Halloween Treat - Misery Depot

Just in time for Halloween, Jim Sheeley's Twitter pointed me towards Misery Depot, a new, on-line comic that I found to be quite good. Go ahead and click on the below image to go over to their site where you can either read the first issue in full, or download it for yourselves. I'm looking forward to the second issue.

Powell's Endorsement of Obama

Despite being fairly liberal, I'm a pretty jaded person when it comes to politics and politicians. It's very hard today to find a moment in any campaign which is truly genuine and doesn't come off as mere recitation of the normal talking points. That said, Colin Powell, in his endorsement of Barack Obama had, what seemed to me, to be a very beautiful, genuine moment on Meet the Press today by refuting the assertion that Barack Obama is a Muslim, but then going further by questioning what would be wrong if he was. Below is the video of his endorsement, forward to 4:30 to see the portion that I just wrote about. To me, it was the shining moment of this ugly political season.

Friday Night Fights - Ladies' Night: Round 10

And with tonight's fight, let's bid adieu to Manhunter as an on-going series.
We will honor your trades, even as we pray for a re-launch.

Bahlactus knows the score!

Cubs Bashing in the Media

I mean really, must you kick us while we're down?

First there was this:



Then, SNL came through with another gut-punch:



I mean...crap.

Quick Q&A

Fortunately, after refilling Calvin Pitt's belly with rejuvenating, content-enabling rum, the posting St. Bernard had some left over for me. So here's a quick Q&A that's been going around:

Favorite Regular Series:

This is a thougie, a month ago I would have said All-Star Superman (stretching the definition of "Regular"), but that series ended. I want to say The Immortal Iron Fist, but I'm not confident enough in the new creative team to give them the full stamp or favoritism. Right now, today, I'd have to say Captain America, it's the book that I usually have to crack open in the shop's parking lot just to see what happens next. Blue Beetle gets an honorable mention.


Comic book character you only recently discovered/started reading?

I'd have to say Iron Fist. I hadn't really paid the character much mind until the newest series started up, which I picked up as a whim due to liking both Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction's previous work. It quickly became one of my favorites ever.

If you could write/draw one character, who would it be?

I share Calvin's hesitation on this one, simply because I'd fear screwing the character up. For that reason I think I'd prefer to go through the tons of forgotten, public domain heroes that have since fallen by the way-side since the Golden Age. Granted Alan Moore did it first, and very well with Terra Obscura and Jeff Parker did similar work with Agents of Atlas, but there's got to be a lot out there that's just waiting to be rediscovered.

Are you a big fan of multi-issue crossover extravaganzas?

Yes, if they're done well, which, since they are not really ever done well, I guess my answer is no. Granted, Annihilation was fantastic (and its sequel, Annihilation: Conquest, just slightly less-so) and despite not meaning to, I'm picking up pretty much every tie-in to Final Crisis, but, those are the exceptions that prove the rule. I've sat out every big cross-over since Infinite Crisis and haven't missed anything.


Last comic book series you dropped and why?

X-Factor. Mostly because it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. The best character was abandoned in an alternate future and doesn't seem to be returning anytime soon. There's no real direction for the series and it just seems to be bouncing from event to event with nowhere to go. Plus, I really don't like Larry Strohman's art.

Favorite character?

Jack Knight Starman. No doubt about it. If you're not in the know, go buy the book (or find the soft-covers that are sure to be all over eBay right now).

Are you a DC or Marvel fan?

I was originally a Marvel-zombie, but DC just seems to be resonating with me more right now. Despite their miss-steps, DC just seems to be taking more chances and building more actual new characters rather that concepts. Looking at series like Blue Beetle, Booster Gold and Manhunter, I just can't see Marvel taking chances on stuff like that.

Do you remember your first comic/series?

I can remember having a copy of my brother's Nova #13 from the 70's, but MY first comic was an over-sized, treasury edition of G.I. Joe #1, and I bought every issue from then on through the mid-60's (actually, #65, introducing Zanzibar! And it was illustrated by Todd McFarland).

Is Watchmen the movie going to be as good as the comic book?

Nope. But, in its defense, it can't be. Watchmen, more than its basic story, is an examination of comics themselves, of the form. There's no way you could get the same effect out of a movie, no matter how much time you give it, or how much money you pump into it. That is not to say that it can't be a good movie, it just can't be the same thing as the book.

Favorite comic book movie?

Right now, today? I'd say The Dark Knight, but I'm hesitant, simply because it's so new. My answer could probably be different in a year, when I have some more perspective. That said, if not The Dark Knight, I'd say Spider-Man 2, that movie is darn near perfect.

Worst comic book movie?

I'd have to say Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Not only because it was so dreadful, but because it wasted a Superman movie that had both Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman. I mean really, you couldn't do any better than that?

Character you'd like to see in a movie?

Nova, really. I think it'd be pretty darn easy to make a Nova flick. He's got n easy to understand origin, a (recently-redesigned) costume that could be realized pretty easily in the real world. Plus, since he's rather obscure, there won't be as much bitching if you change large swaths of his back-story.


Series that you'd like to see on TV?

Gotham Central. It's no secret that this is one of my favorite series ever, but it's concept (Law & Order: Gotham City) is one of the easiest to translate to series TV. There was a rumor back in the day, that the comic series was developed to be possibly turned into a TV series, but that the Birds of Prey TV series put the kibosh on it. Too bad.

And that's that.

A Note on the Stock Market

Always invest with Reliable Investments:

Best Single Panel of 2008

I really can't explain it, but this panel (from Secret Six #2), brought me a disproportionate amount of joy:

Anger, Sadness, But Mostly, Crushing Disappointment

Life is just a series of peaks and troughs. And you don't know whether you're in a trough until you're climbing out, or on a peak until you're coming down. And that's it you know, you never know what's round the corner. But it's all good. "If you want the rainbow, you've gotta put up with the rain." Do you know which "philosopher" said that? Dolly Parton. And people say she's just a big pair of t**s.--David Brent (Ricky Gervais), The Office

That quote pretty much sums up the Cubs season this year. while we fans thought we were still climbing to the peak as they entered the post-season, we only realized that this was the come-down as we watched them play horribly for three straight games, making every single mistake that they possibly could. This has led me to wonder why it ended like this. Why did this team that inspired so much confidence, fall so hard?

1. Were they simply not a very good team? No, they were a fantastic team. An easy way to tell this was that every position player and every starting pitcher would have been a starter on any other team in the league. Very few other teams could claim that. While no one player had the insane stats that lead to awards, every single one of them was good, very goo.

2. Was the team cursed, or done in by the history of losing on the Northside. Fuck no. Let's face it, both the "curse" and the "loser mentality of the Cubs" are there for lazy journalists to write stories about. It allows them to not have to watch the team or actually learn anything new, or, y'know, do their damn jobs. Seriously, when the jack-ass who was doing the second Cubs/Dodgers game on TBS made a reference to the "100 years of failure weighing heavily on the Cubs players" I wanted to drive to 1060 W. Addison and punch him in the dick. Twice.

3. Were the Cubs simply a very good team that played very badly for three games. You betcha. I can't explain it, and I doubt they could either. They looked so flat, so not-there that I'm hard-pressed for an explanation. They exhibited every bad habit that they had shown off-and-on during the season. The walks, the lack of taking pitches, the swinging for the fences on every damn pitch. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuckity-fuck fuck.*

I think the biggest reason that I'm so despondent about this is that there was so much confidence going into the post season this year. I was convinced, convinced that the Cubs were ticketed for the NLCS at the very least. They beat the crap out of the Dodgers ad the Brewers during the season, and don't talk to me about Manny fucking Ramirez, if the Cubs had done what they could have just walked him every damn plate appearance. Fuck that guy.

I know, I'm losing my mind, but soon enough the crushing disappointment will fade and I'll be left with the good memories of this yea. I saw a bunch of good games, watched Alfonso Soriano hurt himself, live, twice. I watched the Cubs come back in the eighth inning from four runs down on an insane Aramis Ramirez grand slam, on my Mom's birthday, after she and my Dad left the game because they thought the Cubs would lose. Got insulted by my friends for dancing to Go Cubs Go. Man, what a bunch of good times. So I look forward to next April, when the numbers are re-set, and we get one more chance to win it all. Win or lose, it's going to be a good time.

*OK, this is the point where I go totally off the rails.

Friday Night Fights - Ladies' Night: Round 9

It's Friday night, and it's time for Catwoman to

TAKE OUT THE TRASH!

This throw-down courtesy of Catwoman: Crooked Little Town by Ed Brubaker and Brad Rader.
Do yourself a favor and pick it up (or not, since it's apparently out of print).
Friday Night Fights brought to us all by Bahlactus!

Les McClaine Makes Drawings for Me (and, possibly, You)

Les McClaine, the fantastic artist and co-creator of The Middleman, is currently offering an amazing deal on ten dollar drawings on his web site, here are two I had him do for me:

The Demon, Etrigan

O.M.A.C.

I'd highly recommend running by his site and picking some up for yourself.

September's Box O' Love

OK, that sounds kinda dirty, but what the hell. Anyway, Since I started ordering the bulk of my big-ticket items every month from Discount Comic Book Service, each month I've been receiving a sizable box of hardcovers, trades and the occasional, severely discounted single issue. While I've long considered reviewing these boos en mass, that's proved unworkable, mostly because, I'm kind of lazy. Anyway, I'm going to attempt to at least post each month with the contents of the box, and my first impressions. This shouldn't be that hard, since most of this stuff I'm buying for the second or third time, so let's g to the box:

Gotham Central: Volume 1

Case in point, this is the third time I'm buying this content, however, I'm excited that DC is collecting this whole series now, rather than the rather piecemeal way they had done it before, leaving out random issues and story-arcs (I know it wasn't exactly random, but it still bugged me). ANYWAY, if you've talked to me about comics for more than five minutes, you'll know that this is among my top-three favorite series ever. The set-up seems simple: what does it mean to be a cop in a superhero universe. Specifically, Gotham City. The series focuses on the Detectives of the Major Crimes Unit, hand-picked by (now former) Commissioner Gordon, they are the one division of the entire department not rife with corruption. These are the best of the best, and they really don't like the fact that whenever there's a serious threat, they have to sit on the sidelines while some asshole in a bat get-up is called in to save the day. I really could go on for several hours about my love of this series (and I may in a future post), but suffice to say, this is the best superhero book for non-superhero readers and I can't recommend it enough.




A Tribute to Gene Colan

Paging through this book, I was shocked to see how much work Mr. Colan did for Marvel in the 1970's. This book, put out to help him out in his current time of need collects several stories with remembrances written by current writers (Ed Brubaker) and past collaborators (Stan Lee). There's some good stuff here, some old-school Iron Man, some Dr. Strange, some Tomb of Dracula (which reminds me, I really need to pick up that Essentials collection), and an excellent Dr. Doom story. Another great book, that helps out a great cause.






Batman: The Black Glove

Continuing Grant Morrison's run on Batman, The Black Glove kicks off with the Club of Heroes story, which is, quite simply, the best three issues of any Batman comic I've read in years. It does what Morrison does best, combines the bat-shit crazy with the f@#$-yeah awesome with a light topping of emotional resonance. It helps that J.H. Williams III drew the fuck out of it too.

Also collected in this tome is the less successful follow-up arc bringing back the three crazy replacement batmen that had previously shown up in Morrison's first arc. It's certainly not bad, but there's a bit of a let-down from the excellent preceding arc, and the fact that, while not awful, Tony Daniel isn't a very good artist.

Black Summer

And finally, I picked up Warren Ellis's Black Summer. I had picked up the first two issues of this series initially, and they were good, but nothing exceptional, but I was done in by the discount on this one. Me and my love of bargains.

Anyway, the set-up is, what happens if Superman realizes that George W. Bush's actions in Iraq are criminal and then decides to kill the President and his cabinet? Well, according to Warren Ellis, the US Government will then try to go to war with his friends. This is a fight comic writ large, and while there's not a lot here, it's still pretty cool.

So that's what I got this month, I'll try to keep up in the next few.

Live Tonight: The Wedding Present [Updated]

Going to see The Wedding Present, one of my favorite pop-rock bands from my college days. Not much to say, other than that I'm sure that I'll be seeing a great show and I highly recommend you check them out when they come to your town. Here's their most recent video:



UPDATE: So check all that above, instead of going to the show, I'll be attending the Cubs vs. the LA Dodgers tonight. I am very fucking stoked.

Live Tonight: My Bloody Valentine

Continuing my week o' shows, tonight, we have shoeazer legends My Bloody Valentine. Despite the hefty price ($40 before fees) and the crap venue (the cavernous Aragon Ballroom), I knew if I skipped this show, I'd be kicking myself for eternity. Needless to say, I'm excited...and I'm bringing earplugs. Enjoy this little slice of feedback-y heaven:

Live Tonight: Stars

Beginning tonight, I'm seeing a stunning 3 live shows in one week. This may not seem too amazing, but seeing as I'm getting old, I can't remember the last time I had a log jam like this. Fortunately, all three bands are favorites, especially tonight's, the Canadian pop outfit Stars. I've been a fan since picking up their first EP A Lot Of Little Lies For The Sake Of One Big Truth. I own all of their albums (all available on eMusic), and there;s not a clunker in the bunch, though I'd start with their latest, In Our Bedroom After the War. Here's the video for one of my favorite singles, Elevator Love Song:

Get Your War On: Animated

This is so fucking wrong, but it makes me laugh so much:



Oh, this one cracks me up too:

CUBS WIN! (well, kinda)

As a huge Chicago Cubs fan, I am unbelievably stoked that they've gotten into the post-season yet again. However, as a Cubs fan, this means, that a week from today I will be entering into a new form of daily stress, that which is only rivaled (in my experience) by having a newborn child. So, if I start updating with nothing but tirades of expletives, I hope you understand.

Anyway, I guess I'll just soak it in for the next few days. Here's something to enjoy, though I'm not the biggest fan of Pearl Jam, or, Eddie Vedder, I've gotta admit, his Cubs song, "All the Way", isn't bad:

Dear DC,

While I am very thankful that you have decided to collect my childhood favorite, Justice League International into some very nice hardcovers, but, couldn't you have fixed some of the rather sketchy lettering? For example:



I understand that it was the same in both the original issue and the first paperback collection, but come on, I'm now buying this book for the third time, why can't you help me out?

Then again, this new collection did provide me with the wonder of this full-page throw-down between Rick Flag & Batman:



So I guess I should just shut my yap and wait patiently for volume 3.

Friday Night Fights - Ladies' Night: Round 7

Featuring:
Black Canary
Vs.
Rocket Red

FIGHT!

Ahhhh...feels good to be back. Thanks be to Bahlactus!

This little slice of heaven was brought to you by Justice League International Volume 1.

Anatomy of a Pull-List: Yet Again

Conditional Jeff's recent post on his pairing down of his pull list has led me to take a look at mine. Back in March '07, I blogged about it, so I figured I'd do it again. I'm of two minds about my pull list, while I enjoy reading comics, I really don't care for collecting them. I'd much rather have a square-bound book I can throw on a bookcase rather than a floppy I'll just end up throwing in a plastic tub in the basement. I essentially have two rules when it comes to buying singles, generally, I'll only buy titles if:

1. The book needs every single reader in order to keep cancellation at bay (the late, great, no really great, Gotham Central).
2. The book comes out so, very, very rarely, I'll be in the grave long before it gets collected (Planetary).

With those rules in place, let's see what's on the list:

Blue Beetle: Perfect example of rule #1. A fantastic book that nobody buys. A fun yet poignant look at what being a teenage superhero really could be (at least in the DCU). This is the type of book everyone bitches that comics companies don't publish anymore. Unfortunately, the same people who bitch like that, don't buy this book.

Manhunter: Rule #1. On the other side of the spectrum from Blue Beetle, there's Manhunter. This is a dark(ish), street-level, superhero book that still manages to be light on it's feet. This book proves you can explore "adult" themes in a superhero book without having to lean on rote uses of bad language and sex. Really, this book and Blue Beetle are very similar, in that they are about new heroes, still finding their way in the DCU. Also, they both feature a very deep cast of characters that both lean on, and enrich, the underlying continuity of the DCU.

Booster Gold: This series is a lot of fun and nobody buys it. Rule #1.

The Immortal Iron Fist: I have a lot of love for Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction. Put plainly, they're easily my favorite writers working today. The fact that they tend to work together is even better. Oddly enough, after 16 amazing issues of Iron Fist (and a gang of Specials and Annuals) they departed for the more lucrative waters of the X-Men. Normally, that would lead me to drop a title, but, after two issues of Duane Swierczynski and Travel Foreman's run, I think I'm staying on this book for the long haul. Though Foreman's work isn't really to my taste, the writing is mirroring Bru & Fraction's deft touch..

Captain America: This is pretty much the only title that deviates whole-hog from the rules, but Brubaker is just doing so much with this book, that I have to read it every month. This is pretty much the only book that I just can't bring myself to wait for the trade.

Hellboy: Hellboy is a tough nut for me. On one side, this was originally a rule #2 title, in that we were lucky to get a mini every two years or so, but now that Mignola is farming out the art (to very gifted artists, mind you) the series is coming out at a quite regular clip. I should switch to trades, but it's so darn good.

Nova: I've long had a soft spot for Nova since I was a kid and the current series, launching out of the superlative Annihilation event is a hoot. The only problem is that it's almost doing too well. I may have to drop this one in favor of trades soon.

X-Factor: This series, on the other hand, is gone. Despite holding up admirably in the face of God knows how many cross-overs and tie-ins, there just doesn't seem to be any actual story there any more. I re-read the first few years of this book and I forgot how good it was when they didn't have to deal with the House of Civil Invasion We Stand bullshit.

Criminal: Criminal, which could easily fall under rule number 1, also has the distinction of having created the new, Rule #3: the single issue delivers more content than the trades. Criminal is almost more than a comic, it's a crime magazine. The back-up essays (which are not in the collections) are almost worth the price of admission on their own. I almost inevitably end up running to my Netflix cue the evening when the newest issue comes out, and that's a good thing.

Fell: Well, though this book came out at a fairly good clip originally, it's fallen into a rule #2 book. That said, it also usually as some good backmatter and hey, it's only $2, so you really can't go wrong.

Trinity: You know, I really liked 52, it was far from perfect, but it was great to have a book that you wanted to read there every week. Luckily, I sat out Countdown, since conventional wisdom has indicated that it was crap on toast. Due to Busiek being in the driver's seat on Trinity, I was in from the start, and, to be honest the jury is still out. I've enjoyed what I've read, but man, it's pretty dense, and I don't even think they've gotten to the main plot line yet. I have the last 14 weeks of books in a stack, so I think next weekend, I'm gonna go through i all in one sitting and make a final decision to see if I'm in for the long haul.

Planetary: Oh yeah, almost forgot this one. Apparently, there's one more issue to go, I'll be lucky if I see it before my 5 year-old hits college.

So that's what I'm getting. There are a few other books that I'll pop in on here and there, but these are the only ones on the official list. Here's a quick look at what I've dropped recently.

Astonishing X-Men: A rule #2 title, but once Whedon finished his run, the getting seemed to be good. I'm sure I'll pick up Ellis's run in the trades, but it's not required reading anymore.

Ex Machina: Bunch of reasons for dropping this one: 1) it doesn't need me anymore, I have a feeling Vaughn has the rope to run this title as long as he wants. 2) the schedule is spotty. 3) It reads far better in collected form. 4) Those hardcovers they just started coming out with are purty, so that's the far better investment for me.

That was fu, maybe I'll hit up the series I'm getting consistently in trade-form next, but that could be just too depressing to contemplate.

Movie Review: Death Race

The brainless action picture has been in a rut of late. Ever since Arnold Schwarzenegger got a more respectable job (in theory), Stallone decided his movies had to "mean" something, and Mel Gibson went bat-shit insane there really hasn't been anyone to take up the slack. Sure, Jet Li made an admirable attempt, but, unfortunately, his American flicks tend to be crap. Fortunately, Jason Statham came along and has finally provided TNT with new movies to show at midnight for drunk college kids (and myself) to watch. The latest of these is Death Race, ostensibly, an update of Death Race 2000. I haven't seen the original in over ten years, so my memory is a little hazy, but I seem to remember it going for a more satirical edge than this, incredibly straight-forward action flick. And straight-forward it is, this is one lean movie.

The set-up is that it's 2012 and the economy is in an even worse shambles than it is right now, and because of this, all of the nation's prisons have been out-sourced to for-profit companies (funny, I thought this had already been done). Anyway, these companies make their money by putting on gladiatorial competitions, the most popular of which is Death Race. Jason Statham, a just-laid-off steel worker, is framed for his wife's murder and thrown in the clink. Apparently, the star of the Death Race enterprise, Frankenstein, is under the weather, and his corporate master, Joan Allen (slumming, the disdain for the things she has to do to pay the mortgage on her place in the Hamptons, showing on her face) needs someone to wear the Frank mask. Fortunately, her new inmate, Statham, happens to be a kick-ass driver! What a coinky-dink! You don't think that, perhaps, Allen had something to do with his wife's death do you? DUN-DUN-DUNNNNNN!

The thing is, there's no doubt she had his wife killed, in fact, there's nothing mysterious about this movie at all, no shocking reveals, no characters changing sides, everything is exactly as it seems to be, and it's kind of refreshing. They don't dick around with character development or plot, they just get straight to the death-racin', which is pretty cool. The whole thing is set up like a video game, in order to use their guns or defensive weapons, the drivers have to pass over power-ups on the course. It's made up of three races with increasing difficulty and a whole ton carnage.

This is a fun movie, there were times I was literally laughing at the insanity, and that's a good thing. Obviously, it's not a "good" movie, but it does exactly what you'd want a movie named Death Race to do. The only big problem with the movie is the track. All three races take place on the same, abandoned warehouse/industrial site and it's gets old quick. If there is a sequel, I seriously hope that they take the race out on the road, just to break up the monotony. The only other problem is that Ian McShane was in the movie and he didn't say "cocksuker" even once. I mean, if you're going to have him in a R-rated flick, why the hell not? Though Joan Allen does say it once, so that's gotta count for something.

Also, it could just be the few IQ points peeled off by seeing this movie, but now I'm excited for Fast & Furious. That trailer looked pretty darn cool.