You are currently browsing the archives for May, 2007
§ May 8th, 2007 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on This elephant had the right idea.
So I went to the Los Angeles Zoo yesterday, and you know that scene in the first
Jurassic Park movie, where the characters are being given their first tour of the attraction, during which no dinosaurs are seen and Malcolm (I think) says something along the lines of “it’s not much of a dinosaur park if you don’t have any dinosaurs.”
That’s kinda how it felt at the zoo yesterday. Several exhibits were “under construction,” so, for example, all the gorillas were put up in, presumably, a Motel 6 somewhere and we got to see construction crew in hardhats instead. And the animals that were there were all hiding in burrows or caves or otherwise in the shade because it was too freakin’ hot.
Okay, things improved as the day went on, and we did get to see plenty of animals, and I got to take lots of oddly-framed photos like the one above, and we had a lot of fun and a lot of three-dollar bottles of water, those bastards.
Why am I telling you about my zoo trip on my comics weblog, you may be asking? Because even at the freakin’ zoo, I couldn’t get away from the funnybooks. See, the L.A. Zoo just opened up, on May 3rd, a new special exhibit called Spider City, featuring lots of little, and not-so-little, eight-legged friends. It was inside a darkened building, with wall displays and glass cases filled with the critters…and as part of the exhibit, there were several large posters on the walls featuring mocked-up spider-themed comic book covers. We were told no flash photography inside the building, so no pictures, but in retrospect the posters were lit enough to have been picked up by my camera. I FAIL AT WEBLOGGING. So, you’re just gonna have to take my word for it that the exhibit had a comic-book theme to it (with a touch of ’50s sci-fi/horror mixed in…one display had the spider enclosed in a tiny scale model of an apartment, which had on its walls even tinier movie posters for films like Horrors of Spider Island and other MST3K favorites). Many of the educational signs strewn about the exhibit also emphasized the spiders’ “super powers” (leaping great distances, strength relative to size, heat vision, stuff like that).
I did take one photo of the exhibit’s entrance, because I thought it was neat:
And just in case you thought this was just a total coincidence that this Spider City exhibit opened at about the same time
Spider-Man 3 was released…the gift shop just outside the exhibit was filled with Spider-Man merchandise, and was flanked by one of the large cardboard
Spider-Man 3 displays you probably saw in your local theatre. Hey, whatever gets kids’ attentions, I guess.
Should have taken a photo of that, too. GAH. There I was, “having fun” and “relaxing” instead of thinking about generating content for my comic book site. Some weblogger I am.
Instead, here’s a photo of a couple chimpanzees staring each other down, just prior to the one on the left wigging out and going on a chimp rampage:
Honestly, it was really cool. He was smaking the ground, chasing other chimps around, throwing fruit at them…um, probably should’ve shot a pic of that, as well.
Since I mentioned the Spider-Man 3 display…have you all seen the theatre lobby display for the new Fantastic Four movie? The one that features a nearly-life-sized chomelike-substance-plated statue of Silver Surfer on his board? It really is a sight to see, and this time I have an excuse for not taking a picture of it, since I think having my digital camera in a movie theatre is a good way to get myself…disinvited, shall we say. And I couldn’t find an image of it online, either, so if you do get a chance to check it out at your local cinematic googolplex…well, do it quick before someone breaks it (like they did to the life-size Simpsons family couch display at our theatre).
From the eBay sales…here’s a final total on one of the pregraded ‘n’ sealed CGC comics (a “9.6”) we put up on the eBay a week or two back:
That’s a sale that the people and ‘zines who care about this sort of thing probably wouldn’t be too anxious to advertise. It certainly surprised
me, given the usual emphasis placed by certain price guides on how having your books “professionaly graded” will increase their values.
As to why we’re carrying the pregraded books in the first place, when we’ve mostly avoided them before: we had a bunch dumped on us in a collection of signed books and variant covers that we acquired basically for a song from a customer of ours. He’s moving, and didn’t want to haul them along. So even at ninety-nine cents per book, we’d still be ahead. Thankfully, the other CCC books did sell for a little more (mostly 10-20 bucks a pop, for Jim Lee Batman and more Origin).
And now…a tortoise with his head in his bowl:
§ May 7th, 2007 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on Batman Forev…um, I mean, Spider-Man 3.
One of the few times in the film Spidey manages to keep his mask on.
So, Spider-Man 3. As I predicted a few days ago, it was entertaining, but wasn’t as good as Spider-Man 2 (and here’s my review of that film). Not to say it was bad, but it wasn’t as well-paced and forward moving and as…innovative, I guess, as the previous two installments. It had a feeling of “okay, we’ve seen this. What else you’ve got?”
It did do a reasonably good job of weaving all the plotlines and villains and romantic entanglements together, and felt a bit like reading any given issue of Amazing Spider-Man from the 1970s, written by Gerry Conway. For some people, I realize that’s not a compliment, but I happen to like the confused melodrama of ’70s Marvel Comics. Not necessarily good, but entertaining, much like this film.
So, there be SPOILERS AHEAD, mateys…though, as I saw someone mention somewhere, if any of the developments in this film come as any surprise to you, you’ve either 1) never ever read a comic book before in your life, or 2) you somehow managed to avoid the trailers. So, that said, let’s get into some of my spoilery observations of the film, immediately after this image of Tobey Maguire emoting. When you see his next emotion, spoilers will be over. Okay? Okay!
- I was very surprised that they went for the extraterrestrial origins of Venom (who, by the way, is never called by that name in the course of the movie, that I recall). It would seem opening up the Spider-films to “beings from outer space” is some kind of violation of the film’s environment, but perhaps that’s overthinking it. But you know someone, somewhere, is complaining that Spidey didn’t get his black costume from the Secret Wars planet, like in the comics.
I also sort of want to call “no way” on the coincidence of that meteor with that Venom-critter just happening to fall within crawling distance of Peter Parker, but I guess I don’t really have any reason to. I mean, if that’s the “gimme” you need to get things going, okay, I’ll work with you there.
- You know, if you’ve got some Thomas Haden Church in your movie, you’ve got yourself some quality. And Good Lord A’mighty, if his portrayal of the Sandman didn’t look like it popped right out of a page drawn by Steve Ditko….
However, the attempts at making him a sympathetic character sort of fell flat for me. In Spider-Man 2, Alfred Molina’s portrayal of Doctor Octopus had some emotional weight, as we got to know him before the fall into villainy. He was a hero of Peter’s and was genuinely friendly to him, he had a loving relationship with his wife…so when the fall came, it had that much more of an impact. By contrast, the Sandman is just a thug made sympathetic because, well, let’s see…got it! He has a sick kid! That cliché always works! Church did his darnedest to sell it, though.
- A couple more things about Sandman:
1. His origin was beautifully presented, as he attempts and reattempts to reform his body out of sand. I thought that was particularly well done.
2. That “demoleculizer” pit (or whatever) that he fell into…you’d think there’d be a guard rail or a cover or something. “DANGER – POSSIBILITY OF DISINTEGRATION.”
3. Plugging the Sandman into the death of Uncle Ben does the one thing almost no one has been able to do with Spider-Man’s origin: it screws it up. Spider-Man has one of the most perfect origins in the history of superherodom…making the burglar not the direct killer of Uncle Ben dilutes the impact of Peter’s involvement in his own uncle’s death, and undermines the guilt that drives his superheroics. Yes, the burglar still causes the shooting, but having someone else as the gunman…that just felt unnecessary.
4. Another call of “no way” – Peter letting the Sandman just get away at the end. Okay, great, you forgave him…still a criminal, still killed your uncle.
- I don’t have a whole lot to say about Venom, really…I think he worked well visually, and I’m glad that Eddie Brock’s motivation (that he hates Peter Parker, rather than Spider-Man, for ruining his career) made the transition intact. A nice touch was that Brock, after bonding with the alien costume, still has Venom’s misshapen, yellowed teeth whenever he uncovers his face.
Also, for all the character’s overuse in the comics, he’s still a great villain and it was fun to see him in live action, for even as little as he appeared.
I should mention that I expected to think “hey, that’s Eric from That ’70s Show” every time I saw Topher Grace on screen…but like Church with Sandman, Grace sold his Eddie Brock/Venom.
- I also don’t have much to say about the Harry Osborne character arc in this film, beyond thinking that one character who spoke up to Harry about how Norman Osborne really died probably should have said something sooner. But I’m enough of a softie to enjoy Harry and Spidey teaming up at the end to fight the villains.
- If you have a James Cromwell in your movie, and you don’t really get any significant use out of your James Cromwell by the end of the picture, then you’ve let your James Cromwell go to waste. Honestly, was he in the movie for any other reason besides pumping up the big names in the credits? His role as the dad in Revenge of the Nerds was meatier than this.
- What we no longer need: cameos by Stan Lee in Marvel movies. This really needs to be the last one. Now that Stan the Man’s laid a “‘Nuff Said” to one of his characters on-screen, I don’t know if there’s really anywhere to go from there.
- When Peter Parker falls under the insidious influence of the Venom costume, there’s that one moment when he looks at his reflection, and purposefully pushes his hair down in front of his face to make himself look “bad.” Even as Evil Peter, he’s still a huge dork.
Also, didn’t Evil Peter look a bit like Peter Petrelli from Heroes at times? Kinda? Sorta? Well, he did to me.
- Bruce Campbell’s appearance in the film was greeted with cheers by our audience. And rightfully so, as his role was a real blast. (Did I understand the implication correctly, that the character he was playing wasn’t really French, but trying very hard to convince Peter otherwise? That’s sorta how I saw it.)
- Other good laughs in the film, mostly intentional: Evil Peter’s Saturday Night Fever-esque strut through the streets of New York, and the incredulous reactions of passers-by; Evil Peter’s Jazz Club dance, which was silly fun; and Jonah getting rooked by the kid selling him the camera (“film’s extra”). Some folks complained about the excessive goofiness of this film; I think it needed more. “Wha–? A Sam Raimi film, goofy? The devil you say.”
- Speaking of Jonah, I’ve probably mentioned it before, but I would probably watch a whole film just about him. J.K. Simmons so nails the character that every scene with him in it is an absolute delight. Even that initial bit, with the over-the-top intercom buzzing and interruptions that dragged and teetered into unfunniness, was saved by Simmons’ nutty portrayal of Jonah.
- Another character I was glad to see was Peter’s landlord’s daughter Ursula, played by Mageina Tovah. Ursula’s just cute as a button, obviously crushing hard on Peter, and totally wrapped up in the soap opera Peter’s life has become. Watching Evil Peter take advantage of her kindness, making her bring him cookies and milk, certainly emphasized Evil Pete’s bastardry. How dare you be mean to that sweet girl, you big jerk!
- Three movies in, and I’m still not buying any kind of chemistry between Mary Jane and Peter. I’ll accept it’s there for the sake of the story, but only through my own suspension of disbelief, not through anything I’m being given by the actors.
- Four words: NEEDS. MORE. BETTY. BRANT. (That’s Jonah’s secretary, for the uninitiated.)
- I saw a couple people mention this, and it struck me at the end of the film, too…no triumphant Spidey swinging through the streets of New York? Okay, MJ and Peter made up, I guess, but leave the audience with one more shot of Spidey, on an up-note, at least!
Okay, that’s it for the SPOILERS. Ultimately…good action scenes, solid special effects, and…passable characterization. If you liked the first two films, here’s more of the same. Maybe a little
too much more, but the same nonetheless.
Since a sequel is inevitable, given that the movie made about one quadrillion dollars this weekend…I’m kinda hoping we’ll get the Lizard finally. C’mon, they’ve been teasing us with Dr. Curt Conners in every film. And my girlfriend would love to see Kraven the Hunter, which would work great with the Lizard. Conners turns himself into the Lizard, who runs rampant through the Big Apple, and Spidey can’t stop him…so the authorities put the call out to famous big game hunter Kraven, who eventually decides he wants Spidey as a trophy as well. See? It’d be perfect. Hollywood, call me, we’ll do lunch.
§ May 6th, 2007 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on FCBD follow-up.
Had a couple questions in the comments section for this morning’s post, and I thought I’d address them on the main page.
First, the old perennial, from MarkAndrew:
“DOES Free Comic Book Day get new customers in the door?”
Well, on the actual day of Free Comic Book Day…yes, lots of new faces show up, because not a person around doesn’t like something that’s free (unless it’s, like, “free measles,” or “free punch in the nose,” or “free Team Youngblood“).
But by “new customer” you probably mean “new regular visitors to the funnybook store,” the answer to which is a qualified “no.” We did get some new regular customers out of past FCBDs, but they represented only a small fraction of the new folks who actually came in for free books.
But that’s okay…we don’t have to turn every new person who walked in the door that day into a New Comics Day zombie. The results of FCBD are more longterm than immediate, anyway…it gets the word out that, hey, comic books are still being published, and that they can be a viable source of entertainment. Okay, mileage may vary with some of the offerings this year, but with the sheer number of books being given away, surely most people found at least one comic they kinda liked. And our already-existing clientele invariably will find something new to try out.
Plus, it’s great advertising…if some of those folks find themselves with some kind of comic-related need, perhaps they’ll think of that swell comic shop that was giving out the free funnybooks, and they’ll come back to us. And it’s good public relations…we had a lot of happy customers that day, most of whom thanked us profusely for the books we were giving away.
And it’s the gift that keeps on giving, as I’m preparing packages of some of the leftover books for some local teachers and at least one doctor…and, as always, a big bunch of comics for my girlfriend to give away to the Sunday school class she teaches.
So, um…to answer your question, perhaps it doesn’t immediately create new regular customers, but FCBD perhaps helps to create an environment from which new customers may arise, by increasing in some small way a general awareness of comics. My, that’s high-falutin’ of me, ain’t it? Not to mention optimistic.
Del Gorky asks:
“Mike, You stated that you made more on FCBD than you spent, but my question is did you make more than you spent plus what you normally make on a Saturday in May?”
The amount we took in that day above and beyond our usual average Saturday take was perhaps just shy of covering the total amount spent on the FCBD books. But, that’s okay, since as stated earlier the event generated a lot of goodwill among our customers and other visitors, so any minor shortfall is greatly outweighed by the benefits…maybe not immediate benefits, as I said, but in the long run it all helps.
Plus, we had a pretty good week, anyway, even without the FCBD bump, so we’re doing okay.
Oh, and Employee Aaron reminded me that I forgot to mention the two Spider-Man costume appearances that day: one young man wearing a Spidey mask, and another in full-on Spidey regalia, costume, mask, gloves, an’ all. Made me wish I brought my Spidey costume…but perhaps I’ve said too much.
In other news:
What to make of this exchange I overheard between a customer and his son at the shop today:
“So, what do you think of this place?”
“I think it’s a necessary evil.”
I prefer to think of it as more of a luxury evil, rather than a mandatory one.
Also, got to meet the proprietor of Thought Balloon today, as he dropped by the store to say hello. Always nice to meet a fellow weblogger!
Before you say anything…yeah, that pic is from last year’s Free Comic Book Day wrap-up, but I took the picture, I liked how it turned out, and I’m using it again. So there.
First off, thanks to pal Dorian for lending a hand, a foot, and at least one lung to our FCBD event, helping me manage customers, pack up bags of FCBD comics, and so on. Even with Dor there, we had more business than nearly all of us could handle…this may have been the busiest FCBD we’ve had yet.
Speaking of packing up those bags…as per previous years, we had our selection of books divided up and packaged together according to appropriateness for particular age groups (i.e. children, teen, and grown-ups). Thus, when people popped in looking for those four-color handouts, all we had to do was hand them the right bags. And, of course, if they were old enough, they got one of each bag for maximum Free Comic Book Day participation.
To make these prepacks, we started sorting and bagging nearly as soon as the cases of FCBD mags arrived at the store a couple weeks back. We ended up preparing hundreds of these packs, and I thought that would at least get us through part of the day, leaving us time on FCBD itself to sort and create even more packages as necessary. Well, by about a half-hour past opening, I learned the kids packs were already down to critical levels and we had to rush more of the packs into production. In fact, most of the morning and early afternoon was devoted to just barely staying ahead of the customers in our prepack production frenzy. That’ll teach me…um, something, I guess.
Other random notes from the day:
Overall, it was another successful Free Comic Book Day event. Nonetheless, I’m glad this year’s brouhaha is now behind us. I think I’ll be dreaming about sorting comics by age groups for a while.
§ May 5th, 2007 § Filed under free comic book day Comments Off on Lo, and there came to pass another Free Comic Book Day…
…and the people did rejoice mightily, and they did journey from far and wide to visit their local funnybook emporiums, to partake of the glorious bounty that awaited them. They found
Unseen Peanuts, and saw that it was good, and took them by the handful. They saw mounds of
Owly: Helping Hands, and seeing that it too was good, their hands did help indeed themselves to it. They saw the
Worlds of Aspen, and…um…and they did take that, too, for it was free and what the hell. Yea, verily.
In other words, get your hinders into our shop and get free comics, because I don’t want to have to find a place to store the leftovers. And, um, you might find something you’ll enjoy, too.
Yea, verily. And so on.
Since I’ll be busy with the aforementioned event, and since (as I’m writing this) I just got back from seeing Spider-Man 3 and totally need to go to bed sometime soon so that I have more than five hours of sleep in me before going to work in the morning, I don’t have much content for this post. Well, except for this next little thing. You know what happens when you’re killing some time and you just happen to search on the word “nerd” on the eBay? You find this:
“Star Wars NAKED NERD photo set to raise money for C4 – Fanboy exploits own body to get the SW CELEBRATION IV”
“…My ‘NAKED NERD Charity Drive’ of sorts to gain funds to attend what could be the defining moment in any STAR WARS fan’s life: THE STAR WARS CELEBRATION IV, taking place in Los Angeles, CA, May 24-28, 2007 celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the start of GEORGE LUCAS’s opus Sextology(?) STAR WARS: Episode IV: A NEW HOPE!!!!!!!
“A life-long fan of the films, as many of you fine citizens may also be, I cannot bear the thought of missing out on this , the ultimate fan experience due to lack of funds. You see, I have recently relocated and as many of you know, the act of moving one’s self and possessions can be a taxing strain on one’s bank account. Try as I might I just can’t seem to raise the necasary fundage to finance such a journey…at least not though the traditional routes.
“Instead I have taken a page of wisdom from the 2nd greatest film of all time: DETROIT ROCK CITY starring Sir Edward Furlong and have decided to do what so many Sorority Girls and Single Mothers before me have done to get what they need and desire…….SHAKE WHAT THE GOOD LORD GAVE ME!!!!!!!!!!!”
[…]
“Let me give you potential bidders a little bit of info on what you will be bidding on:
“What I have for you is a set of nearly 40 digital photos of me stripped down to my underwear (Boxer Briefs) in various HIGHLY EROTIC poses designed to stimulate and titlulate everyone…including the deceased. These pictures are strictly cheesecake ABOLUTLEY NO ACTUAL NUDITY is contained within these photographic records of a desperate man.
“You will see photos of me in various states of undress striking HOT poses on the hood of my 1996 HONDA CIVIC…..WHITESNAKE STYLE!!!!! In The shower sudsing up for a night on the town. Relaxing on the couch……comfortably. Being caught UNAWARE whilst traversing the rooms and corridors of my palacial NERD ESTATE.”
Friend, you had me at “WHITESNAKE STYLE!!!!!”
Sample photos at the link. Oh, yes indeedy. Safe for work, I guess.
§ May 4th, 2007 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on FRIDAY NIGHT FIGHTS!
from Nancy #172 (October 1958)
Follow tonight’s two-fisted action
right here…
if you’ve got the guts.
§ May 4th, 2007 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on "Being a fink is fun!"
SWINGS-BOTH-WAYS-MAN SAYS:
Okay, that’s not really Swings-Both-Ways-Man, as you may have guessed, but rather Stilt Man, who confronted both Spider-Man and Spider-Woman is issue #47 of
Spidey Super Stories (July 1980). He doesn’t appear to have any formal connection to the regular Marvel Universe
Stilt-Man we all know and love. However, the
Spidey Super Stories version is a nattier dresser. Let’s compare:
Old, tired Stilt-Man – all hard lines and cold technology:
Spidey Super Stories Stilt Man – retro charm, fashionable top hat with affixed comic book logo:
And, I mean, c’mon…he’s committing crimes wearing
these:
That’s gotta take some measure of guts. (And by “these” I mean the wooden stilts, not the blue shoes, the pinstriped pants, or the tails, smart guy.)
He also takes great joy in his work:
So, along with the
The Queen of the Runners, that’s two, count ’em,
two great
Spidey Super Stories characters Marvel needs to revive. Surely these characters are more interesting than, say,
Penance.
Sorry I’ve been sort of light on the content the last couple of days. I’ve not had much of a chance to do much computering at home lately…and the free time I did have, I was just too dog-tired to get anything together. Thanks for continuing to drop by and read and comment, anyway.
And I know I owe some folks some e-mails. They’re a’comin’, I promise.
NEW COMICS:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8 #3 – Liked the first issue, the second issue a little less so, and found the third issue to be…well, let’s be nice and call it “disjointed.” The art was a little shakier, the “cleverness” of the dialogue a little less clever and a little more grating…I mean, it wasn’t just me, was it?
You know, it’s a real tragedy every time a bad drawing of the Thing makes it to print. ‘Course, I don’t know if that’s really a bad drawing or just an example of “some characters don’t work when viewed from certain angles.”
I probably should say something about the last issue of DC’s weekly 52 series, but I don’t even know where to start. Short version: entertaining, mostly successful experiment. Kinda wish that the appearance of two certain dead characters at the end of the series didn’t have “ONE EDITORIAL EDICT AWAY FROM BEING REVIVED” sorta written all over them. And that whole World War III tie-in mini-series debacle was just unfortunate. Otherwise…yeah, I think I got my money’s worth out of it. And if the ultimate result of the series, as revealed in that last issue, is used wisely, I’ll be especially pleased…if not just outright surprised.
Incredible Hulk #106 and World War Hulk: Prologue kicks off the World War Hulk crossover, which I’ve been looking forward to for quite a while. The recent “Planet Hulk” storyline has been a real high point, and the set-up for the new storyline, giving Hulk plenty of reason to be even angrier with the people who exiled him into space, is rife with possibilities. Yeah, I know, I’ve got apple-pie-in-the-sky hopes for this, but let a boy have his dreams. Plus, it helps that the characters the Hulk most wants to lay a beatdown on are the people who, over the course of the Civil War brouhaha, have been twisted and arguably mischaracterized into folks that you want to see beaten. Anyway, two issues in, so far so good.
You know what was a nice little mini-series? Thunderbolts: Zemo – Born Better. Fairly simple storyline…Zemo is bouncing through time, following the trail of his bloodline and witnessing the shenanigans and goings-on in his family’s history, while in the present, someone with a nefarious purpose plots for his return. Straightforward old style Marvel comics, nice art by the always-welcome Tom Grummett…a good, solid read.
“ASYMMETRICAL LEG-LENGTH MAN! He leans…toward JUSTICE!”
I don’t know what pops up into my head, sometimes.
MOVIE NEWS:
I know it’s been everywhere already, but there’s a person or two I know (hi, Cully!) who read only my site on a regular basis, so this is for them:
Iron Man armor for film revealed.
I’ll be seeing the new Spider-Man 3 movie tonight, after an entire day of hearing customers ask me “So, did you see ‘it,’ yet?” My review of the film will hopefully follow shortly.
BLOG-O-RAMA-DING-DONG:
Big news is that Chris Sims guy finally weaned himself off the Blogspot teat and got himself some hot, registered domain action at The-Isb.com, AKA “Chris’s Invincible Super-Blog.” Adjust your stalking patterns accordingly.
Other big news is…well, I told you that pal Sean finally got off his hinder and started posting on his site again. Well, somehow he convinced the wife to jump into the deep end as well. I’ve known her longer than I’ve know pal Sean…since my long-ago BBS days, in fact…and she’s a smart and funny person and an entertaining writer.
I’m posting the link nice ‘n’ big, because if I don’t, she’ll kick me:
And if you don’t read her site, she’ll kick you, too. Consider yourself warned. (Pssst, Tellura…write another post!)
Also just added is GayProf’s Center of Gravitas, one of those sites I kept meaning to add. Well, there it is, finally. Good writer, smart guy, go check him out.
And another addition: the aptly-named Another Damn Comic Blog.
Another warning:
That’s TOMORROW, pals, so get yourself to your local comics emporium and grab some freebies.
Somehow I managed to talk pal Dorian into returning to the store to help us out just for that day. Yes, that’s right, we’re reunited, and it feels so good. Like Kirk and Spock, Han Solo and Chewbacca, Cagney and Lacey, Holmes and…er, Yo-yo, Dor and I are together again, behind the counter and drinking heavily fighting the good comics retail fight.
One more bit of business from Spidey Super Stories #47…the inside front cover origin of Giant-Man:
Dude, when Henry Pym “got
old?” When he was, what, thirty? Man, that’s harsh.
§ May 3rd, 2007 § Filed under turok Comments Off on Three reasons Turok, Son of Stone, is cool.
1. HAS A WAY WITH THE LADIES.
2. SCHOOLED IN THE “SWEET SCIENCE.”
3. FOUGHT FREAKIN’ DINOSAURS, MAN.
§ May 2nd, 2007 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on NANCY IS IMMINENT.
In order: from Comics on Parade #72 (June-July 1950), Nancy #158 (Sept 1958), Tip Top #214 (Aug-Oct 1958), and Tip Top #213 (May-July 1958).
§ May 1st, 2007 § Filed under transformers Comments Off on "I had no one to chest bump – but I totally would have!"
I don’t know why I find this review of an advance screening of Transformers so amusing, but I keep looking at it, and it keeps not getting any better. It’s not as soul-wrenchingly evil as AICN’s Blade II review (which I keep linking to because 1) it’s such a car wreck, and 2) I’m a bad, bad person), but this Transformers review has an entertainment value of its own.
“…A very studio looking guy stood up in front of the theater and told us that ‘a lot of effects weren’t done and the music was temp’ blah blah. […] He finally says we are the ‘first audience to see TRANSFORMERS!’
“There was a loud cheer in the theater, I looked around and many of the older moms/dads didn’t quite get it, but their kids seemed to know the score. I saw two 15ish year old fat kids do a chest bump…alas, I had no one to chest bump- but I totally would have!”
[…]
“‘I’ve got a fever, and the only prescriptions is MORE STARSCREAM!!!!!!'”
[…]
“Optimus Prime- sword arm- fuckin sick! That’s all im gonna say about that.”
[…]
“…There are many many nods and references to the history of TF, it’s clear that there was a lot of thought into adding some ‘fan only’ moments into the film that the general audience wont get, which was great.”
I am tempted to agree with the reviewer, though, in that Michael Bay does seem ideally suited to this movie. The film appears as if it’ll be Big, Loud, and Stupid, and I think from Mr. Bay’s oeuvre we can see that he’s completely in his element.
Anyway, assuming this person isn’t yet another studio plant feeding glowing reviews to AICN (and a number of the folks leaving comments appear to believe he is…by the way, don’t read the comments…Good Lord), and that the review is even true at all (another worry by the message boarders there), he appeared to enjoy it, so you Transformers fans may not need to worry.
One of the bones of contention is that the review mentions Optimus Prime’s “lips” being in the film, a turn of events that, when originally discovered, was met with gnashing of teeth and tearing of clothes. However, according to the director’s official site, the rumor started with some test footage featuring said lips, which do not appear in the film. I actually Googled “transformer lips” to research this. Thank goodness no Transformers porn turned up.
Of course, it’s very possible that the film does feature robot lips…okay, you know what? I was going to say something about how “the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing” in regards to the possible existence of robot lips in the movie (especially considering every time we hear about Galactus in the new Fantastic Four movie, we get a different story), but dear God in Heaven, I’m writing about robot lips. Is this what my life has come to? Okay, look…we learned to live with Spidey’s organic web-shooters, we learned to live with Matt Cable being a woman (and how!), and if it turns out to be the case, you Transformers fans can live with rob…I can’t even type it again.
Speaking of the coming FF movie, a new trailer is up…and I do have to say, the trailers we’ve seen so far look absolutely spectacular. They certainly make me want to see the film…of course, it could very well be another example of all the good stuff being in the trailer, and the film itself being a huge dud. But, as I’ve said before, I’m at least cautiously optimistic. I’m one of the few people that actually sorta liked the first film, even with all its flaws, so here’s hoping they’ve learned from their mistakes. And here’s hoping Galactus is in it. Not holding my breath on either count, mind you.
And, as noted, I’ll be seeing Spider-Man 3 this Friday, so look for my review on that shortly after. My prediction: entertaining, but not as good as the second one…probably not enough Venom, too much evil Harry Osborne. (If you’ve seen it already, and I know some of you have…don’t tell me if I’m right or wrong. I’ll find out myself soon enough.)
In DVD news, a little bird tells me that a new Region 1 DVD release of the 1980 cheesy classic Flash Gordon will be gracing the shelves of our local video emporiums this summer. Alas, another little bird tells me that the special features will be lacking on this release. That means no commentary tracks. That means no commentary track from BRIAN FREAKIN’ BLESSED, which, as previously reported, appears on the UK edition. I cannot express enough my disappointment in not getting to hear Mr. Blessed shout at me for ninety minutes while I’m watching this film. …It’s time for the region-free player, I think.
In some non-movie news, pal Sean is finally posting on his site again, and his most recent post is about…er, movies. Anyway, go read…encourage the man.
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