hulk. I actually find Bilbo quite amusing. If the @$$holes are a live-action super-team, Bilbo is like the 2D animated Mytzlplyk villain that really wants to be a fighting member.
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It's Book Three in the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy, each one collects 5 or 6 issues. First book is Ultimate Nightmare, in which The Ultimates and the X-Men end up battling over an abadoned Soviet site. Second book is Ultimate Secret, in which the Fantastic Four and The Ultimates team up against the Kree. Ultimate Extinction draws upon what they learn in both of those books as all three teams go after the Big Bad. Starts off a bit slow with Ultimate Nightmare, but I enjoyed Secret and Extinction a lot.
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Hurt me deep, dreg, hurt me deep. And it's been like a year since we had the top talkback, let's make the best of it, boys. If only the other Cogs were here to help out, tho'. And where Buzz? And Dave?
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Strange... it's late, I'm drunk, yet I feel like I have nothing to say. This might be a first. I did want to contribute to the #1 talkback stat, though. I'll go drink some more and come back if I think of anything to talk about.
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And thank god. Phillippe is an interesting choice as far as seeing his pretty face get scarred by acid, but there are better choices I could count on my hands. ***** And actually, I probably meant the opposite, Vale - you'd make a great Hulk, the way Bilbo riles you up so quickly. ***** And thanks for the heads up, Baytorade, I will certainly look out for these in the comic shop. Never picked up any Ultimates but am happy to start here. ***** As well as my CW staples, also picked up Star Trek Manga - haven't read yet but it looks hilarious. Kirk is such a stud ...
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oh yes,yes we are! and on comic news was AXM one of the delayed titles?cuz man that would suck balls!
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Is AXM tying up with Civil War? If so, it could be a possibility, but i'm not so sure. Anyway, how's things with you man? How's your girl?
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things are good here man. were good just u know,the usual couple ups and downs. hows life treating you?
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and sure Banner appears, but it could have just been a dream and all been in Hulk's head. Still, there is no explanation why Banner has not been present in this arc at all. The story, while interesting, clearly pictured Banner not as he is, but as the Hulk sees him. A threat. An enemy. Someone who is trying to destroy the Hulk and take away the contentment he found on Planet Hulk. I stand by my criticism of this storyarc. Without Banner, the story lacks what makes the Hulk as a character so special. I did appreciate the reprinting of HULK THE END in this issue. ONe of my favorite Hulk stories. David really knocked it out of the part with that one.
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Fuck anyone who doesn't think that a giant man named galactus isnt the coolest thing in the world. I hate all that 'were looking at the concept' style of comic book. its bullshit.
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...into Banner for a second (I think - I haven't read it since it came out). And yeah, in this story Banner is the alter-ego and Hulk is the hero. It's turning the classic concept on it's head. I seem to recall David doing something similar during the Joe Fixit era. I also suspect they're setting up for a moment when, just when you think the Hulk's on top of the world, Banner will pop up and ruin it all. On the other hand, I've only read Giant Sized Hulk and that Planet Hulk Handbook thing, so I could have it all wrong. I'll let you know whenever the trade comes out.
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But I did like that he and Bendis are going on 100+ issues on the same title. How often does that happen anymore?
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...maybe we should let Bilboring submit a couple of reviews. Bilbo, send them to Ambush Bug, he likes to see that sort of thing. :-D
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...that's not a smiley.
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That book is awesome. A little more hype thrown Jeff Parker's way, fellas. He's the new You-Know-Who.
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i haven't noticed...probably since i'm not reading it. for some reason i thought marvel were adapting the american civil war but when i noticed that luke cage, the falcon, the thing (he's got to be black), bishop, forge, blade (i'm runnin' out of marvel minorities) didn't have slave chains on them or nick fury and reed with whips in their hands as these slaves pick vibranium if vibranium could be picked, i figured the story lacked the resquisite balls...and yes this is the talk of a man rendering.
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I've only got the most basic knowledge of Agents of Atlas, but I'd guess you're referring to Dan Slott. If so, cool! There's nowhere to get it here, but I'll try to check out the trade.
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*UN-SHOOMP!* Yeah, fuck illness and all it's malcontent attendants. Spent a day in the shell trying to suss out wheather I was dying or just pissy. Decided it was both and went out and lost in a pool tourny.***I see that Bilbo(my bitch)Ring is back in my yard, nice that he's always looking out for the Turtle by giving me something to aim at.***Baytor (like all the COGs and @$$es) rocks, all you other fucks just pebble.***If blackthought dies, who gets the cage?***Look, for the last time, I have no idea where Thal is. The cameras stopped working after the last...erm...spill?...no wait, power surge. Yeah, that's it power surge. And you best believe when I say POWER surge...dude, I need to lay off the meds. *SHOOMP!*
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Thank you very much! *** I'm pretty sure AXM is avoiding the Civil War mess. And I know Marvel get's a lot of shit, but after seeing how the entire company handled itself with the delay of Civil War and it's titles
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I really liked it and can't wait to read more of Jeff Parker's work. Here's the review http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=24131#2 Kirk's artwork was great too.
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Yes, one of the other aliens saw Banner for a brief second, but you have to admit that Banner was not acting like Banner in that story. He was teasing and goading the Hulk, throwing the fact that Jarella (arguable the Hulk's only love besides Betty, who was always Banner's) was in love with him and not the Hulk. He was more of a trickster like character, popping into his dream, filling him with fear and doubt, and eventually succumbing to rage and pushing him off a cliff. Even in that panel where the alien sees Banner, he's talking about how he won, looking surprised and victorious. The Banner in that story is more of the weakling/power mad freak that you've seen in ULTIMATES and not the Marvel U Banner. Maybe it's a good thing that Banner hasn't shown up if that is the way writer Pak characterizes with him. He's totally sympathizing with the Hulk side and casting Banner as the bad guy. An interesting take, but not really the way the character has been written in the past.
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Did I ever tell you guys how much I hate people? I do, you know. Hate'em like a fat kid hates salad. Probably why I'm a jumped-up security guard. Only problem is what to do with the bodies. I mean sure, slow-roasting'em over an open flame is tasty and all, but the calories....Christ! I need a woman. No that wasnt a prayer...unless it works, then yeah, AMEN!
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But keep your damn spoilers to yourself!
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How about comic book discussions. Reviewing a comic book is so dumb.
"Yes. Captain America was drawn well. I love his shield."
FOOOOOOOOOOKING DUMB!!!!! And Civil War rocks the house!! Why oh why must it be delayed???? Bagley was/is decent. He did a good job when he did ASM. Oh well. -
In other news, is the industry going to die because of Civil War's delays? I blame JoeQ if the industry goes belly up!
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Apparently you've never read one of my reviews. ZING!
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Well, I guess Vale was right and I lacked sense of humor yesterday. As a long-time comic-reader who spends way over $100 per month on comics, I get all pissy anytime someone dumps on the long-time fans, so Baytor set me off on that. Not that every reviewer doesn't have a right to his/(her) opinion, just don't start dogging people who read comics. It's like me reviewing "Passion of the Christ." Not my thing, but I'm not gonna review it, and if I did, I wouldn't start by insulting the audience for religious movies. But anyway, no offense to anyone. I do think that Palmiotti/Gray are my new favorite writers. Loved Daughters of the Dragon, enjoy Freedom Fighters, love Jonah Hex and as of last night, love Black Cat/Wolverine. All of these books (except for Hex, and FF is medium) are in the Slott vein of "fun" people-in-tights comics that mix humor, clever dialogue and action without becoming parody. Yet they are modern in look and attitude. I don't think this is a popular opinion, but Palmiotti/Grey seem to be able to mix Bendis' modern-ness with Slott's fun-ness to create several comics I really enjoy reading.
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Once I looked through the old issue for the Ellis quote, the attitude of that review was set... he had a lot of memorable quotes in the back of the second issue, but that was my favorite. To me, I don't think it's really an Old Vs. New mentality (as long as I can find a few books I enjoy, I'm happy). I do think we need guys like Ellis around who don't look upon all that old stuff with nostalga, because quite a lot of it was just a product of its time and wouldn't fly in today's market without a good bit of work. Some creators don't get this, so we get "respectful" adaptations like Spider-Man: Chapter One, in which large tracks of the original comic are replicated and exposition added to explain away whatever problems existed instead (and it's such a lifeless and soulless book because of it). Elsewhere, we have the Spider-Man movie and Ultimate Spider-Man that completely reworked the story, while maintaining all the emotional beats (and adding a few new ones of their own), fixing the few bits that needed fixing, but without adding layers of explanations on top of it. Instead of "explaining" why the robber was in two very different locations, one moved the robber to Ben, the other moved Ben to the robber, and it worked much, much better. With Ultimate Extinction, I don't mean to tarnish what Stan & Jack did before, but to simply replicate their border-line camp antics in the Ultimate Universe would not work (the UU has a defined set of rules by this point), and I think Ellis crafted a story that played to the main beats of the original: Big Bad comes to eat our planet and we scare him away. The eye rolling comment was me pretty much acknowledging that a lot of today's "sophistication" is anything but, and there's plenty enough attitude in there for long-time and new fans... I personally think we *should* accept the ocassional giant man wearing a funny hat and purple toga, but I honestly don't think the current comic market would accept such a character in a serious book... unless it had nostalgic appeal.
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Dude, I like your reviews. (And by the way, if ANYONE here is important, it's the Turtle. Got that, denizens?) But that last post seemed to kinda loop back around and leave us all at the same point you found us at. I guess you were trying to defend your review (which didn't need it.) but now I'm more confused about what your point was. Not so much with your review, but that last post. Where are you at? Do you dig a good old-school yarn, and can appreciate the occasional new twist. Or is it out with the old and in with the bold? I'm just lookin' for a reference point. Fuck, I'm annoying myself with this post. Meh...respond if you want, Bay-baby, I'll be in the shell working on a "double secret" project for the weekend.*SHOOMP!*
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Well, I'm reviewing EC books and will likely be reviewing The Spirit (the original) before too long, so I like a nice, old-fashioned yarn. Don't have any real history with Marvel, so I'm all over the map there (enjoyed Byrne's FF, Miller's DD, hated almost everything they did in the 90s). Hardcore DC fan from about 85-95 (the first five years as back issues), so I got a fondness for that period, although I recognize a lot of it doesn't hold up to my current taste. Mostly what I don't like is people wallowing in the old stuff. I can enjoy an Old School style adventures so long as it has enough of a modern feel that I don't feel like I'm stuck in a time warp (Raiders Of The Lost Ark is a great example of this... old time serial, new style action), but if you start referencing half a dozen 20 year old stories to do (yes, I'm looking at you Kevin Smith), then I'm going to tune out. And if you're going to go back and retell (as opposed to recapping) an origin, make the story your own. This is why Frank Miller's Year One is far superior to John Byrne's Chapter One. Or to simplify, I can enjoy it when someone is inspired by the past, but I don't enjoy if it looks like they're taking great care to walk in the past's footprints. I flat-out do not care if someone changes something (even if it's something I love); I only care if they entertain me. Continuity is never something I cared for.
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That's pretty much how I feel. My only hang up is when somebody (Marvel) takes an established character (Spider Man) and instead of writing a new story around the character and sussing out how that character would act, they writed the character to further their misguided attempt at tearing the internet into pellet-ridden quarters or some shit(Civil War). Dropping the Hulk in a new setting? I'm down. Turning Pete into Stark's gimp? FUCK YOU JOE! Edit something you fat fuck! Lazy HACK!
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I have a tough time with Spider-Man bit just because I've read so many comics and know enough about how these companies work that it just screams STUNT! to me. I don't comment on it, because I know that ten years ago, I might have loved it. It's bold, it's new, and I'd want to see where they went with it... like the Death Of Superman, which I knew was permanent, but it hooked me. But too many of us long-time fans are jaded... either we dismiss it because it's not permanent, or we freak out because we think it is. In my younger days, I didn't know enough to know better, and I kinda miss the enthusiasm I could work up for crap. Most of the stuff I enjoy these days either can change or don't even try to pretend that they are changing. Illusion of change seems to bog me down, because I know how the magician does their trick.
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"which I knew wasn't permanent"... I knew Superman would get better, but it hooked me all the same.
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Aug 17, 2006 4:53:50 PM CDT
Totally disagree on your Hulk/Banner take Ambush Bug.
by thestrongestone
1) The Banner appearnace in GSH tells you pretty much all you need to know about what Banner thinks about the situation and why he is where he is
2) Banner and the Hulks interactions have always taken place in a dreamlike/mindscape environment very well established by David in the years leading up to the Merger.
3) The depiction of Banner goading the Hulk and the way the Hulk reacts is very reminiscent of the way that Banner and the Hulk interacted during the Fixit storyline and some of the conversations that they have had over Marlo and Betty.
3) "It -
I told you so....(check the talkbacks..I called it waaaay back)
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what did u call that has actually come to pass?im not reading 52 and im for sure not hunting through old talkbacks
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But I don't like it so much when it is done "in continuity." For example, love Ultimates, didnt like Disassembled/House of M at all, ambivalent about New Avengers, don't like Civil War (well, the one issue I bought). I agree with GA that Peter Parker as Tony's bitch sucks totally. But I don't have the problem most people do with Ultimate Gwen's thing with Osborne. Ultimate X-Men is great, none of the other X-Men books entertain me much, with partial exception for Whedon's book. And don't get me started on Storm marrying T'Challa. In fact, I should just shut up and echo GA's "works for me" post.
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whats the whole 'too soon' thing i see in all talkbacks mean? i know its going to have a backstory like the sexy tomboy beanpole thing. what gives?
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they we were getting mocked for our "timely" reviews.
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but ive seen it on other columns in the site too.
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...is a mocking reference to some thin-skinned peoples' reactions to things like Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center", as well as Greengrass' "Flight 93" or whatever it was last spring. As in "Is it too soon for 9/11 to be turned into entertainment?", the answer to which is "you can't even spell your own name, can you?"
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**Spoiler: Booster Gold's head done blowed up real good*** "Too Soon" is actually a reference to making a joke about a current event (usually a tragedy) too soon for what is considered appropriate, OR too soon for people to get the joke. It originated with Johnny Carson who always said 'too soon' when people didn't laugh at a joke. Now you know....
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...even I have done that when cracking a joke. In fact, I did it the week of 9/11.
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that clears it up.i kind of thought it was that on both the spoilers and the too soon but i thought id ask. sleazy and psy sounds like something you would do ."wow Lost Girls was awesome!"uttered the fanboy with a sleazy sigh.
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Actually, these days I believe more people use "Too Soon" in reference to things like movies made about 9/11 and jokes about recent tragedy.
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...that's what I get for not reading the last 5 prior posts. Sheesh.
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I remember when Vern saw the Flight 93 trailer and called it "Too soon: The movie". It was hilarious. but you had to be there, so...yeah. *** And Baytor, i couldn't agree with you more. On everything. Nuff said. Yeah. That's it. Headache. Bye.
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Pure gold. Do people still say 'the bomb'? I hope so. Somehow they have managed to keep the chemistry among Kirk/Spock/Bones intact, kept the format from the original series intact (Chekov is the first to get his ass kicked in the first story), yet have beefed it up with sweet Manga action and style. I really hope this is not just a one-off. ***** I have a question about John Bogdanove, the guy whose name is on the cover of the latest 52 issue but has only two pages input into the origin of Steel. With his name plastered so, I'm assuming he is/was a big name in the comic world? The Reign of the Superman got me into DC comics big time back in the day, and I absolutely loved Bogdanove's art. But as far as I can see he just disappeared when his run on Man of Steel ended. Anyone know what happened to him? Is he highly regarded in the comic world?
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(the sequel to 'Too Soon') From what I could gather at the top of the talkback, people were bitching that you @$$holes uploaded your reviews 12 hours too early or something ... and disrupted people's daily patterns somehow ...
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Question: What do Japanese men do when they have erections? Answer: They vote.
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Did you hear about the guy that chewed his baby's toes off? He forgot his wife was pregnant.
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What's the difference between CIVIL WAR and Lance Bass?
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and sleazy, what?
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*rimshot*
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and on that note
Q: Whats the difference between Lance Bass and a refrigerator?A: when you take meat out of the refrigerator it doesnt fart. -
who recently came out of the closet. as if being in nsync wanst already a dead giveaway
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Not only did I get yelled at to 'quiet down' by my boss for laughing VERY loudly but I think I almost peed myself laughing at that!
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Be warned, it is TOTALLY tasteless.
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I have a joke that will rip the TB in half. (Mainly in the fracas to see who gets to kill me for telling it.)
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Q: If Hitler had lived 6 more months, what would he have invented? A: The self-cleaning oven. ***Now spill GreatA! I dare (and beseech) you.
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That one comes from 'The VERY worst of truly tasteless jokes' by Blanche Knott
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that was so tasteless it actually tasted great! im gald i made u laugh psy. gods know friday is a good day to laugh!and yes great a bring it!
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Guy's career is so dead he has to come out and say what everyone already figured out like 10 years ago. Actually the sad part is apparently Lance Bass coming out is news. And what kinda name is Lance Bass anyway? Keep the tasteless jokes a-coming.
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What's the difference between a 5 year old, and a bowling ball?**********************************You can only stick 3 fingers in a bowling ball. *SHOOMP!*
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would KILL on the lost girls board!
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because he likes his ass lanced and the b is his middle initial i dont know.work with me people!
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I love you O' Divine Turtle, I really do. (and anyone who gets offended can kiss my shiny metal ass because in the Psy-Fi show there are NO (and I MEAN NO) sacred cows. Anything and EVERYTHING is fair game if it can generate a laugh)
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Q: What's the best part about getting a blowjob from an ethiopian prostitute?***A: You know she'll swallow every drop!
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What's the difference between a truck full of bowling balls and a truck full of babies?***************************You can't unload the bowling balls with a pitch-fork.******THANK YOU! I'll be here All Week! See what I did there? Yeah, fuck you too! *SHOOMP!*
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i live in the city with the most ethiopians in the country and now for some reason i feel the need to go verify what psy just posted...hmmm...
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Q: How many Irishmen does it take to change a light bulb?***A: Two. One to hold the bulb and the other to drink until the room spins.
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Q: What do you call a Playboy bunny who's a lesbian?****A: Bitch.
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why cant it be 7:01 pm so i can be heading the fuck out of this hellhole? i would settle for 6:59! but 4:35?clown shoes man! too early!
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godamn fragile tb
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Oi.. finally got my last two weeks' comics last night (I was holding off popping in until I'd read Secret Six, and then 52 #15 for that matter - DAMN YOU TO HECK DC!!! WAY TOO NARROW-MINDED TAKES ON CHARACTER! Don't you kill off Question too: what is it with DC permanently incapacitating brainy white guys to replace them with ethnic characters). And darn you DC, I want to cut my pull list to be managable each week and you have to go and put all the really good ones on week 3 of the month, and a ton of them too! I don't think there was a clear stinker in the batch last night, though I think I'll be glad that I'm dropping Robin now that the Captain Boomerang thing was over. Beechen just got all 2D on the character, which is dumb, though you can tell by the ads that the demo is a bit younger than most other books; what on earth happened after that first issue? ** Secret Six - hilarious but muddled. ** Ion - plugging along, Kyle got a better mask, Marz is the master of flow: great dialogue, no clunk to notice, when he wants to write a special issue, boy can he ever. ** Shadowpact - cute fluff. Nice character work I haven't read it, but I can imagine this is Fables Lite. Cutting this one down after next issue. ** GLC - not bad. A few twists help the denouement from being leaden. Have to love all the character work though, but the art needs toning down just slightly, particularly the coloring scheme, though I could definitely take to Gardner-on-vacation coloring. ** Checkmate is excellent as ever. I could've done with maybe a touch more on the action side; the talk and the intrigue is a little on the bloated side, but it's substantial, and on a book like this there's always going to be a need for constant exposition, so.. ** And about why my mouth is overstretched to twice its normal size? No, it's not Turtle. The last page splash to Manhunter had me gaping as wide as I possibly good, that's how good it was. I think I might've considered the idea before, but it wasn't on my mind when it happened. Now I'm just left thinking "How dare you guys leave me hanging til December!". Yep, that's right guys, Manhunter's on hiatus, returning with a trial OYL in the making. And consider this: NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO GET CAUGHT UP ON MANHUNTER. Really. It'll be worth it. And as another note, the guys writing 52 could learn something from Marc Andreyko about day-to-day pacing. Scenes last a page and get methodically developed issue by issue. Lots of character moments, lots of humor, a great well-rounded cast with a bunch of heart. If there's anything wrong, it's that I miss Jesus Saiz's precise style, though Javier Pina is a good substitute and has kept things flowing without a hitch. I can never say this enough: this should be on your pull lists people. Not to mention, it's only continuity-centric within the title itself, it has few ties to the larger universe (and those it does have I think would be some things people have heard about by now).
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Question will not make it out of 52. Get a DC book from this week where on the DC Nation page, one of the "Also Released This Week" books is JLA #1. That's why it got delayed a week. Look in the cover image where Booster Gold and the Question are supposed to be: we've got Martian Manhunter and Big Barda instead. DAMN YOU DC!!!
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Why is Green Arrow all of a sudden next to Zatanna when in the original image he was on the other side next to Black Canary? What's going on?
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Officially consider all main players in 52 to be killed off by the end. Green Arrow takes the place of Elongated Man.
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To be Thalya, i mean. Reading only DC books but no Vertigo or anything? Someone explain it to me, come on! Can't be reading any masterpieces there, i don't think.
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Just not for me, though the few Hellblazer TPBs I picked up were decent. And Vale, you can't talk unless you've read Manhunter. Plus, something tells me you've never known the man-love of Guy Gardner, so..
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Well i don't know Thal, i mean okay i'm willing to concede i might be wrong and maybe Manhunter really is a masterpiece (not being sarcastic), but i'm going to go out on a limb and say it's probably not. It's also probably good or pretty good, maybe, who knows. But why's Vertigo just not for you?
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It's, like, your raison d'etre. As for Vertigo, well, maybe it's what the imprint was going for with the "vertigo" feel in each of their books, if by "vertigo" they meant complete, mind-numbing, stomach-churning revulsion. I managed to make my way through about half of the Sandman trades before I gave up, and wound up getting the first three trades of Lucifer only I couldn't even finish the second. And it isn't necessarily the stories so much as an implicit attitude or something. It vexes and doesn't make with the reading encouragement, and it's been there in all the Vertigo stuff I've read, so I don't think a generalization is out of order. ** And dude, Guy Gardner man-love. Gotta try it.
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Man, i don't know. I HIGLY doubt one of the most consistent and critically acclaimed imprints in the last 10 years is geared towards an attitude, a "feel" that is simply repulsive in nature. But most of all i doubt everyone is stupid, you know? I know that your reservations with Vertigo appear to be attitude based and not a matter of quality, as phrased at least, so this may be a mute point...but i'll try to be as blunt as possible (like i'd really have to make an effort to be blunt, who do you think you're kidding Vale?): I don't think i trust your knowledge of comics enough to be able to trust your opinion or, more importantly, be able to take it seriously. So basically yes, i'm saying god, you haven't read shit, what would you know? (I know i'm being an ass, there's no need to shout people!) And there's nothing i can do about that. It is my pure and unfiltered opinion and there's not much i can do about it. Well i could keep it to myself but that would be kind of hypocritical, wouldn't it?
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And ostensibly less pissy now that i don't have a migraine, i dled Sandman and haven't been able to get past the first storyline, tho it's mostly due to the crappy art...mostly. And i've never been the least bit interested in Lucifer, so i guess maybe you just haven't read some of the good Vertigo shit, you know? And i mean i'd recommend Preacher, but i bet you've already heard about the um disturbing and rather numerous moments of ultra-violence, but that's only skin deep. It's ultimately a story of love and friendship and loss of faith. Other good Vertigo shit, well obviously there's the aforementioned Fables which i would describe as completely charming, there's Invisibles, some Hellblazer, of course (anyone here a fan of Azzarello's Hellblazer?), Y: The last man, 100 Bullets, We3, Transmetropolitan, Scene of the crime, Kyle Baker's Vertigo books, Paul Pope's, War story, The Filth, Seaguy...i mean there's enough variety i can wholeheartedly claim your generalization IS out of order. Yes, some of these comics deal with difficult subjects, but that's art for you sister. So i don't know man, there was a time when i'd claim Alex Toth just wasn't for me, but you live, you learn...and who's Guy Gardner?
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who stopped my renders? muthafuggers! sighs...oh i love vertigo and guy gardner is a pretty fun character as a brash green lantern who reminds a bit of kermit the frog who also spends alot of time being green...wait that's not the comparison i was going for...ah render...
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Everytime he pops up he has the bowl cut and looks like a one-man time capsule reminiscent of the three stooges. I will still pick up the Manhunter TP, maybe sooner now that Marvel have delays. I might have got it last week but for the Star Trek Manga that demanded to be bought. It's on my to-do list along with scraping the 'complete' season of Firefly off my shelf to watch some episodes on a recommendation from a co-worker (saw Serenity ... was not impressed). But Thalya, I have to ask ... how long have you followed DC characters in comics? Just curious as to why you're collecting 52 while I'm not. The series looks lame, but not to say I don't like DC's characters. Maybe you have spent longer time and more money on DC comics than I ever have ... and/or you genuinely like the series ... ?
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but Civil War: X-Men #2 is starting to ramp up the action nicely (after a really bad first issue), and i'm getting set for a great finale to Execute Program over at Invincible Iron Man - the sixth part to this will be great ... *runs quickly to avoid thrown vegetables*
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You damn kid!
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or seen one in months...ah college. oh and mondays!
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Oh, and no super secret project. Real life, and a seeming lack of interest did it in. It was such a good boy when it was young, my project. Then it got hooked on the drugs and turned to a life of crime. You know how it is when they get that syrup in 'em. They get all ansty in their pansty. It had to be put down before it could taint the others. The children, I mean. Someone has to think about the children, dammit!
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on this motherfugging tb! And no, I did not see Snakes On A Plane. What else? I've been re-wiring and hooking up a bunch of stuff this past week, so that's why my presence has been lacking. dreg - 5 second head start
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Can anybody tell me just what the hell that means?
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It means the commies are coming out of hiding. They have waited for 15 years, until the world forgot about them. We let them slip from our mind while we were concerned with the Middle East. We have become lax, even accepting. First, the Detroit RED Wings win the cup, and we think it's admirable. Hell, some of us even grieve when one of them gets seriously injured in a limo, (AKA secret recon mission gaining intelligence from our Det. area nightclubs.) Then Klitchsko wins the heavyweight belt. The American public loved his "Drago" accent, and all was well. But I didn't forget. I'll never forget. I saw what those commie bastard did to Patrick Swayze and C. Thoma Howell in Red Dawn. Apollo Creed will be AVENGED! WOLVERINES!!!!! *SHOOMP!...clikclick*
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It's an emo kid (-_\\)---> /Wrists
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but what about the 8*) - I can't compute.
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good too see everyone here! thalya i will second vale and heaths recomendation to try out some of the different vertigo books out there. you will really be pleasantly surprised in my opinion. i spent the wekend watching the venture brothers season one on dvd. saw step up which i liked in its own cliched way.i havent read your review heath? can u summarize your thoughts for me?
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lets make a deal-i will get the first manhunter trade and try it out if u try out(and really give a fair shake to) a vertigo trade to be selected by me and my fellow cogs.hows that sounds?
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I think you're thinking of the times Buzz and i have bantered as a highlight, not Thalya. Unless you count "I don't owe you anything Vale" "You're a bitch" as a highlight. Oh and my heart weeps for the Hunter-Killer review/Silvestri essay no one read :( /wrists.
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...someone is blowing you a kiss. The * is meant to represent the way your lips purse up when you're kissing. I don't usually see the icon with the ) under it, but that's the closest thing I can think of.
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You big softy.
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The Commies! Those vile bastards! All I have left to give you, my brother, is a quick death. I will avenge you! WOLVERINES!
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Monday shot me!
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DAMN YOU MONDAY! DAMN YOUR EYES! WHY? AARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHH!!!!! I JUST GOT THE CAMERAS FIXED!
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I had no idea what it meant, but a few friends have done that the past few months and just went with it, but hadn't the faintest. I guess it make sense. I still like how I thought that <3 was a penis. Heart my ass. *** Vale, I will eventually get to Hunter/Killer
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(incidentally the title of fanfic #3, if only I can stop focusing on #4 and write #2 - is it really the end of August already? Grr..) ** dreg- I've been following regular Dc comics steadily for 15 months now, though the year prior I collected Morrison's JLA and a couple other things, and I've been in constant learning mode with the DCAU and info online. As for why I'm buying 52? Maybe I haven't yet so thoroughly learned how the majors will screw me over if I let them? Not to mention I'm starting to feel dumb because the 52 issues are getting officially put up online. Though as of right now the series is picking up steam, so who knows.. ** Darth, it's a deal. I'll make that deal with anyone who wants to challenge moreover: 1st Manhunter TPB vs any Vertigo TPB I haven't already read. ** I think 8*) = *shitfaced*
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One issue of Preacher > All of Manhunter. Guaranteed.
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Oi with the language..
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Hahaha good times. But seriously, tho', where's the love?
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the third 100 bullets trade 'hang up on the hang low' or the second preacher trade. and this-8===D is a penis
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Great picks! I vote "Safeword" from Y: The last man, as well. And "March of the wooden soldiers" from Fables is, if i remember correctly, fucking incredible. I remember almost crying. Oh guys, know what i read? All of Walking dead. JESUS H CHRIST!!! It really is as fantastic as everyone said it'd be, i spent like 4 hours glued to my computer screen reading that stuff. No words, should've brought a poet, etc. The whole series is like someone picked out the best kinds of shit and started throwing them at the fan. My analogies > Manhunter.
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That Trade was THE SHIT. I read it 3 times the first night alone. As I'm genuinely trying to keep a limit on the the monthlies (after 20+ years you start to wonder if the hassle of managing the collection is really worth it) I will most definitely be trade-waiting the fuck out of this book.
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and im a tradewaiter
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Glad to hear you've FINALLY read Walking Dead, Vale. Exterminators is the shit aint it, Psy? Read, The Fountain or We3, Thalya. As good as Manhunter may be it probably won't touch those two from Vertigo. 8===D *snicker*
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I'm ah...i just don't, i i i i i i i i i FUCK, what...i don't...what the fuck i...JESUS...i can't talk right now.
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what a mind fuck
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the march of wooden soldiers is a fucking classic...the dialogue between the brother wooden soldiers is certiafiably fantastic. and um, i'm rendering, rather sick and good stuff really...yep...i'm off to go get a life perserver for darth...anyone else need anything?
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The deal was simply a trade-off: I read vs. You read. We weren't comparing quality so much because DC vs Vertigo is apples and oranges (Oi with the competition. Oi with the 8===D envy). And how about this, just to make it simple: it's easier to start at the very beginning (a very good place to start), so just name a series. Fables, maybe? It interests me but my Vertigo bias has been holding me back. And who are the takers on this deal who need to read Manhunter then? Darth?
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First of all, Desmond kicks ass dude. I mean i love that guy. Second, i was totally not expecting to see the outside world ever. I mean one thing that always made me itch was we never got to see anyone like looking for them. Like their families or ANYONE just saying "where are you?". But there is an outside world. I have no idea what's gonna happen now. How did Pen know to look for an electromagnetic anomaly instead of some boat? Is she connected to Hanso and those guys? Where do the Others actually live? God, so many questions...talk to me people! And before you ask, yes i am rendering.
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if u read a vertigo trade. i agree its best to start at the begining but i think we all chimed in with the different trades we feel might best represent the level of quality u can expect with vertigo. id say fables is a good place to start or u can never go wrong with y the last man. dudes named yorick fucking rule.***vale my friend just let it outman.i know what u must be feeling since thats how i felt when i saw it. remember the statues with 4 fingers? what do u make of that? and what the hell was the big white noise/event?and if the searchers where in some cold ass antartica why is the island tropical? belive me that was one of the best mind fucks ive ever had!my brain couldnt walk straight for a week!
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clany brown too
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People, you must forgive me for acting like an asshole sometimes. I don't know what gets into me. It's the hate...all this hate. I blame society. *** Alright, here we go: The statue...is it Homer Simpson's foot? It was suck a cool scene. The white noise even was like, god i was shitting my pants. No idea what it could've been. I was concentrating on Fenry's face, see if he was angry or something. Still, i bet it has nothing to do with Michael Keaton. And the portuguese guys in Antartica? Maybe they're closest? Remember how Arzdtzdt said the only thing south of them was Antartica? Still doesn't explain why there are portuguese people in Antartica.
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Not suck...wtf. And there's an "even" in there that seems to come out of nowhere. I don't know...ah rendering.
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... just noticed Amazon has a very limited stock right now, so that may mean I have to put money into my local business. But if there's anything I can ask you to read is either Mouse Guard or Sidekick.
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as well as the fact that it has nothing but 5 star reviews.hmmm could thalya be onto something? i will find out soon as my order for that and a few other trades has already been put it!
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rendering indeed
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does that count? Haven't read them yet though. I'm behind actually. I've got three weeks of 52 just sitting. MOUSE GUARD is the bestest thing ever. Check out the cover for Octobers issue. Black Axe. Never thought I'd say that a mouse in armor like that would look bad ass
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NO LOST SPOILERS. I WILL SERIOUSLY SELL OUT TO THE ROGUES AND PAY THEM TO MURDER YOUR FUCKING BALLS UNTIL THEY ARE DEAD IF YOU TELL ME ANYTHING PAST SEASON 1. And thus, I'm back.
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Bagley's off Ult Spidey? Shoot me now.
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Thal, my lust, Fables is pretty much the only non-super book I read. (Though that MIGHT have a chance of changing if my fucking copy of fucking Walking fucking Dead would fucking show the fuck up. Fucking Amazon can fucking eat my fucking dick.) The world Fables creates is the first I've ever read that I seriously want to live in. (Mainly for the opportunity to nail Snow White and Rose Red.) I'll pick up Manhunter if you check out Fables. Hell, I'll even turn the cameras off if you read that, and ask nicely ;P
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Fuckin' marvel, man. John Romita Jr's not too busy right now. Yeah, he's drawing Eternals, but that's only gonna be 6 or so issues. Shit man, as long as it's not that screwhead Mark Brooks, I won't cry.
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Mark Brooks wouldn't make me want to cry. JRJR would make me squeal with glee. YEAH SQUEAL WITH GLEE BITCHES. But could JRJR draw a younger cast?
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I am NOT, repeat, NOT looking at Vale's LOST posts. *** And Y The Last Man is the best/most accessible Vertigo book.
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Shig on board with the Lost finally *squeels* umm
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And I actually got some color this past week. None on my damn legs.... but my manly chest, yes.
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plenty o' paley legs, plenty.
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LOL that's fucking hilarious dude!
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It's true. There are issues that really just suck ass, man. In fact, that entire year where Jesse is playing sheriff in some shitty little backwater town was a useless detour. It started off killer, but petered out. HITMAN, on the other hand, started out fun and enjoyable and ended on a seriously heavy and kickass note. I continue to stand by my opinion that HITMAN is Ennis' most impressive work to date. MANHUNTER, BTW, has some really cool stuff so far. Well worth checking out, and I guarantee if you read the first 25 issues it definitely surpasses the Sex Detectives garbage in PREACHER.
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Yeah you're right man. Gotta keep in mind i was being hyperbollic and an ass...it was like a day in JoeQ's pants (you @$$holes are gonna love that one). Still, you gotta admit, a great Preacher issue or arc is something special. *** I started reading Hitman but it isn't as hilarious as i'd been told so i kinda stopped, but i'll pick it up now that you say things start escalating and it turns into something wonderful. Thanks broham.
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Sorry :( In my defense, i was really excited, didn't know what i was doing, didn't stop to consider the consequences/smell the roses, and came out guns a'blazing. Or something. That's cool you being on the Lost bandwagon now. I like you especially because you're behind even me. Not like those other Cogs with their new season starting October 4, the jerks! (Actually you could be one too if you catch up on season 2 before October)
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There's some humor, yeah, especially earlier on. It starts to get more serious and heavier, though. The relationship between Tommy and Natt is like the one between Jesse and Cassidy--but if it never went bad. Two guys who are brothers and stay that way until the end, which is nowhere near as upbeat as you desperately want it to be by the time you get there. All the stuff about hetero man love that Ennis excels at is at its pinnacle here.
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Arn't they opening for Death Cab and AFI this summer?
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It will make you wonder why you ever had a bias towards Vertigo in the first place. There is NO (I repeat, NO) better book on the stands.
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And yes once season 2 comes to dvd I will be ahead of you, and I will mock you from on high!
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*Murders you*
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Sorry, Vale. : ( Tell me about Walking Dead. Who's your favorite character? Etc. *** Glad you liked the pic, Shig. I told the wife that I needed to be holding a purse and have the fort in the background to the left and not to ask questions. *** GreatA, don't, don't, don't group Death Cab with AFI!!! I've got bounds of hetero man love for Death Cab.
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it was...a beach bag.....shit.... okay.
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I rib on two horrible bands, and you have to side with the WORSE one? Fuck! I prescribe two CDs of Vandals and a Ramones chaser. STAT! And seriously man, don't listen to that "I hate my dad, and I want to kill myself but I'm to apathetic to care" crap. UGH!
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...........*snicker*
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You can diss AFI all you want, because Davey Havok is a little pansy, and they went from being a horror-punk band to being indistinguishable from the million other shitty mall-punk wannabe screamo poseurs. But Death Cab is the real deal. Yeah I like their older stuff way better, and I kinda wish Ben Gibbard would do the Postal Service full time instead... but they are still rad. And if you think Death Cab is too "emo" (I think you meant that with your 'apathetic kill myself' phrase) then I would hate to hear what you think about, say, Mineral, Belle & Sebastian or Bright Eyes. Save the hate for Nu-Metal, shit R&B, and Toby Keith.
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My fave Walking dead character is probably...and i don't know if this is weird...Axel. There's something heartwarming about that old pervert, don'cha think? One of the best things about the series is Charlie Adlard, tho'. I mean that fucking guy is SPECTACULAR! I remember people complaining about him and missing Tony Moore and shit, but people are insane, this guy's an amazing artist. I also like how the book has slowly developed its ever-increasing complexity in terms of personal politics, and how you can tell Kirkman has grown as a writer during the course of the series. The first few issues are filled with small moments of bad expository dialogue when none was needed and broad melodramatics, but the book quickly grows into something really fascinating. I never expected it to be as good as it really is. And i'm fucking scared for Rick and the guys right now, can't wait for issue 30! *** I got a confession to make, people: I like AFI. Thus perished Vale's credibility, i know. I mean of course i liked them better when they were...well, good...and i'd seriously recommend their Black sails in the sunset album to...i don't know, some people, but there's something charming about their current melodragothic antics and Davey Havok's slow mutation into womanhood. *** And you guys should share the pics so we can all laugh together like a happy family or something.
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You may have to myspace it up El Valeypoo.
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They did "Soul Meets Body". I can not express how much that song sucks. If I tried I would be here until the sun burns out and the starts fail to shine. SEE?!? That's the same kind of non-sensical faux-poetic bullshit that Death Cab and all those other tosser bands you mentioned are guilty of. BTW AFI, and Havok for that matter, were NEVER punk. Them and Alkaline Trio, and Green Day, and the Offspring couldn't be. They so desperately wanted to be, but punk was a child of it's environment. That being mid-late 70's New Yawk. It's spilled a little to L.A. and London, but then it became the Smiths, and Depeche Mode, and Human League and all that shit over there. Hell, The Clash (and I LOVE The Clash) weren't even a punk band. They played their instruments too well. Yeah, yeah, I know you said horror-punk, but they weren't even that. Hell, the 'Fits weren't even that after Danzig (and I HATE Danzig) went off to do Samhain, or whatever shit he called that. UGH! I hate all that shit! I'm not one of those curmudgeons that only likes the old stuff, but it's like "grunge". It happened once, it was visionary, and it can't happen again. **** FUCK! You got me monolouging Shig! I can't believe you got me monolouging. **** OK! I'm going to try to go positive here. I actually like some new stuff. I like that "Move Along" song. Is that All American Rejects? I dunno, and I can't tell you why. It's peppy. Anyway so ends another un-provoked Turtle rant. Fuck!
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fucking myspace always gives me trouble.
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Thus ends your credibility. It will have fun with Vale's at the bottom of the toilet from Trainspotting. I jest, I jest! And yeah I agree with you about "punk", but I hate arguing over semantics.
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Death Cab is great. Dude, all I gotta say is that if all you think their music is 'I hate my dad, and I want to kill myself but I'm to apathetic to care' emo stuff then you haven't listened to it my fellow Cog. And AFI is easily, not even remotely close, to the band of Death Cab For Cutie. Hell, they can't even touch Ben Gibbard who alone is a singer/songwriter/musician in Death Cab, Postal Service, All Time Quarterback and a multitude of live stuff from folk music to covers of a bunch of stuff. Ben Gibbard is the man. You've never been more wrong, Turtle. And I listen to everything. Don't think this is coming from someone who's favorite band is Blink 182. I love me some Rob Dougan, Oukast, Stars, Thievery Corporation, Zero 7, Devin the Dude, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Remy Zero, UGK and Handsome Boy Modeling School to name a few, err
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BAH!!!!
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Let's not get into that discussion. I will say the turtle is right about AFI not being horror punk; maybe during their early and mostly shitty years they tried to be, but later on they grew into something a lot more substancial; your band isn't horror punk just cause you sport a devil lock just like Jerry Only.
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Heath, any fuck that could write "soul meets body" should be beaten, and called a fag in public by Barry Manilow. Even if his other shit is the tits, it all ENDS with that horrid little ditty. Not fair? Maybe. But I, in all honesty would rather get my music from American Idol than hear the FUCKING SONG one more time. In fact, that is now how I will refer to it from here on to eternity. That FUCKING SONG. FUCK!
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Anybody like TV on the Radio? I heard a song of there's on Entourage (which you should be watching) and I thought it was rad, rad, the shit. It was called Staring at the Sun. And while were on the subject of music, Outkasts new album is easily their worst one, but probably still better than most stuff that's out now.
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...is IMPERVIOUS to you Death Cab cretins. I could like Cher and still be less fem.
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Double BAH!!!!!! Stop while you stikk can. It's not like Soul Meets Body even gets that much airplay. You're telling me that you'd rather here some fuckin Clay Akien over Death Cab? Get in your shell AND the cage!!! And, true story, Barry Manilow (who DID write fucking Mandy) said that Death Cab for Cutie was the worst name for a band he's ever heard, but he IS Barry Manilow.
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Cher? Stop, just stop.
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enough about any of the bands mentioned to join the discussion. yes heath ive heard of devin the dude(replying to your myspace message) he was on several soundtrack compilations that i had but ive never heard his music that i remember. do i need to check him out?
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myspace.com/devinthedude ** He's got three albums out and they all own. It's the pimpest shit you'll ever hear. Dre did a few tracks on his second album, but his first is probably, maybe the best and has Scarface and such on it. Track 7 on it is the most lude little interlude song ever but it was always a good way to get the ladies interested. It's that smooth. Get back to me when you check him out man.
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He's also was/is in FaceMob. Scarfaces group that had an album a decade ago, but well worth it. *** I sent the email Vale.
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and are we going to have another cog civil war? i dotn think the mansion can handle it! to quote wolverine 'we should just rebuild it out of legos next time'
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I won't war over the likes of Death Cab. Oh, and Heath, that FUCKING SONG is played damn near non-goddamn-stop here in the mother fucking Orange Curtain. Ever since that show went on the air, people around here have activly tried to make this place look like that, and if our bullshit Sherrif would give me my Conceal and Carry, I might be able to sleep at night without fear of Juicy Coutre, and Skin Industries zombies eating my brains. Thank God for my shotgun and my battle ready warhammer. Dead Rising is fucking documentary to me!
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That's some serious lack of skin pigmentation in the lower extremities tho', you might want to look into it.
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They may be twee as hell, but they just don't meet any of the criteria for any of the umpteen variants of emo, all of which make me want to punch emo dudes right in the pussy, steal their girlfriends and show them what it's like when you can't share clothes with your goddamned boyfriend, who also doesn't cry when you're fucking.
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They're poseurs and their music is crap. Always has been, always will. Fuck 'em running with an unlubed chainsaw, the sellout piece a' shit motherfuckers. I give them credit for exactly one thing: their commitment to sucking. They've changed their look and style with every album, just like Madonna, but you're always guaranteed it'll suck the dead maggots out of the rotting corpse of Hot Topic Mall Punk.
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And no, that's not a good thing. Go back and listen to Death Cab's last album, guys, and here's what you'll find: at least three or four of the songs are overly romanticized horseshit about dying. What a sad fucking mope. Then keep listening to the music, not the lyrics, and here's what you'll find: you can name the bands or songs each one of those tracks is designed to mimic. Don't get me wrong, it's nice and mellow and listenable, and I've got a soft spot for a handful of the tracks. Listening to it enough times, though, I came to realize then Gibbard really needs to grow some fucking balls and quite whining. The problem is that he's a bigger pussy than Morrisey by leaps and bounds, but lacks both the literary romanticism and the emotional delivery that Moz has. It's not that I don't understand Death Cab's success...it's that I'm disappointed that he band isn't better, and that the fans don't know better. Oh, and they're one of if not the only band to play both of the last two Lollapaloozas, and both sets were too goddamned boring to bother staying around to listen to. Maybe if I'd ever seen them when they used to play the Empty Bottle I'd think differently, but they're not meant for big crowds, that's for sure.
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Lemme tell you guys something: We can talk comics. We fucking learned to talk comics, i have no idea how, but look at this music talk we're having. Sleazy almost shit out his liver he was so angry at AFI for having new clothes! We can't talk music, dude, at least not yet. Movies? Pfff that's fucking easy. Comics? We had a hard time but i think we're pulling it off? Music? Oh boy.
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Shittalking at it's best! I don't think any less of you guys, but now I know my taste in music is better ;P *** Oh and Sleazy, goddammit, I nearly love you man. I knew that if I brought up Moz that it'd get shit on, but now you took the bullet for me. You kick ass.
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If your favorite band isn't Bad Religion, you don't even count. Now go away, i have stuff to do.
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sound like a different language to me.like maybe heathen chinee or some such. its all about pac and biggie. yeah u heard me
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i think its great that the cogs and @$$es have such diverse musical tastes.
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'nuff said
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Have you ever heard of Les Lutiers?
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Careful with the Barry Manilow. Up until about age 10 that's all my mom would let me listen to, and if I'm ("And when can I hold yoooooouuuuuuuuuuuuu.... aaaa-gaaaaaiiinnn") not careful the lyrics to his greatest hits start rushing back. See? I'm talking, like, Manchurian ("I'm your man. I was good then/but now I'm even better/Hey look at me/I've got it all together") Candidate-level brainwashing.
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At the Copa..
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--perhaps even completely incomprehensible comment about the state of the industry or something along those lines that no one notices or everyone chooses to ignore: From Mori's DVD column "DVD has absolutely changed the way I watch TV, and I
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yo, heath, props for mentioning facemob and devin the dude, that man is seriously a pimp. i haven't huuuurd outkast's new album yet...what's the over/under right now? far below previous efforts? lemme know. i fuggin' love the roots...when they are on, there are few that rock harder. the cure-pornography album is always worth a spin or ten. anyone listen to we are scientist. and yes, i'm rendering...a section of a football stadium (soccer for you americans out there). and a prison thing. um...oh, i pop 12 pain pills today...i'm either going to get checked out or develope a pain-killer addiction like brett farve all those years ago...the sad denounement of this is that this pills don't fuggin' work since i don't digest...a really long story...vale will write it for me. and what the hell vale, santa fe are playing rather well lately. jack of fables comes out tomorrow...even more reason for thal to read fables. tony moore's art kicks ass, i agree with whom said that. colbert is inching closer to getting that hungarian bridge named after him...17 million votes and counting. if you haven't seen the decent, please do...very well done. beerfest? any takers? what's everyone favorite beers? and breathe...
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and death cab for cutie raped my childhood...
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haven't read the moriarty column but that is an interesting point. i don't watch tv myself, but i do go to the flicks a lot and watch dvd's ... alot. am into season 2 of KNIGHT RIDER (this show is somehow both hilarious AND cool), checked into season 1 of CURB YUOR ENTHUSIASM, and onmy hit-list is 24 and SIX FEET UNDER ... and probably BOSTON LEGAL thanks to bill shatner's presence ('bill' to his friends, and to those that wish they knew the shat). SO. i totally understand that statement. MACGYVER, FIREFLY, QUANTAM LEAP and A-TEAM are also on my list ... too many ... ***** and thalya - IT IS DONE. the MANHUNTER TP is now waiting for me at the local. for some reason i knew it was a vigilante-themed premise but didn't fully notice until now. it's probably my favourite genre - and am writing a script in that genre right now. can't wait to read. also ordered volume 1 of FABLES. i'm glad you guys mentioned it because i did a little research into the story. sounds great. NEARLY got ASTONISHING VOL. 1 ... and Y THE LAST MAN sounds intriguing. Thanks for the education people, there are some great stories out there ...
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I'm getting Fables TPB #1 on Friday eve if my LCS has it, else I'm quick-ordering it through Amazon. This looks to be good. Anyone read Shadowpact? How much of a comparison could be made between Willingham's writing on both books? dreg, Heathen, Darth, and Turtle, you'll love Manhunter, trust me. And dreg, I imagine you'll especially enjoy it (plus, per your recommendation, I'm already reading Mouse Guard - furry fun!).
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I was merely pointing out that GreatA seemed to have an adverse reaction to music that sounded too "fem" (B&S), and people often lump that with "emo". Besides, fuck that word. People who squibble over which music is and is not 'that word' can go screw. Calling shit emo is so 2001. GreatA, I have a solution to your problem...turn off the radio. Oh and PS Morrisey sucks. He did not suck, but he now sucks. Death Cab's new album is kind of blah but The Postal Service's one album absolves all guilt from said offence, because yeah it's fucking GOOD. Um...what else can I bitch/rant about? I'm going to see The Advantage tonight. A shiny half-pence to the first wanker who tells me who they are and what other awesome band the drummer is in.
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thanks, blackthought. The Dude is fantastic. I brought in my CD's to make some copies for anyone who wants one. The Outkast album is good, but not for Outkast. Easily their worst album. In 12 years I've never been able to be like that. It's always what's thier best, not their worst. Idlewild is by far their worst. It really bothers me too. I friggin love Outkast. But out of 25 tracks there's only about 5 that are really worth it
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I said I didn't like "I hate my dad" music. I can't stand grunge either. Moz is actually better now that he's stopped humping boulders, and written something other than the depressing stuff. Don't get me wrong "sad songs say so much" and all that, but it's the manner in which they're presented that makes all the difference. I actually LIKED that "such great heights" song. *** Thal...I weep. Liknik Park? No, I won't. I'll let it go. Oh, and Manilow. Look I'll be honest, I don't care about him one way or the other except one of the guys on my pool team plays that shit EVERY FUCKING TIME we get to the tables, and not just one song either. Like a goddamn medley of sucktitude. *** I listen to the raido so that I can hear new music. Can't find great shit like "Horrorpops" or "Coheed and Cambira" (OK, not too new, but new to me) without first hearing on the radio. Plus, out here on the BEST coast, we have this lovely little station called Indy 103.1. You may have heard of some of their DJ's. Henry Rollins, Joe Escellante, Steve Jones, Rob Zombie and Sheri Moon, Chrystal Method, Camp Freddie. The Rollins show (Harmony in my Head), for example, is just two hours of Mr. Straight-edge playing incredible music and bitching about the outside world. I don't always agree with him, (He's more left, and I'm more right) but the man is brilliant and it's like have a personal trainer for my "ranting" muscles. *** Ok, here's the deal. I'd love to keep talking about music every so often. I'll promise to keep the discourse from falling down to the insulting level. I can do that. I swear. What, you don't think I can? Who are you? YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAT ME? AWW...FUCK IT! *SHOOMP!*
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I dig that guy. Coheed rocks.
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Very well done. ** http://tinyurl.com/k3bb6 **
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but i will just say LAST
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LAST!!!
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lasticular
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...but I sent you away, OH MANDY! Seriously? Still one of my favorite songs ever. Loved it when I was a little kid, to my parents' eternal consternation.
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It's true.
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Because Manilow ripped off some Brit rocker's song called "Brandy", history was made, and Angel wouldn't be the same without it.
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...not "Brandy, You're A Fine Girl". And yeah, I know it's about a dog *now*...but I sure didn't when I was six. I thought it was a guy who had dumped the perfect girl for him, only to realize his mistake later and regret it enough to write her a song in the hopes of winning her back, which I always hoped didn't work, because we all know he'd just shit on her again leaving her devastated.
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LASTASTIC!!!
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the LAST time the TB went this long? last week? oh yeah...
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WTF man! "Well you kissed me and stopped me from shakin'"...who the hell writes that about a goddamn dog? Now declaring Manilow one of the creepiest sons of bitches ever. In other news, Vale is the least Colombian Colombian ever.
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oh and that new paris hilton album...yeah...er...
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I kid you not I walked into Best Buy ready to get Outkast and I saw the new release rack and a bunch of Outkast albums were gone as well as whatever else came out, but Paris? Heh, her album had not even a single copy bought. The discs were packed tighter than a kid over at Neverlands. Like they were trying to jump over the edge of the racks, not into customers hands, but in an attempt to end their life as what's considered to be a music cd.
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i kinda agree...i personally liked big boi's album better than dre's on their last dual release but the problem with outkast is that dre is all i'm a singer freak type now and big boi still does his streetwise raps...but they do em' seperate and don't really collaborate as a duo anymore...from one of the greatest rap duo's of all time to two guys who rarely work together on the same song with dre going on this "i think i'm prince" trip.
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Together they're the best rap group ever and one of the greatest duo's ever, but with these past two albums? they're not together. It's even more apparent on Idlewild because it's just one disc, but yet the songs are primarily split again. I liked most of The Love Below more than SpeakerBoxxx, but Idlewild is so uneven I don't know what to make of it. I;m trying to listen to it right now, but after going through there other albums today? shit, bad idea on my part. The interludes on there previous albums are better than some songs on Idlewild. Also (I know this is getting long) I think that if they were going to go with a 30's music era feel, then they should have COMPLETELY gone balls to the wall with it. And Andre (who I really do think is a genius) isn't helping the situation by not recording with Big Boi. They need each other to make Outkast work, the pimp and the poet, but I think that Boi needs Dre a little more than Dre needs Boi
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sorry for the test
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big boi is the streetwise rapper while dre is a bit out there...if anything, i always thought that dre needed boi a bit more just to keep him grounded isntead of basking in all the "princeness" and seriously lyrics like "roses really smell like POO POO POO"...just what i think...i do really like dre though but they are vastly better together than apart me thinks.
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Dre is the creative dude who isn't confined by street rap or traditonal music arrangement. I always thought that Boi needed Dre to keep his streetwise side more artistic, giving us stuff like Spottieottiedopaliscious - basically all of Aquemini and ATLiens. Now Boi is putting stuff out like Morris Brown for his lead single. I really like Big Boi but the two of them together could rule galaxies me thinks as well.
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we'll remember them fondly none-the-less.
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what a bullshit Raw Deal analogy. Raw Deal is immune to criticism!
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Last.
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Again.
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Don't you know who I am? I'm the goddamn Loodabagel!
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He lies alla time. Bialy.
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Whaaaa???
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