Denmark,Thank You!

These are my hits since starting the blog in January.We knew it would be a hit in the U.S.,but 34 views in Denmark.Goddamn!23 in Germany,I'm the next Hasslehoff.

United States 2,010

Denmark 34

Germany 23

United Kingdom 19

Canada 16

Russia 6

Singapore 6

Australia 5

Argentina 2

India 2

The Ultimates Movie!

Liking the design for Cap's modern uniform.Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye should be good as well.I need to see a full trailer to get excited,still not yet.

Go Buy "I'm With You"

The Chili Peppers' new album "I'm With You"is fantastic and well worth the $12 bucks it will cost you.Guitarist John Frusciante left the band a couple of years ago,but left the door open for new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer,who proves a worthy,if a bit more held back player.This song is so full of energy and reeks of "Mother's Milk"era Peppers music.Trust your buddy John!(Although I admittedly like the much hated "One Hot Minute"album too)

30 Second Movie Review:Bridesmaids

Yes this is a chick flick.No matter how funny it gets at times,in the end this IS a chick flick.The script by Star Kristen Wiig is full of chick flick moments,from the down on her luck heroine meeting cute with Mr.Right,to the inevitable moment where the newfound love falls victim to said heroine's insecurities,and of course the magic happy ending where our couple ride off into the sunset.What sets this film apart is also the mass vomiting/diarrhea in a sink scene,the main character calling a 14 year old girl a c&#T,and a good amount of other bawdy humor.
Kristen Wiig has been one of the few shining stars of the pretty bad SNL for the last few years,and she excels at playing awkward humor.Maya Rudolph and the rest of the cast play offf of each other well,and if I have one problem it is that the film doesn't focus enough on the other female characters.All of the woman playing the Bridesmaids are funny in their own right,but only Wiig and Rose Byrne share excessive amounts of screen time,and Byrne plays the straight man to all of the goofy characters.Overall 3 stars out of 5.

Conventioneering

I have gotten into a bad habit.Raiding .25 and .50 cent bins at shows,trying to fill series and also buying random odd stuff I find.In the last month I went to Stamford's ComicConn and Classicon in Waterbury,and I have added signifigant amounts to my collection.Not much groundbreaking,but the thrill of finding something you want in a cheap box is quite exhilerating.What is almost equally frustrating is seeing a new book that you paid 4 bucks for in the last year also be in the .50 cent bin,but such is life.Here are some of the things I have picked up at the last few shows.

Yeah I know,this mid 80s series based on the Raiders hero only lasted 34 issues and is not known as being good,but I love Indy,never read it and figure if it takes years to get them all,so be it.I found about 4 issues thus far.

I have been reading the 80s Suicide Squad run,and as Checkmate runs as a sort of sister title and ties in at one point,I figured I'll pick em up.Got about 10 issues of the 33 issue run.

I read IM,but picked this up because it is from November 86,Marvel published most of their books with this style portrait cover,and character border.I want to pick up as many as possible.I own the Daredevil issue from when I was a kid and the Transformers.This is the first I have picked up.

Supposedly a great Legion series,I found about 5 issues of the 12 issue run.Really looking forward to finding the rest.

ASM #262.I never saw this before and found it cornily interesting.It is the only photograph cover ever in ASM's history.The guy on the cover was a stuntman hired in the 80s to play Spidey in what was to be his big screen debut.That uh didn't happen.Peter Parker likes his jeans tight!

Picked up the last remaining books needed to complete the DD 'Born Again"storyline(227-233)by Frank Miller,which I have always wanted to read.

1 of the 2 issues of the 80s Booster Gold series that I am going to start putting together.

Well,thats not all,but some good finds for less than a dollar,and all in generally good condition.NYCC is a few weeks away,but I do not delve into the bins there as carrying all that stuff around can be cumbersome.Keep posted for more cool found schwag.

                                                          

DCU New 52

Ok,so I read some more of the #1 issues,heres some thoughts.

Suicide Squad-Good setup issue,Deadshot is the only hold over from the 80's run,along with a newly svelte Amanda Waller,still in charge of Task Force X.The team is captured and being tortured for info as the book opens,and we learn that all is not as it seems.Does a good job of leaving the reader at a point where you really want to pick up the second issue.

Red Lanterns-Just didn't care for this book.The opening with Atrocitus and Dex-Starr raiding an alien ship was good,but the rest as Atrocitus tries to come to grips with his rage dying out,and the mutiny he has on his hands from the rest of the Reds just didn't pull me in.A cool group of characters that work better in another book.

Green Lantern-Now this was good.Sinestro finds himself a GL again,and Hal Jordan finds himself feeling useless after losing his ring to the former Yellow Corps leader.The book splits time between Hal's struggles to live an ordinary life,and Sinestro's spying on his Yellow Lanterns and his homeworld of Korugar.By books end we have the two misplaced souls looking to change their own fortunes together.

Wonder Woman-I have never been a huge WW fan,I only have read a handful of issues of her books and don't really care.That being said the first issue was fantastic.Brian Azzarello did a great job of bringing a real visceral nightmare quality to these Greek Gods walking the Earth.They don't walk around adorned in gowns and togas,instead they cut the heads off of Horses to birth the Centaurs inside.Diana is charged with protecting a young girl who may be pregnant with Zeus' baby.All manner of Amazonian nightmare is after the girl,it shall be interesting to see where this goes.

Mr.Terrific-Michael Holt is an ex athlete,genius scientist,who fights crime under the guise of Mr.Terrific.A quick flashback lets us know that his wife was killed in a car accident,and he poured all of his energies into his scientific research.Years later something or someone is sending signals that upgrade people's minds and turns them murderous,so Terrific is on the job.Good first issue.

Detective Comics-Bruce Wayne is back as the sole Batman in the DCU,and the first story finds him up against his nemesis,The Joker.Good story,really overshadowed by a shocking last page.

Batwing-Surprisingly good first issue,tremendous art by Ben Oliver.David Zambivi is a good cop amongst bad cops and warlords in the Republic of Congo.Holding onto a plot thread from the old DCU,Batman has chosen David to act as the Batman of Africa.The first issue reads strangely as it starts with a fight between Batwing and a villain,goes into flashback after a few pages and never returns to the present,ending on a cliffhanger that seems to kill off a character that we have seen is alive in the present.Otherwise interesting book.

More to come

Cover To Cover

FF #252,cover by John Byrne.A favorite of mine simply for the sideways cover,and the issue reads the same way.The cover is a basic enough group shot,but is always memorable to me because of the orientation.Uncanny X Men did an issue similar in the early 2000's.Simple,classic cover.

Nothings Perfect

Two casualties to report on the DCU new books front.Writer John Rozum has left Static Shock after issue 1,and JT Krul will be replaced by the writing team of Keith Giffen and current Green Arrow artist Dan Jurgens after issue 3 of Green Arrow.I can only say that the new GA team excites me,as the first issue was ok at best.

DCU New 52

Week 2 of DC's big 5 week long launch of 52 new books has just ended,and as I'm starting this late and haven't read all the books yet,I'll review what I have read so far.That being said I am not going to be reading all 52,so this is just a small group of books.

Action Comics-A nice surprise.Grant Morrison is the most maddening writer,offering sheer brilliance one minute and steaming crap the next.This first issue introduces us to a very young,and very brash Superman,freshly moved to Metropolis from Smallville.We meet General Lane who operates an anti Supes project known as "The City",a very Morrisonesque idea,that basically lends the idea that Metropolis has automated anti meta weaponry in every nook and corner.Lex Luthor is advising the General,and spouts off on his anti alien views,setting him up as Superman's eventual nemesis.Morrison stamps the idea of this being a beginning for The Man Of Steel nicely,with seperate scenes of him being faster than speeding bullets,leaping tall buildings in a single bound(just like the 30's version,this bird can't fly yet)and being(almost)more powerful than a locomotive.Nice start.

Green Arrow-So far a little disappointed.Lots of action,but the characterization of Ollie is a bit offputting for me.This Ollie is much younger,and employs a two person team of weaponeers and tech experts in his crime fighting quest.He is also in charge of something called Q-Core,and works closely with Queen Industries,which the relationship wasn't totally explained yet.It seems that the basis for this new version of GA is the Smallville TV show's version,from pictures I have seen.Hopefully we get a little further in issue 2.

Stormwatch-Mixes elements of Stormwatch and it's spinoff the Authority nicely.The first issue introduces us to the team as they investigate a threatening Moon,try to recruit a new member and meet a new threat/future member.I love the old Authority series when Warren Ellis and Mark Millar wrote it,and hope we can get something akin.The stories in those books were always larger than life,with big concepts,and it seems we are heading down the right path so far.

JLI-The U.N. puts together their own version of a Justice League,and populate it with heroes from all over the Earth.Booster Gold is picked to lead based on his P.R. abilities and commercialism,while other second tier characters join up because they are picked by the constituents of their countries.Batman is rejected as a candidate but in classic Bat fashion works his way on the team as a liason from the JLA.A good set up issue.

Animal Man-Best of the bunch and I had no real interest.Buddy Baker is a part time superhero,actor,activist and family man,struggling to balance his love of being a hero with his love for and responsibilities as a father.This first issue sets us up with Buddy having some physical issues,and the last page presents him with a true parenting predicament.I loved the art by Travel Foreman,especially the black and white dream sequence highlighted in a few frames by the color red.


Still have to read-

JLA
Batwing
Detective Comics
Demon Knight
Red Lanterns
Green Lantern
Suicide Squad
Swamp Thing
Frankenstein

These will follow soon.

HOVA

I'm not as well versed in rap as I was 20 years ago,and I'm not a true fan of either Jay or Kanye,but this song,based on that Otis Redding sample and simply titled Otis,is the shit.You can tell thay had fun making this record and the video is proof.I may burn this record if someone I know owns it.

DC 9 11 Craziness

On Wed September 12th 2001,DC comics released Adventures of Superman #596,a comic that was a part of the "Our Worlds At War"story.In an incredible coincidence,this panel of LexCorps Tower was included in that comic,one day after 9/11.DC made the book returnable by retailers if people felt it was offensive.It was obviously a coincidence,but it is pretty crazy.The other panel of Martian Manhunter and Plastic Man features two very WTC like buildings with very eerie damage on one of the monitors behind them.

Let's Catch Up

All I seem to do anymore with any regularity is work,so the posts have been slow coming.Heres a quick update on what has been watched,read,experienced.

Comics-Flashpoint led us into a new DC universe,and so far the only book I have read has been Stormwatch.I was never a reader of the original title,but loved the spinoff title The Authority.The new book seems to take elements of both,and add a touch of new beginnings and origins.We meet up with the Stormwatch team as they try to invite superhuman Apollo to join their fold.We learn the Martian Manhunter was a member of the JLA,but now works with SW.Besides the recruiting mission,the story expands to some kind of horn in space that as footnoted will be prominent in the first issue of Superman coming out in a few weeks(yeah,I said space horn),that the team is trying to ascertain it's purpose.We get a last minute intro to a fan favorite character who at this point seems to not be a member of the team as well.An interesting first read,I look forward to number 2.I also picked up the first issues of Animal Man,Swamp Thing,Action Comics,Green Arrow,JLI and Detective Comics.

The other big read of the week was The Big Lie,Rick Veitches' no holds barred 9/11 story,that incorporates all kinds of superscary facts that point to the attack being more of an inside job than anyone would want to believe.Whether or not you do or don't believe that it was more than a terrorist attack(I am personally curious but not sure),this story is solid.The main body of the story follows a scientist who figures out time travel in 2011 and goes back to a week before the attacks to save her husband,who worked at and died in the WTC.When she arrives she learns that her method wasn't precise and it is 7:30 AM on Tuesday September 11th 2001.The rest of the story is cleverly disguised as a way to pass along alot of the real misinformation and oddities that occured on that day and since,in the form of the dialogue between a frantic wife and her non believing husband.As she relays more and more info to her husband and his colleagues at a risk management firm,we feel the clock ticking,and the inevitable ending is harsh and endearing.A great read,let alone comic book.

I have also been reading my recently put together complete run of the 80's Suicide Squad series.So far I'm only on issue 8,but I can see what all the fuss is about.The plot is simple,DCU villains get a chance to have their sentences commuted to time served if they complete dangerous missions for Task Force X,a shadowy government division run by Amanda Waller.Getting out of these missions alive is a whole other story,and there have already been losses.Great writing which really lends weight to the plight of these characters,and the revolving door nature of some of the cast allows us to have different characters take place in the action.Great read so far.

TV-Sons Of Anarchy started up again and picks up 14 months after season 3 ended,with all of the SAMCRO members being released from prison and finding out that there is literally a new sheriff in town.BNy the end of the first episode we learn that Jax is ready for the change he has been working towards since season 1,the Russians should never have screwed the Sons over and there is more than a new police force in town watching SAMCRO's moves.

My wife and I have been watching True Blood season 3 on DVD,and I must say that this show remains a guilty pleasure.I cannot name a show that has more characters I hate,more lame brained subplots,and more corniness that I actually enjoy.Every season delves deeper into the sheer weirdness that occurs in Bon Temps, Louisiana and as it gets more ridiculous,I like it a bit more.This year so far we have had the weirdest sex scene I have ever seen,bat shit crazy vampire Franklin,and the revelation that Sookie is a...well watch it to see.

Until next time...

It All Changed Here

Only have a short minute to write this, have to get on my way to work, but just wanted to give my thoughts on Flashpoint #5.

Simply put, it was amazing, everything about it, from the art, to the writing was top shelf, it brought everything together in an extremely satisfying way, and if you are not touched by the two emotional scenes with Barry and his mom, and then Barry and Bruce, there is something wrong with you, the scene with Bruce would have made Bob Kane proud.