FANBOY FUN

FANBOY FUN # 62 - BETTIE BREITWEISER - COLOR GODDESS

2012-02-05T23:19:00.003-06:00

Go to your Netflix queues, or your Red Boxes, or whatever... and rent this:

Funniest movie I've seen in a long long time.

Here's your comics - get 'em while their hot....

ACTION COMICS # 6 -

Not quite as floored by this issue as I was by the previous issue, but still a better Superman book than I've read since Morrison and Quietly's ALL-STAR SUPERMAN. This issue is absolutely crammed full of new wild ideas and Superman mythology. More than I would expect in even an 80-Page Giant! The origins of multi-colored kryptonite, Legion lore, New 52 Titano(!), and more! My one gripe is that Geoff Johns and now Grant Morrison have gone out of their way to make sure their New 52 Superman has no Kent Family to fall back on in the present, with their versions having died long ago. It feels like this desperate attempt to separate the New 52 version and John Byrne's version, and it's the one thing I've always loved about Byrne's reboot. Leaving The Kents alive, instead of dead as Seigel and Shuster's version was, grounded Clark Kent and made him more human than Kryptonian. Ah well, whats done is done - I'm still learning to love the new Superman, so I suppose I'll get used to it in time. I trust Morrison. GOOD STUFF!

AVENGERS: X-SANCTION # 3 (OF 4) - Since this is now issue 3 of 4......shouldn't I have at least some tiny inkling of what the heck is going on in this series? I know it's a lead-in to a larger story, but....shouldn't I have some tiny hint about what is going on? I mean, other than Cable returning from the dead (How?) and kicking the heck out of the Avengers. So far it's been pretty much the equivalent of a comic book version of a WWE fight. Big, Loud and Stupid! OKAY.

THE BOYS # 63 - Speaking of Big and Loud....! (This was anything but stupid.) This issue the wheels are falling into place and the bodies are dropping! I mean.....The Female and The Frenchman.....whew. The Female literally - well...I wouldn't mess with her after seeing what she does in this issue. FANBOY FUN!!

DETECTIVE COMICS # 6 - Tony Daniel is trying (really hard) to make this the spiritual successor to Frank Miller's Dark Knight, but it just isn't working out that way after the surprise (in my opinion) success of the first four issues. Maybe it's the fact that The Penguin is so important to the plot suddenly (I'm biased against Penguin.), but I really didn't enjoy this issue as much as the aforementioned first four, of the New 52. Daniel's Batman sometimes seems out of character, and he goes out of his way to introduce way too many characters without really giving any of them life. OKAY.

DOCTOR WHO # 14 - The Doctor, Rory and Amy - in - CASABLANCA, but with aliens. OKAY.

FATALE # 2 (OF 3? 4?) - After this, I'm convinced that Brubaker and Phillips could take anything and make it into a noir masterpiece. Sound of Music? Noir masterpiece! The Bible? You betcha! BUENO EXCELENTE!!!

PUNISHER # 8 - This might be the first issue of this series that kind of felt a little...light on content for me. It felt a little padded and clearly acts as a bridge between chapters of a larger story. It's still one of the coolest interpretations of The Punisher I've ever read, but...I can see the seams, if you know what I mean. GOOD STUFF.

RICHIE RICH: GEMS - WINTER SPECIAL 2011 -

Is it wrong that I realized my sons look exactly like Richie's pals, Freckles and Pee-Wee? FANBOY FUN!!!

STORMWATCH # 6 - This issue is pretty much 100% struggle to survive-recovery-time from the balls-to-the-wall action of the previous issue. GOOD STUFF.

SUPERNATURAL # 5 - The art on this book seriously kills it for me. At this point, I'm in Fanboy Mode and just getting to complete my "Supernatural" collection. EH.

WINTER SOLDIER # 1 - This book is truly gorgeous.

Butch Guice's art has come a long way since the late 90s/early 2000s. He used to be one of those reliable workhorse artists that filled in when someone couldn't meet their deadlines, or they just wanted to get a book out on the shelf as quickly as possible. Somewhere around the turn of the century his artwork suddenly started to come alive and just pop and burst from the panels. That said - this might be the best his artwork has ever looked. His storytelling has always been strong, his linework has always been clean and tight, and his style has always been suitably his and his alone, and his page layouts have just suddenly been bursting from the page. Of course, half of the credit for this issue belongs solely with the amazing color palette of Bettie Breitweiser - COLOR GODDESS!!! Ever since I first noticed her coloring work over the pencils of her husband, Mitch Breitweiser, Bettie has become the first colorist whose work I have actively sought out. If I see her name on a book, I'll at least give it a look just to see what she did for the artist on a particular book, or how her colors enhance the setting/story. She has a unique eye and she never fails to impress this jaded old fanboy. That being said - I really thought I would like this book more. I liked it, but I truly thought I would fall in love on page one. I love Ed Brubaker - he's one of my favorite writers working in comics today, and Bucky Barnes, aka Winter Soldier, is one of my favorite characters because of Ed Brubaker! It's a very solid well done comic book, but it just didn't leave me standing at the door of the comic shop waiting for # 2 to come in, you know what I mean? I'm sure it will gain some steam down the line and soar to the top of my must-read pile, but for now the artwork (which includes the colorist!) is the majority of the appeal. FANBOY FUN.

FANBOY FUN # 61 - PROUD SPONSOR OF THE LUBBOCK COMIC BOOK EXPO

2012-01-29T02:38:00.005-06:00

Pretty light week, this time around. I only got four regular monthly titles in! I did get absolutely swamped with trade paperbacks (most of them written by Ed Brubaker!), this week. Far too many to pick up in one week, in fact. Marvel finally collected STRIKEFORCE: MORITURI Vol. 1, Ed Brubaker's DAREDEVIL Ultimate Collection Vol. 1, Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke's CATWOMAN got an Ultimate Collection edition, Brubaker and Steve McNiven's first CAPTAIN AMERICA collection finally came out, and Greg Pak's RED SKULL trade paperback rolled out, too. Whew! I'm tired just typing all that. Like I said - far too much for anyone to pick up in one week.

Also of note for the week - was able to catch the preview episode of Fox's new drama starring Keifer Sutherland, TOUCH.

The regular series starts in March and it is probably one you're going to want to watch. I haven't been as impressed by a television pilot since the first episode of LOST. Sutherland stars as the father of an autistic boy who communicates through numbers, directing his father to people in need, and the series aims to explore inter-connectivity in a way I never thought possible on the small screen. It's really hard to describe. You're just going to have to trust me, and catch it when it comes on again. You will be impressed. I promise!

Before we dive in to the reason at least one of you is here for - I would like to direct your attention to the LUBBOCK COMICS website:

http://www.lubbockcomics.com/2012/01/lubbock-comic-book-expo-5-2/

We would like to point out that we are fast approaching time for the 5th Annual Lubbock Comic Book Expo! If you would like to get an artist or vendor table at the Lubbock Comic Book Expo, exhibitor applications are now available to download from the site. We have very limited space so get yours in quick!

Now....on to the comics!

ALL-STAR WESTERN #5 - ****SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED**** Now, how the Heck did Jonah Hex get his matches lit, not to mention a cigarette, after being thrown into an underground river? His companion, Dr. Arkham, even suggests they "wait for their clothes to dry" and then make a bonfire. Um.....!!! And then they run across the Bat-Tribe from Grant Morrison's RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE mini-series, inside a turn of the century Bat-Cave....or something. Whatever, it was still pretty cool. Palmiotti and Gray are like rock stars! ****SPOILER ALERT DEACTIVATED**** FANBOY FUN!

ANGEL & FAITH: SEASON NINE #6 - If you ever wondered what young Giles was like, this is the issue for you! Something tells me that we'll be seeing that long-shelved RIPPER spin-off proposal in comic book form before too long. Please, Dark Horse Comics, don't over saturate the market with more Buffy titles. Please? Two is plenty! GOOD STUFF!!!

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #5

- Up until I saw Greg Capullo's artwork in BATMAN #5, I would swear that this was the best drawn Batman book currently being published. Capullo really delivered with that one. However, David Finch reminds me, in this issue, of why his artwork is so perfect for the Dark Knight. His bold dynamic panels, tight realistic characters, and dark imagery really come alive in this issue, as Scarecrow battles Batman on a psychological plane. This issue also marks the first time Superman has appeared in the Batman comics since the New52 reboot. GOOD STUFF!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #5

- ****SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED**** Oh, come on! Now that was just silly. So, at the first sign of trouble, Batman rips off his cowl, exposes his secret identity (which somehow Hal Jordan fails to recognize is one of the most famous men in the world!!!), and runs off? What...........WHAT?!!!! Not to mention Hal Jordan was acting like a complete idiot. ...or should I say, he was acting like Ryan Reynolds? (Hey! I finally saw the Green Lantern movie! It really was as bad as everyone said it was!) All around, just a big disappointment. ****SPOILER ALERT DEACTIVATED**** EH!!!

FANBOY FUN # 60 - RESIDENT EVIL WEEK 2012

2012-01-21T05:29:00.003-06:00

Sorry I never got around to posting last week. Things just got away from me.
Things almost got away from me this week too, what with it being RESIDENT EVIL WEEK and all. What? Oh, you didn't know it was RESIDENT EVIL WEEK? Well don't worry - there will be three more this year.

First was the drop in price for RESIDENT EVIL: OPERATION RACCOON CITY LIMITED EDITION, (launching March 20th) for the XBOX 360, on Amazon.

You better believe I snatched that baby up! Well....I pre-ordered it. Then came the trailers for a new RESIDENT EVIL movie, RETRIBUTION (September 14th),

...and FINALLY the long-awaited RESIDENT EVIL 6 for all consoles (November 20th)!!!!

To say I'm a RESIDENT EVIL fan is an under-statement. You know what I did the night before I got married? I played the first RESIDENT EVIL on my Playstation. You know what game I've played every single title they've put out? That's right. Every. Single. One. (I didn't love every single one, but....)

And I'll be the first to admit that pretty much every RESIDENT EVIL movie since the first one has gotten dumber and dumber, but they never fail to entertain me visually. Milla Jovovich is pretty easy on the eyes, too, I gotta admit.

My devotion to RESIDENT EVIL is purely based on fun. I've played through the first four games more time than I can count. (I only got to play through CODE VERONICA once, sadly.)

At any rate - 2012 is either the year the Mayan Calendar ends, the year the world ends, or the year that I got more RESIDENT EVIL than my mind could handle. RESIDENTEVILRESIDENTEVILRESIDENTEVIL!!!!!!!

Now - on to the comics!

AVENGERS # 21 - If you've always wanted to read a full issue of the Avengers in which we watch the entire team be beaten in teams of two - this is the book for you. Critics of Bendis' "decompressed" story-telling will have a field day with this one. The book itself is decent, maybe a little too "quick" to read, but it definitely fits in the middle of a trade paperback somewhere down the line. OKAY.

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN # 3 - And now we bid adieu to Joe Mad! for another few years. Good luck on DARKSIDERS 2, Joe.

I'll be playing that one, buddy. But seriously - I've really enjoyed this initial story arc of the new Marvel Team-Up-style book. It had great artwork by Joe Mad! and Zeb Wells proved that he knows how to write a fun quippy Spider-Man. I would be looking forward to the next story arc a tad more if Greg Land wasn't drawing it. GOOD STUFF.

BATMAN # 5 -

Whew! I don't know what I was expecting to read when I cracked the spine on this bad boy, but I didn't expect to be spiraling into madness. Wink wink. Nudge nudge. Know what I mean? Spiraling? Huh? Get it? SPIRAL? Ahem.....sorry. This issue alone should put aside any doubt that Greg Capullo was born to draw this book, and Scott Snyder was born to write it. Just.....WOW! My mind has been blown. You really have to see the book to understand how incredible it really was. Bueno Excellente!

CROSSED: PSYCHOPATH # 7 (OF 7) - Well now that this series is over, I'm not sure if i should be praying for David Lapham more, for writing it, or praying for Raulo Caceres more, for drawing it. Regardless - I'll probably be joining them in Hades for reading it all the way through. DISTURBING!!!

GREEN LANTERN CORPS # 5 - I really like the way writer Peter Tomasi is building more mythology into the world of The Guardians and the GL Corps. It feels a little more natural than the whole "plot hammer license to make merchandise" that the whole multi-colored rainbow corps thing that Geoff Johns came up with. I also hope we see a lot more of The Mean Machine - a group of "old dog" Green Lanterns, i.e. a group of old badasses. They were pretty much instant fan favorites as soon as we saw them sitting around playing poker. Sadly - even in the New 52 - GL CORPS is far superior to Johns' solo GREEN LANTERN. FANBOY FUN!!!

NIGHTWING # 5 - Nightwing versus a voodoo priestess, and a demon, in new Orleans. As you do when you go to New Orleans. I've seen ANGEL HEART.

I was totally in love with Lisa Bonet!! This issue was OKAY.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS # 3 (OF 6) - Some solid work by Wes Craig and Walt Simonson illustrate this issue, where we see into the mind of NoMan, the synthetic humanoid. I'm going to be sad to see this mini-series end. GOOD STUFF.

ULTIMATE COMICS: ALL-NEW SPIDER-MAN # 6 - I like Chris Samnee's artwork, but for some reason it just didn't work for me this issue. It looks good, and he's a decent story-teller, but I never fully recovered from opening to the first page and NOT seeing Sara Pichelli's artwork grace the page. OKAY.

YOUNG JUSTICE # 12 - I like the idea of a book that takes liberties with time as a story-telling device, but I'm not sure how effective it really is when you have a book that is written primarily for kids. I get this title purely to read with my kids, and then give it to my oldest son (9 years old) for his collection. Even though I sat and read it with him - I'm not sure he really "got it". For example: we start off in the present, then jump to hours ago, then jump to weeks prior, then to months, until we eventually see exactly a year prior to the beginning of the story and then back to the present and...to be continued. A nice try, but I think the writer should have considered his core audience. OKAY

FANBOY FUN # 59 - THE CHEWBACCA DEFENSE

2012-01-06T04:16:00.007-06:00

Welcome to the first FANBOY FUN of 2012! I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve. My wife and I invited the in-laws over for a Wii party JUST DANCE 3 dance-off. No, I'm not kidding. Why are you laughing? We have kids - we're old! What do you want from me?

At any rate - this was huge week full of some great comics. So, without any further ado.....

ACTION COMICS # 5 -

****SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED**** I'll be the first to admit that when they announced Grant Morrison was going to be re-telling Superman's origin, my first thoughts were "Not again!" And then Morrison had to go and be all....Grant Morrison....and make it awesome. This wasn't anything we haven't seen before, and yet it was so different and new, yet classic and true to the spirit of the character, that I couldn't help but squeal with glee and delight at the sight of baby Kal-El being rocketed from the doomed planet, Krypton. My jaw was on the floor seeing the denizens of the Phantom Zone vowing revenge on the House of El, and....I literally shouted "YES!!!" when I realized that Krypto was still alive.

Somewhere out there. He was still out there. And then seeing how Morrison handled the Kent's discovery of baby Kal. That mysterious group showing up at then end, and then....that final...last page reveal made my knees go weak, and my lips tremble. Single tear drop - True story. I'm sorry I doubted you, Grant. I don't know why, but I always underestimate you.****SPOILER ALERT DE-ACTIVATED**** BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

AVENGERS ANNUAL # 1 - It really is a shame that Gabriel Dell'otto can't paint faster, because this was everything I hoped it would be and more. This is the follow-up to the NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL #1, released earlier in 2011, where Wonder-Man and a motley group of former and rejected Avengers took on, and defeated, the New Avengers. This issue raises a lot of questions (Is Simon Williams, resurrected by Scarlet Witch, even real? Who holds the Avengers accountable?) and sows some uncomfortable seeds that I hope will be addressed in the upcoming Avengers Vs. X-Men crossover or the big Ultron War on the horizon. Damn you, Bendis! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE THE AVENGERS!?!!!! PLEASE!?!?!!!! BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

AVENGERS: X-SANCTION #2 (of 4) - So, as soon as Iron Man walks into a room and sees Falcon in a green Bacta Tank, Capt. America strapped into what looks like Prof. X's wheelchair from the 1990s, and tons of C-4 all over the place, and his first question is "Who would do this-- and why?" Really, Iron Man?!! Did you forget you were in the Avengers? You kind of have a lot of enemies, dude. Like - a whole lot. I think my first thought would be, "which one of the 1,000 guys that wants to K.I.L.L. the Avengers D.E.A.D., did this?" OKAY.

THE BOYS # 62 - Can't help but feel a little let down by this issue. With the big finale last month, I came in expecting a big knock down drag out. Instead I got political maneuverings and world building. OKAY, but it sure was a step down from last month.

DETECTIVE COMICS # 5 - So....maybe that first four issues were a fluke. There are two stories in this issue, and I didn't like either one of them. EH!!!

FATALE # 1 -

I jumped on board the Ed Brubaker/Sean Phillips roadshow a long time ago (I miss you, SLEEPER!), so I've very much been looking forward to this. Like most of Brubaker's crime comics, the devil is in the details and even when he's coming at you at 55mph - he's holding back and setting up the journey for some road movie crime spree fun. Except this time he's pulled the old "You got your Cthulu in my noir crime story! You got your noir crime story in my Cthulu!!" Which is to say, this issue is lots of really great flavor, establishing the mood and characters, and setting up the mystery without answering anything. Imagine CRIMINAL with a little Necronomicon thrown in and you'll get and idea where this is sort of heading. I can't wait to see where Brubaker and Phillips take me this time. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

HUNTRESS # 4 (of 6) - The story itself, at this point, has become inconsequential, as this book is largely just a showcase for Marcus To's artwork - which is a very nice classic superhero comic book style. DC needs to give this kid another regular series after this gig is over. OKAY - based purely on the art.

PENGUIN: PAIN AND PREJUDICE # 4 (of 5) - Still better than it has any right to be. I sound like a broken record, but this is the first time I've been able to see Oswald Cobblepot as a worthy Batman Rogue. GOOD STUFF!

PUNISHER # 7 - I am thrilled beyond belief with how well written this is, but I just know that the hardcore Punisher Fanboys are probably freaking out that Frank Castle is barely in it. For instance, this issue is one long dialogue between two police officers, one of whom encountered Castle years ago on a rooftop. The detective's story is riveting and unforgettable, all while establishing that he knows a secret about the other officer AND furthering the police investigation into The Punisher. Greg Rucka is holding a master class in crime fiction on a monthly basis, and you are probably missing it. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

STAR TREK/LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES # 4 - How the hell can this be so much better than the regular monthly LEGION books? It makes - no - sense. That's it! I'm calling it. It's the Chewbacca Defense!!!

Seriously - this is just a silly fun romp across both the Trek and Legion universes. It ain't gonna win any awards, and it won't change your life, but you might be entertained for a little while. FANBOY FUN!

STORMWATCH # 5 - In my opinion, this is the one New 52 book that feels the most like an entirely different universe. And that's a good thing. All the familiar characters I've always loved feel different and new, while still retaining the core of each character. Just well done world building, and storytelling, by Paul Cornell, all around. I expect nothing less from a man who has written for DOCTOR WHO. GOOD STUFF!

SUPERNATURAL # 4 - I think I would be enjoying this more if Sam Winchester didn't have a bobble-head in every other panel. OKAY.

FANBOY FUN # 58 - I AM A CHINESE MAN.

2011-12-29T23:50:00.004-06:00

I've only had five hours sleep today, folks, so things might get a little weird. I skipped out of posting last week since it was Christmas, but I wanted to try and squeeze one last post in before it officially becomes 2012.

Before I get into the comics, I want recommend a couple of movies I discovered on Netflix. IP MAN, and the sequel, IP MAN 2, starring Donnie Yen.

Both films are truly amazing, semi-biographical films about the legendary Wing Chun master, and mentor to Bruce Lee, Yip Man. I've watched a lot of Chinese films, a lot of Kung Fu action films, and a lot of incredible martial arts movies in my life, but I've never seen a scene quite like the one below. I'll just let you see it for yourself:

WASN'T THAT AWESOME?!!!! You kind of have to see the movie to get the context, but suffice to say - IP MAN is seriously pissed off. He and his friends are told they will get a bag of rice for every three men they fight. His friend wins and then they kill him because of something ridiculous. Ip Man steps in unleashes Hell on ten guys at once, and when they ask him his name his only reply is, "I am a Chinese man."
BOOM! I developed a serious man crush on him right then and there.

Now, before I get into the comics, I would like to point out that I also bought the DC PRESENTS: ELSEWORLDS 100-PAGE SPECTACULAR, but I haven't had time to read it. I assume it will be awesome. I just love how everything Paul Levitz ever had "pulped" before release is slowly being trickled out, now that he isn't charge. HeeHee.

Now - On to the comics!!!

ALL-STAR WESTERN #4

- This might be my favorite issue so far. Hex being his regular bad ass self, versus a bunch of C.H.U.D.s underneath a turn of the century Gotham City. Comics just don't get much better than that right there. FANBOY FUN!!!

ANGEL & FAITH: SEASON NINE #5 - Thank God for Christos Gage. I was already slightly enjoying this title more than BUFFY, and thankfully Gage has produced an issue that actually seemed like it might be a lost script for the ANGEL TV show. This issue has plenty of what made me love that show so much that I stole my old radio name (el Diablo Robotico) from an episode of Season 5. Humor, heart and surprises a plenty! FANBOY FUN!!!

ANNIHILATORS: EARTHFALL #4 (OF 4) - This ending was a little too flat, for my tastes. My biggest complaint, however, is that I didn't like the way Capt. America called out Quasar for hanging out with a group of loose cannons like The Annihilators, and Quasar pretty much said he was just there in a "handler" capacity. Um......you do realize Beta Ray Bill and Gladiator are on the team, right Quasar? They ain't playing around, yo. OKAY.

THE DARK KNIGHT #4 - Why not just put Batman on the cover eating an ice cream cone? That's pretty much all that stands out about this issue, anyway.

Oh....I guess seeing Deathstroke attack the Bat-plane (IN FLIGHT!) and the last page appearance of Scarecrow were kinda cool too, but....c'mon. Once you see David Finch draw Batman eating an ice cream cone....everything else pretty much goes out the window. Mark my words - Finch will be drawing con sketches of Batman eating an ice cream cone from now on. FANBOY FUN!!!

CROSSED BADLANDS: OPENING SALVO- This is just a preview of the new CROSSED regular series, featuring the return of creators Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows. I, for one, can't wait to see what they unleash this time, and here's hoping that the guy in the bandages really is Prince Harry and that he sticks around for awhile. GOOD STUFF!

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: SECRET ORIGIN #3 - EH!!

IN SEARCH OF....THE GREEN RIVER KILLER

2011-12-20T01:26:00.003-06:00

Hi Ho! Welcome back to my little corner of the internets, folks.
I have been absolutely swamped at my real work, this week, so I haven't had much time for reading & reviewing.

I did manage, however, to squeeze in reading Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case's graphic novel, GREEN RIVER KILLER: A TRUE DETECTIVE STORY.

Jeff Jensen, a journalist for ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, writes from the unique perspective as the son of one of the police detectives who worked on the case for over twenty years. Insightful, creepy, and deeply disturbing, it is one of the most haunting true crime accounts I've ever read. With a cover blurb from Stephen King proclaiming "It's got the scariest opening sequence I've read in years..." you know you're in for a compelling page turner. Jensen doesn't sensationalize the crimes of Gary Leon Ridgeway, or the man himself, but does work to humanize the victims and their loved ones, left to pick up the pieces. The thing that distinguishes this book from other serial killer accounts is the personal perspective offered of the man searching for the truth.

This should be mandatory reading for true crime buffs.

As always, thanks for reading. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. Happy Holidays, and I hope you all come back in the New Year.

FANBOY FUN # 57 - NO TIME FOR LOVE, DR. JONES!

2011-12-12T01:38:00.002-06:00

Straight on into the comics....

ACTION COMICS # 4 - Oh, boy. Grant Morrison re-introduced STEEL. Yes, that was sarcasm. (Not a fan.) GOOD STUFF.

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN # 2 - I'm pretty much just getting this for the Joe Mad! artwork, but Zeb Wells does know how to write Spider-Man and actually make him funny. OKAY.

DETECTIVE COMICS # 4 - Wow! Color me impressed. Tony Daniel finally managed to produce a full (beginning, middle and ending) Batman story that I actually enjoyed in its entirety. At first I thought it might be because my expectations had been so low, but...nope. I enjoyed every issue. His art has improved by leaps and bounds since his Bat-debut (we can all agree on that one, right?), but this his writing has stayed consistently cliche and heavy handed (in my opinion). I'm really hoping this is the start of good things from Mr. Daniel. GOOD STUFF.

THE BOYS # 61 - I was talking to a friend the other day about this book. He had dropped it way back when they did the HEROGASM mini, and pretty much didn't regret it for a second. His reasons were many, and I couldn't argue with a single one. Ennis needs a stronger editorial hand guiding him sometimes (as we assume Karen Berger was at VERTIGO), to reign him in and make him focus. And giving the book many needless mini-series, such as Wee Hughie and Herogasm, seem to be more about enabling Ennis' ego and a desperate cash grab. Every one of the mini-series stories could have been told in the main book itself since they all get referred to later on. But the one thing I did point out to him was that Ennis has finally gotten most of the Animal House frat boy jokes out of his system, and he's gotten around to wrapping up everything and telling a story worthy of Ennis' talent and ego. If you, too, gave up on THE BOYS, back then,....you should give it another shot, because this is the Ennis that writes something memorable - and he's on fire. BUENO EXCELLENTE.

CROSSED: PSYCHOPATH # 6 (OF 7) - Jesus, I'm worried about David Lapham. OKAY?!!

HUNTRESS # 3 (OF 6) -

Marcus To deserves more work, DC!!! (He didn't do that cover, by the way.) His pencils have a nice clean style and his storytelling is consistently fluid and easy to follow which make his action sequences dynamic and yet classic super hero storytelling at it's best. I'm no editor, so I don't know how fast he is, but if he can retain this quality of work AND produce on time or better - he just flat out deserves more work. That's not to say Paul Levitz isn't doing a good job, either. His writing on this mini-series is often better than his work on the LEGION books. This is just straight up classic super hero action, folks. GOOD STUFF!

PENGUIN: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE # 3 (OF 5) - I've never been much of a Penguin fan, but Gregg Hurwitz and Szymon Kudranski have managed to make him interesting. For the first time I have been genuinely disturbed by Oswald Cobblepot. This book is dark and moody with an endlessly fascinating psychological bend at play, as we see Penguin as he is now and flashback to his past to see what made him into the man he is today. I would recommend this book to anyone. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

PUNISHER # 6 - Speaking of books I would recommend to anyone - Greg Rucka was born to write this book. I don't say that lightly. Virtually everything you could imagine that has been done to, and with, Frank Castle, has been done at some point. Rucka has taken the unique approach of turning Punisher into almost a background character in his own book - and it works. If you want to see a Master Class on Crime Fiction - here it is in monthly installments. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

STORMWATCH # 4 - I'm not even sure what's happening in this book, half the time, but I like it anyway. Paul Cornell has a good handle on how to write Midnighter, Apollo and (my favorite Wildstorm character) Jack Hawksmoor. GOOD STUFF.

SUICIDE SQUAD # 1 - 3 - When the New52 originally launched, I passed on this one for a number of reasons. (1) I didn't like the new Harley Quinn look, (2) I didn't like the new Deadshot look, (3) I was getting way too many other new books, (4) I read some bad reviews (which I usually ignore) and I wasn't really happy they changed Amanda Waller so much. I know why they did it, but still... and anyway etc.etc. yadda yadda yadda....

Long story short - I finally broke down and picked up the first three issues because I found out the writer, Adam Glass, also writes on one of my favorite TV shows (SUPERNATURAL) and...I really don't mind the new Deadshot look that much, and Harley has sort of the same look in ARKHAM CITY, and I don't really mind it so much there.... Whatever! Bottom line - I read them and I liked them. Glass has taken the Suicide Squad concept and given it this ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK vibe with an unbelievable body count and penchant for mega violence. In other words - it's right up my alley. It's darkly comedic, super violent, and utterly without any redeeming social value. FANBOY FUN!!!

SUPERNATURAL # 3 - I really wish they could get a better artist for this book. Grant Bond's style just does not fit the SUPERNATURAL style. Brian Wood has nailed Sam Winchester, though. OKAY

FANBOY FUN #56 - GOODBYE, BOOMER

2011-12-05T00:33:00.002-06:00

This has been one long awful week.

We had to put our beloved dog, Boomer, to sleep. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make, but I have to keep telling myself that we had to make that decision out of love for him. He was suffering. He had a good long life, and I'll miss him forever. He was a far better dog than I ever deserved.

Back when my wife and I moved to Albuquerque in 1998 - we were so isolated from everything we had known before. We were both pretty lonely and miserable and just plain homesick. One day we decided to go couch hunting. We couldn't really decide on one we both liked, at the time, but we did see an ad in the classified for a one year old cocker spaniel puppy. So....we went out looking for a couch and came home with a dog. He filled a void we had in our hearts, and gave us at leats one friend in ABQ. He was amazingly smart and so well mannered. He never once tore up anything in the house and even though I had never done it before, I managed to teach him how to do tricks. Tricks! Sit, lay, roll over, fetch, etc. It was so much fun.

Those fun and youthful days ended a long time ago. Boomer went blind in one eye, and then the other. He developed tumors and a number of other problems, and his advanced age didn't help matters. Like I said, it was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. I don't think I will ever love a dog as much as I loved him. He was like a baby to me and my wife. Until nine years ago, he was our only child.

Some friends think I should get a new dog as soon as possible, and some think I should wait awhile. As of right now, I don't want to even think about filling that emptiness in my heart with some dog that could never mean as much to me as he did. I wasn't always the best "owner", but he was always the best dog. He is irreplaceable. I may eventually (probably) get a new dog, but....it's going to be a long time before I'm ready.

Goodbye, Boomer. I miss you.

ANGEL & FAITH: SEASON NINE #4 - This issue kind of bored me. Those twins, as seen on the cover, act worse than The Fenris twins during X-Men. I don't know. They just bother me, for.....some.....reason. What? I didn't say incest. Did you say incest? Why bring up such a nasty subject? Perv! But seriously...This issue kind of bored me. Still a solid OKAY.

GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES #0 - I bet DC gives this away for free on FREE COMIC BOOK DAY this. I only mention this because DC seems to refuse to pay for new material to distribute on FCBD every year, while Marvel usually puts out two brand new books on FCBD. (Sadly...Marvel is just taking a note from DC, this year, and reprinting the AVENGERS 12.1. Bah!) As for this issue by itself...it isn't going to win any awards, but like all of DC's younger readers line, it's largely just innocent fun that I wouldn't feel creepy reading to my kids at bedtime. OKAY.

LEGION: SECRET ORIGIN #2 (OF 6) - I'm still not sure why RJ Brande's dialogue is being written to make him come off like Yakov Smirnoff and not Foghorn Leghorn, like I've always imagined him sounding. OKAY.

THE SHADE #2 (OF 12) - I wamt to preface this by saying that I am a HUGE FAN of James Robinson's STARMAN series. Having said that.... I pick up a lot of comics every week. A lot! So, this is one series I was planning on just waiting until DC inevitably published in a nice thick hardcover edition, and reading it all in one sitting. I already have a space for it next to my STARMAN HC cover collection. I read the first issue, and it seemed like classic Robinson and it made me happy. It gave me something to look forward to. Then I read this article: http://www.comicsbeat.com/2011/11/29/the-shade-on-the-chopping-block-a-comic-worth-a-look-while-you-still-can/
I read that...and I got skeeered! So, I hiked back to the comic shop and picked up issue two off the shelf and added the series to my pull list. I suggest you all do the same, because this really is a good book. Shade begins his investigation to who put out a hit on him, and it looks like we're going to get twelve full issues of what made STARMAN so unique and what made Robinson one of my favorite writers (until JLA: CRY FOR JUSTICE). Shade is giving readers a wild tour through the DC Universe, past and present, while also giving readers enough action and drama to keep them coming back for more. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS #1 (OF 6) - This book, written by Nick Spencer, has been a far better comic book read than it has any right to. I've been a big fan of Wally Wood's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents since I discovered them in the 1980s, and as much fun as I've always had reading their adventures - they've never quite been this sophisticated and thought provoking. Spencer has taken the series and made it into a thinking man's action movie (for lack of a better description). The various devices that our heroes have always used to give them super powers, have always been sort of whimsical with an underlying edge of darkness, because the devices are killing them as they use them, but we've actually seen it happen in this series. You should really give this book a try. I think you might be pleasantly surprised by it. FANBOY FUN!

MY WIFE IS A DVR WIDOW # 5 - AN OPEN LETTER TO SERA GAMBLE

2011-11-26T15:17:00.004-06:00

Welcome back to my semi-regular gargantuan TV blog! Yes, I really do
watch all these shows, but...it takes me awhile. What usually happens
is that I make it a point to watch my absolute favorite TV shows the
week they air. I rely on my trusty DVR to save them so I can watch
when I have time, because I don't ever get to watch my shows as they
air, so the best I can hope for is to catch it sometime during the
week. Among the shows I make time to watch first are usually BURN
NOTICE, BREAKING BAD, SUPERNATURAL, DOCTOR WHO, REVENGE and THE
WALKING DEAD. These are all shows that have some type of vocal
internet following that will totally spoil the ending for me if I
don't try and catch it ASAP after it airs. The rest of the shows
usually end up being consumed in a nice mini-marathon with two to
three episodes at a time. I haven't listed all of the shows I watch,
because some I don't feel like I have anything more to say about them,
some I don't want to admit to the public that I watch, and some are
just talk shows I can literally fire up on the DVR and watch five
minutes of and return to it later with no problems (like CONAN or
X-PLAY).

I always like to point out that I hesitate to call these reviews,
because they really aren't. Some of them are, but not all of them.
This is more like a big info dump for me in a stream of consciousness
fashion, getting out my own thoughts about the shows out while I kind
of let you [the reader] act as a reminder for myself about why I like
or dislike a particular show. Some shows I am actively trying to get
you to watch, and some I just want to discuss them with other fans.
The whole point is to have fun, and I hope that I can provide that for
you for at least a few minutes.

Thanks for reading and ON to the shows!!
ALPHAS

- Initially, I almost passed on this fairly underrated little
SyFy show. I made the mistake of writing it off as yet another attempt
to do an X-MEN without The X-MEN-type show with every superhero cliche in the
book to give it an "XTREME EDGE" or something. The sole reason I even
bothered to check it out, was because I "friended" writer Marc
Bernardin on Facebook. let me explain. Bernardin is one half of a team
of writers who wrote one of my very favorite Wildstorm mini-series
from a few years ago, THE HIGHWAYMEN, about two old government spook
types who come out of retirement and kick a lot of ass. It was a story
that could have been very cliche, and yet they managed to make it
fresh and fun. And now, here was Bernardin joining the writing staff
of a TV show and promising to do the same. So...I gave it a shot. Glad
I did! ALPHAS was a series about people born with extraordinary
abilities (like the X-Men!), led by an enigmatic doctor with a
peaceful agenda (like the X-Men!), who try to use their powers to
benefit all of mankind (like the X-Men! Hey.) and fit in with a world
that fears them (like the X-Men! Now, waitaminute!!). I know. I know.
It is totally The X-Men TV show without The X-Men. But where it really
hooked me, was in the thoughtful characterization, imaginative writing
and excellent casting. The actors in particular really made each
character really shine. From David Straitharn and Azita Ghanizada to
Ryan Cartwright - everyone works to really make their respective
characters into an actual human being. After the fairly shocking season finale, I'm
enthusiastically waiting for this one to return.

AMERICAN PICKERS - This is my new guilty pleasure. I don't watch much
reality TV, so I'm always happy to find something a little unique, in
terms of TV. I get a cathartic thrill watching Mike and Frank dig
through the dirt and muck to unearth some new treasure. I've always
said that about 25% of the reason I collect comic books, is because of
the thrill of the hunt. There's something satisfying about tracking
down something missing from your collection, especially if it took you
months or years to locate it. (My current "Holy Grail" is the HARVEY
COMICS CLASSICS: VOL. 2 - RICHIE RICH. It's out of print and hard as
hell to find for the amount I'm willing to pay.) Frank, Mike and
Danielle are a great team, and they never fail to impress me with what
they find, and the people they meet.

BREAKING BAD - I've said it before, and I'll say it again - this is
the best written show on television, bar none. The plot, by this
point, is just driven by pure adrenaline. It's so well paced, and
thought out, with every episode making it harder and harder to
sympathize with Walter White and this hole he has dug himself into
like a tick. The hardest part is admitting that I would probably make
the same mistakes he has made throughout this series. I have no idea
where this show is going, but Vince Gilligan has proven time and again
he is fearless in the story he is telling. I think the series could
only end with Walter in witness protection, jail or dead. At this
point, given some of the lengths he has gone to, over the course of
the series, to protect his family and his own secrets - I am
particularly worried that Walt's fate will ultimately rest with
Jessie. Trusty sidekick, Jessie, has grown more than any other
character on the show, going from a burnt out meth head to the haunted
and strong willed power player that this past season warped him into.
You could argue that Walt has helped make him the man he is, but you
can't ever forget that Walt has also pretty much irrevocably ruined
Jessie's life. I could literally go on and on writing my stream of
consciousness thoughts about this show, just to make some room in my
head, but I think I'll just stop here. Comment below - what do those
of you reading this think will happen between Walt and Jessie?

BURN NOTICE - Now that Jack Bauer has left my TV for good - Michael
Weston is the only true American badass left. You could argue that
Raylan Givens on JUSTIFIED fits the bill (and I do love JUSTIFIED),
but he gets his ass kicked just as much as he doles it out. He would
also be the first to admit it. So, for my money, Michael Weston is my
guy. I recite the opening every week, "I used to be a spy..." I love
how every episode gives you practical real world knowledge on a
variety of topics like making a quick smoke bomb and disabling a GPS,
and more. The current storyline, with Michael having finally tracked
down and now being manipulated by the man who burned him, isn't the
strongest the show has ever been, but at this point the show has
become less about Michael getting reinstated or getting revenge or
even getting his life back. The show has slowly started to focus more
on the crumbling self-assurance and always distant Weston, as his
friends and family have grown with time going from important assets, a
means to an end, to being a make-shift family and finally being his
one biggest fear - his biggest weakness. I can't wait to see how
Michael Weston gets out of this and gives that bastard, Anson
Fullerton, what he deserves. I just hope Weston's family is still
there for him when he does.

DOCTOR WHO - I admit - I literally slapped myself in the forehead when
we found out how The Doctor managed to escape being shot dead on that
beach. In retrospect it was so obvious that I should have seen it
coming. Duh!
Oh, and...I still miss David Tennant. That feeling won't ever go away.

EUREKA - I'm going to be so sad to see this goofy show go away. I
really will. It has never failed to make me smile, and the ensemble
cast work well together. That last point is especially important,
because often the plot of the episode is positively ridiculous. But,
like I said, it always makes me smile. It's charming in its own way.

FRINGE - At the behest of a good friend and longtime reader, I finally
started watching this series and...I have finally caught up to
watching week to week. I had originally dismissed the series, sight
unseen, to be a clone of THE X-FILES. Man, did I call that one! Even
though I can now say that I do love this series, you can't deny that
the first season is pretty much a clone of THE X-FILES. But I
digress....unfortunately since I waited sooo long to watch this
series, most of the series major revelations had been spoiled for me a
long time ago, but I kept watching because the actors and writers on
this show just do such an incredible job. Thankfully, if I'm careful,
I won't have to worry about anyone else spoiling anything for me, ever
again.

HELL ON WHEELS - This is AMC's new western series. I've only seen two
episodes of this. The first episode was pretty slow and mighty boring.
Not unlike I imagine building a railroad would be. The second episode
was a little more artfully made with a good slow build and a nice
dollop of suspense to keep it interesting. I've actually really
enjoyed Rapper/Actor Common in everything I seen him in, and the lead
character, Anson Mount as Cullen Bohannon, kept me interested enough
in his story that I think I'll stick around for at least the first
season. It ain't anywhere near as good as DEADWOOD (of course, it's on
basic cable and not HBO...), but it looks like it could be pretty
good. Did anybody else see this? What did you think?

LUTHER - Ah, Idris Elba. How is it that everything you star in becomes 1,000x more awesome just by you being on screen? At this point, the
U.K. should just go ahead and declare Idris Elba a National Treasure.

Every episode just gets darker and more unpredictable - even when it's
totally predictable, it's still unpredictable in how predictable it's
going to be - and Elba does such an amazing job playing the smartest
man in the room. This is one of those hidden gems of British
television. Fans of Sherlock Holmes and DEXTER should do themselves a
favor and give LUTHER a try. You'll be thanking me later. Remember
when I told you to watch JEKYLL?

PERSON OF INTEREST - I had high hopes for this series. It hasn't let
me down, but then again it hasn't quite lived up to the promise of
it's pedigree either. You have JJ Abrams and Jonathan Nolan, co-writer
of THE DARK KNIGHT and THE PRESTIGE, creating a weekly mystery series
starring Jim Cavaziel (who I've loved for a long time) and Michael
Emerson, aka Ben from LOST. If that isn't Divine intervention trying
to make the best series ever - I don't know what they could do to make
it better. Except....then I actually watched it. Here's the problem -
the creators fully expect you to just shut your brain off and not try
to understand how a machine could predict the future based on your
social security number alone. The problem is that in the tech savvy
world we live in today - that sort of vague plot point just doesn't
fly. The first episode was kind of plodding and a little boring, but
it picked up afterwards and seemed to find a rhythm that does its best
to keep the plot rolling without peaking under the curtain too much.
It succeeds more than it fails, but they still need to work out a lot
of kinks if they want this series to have a healthy shelf life. I've
come to the conclusion that this series really just wants to be
Batman. Cavaziel is the muscle and the scary determination and
Emerson's character is the brains and the stealth. Add in a little
DARK KNIGHT-style surveillance and you have two men, one hero, no
capes. Totally Batman. It's best if you just shut off your brain and
enjoy the show. I just hope it gets better.

REVENGE - My absolute favorite new series of this season! I'm kind of
a sucker for a good revenge story (I blame that bully in junior
high!), and I'm also a sucker for Emily VanCamp. If you haven't heard
the growing hype on this show - in a nutshell, we have a girl named
Emily Thorne (played by Emily VanCamp) showing up for a Summer in the
Hamptons with one goal. She is systematically taking out every one
that had a hand in ruining her father's life by framing him for an act
of terrorism. Think COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO mixed with DYNASTY or FALCON
CREST and you have an idea of what the producers are going for. This
is a revelatory role for VanCamp, who was previously best known for
her work on EVERWOOD. In this show she's showing range I never would
have thought she was capable of, and I admit - I get a giddy gleeful
thrill every time she takes down another one of those rich smug
bastards that caused her father's death and ruined her childhood. Her
sort-of-sidekick (she keeps him at arms length), Gabriel Mann, is
channeling some serious James Spader 80s mojo, and Maddeline Stowe is
absolutely perfect as the Queen Bitch of the Hamptons. The actual
revenge scenarios Emily crafts to bring down her targets are so
diabolical, and fitting for each person she takes down, that half the
appeal of the show is seeing how she plans to ruin someone else with
her righteous anger. I can not recommend this show enough. It really
is the perfect soapy, suspenseful thriller to replace DESPERATE
HOUSEWIVES on the ABC schedule.

RINGER - Sweet Jesus, this show is awful!!! I really really tried to
like it. Despite the fact that I absolutely hate every single
character and actor on the show, except Sarah Michelle Geller and the
woefully underused Nestor Carbonell (who deserves better!), I still
kept watching out of devotion to SMG for giving me Buffy and Nestor
for giving me Richard on LOST. Like the rest of you, I laughed my ass
off at that horrible -HORRIBLE- green screen boat sequence in the
first episode, but I kept watching. I tried to look past all the
endless plot holes and ridiculous plot twists, and the mind bogglingly
stupid characters and the horrible acting. I really tried. But after
six episodes - I just couldn't watch anymore. SMG and Nestor Carbonell
deserve better than this show.

SUPERNATURAL - An open letter to Sera Gamble.
Supernatural was pretty much my favorite show (neck and neck with
LOST) for five straight years. Series creator, Eric Kripke, always
said he had a solid five year story to tell, and the fact that he
managed to tell it despite ho-hum ratings early in the series, is one
of those rare television success stories we hear way too little in
broadcast television. When The CW announced that the series would
indeed continue without Kripke, I was worried. Really worried. But I
love the characters, love the show, and I was willing to give you the
benefit of the doubt. I'll admit - you knocked my socks off with
Season Six. You did things I never would have imagined and the show
stayed just as hilarious and heartbreaking and flat out bad ass as it
always was.
Then came Season Seven. The season started out kind of slow.
Actually...it started out pretty awesome, with Cas being God and
everything. ...but that went away, and it quickly became...okay. Sam
and Dean are both acting out of character, understandable what with
where they've been and all, but still...out of charter. And the new
Big Bad isn't really doing much for me. It's just not the same this
season. I'm still invested and I'll still keep watching, but after the
last episode of November, all I have to say is....
Sera Gamble, if you kill Bobby Singer, I WILL NEVER WATCH THIS SHOW
AGAIN! Make the right decision Sera.

Sincerely, Supernatural's Most Devoted Fan.

UP ALL NIGHT - The cast is 100% of the reason I gave this show a
chance. I love Christina Applegate and I will give any show she's on
at least an episode or two. Then you throw in Gob Bluth himself, Will
Arnett, and Maya Rudolph doing her always hilarious Oprah-lite diva
impersonation, and you have a cast worthy of my time. The premise,
Applegate and Arnett are new parents trying to give up their party
lifestyle, is cute and gives the writers room for a few great jokes
but I'm worried how they can sustain that premise as the kid gets
older and refrain from making the couple look like irresponsible and
awful parents. I'm willing to bet they give that premise up pretty
quick if the series gets any kind of extended shelf life beyond one
season.

THE WALKING DEAD - If you aren't watching AMC's weekly zombie movie,
then you're missing out on some good old fashioned fun! The thing I
want to mention is that, yes, this is adapted from a comic book. And,
yes, the comic book is just as good as the show, but I've met a lot of
people at the comic shop who refuse to either read the books in case
it ruins the show and vice versa. As I like to point out - the comics
and the show are now pretty different enough from one another that
they kind of aren't the same at all. You might see a plot thread from
the comic be dangled in front of the characters on the show, but for
the most part they seem to be going their own way. Some characters
from the show haven't ever been in the comics, making each very
different in terms of some group dynamics and subplots. So, if you're
holding out, pick up the first volume of the comic series and give it
a try, then hunt down the first season of the show (on Blu Ray and
DVD!) and compare the two. I guarantee you will be hooked on both.

WAREHOUSE 13 - Damn! This show got kinda....dark.

WHITECHAPEL

- Here's another British import that I discovered on BBC
America...it's a dark creepy police procedural in which the police are
tracking down a modern copycat murderer, who is trying to recreate the
Jack the Ripper killings on their 200 year anniversary (which was in
2008). The show was originally told in three mini-series (each, only
three episodes long), but BBC America is running them back to back. At
this point only five episodes have aired, but I've only managed to see
the first three. One mystery was resolved in those first three
episodes, and it kept me guessing right up until the reveal at the
finale. Judging from the moody atmosphere and tightly crafted forensic
procedural plotting of the first three - I can only hope and pray the
remaining episodes live up to the high bar set already. I'll check
back in later and let you know how it turns out.

Well, that's all I have for now. Thanks for tuning in to Confessions
of a TV Whore, and I'll see you next time.

FANBOY FUN # 55 - AUSTIN COMIC CON 2011

2011-11-24T03:31:00.005-06:00

Welcome back to my goofy little blog, folks! I know it's been a few weeks, since I last posted, and I keep promising to work on the return of my DVR WIDOW posts. All I can say is that I'm sorry and I'll get to it soon.
The reason I've been away is that I went on vacation from my real job and instead of reading comics and blogging about them - I went to Austin, TX for the Wizard World 2011 Austin Comic Con. ...and by the time I got back I was behind on my reading, so I had to catch up.

The con was immensely better attended by retailers and guests than it was the previous year. I met some great artists (Greg Capullo, Jo Chen, Kevin Maguire, and more!), got some awesome deals on back issues and toys for the kids, shopped at one of the coolest record stores in the world (Waterloo Records), walked out of Austin Comic's Sidekick Store without finding a great deal (surprisingly AND sadly), and ate some of the best food I've eaten in a long long time (24 HOUR DINER). I also met Joel Watson of hijinksensue.com and spent way too much money at his booth, buying volume two of the print version of his, always hilarious web comic, and got some great sketches and cool T-shirt. If you're looking for a laugh, just click the link:

This trip was also highly educational, this year, as well. I learned that Danny DeVito has a female equivalent who likes to frequent 6th Street while wearing a sparkly pink dress and high heels. Quite an eye opener!

I learned that even the homeless of Austin will openly mock you if you wear a Texas Tech jacket. True story! I'm walking back to the car after eating dinner, with some friends, when we pass a mumbly homeless guy sitting on an overpass. He's yelling at passersby and asking for money, with most people just ignoring him and walking by without acknowledging him. I should not at this point that TTU had just lost a game against Oklahoma State by a staggering 66-6!!! As my friends and I walk past he looks right at me, wearing my red Texas Tech jacket, and says "Aw. It's alright. You'll win one, one of these days. Y'all just keep trying. You'll win one, some day."

Before I launch into my reviews for the week (a huge pile of three whole titles!), I would like to take a moment to point out something I observed that weekend. The media, non-comic fans, self-loathing comic book fans, nerd on nerd posturing and even the nerd blackface that is THE BIG BANG THEORY all revel in portraying ALL comic book fans as super hero costume cosplay geeks, as if just setting foot in the convention center of a large scale comic con requires you to come wearing spandex and a cape. For the record - the only time I ever put on a costume is Halloween, and even then it's something on the cheap like slapping a Superman T-shirt on underneath a dress shirt and calling myself Clark Kent. I am - and forever remain - too cool for school. Anyone who has ever attended a con knows that ain't true. Cosplayers are there, but they're usually one for every 100 people (statistics not based on any actual facts). Now, apparently, the same weekend we were in town there was a big Rugby Tournament in town. I know this because we went out on 6th Street (as you do) and visited with friends at a bar (as you do) and the bar was largely populated with...lots and lots of guys dressed in goofy costumes. Over in this corner we have a group wearing togas, over here we have guys all wearing matching polos and shorts, and over here - well, these dudes are all wearing safari gear and look a lot like Crocodile Dundee fanboys. And one of the was carrying an armadillo with a bright purple dildo. And ArmaDildo...if you will. Grown men, walking the streets of Austin, TX carrying an ArmaDildo. ....and yet....comic book fans are the weirdos?

Now - on to the comics!!

ALL-STAR WESTERN #3 -

Once again, Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have written The Best Book I've Read This Week! Where their work on JONAH HEX was largely focused on single issue stories, the book here has become much more of a serialized narrative with more action and violence than any monthly comic book has a right to contain. These guys know Hex and know how to take him out of the old west and place him squarely in a civilized society and perfectly use him to contrast the two all the while keeping his characterization true and managing to keep it interesting and different enough to make this one of the most unique books in DC's New 52. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

ANNIHILATORS: EARTHFALL #3 (of 4) -

Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are really producing some epic wide-screen world-shattering threat stuff. I've said it before that DnA have made their little "Cosmic Corner" of the Marvel Universe into my favorite Marvel comics stuff in the past five years. If this story ends up being their swan-song on the Cosmic Marvel stuff, then I couldn't be happier with everything they've done with these characters. (Except Drax. They ticked me off with that one.) If nothing else - I hope we can get more Rocket Raccoon stories out of these two at some point down the line. FANBOY FUN!!

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #3 -

Not always the best written Batman book on the stands, but it certainly is (in my opinion) the prettiest Batman book on the stands. That isn't to slight any of the artists working on the other Bat-books currently (especially the awesome Greg Capullo), but Finch has such a distinctive and stylized pencil that really makes every figure, in ever panel, pop! His addition to Batman's rogues gallery, White Rabbit, is pretty darn easy on the eyes, too. FANBOY FUN!!!

FANBOY FUN # 54 - SHAME SHAME SHAME!!!

2011-11-04T04:49:00.004-05:00

Swamped at work! Capsule reviews for the sake of brevity...

GO!!!

ACTION COMICS # 3 - I found the "New52" Krypton finally made baby Kal-el's home planet more interesting than it ever has been (for me) prior to now. I'm still not really feeling the new relationship between Clark Kent and Lois Lane, though. I know this book is set in Superman's early years, but from SUPERMAN #1 it didn't look like things had changed between them all that much. OKAY.

THE BOYS # 60 - And after the past few months of building more and more emotion, drama, and intrigue, it's back to the shock value. Dramatic shock value (involving a wolverine), but shock value none the less! Especially with Mother's Milk! GOOD STUFF!!

CROSSED: PSYCHOPATH # 5 (of 7) - Let's see Hollywood try to make THIS into an Rated R movie. OKAY.

DETECTIVE COMICS # 3 - Phew! Without spoiling anything about this, all I will say is...I was kind of happy THAT was a red herring. Maybe it's the reboot, maybe he's finally come in to his own, or maybe I'm finally getting used to him, but Tony Daniel's work on the Batman books has finally turned a good corner, for me. This makes three issues with him at the head of the table that I have thoroughly enjoyed. I'm going to go ahead and nominate The Dollmaker and his twisted family/henchmen for best new Bat-villains since we all re-discovered Lord Death Man in Chip Kidd's BAT-MANGA book. Bravo, Mr. Daniel. Well done, sir. FANBOY FUN!!!

FEAR ITSELF: CAPTAIN AMERICA # 7.1 - OH, THANK GOD!!!! Seriously. Thank You, God! Still not sure why they couldn't have made THIS one of the epilogues in FEAR ITSELF # 7 (because what they did include were useless!), but....Praise The Lord! 'sall I'm sayin'! FANBOY FUN!

SHAME ITSELF # 1 (of 1) -

I was a big fan of Marvel's self-deprecating series NOT BRAND ECHH, in the 60s, and WHAT THE...?!, in the 90s, so I was fairly certain I would enjoy this. The biggest selling point, though was the inclusion of a story by Michael "TALES DESIGNED TO THRIZZLE" Kupperman, which is always a treat.

If you haven't read Thrizzle - I can't recommend it enough. It will make you laugh out loud, pee your pants a little, and then maybe scratch your head for ten minutes. His contribution here is a prose X-Men story that...you kind of have to read to believe. It's weird....but funny. It was right up my alley. Another great contribution is a Spider-Man story by Sara Benincasa and Stephanie Buscema, granddaughter of the legendary John Buscema. Sara is also the Co-Host of one of my favorite podcasts, SEX & OTHER HUMAN ACTIVITIES, which is also co-hosted by one of my best friends in the world, Marcus' Parks' - podcast bigwig guru and Lord & Master of http://cavecomedyradio.com (Sorry Marcus, I couldn't get the link to work.)
Benincasa's story, I HATE PETER PARKER, was (surprisingly) the laugh out loud funniest thing in the book. I'm not biased here either (I expected Kupperman to steal the show.) - it really was delightfully wickedly funny. A treat that I hope we get to partake in again at some point. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

STORMWATCH # 3 - Not sure I was imagining Jack Hawksmoor's conversations with cities would look quite like this, but....I'll allow it. I'm still not sure where this is going, but I like it enough to keep reading. I like the new Apollo and Midnighter. Still unsure why Martian Manhunter is on the team, though. OKAY.

SUPERNATURAL # 2 (of 6) - Brian Wood seems to have a good grasp on the characterization of Sam Winchester, which makes this okay in my book, but I need to see how he handles every body's favorite smartass, Dean, first. OKAY.

FANBOY FUN # 53 - NERD CHEF'S SURPRISE

2011-10-28T01:37:00.002-05:00

It was another banner week in nerd culture....for me, at least. I have no life. What? Don't you judge me!
First up - I finally managed to watch Kevin Smith's new movie, RED STATE, and - for once - I was fairly blown away by how good it was.

I guess going in with the lowered expectations of disappointment from his last few movies (Hello, Clerks 2, Cop Out & Dogma. Mostly Cop Out. I kind of enjoyed Zack and Miri Make A Porno.), really prepped me for something sophomoric, preachy and filled to the brim with Smith's friends. What I got was an intelligent, well made film that was scary as Hell because it was so real and unpredictable (except for that one moment with Melissa Leo). I couldn't recommend this enough. I hope this marks a new direction for Smith's career path.

My other nerdgasm moment of the week was when I discovered that Netflix had finally (FINALLY!!!!!!!) put Season Four of TORCHWOOD up on their instant viewing. And the best part is that I just finished off Season Three of FRINGE on DVD and I'm ready to let another TV series besides AMERICAN PICKERS consume my Netflix Instant queue. THREE CHEERS FOR CAPT. JACK HARKNESS!!!!

Now - To the comics!!!

ALL-STAR WESTERN #2 - For about six pages my only thought was "Now Hex is gonna show those whitebread city folk, that ya don't mess Jonah F***ing Hex!" As much as I loved the first issue, this outing was much different in tone with just pretty much start to ending being nothing but bullets, fists and blood. For me, part of Hex's appeal has always been the fact that he's basically an 80s action movie super hero set in the old west, and this new dynamic with him set squarely in Old Gotham City among an entire city of people who underestimate him....it's driven my enjoyment of this book up by 1,000. I also love the fact that they slipped in a backup story with El Diablo (old fans of my METROPOLIS radio show, on KTXT 88.1, know that I have nothing but affection for the name El Diablo) versus zombies, and the prospect of future backups featuring more of DC's western heroes lineup has got me giddy! GIDDY! FANBOY FUN!!!

ANGEL & FAITH #3 - I feel just a wee bit ashamed that I like this more than I do Buffy Season 9. I'm a sucker for Faith, what can I say? I dig those bad girls, you know what I mean? Eh? ~wink wink~ Eh? Oh, um....SPOILER ALERT....I was surprised to see Faith so quickly realize that she had to get away from Angel's influence as soon as possible, for her own safety, so quickly in the series. Three issues in and she decides she needs to get away from him? Especially after the first two issues seemed to cement her need to help him redeem himself....again. GOOD STUFF!

ANNIHILATORS: EARTHFALL #2 (OF 4) - This issue is, more or less, the obligatory superhero misunderstanding smack-down battle royale! Which is always fun. The real revelation, though, is the excellent Rocket Raccoon and Groot back-up story, which is officially "a hoot and a half" and well worth the cover price by itself. FANBOY FUN!!!

Just for the helluv it...let's have a musical interlude by West Texas' own Annihilators.

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #2 - I'm still playing BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY on my XBOX and one of my current side missions is to destroy six containers of the Titan drug compound that have been hidden all over Gotham. Titan, in the game, is a drug more powerful than the Venom serum used by Bane to...for lack of a better description....Hulk out. This issue reminded me a lot of the game, with lots of 'roided out Bat villains running rampant throughout the city. And all drawn by the always amazing David Finch. FANBOY FUN!!!

CAPTAIN SWING AND THE ELECTRICAL PIRATES OF CINDERY ISLAND #4 (OF 4) - This book is so late, that I barely remembered what happened in the first three issues. Despite that fact, I still enjoyed what I read and the art by Raulo Caceres is amazingly detailed and imaginative. GOOD STUFF, but a re-read might push that rating up.

INCREDIBLE HULK #1 - I'm not the only one who is confused how Hulk was able to separate himself from Bruce Banner, am I? Jason Aaron and Marc Silvestri really do come out swinging with a pretty decent first issue. I just wish there was more story here than set up, and what set up there is ain't much more than what I read in the plot synopsis when I ordered this issue. ****SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED**** Hulk is separated from Banner, with the twist being that Banner is the dangerous one now, and Hulk is the well adjusted one. It's a nice homage to Peter David's Hulk stories and new and different enough to keep me coming back, but the next two issues will determine if this is a series I read in single issues or wait-for-the-trade. GOOD STUFF!

LEGION: SECRET ORIGIN #1 (OF 6) - Even before I read this issue, it was my new favorite Legion series ever. Of course, that's only because you get a FREE Legion of Super-Heroes Flight Ring with every purchase (at Star Comics, 2014-34th, Lubbock, TX). The issue itself, as much as I hate to admit it, should probably have been the first new Legion book of the New 52. At the time of the announcement I declared quite vocally that I didn't think my fandom could withstand yet another Legion reboot (what have there been? Five?!!!). I now admit - I was wrong. Because this retelling of the Legion origin is pretty darn good. Mostly because the core trinity is pretty much pushed to the background as a newsfeed, and this "origin" seems to be focusing on the Legion team-members that joined after Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad saved the life of R.J. Brande, benefactor of the Legion. GOOD STUFF!

STITCHED #1 - This is the first issue of the movie adaptation of Garth Ennis' straight to DVD film, about soldiers who's helicopter crash lands in Afghanistan.

Ennis and Mike Wolfer throw you right into the action and get straight to the point - the dead walk again, but they seem to be more Golem than zombie. The true test, of course, will be when I finally get to watch the movie itself and I'm able to judge this adaptation against the source material. As it stands, this is a good creepy book that ends with me craving more. Ennis does a great job of getting you in the head of a soldier stuck behind enemy lines, and then adds in the terror of the supernatural unknown. Just think, if he can do that this well in a comic book, what can he do with actors in a movie that he wrote and directed himself?

When I bought it, my one hope was that it could at least live up to Ennis' 303, and one issue in - so far, so good. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

ULTIMATE COMICS THE ULTIMATES #3 - ****SPOILER ALERT**** Hey, Marvel! Can we go one minute without you trying to kill Thor, guys? PLEASE?!!! ****SPOILER ALERT DE-ACTIVATED**** GOOD STUFF!

WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN #1 - I kind of liked this. It has a nice old school GENERATION X vibe. If you don't know - Wolverine and Cyclops finally had it out, and the X-Men team has split into two factions. Wolverine has taken up Prof. X's mantra and re-opened a school for mutant children, in Westchester County, NY. This issue is very much a first day of school introduction to the school curriculum, teachers, and students of the new status quo, with nice art by Chris Bachalo and a script by Jason Aaron. I've always preferred my Wolverine to be a bad ass loner, but I did enjoy seeing him squirm in Prof. X's shoes for once. GOOD STUFF!

FANBOY FUN # 52 - WELCOME TO ARKHAM CITY

2011-10-23T23:52:00.004-05:00

This was an absolute beast of a week for new comics and nerd culture in particular! For me, anyway. This past Tuesday was the release date (Finally!) of BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY for most video game consoles!

I can honestly say I had to pry my eyes away from my XBOX to catch the season finale of LUTHER on BBC America and the season premiere of THE WALKING DEAD on AMC (which I had to record on my DVR on premiere night, for later consumption).

I'm only about 11% into the game itself (dang side missions!), and it is already one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I've ever had in my life. They kept everything I loved about the original and either tweaked or built on that foundation to really amp up the excitement and thrill of actually stepping into the shoes of Batman swinging around and patrolling the streets of Gotham City. I have a few minor quibbles here and there (Really? That's your design for Deadshot? Really?!!),

...but I can live with it. It really is already one of my all-time favorite games. It also helps that they got Kevin Conroy to voice Batman, and Mark Hamill to voice The Joker (for one final time, sniffle). If you have a PS3 or XBOX - you could do a lot worse than to order this game. It's a real keeper!

Now - to the comics!

ATOMIC ROBO: THE GHOST OF STATION X #2 (OF 5) - Whoa! What happened to my fun and happy little comic about a robot built by Tesla and his adventures? Things got dark - real quick. FANBOY FUN!

AVENGERS #18 - I'm not sure why this one carries the "Shattered Heroes" banner - I guess cause it came out...after Fear Itself ended? - but anywho... This issue things in both this and New Avengers start to converge with the return of Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers. I do want to not that Daniel Acuna provides the art for this issue and color me crazy but I noticed that his facial expressions sort of resemble the facial expressions of veteran EC artist extraordinaire John Severin. I'm curious to know if Severin is an influence of Acuna. But I digress....GOOD STUFF.

BATMAN #2 - Maybe it's all the ARKHAM CITY I've been playing this week,

...but I'm starting to see where DC might be leaning just ever so slightly towards the character in the game as a sort of model for how the "New52" Batman does business, with a heavy reliance on gadgets and technology over getting your hands dirty hardcore investigating. I'm also noticing a sort of synergy between the two with a heavy emphasis placed on Scott Snyder's GATES OF GOTHAM mini-series, which explored the history of Gotham City and the various families of influence's impact on the city. Scott Snyder really seems to understand Batman and Gotham City, which is a character in it's own right, and it shows in his writing. I'm curious to see where he goes with the Court of Owls and I hope that Batman's steadfast denial of their even existing is more than just an easy out to explain why they might be able to escape his notice. In other words, I'm hoping Snyder will at least explain why Batman doesn't believe in the organization (through flashbacks or some other plot device) instead of just him saying, "No. they don't exist! I'm Batman and I'm always right!!" I also hope that Bruce Wayne's new "pal" is just a red herring and not someone so blatantly obviously the bad guy, like his old pal Hush. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

**BONUS** BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY (AMAZON PRE-ORDER EXCLUSIVE) - Look what I got!

As part of my pre-order bonus for ordering Arkham City from Amazon.com, I got an exclusive printing of five all-new bonus chapters of Paul Dini's tie-in comic book, that were previously available exclusively online. Each chapter is written by Dini, with rotating artists on each chapter, and each tells a full story taking place between the five issue mini-series prequel to the game. For my money, Dini can't do wrong when he writes a Batman story, and each story is a satisfying slice that adds to the mythos of the game.
You can still read the stories in the new hardcover collection of the mini-series, which contains these stories in addition to the full mini, but this was the only place to get them all collected in single issue format, making this a pretty neat little bonus to the game with or without the rest of the mini-series. FANBOY FUN!!!

THE BOYS: BUTCHER, BAKER, CANDLESTICKMAKER #4 (OF 6) - My God! Garth Ennis really knows how to sucker punch his readers in the guts. This has all the brutality and heartrending emotion that he captured so well in his early HELLBLAZER arcs with Constantine and Kit. One of the single best issues of this series thus far, and they just keep getting better and better. ...and darker. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

DOCTOR WHO #10 - And then there was the obligatory, Doctor switches bodies with Amy story. Presumably Rory is considering how far his devotion to Amy will go if they can't switch back. "I waited 2,00 years for you....but you were girl then. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but..." GOOD STUFF

FEAR ITSELF #7 (OF 7) - Are you $&#%ing kidding me? Why couldn't this have been done in four issues like SIEGE was? Tell me why. EH!!!

FEAR ITSELF: THE FEARLESS #1 (OF 12) - You lost me as soon as I realized Valkyrie was the main character and this was a twelve issue bi-weekly mini-series. Also - I feel a little burned after Fear Itself #7. It wasn't awful, and neither is this "sequel", but...I just don't care enough to keep getting it beyond this. I gave you [Marvel] one issue, and you failed to get my attention. EH!

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #2 - Not much happens besides one GL being dismembered and some bad guys being introduced. Didn't Geoff Johns promise us the New52 would have an emphasis on self-contained stories? OKAY!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #2 - Speaking of self-contained Geoff Johns stories....this one is not. As much as I complained about the first issue being largely set-up, this issue continues that set-up, but it does give readers a decent amount of action and Jim Lee artwork.

I'm always happy to see Lee draw anything. And let's face it - he's one of the few guys who can do the new Superman costume justice. There's a lot here that I don't like, but...it sort of works for me. I like it despite itself, really. I'm not thrilled with a lot of the characterizations (Superman is a jerk. Green Lantern is a douche!), the interactions between Vic Stone and his father are cliche and way too heavy handed for me, but I still enjoyed this for some reason. I guess because, for me, it feels like the one title trying to actually build a new world to bounce ideas off of. I haven't gotten that feeling from a lot of the other New52 books. This one feels new and different enough. FANBOY FUN - but about 75% of that is based on Jim Lee's art.

**BONUS** JUSTICE LEAGUE: ARTIFICIAL INVASION #2 (OF 4) - This one of four comic books inserted into random boxes of General Mills cereals. They're about what you would expect with the most basic generic Justice League story imaginable: Superman and Wonder Woman fight an army of robots. Curiously - DC did NOT take this opportunity to expose new readers to their New52 versions of these iconic characters. Hmmm..... Innocent, silly fun for all ages and I was happy to sit down and read it with my kids. What more could you ask for from a freebie? GOOD STUFF!

http://biggcerealheroes.com/

**BONUS** JUSTICE LEAGUE: SINISTER IMITATION #3 (OF 4) - I'm hoping I can snag a full set of these somewhere down the line. This one revolves around Flash being impersonated by a duplicate. Like I said above - if I feel comfortable reading it to the kids at bedtime and it entertains them - it gets an A+ in my book. GOOD STUFF!

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #2 -

How fitting is it that just as I get to the big Mon-El versus the Daxamite fight, that Metallica's Breadfan kicks in on Sirius XM?

It feels good to read a Legion comic book and be able to write these words, after so long of so-so stories: FANBOY FUN!!!

NEW AVENGERS #17 - Unless I'm missing the point of these Marvel Point One issues, it feels like this should have been one instead of issue 16.1. Maybe it's just me, but this issue was just a nice little breather after all the Fear Itself tie-ins and the calm before the storm that is The Return of Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers. GOOD STUFF!

NIGHTWING #2 - Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrows do a helluva bang-up job of making this into a well choreographed action movie. Barrows' art has never looked better and Higgins has a good grasp on what makes Dick Grayson tick. One thing bothers me, though. Am I crazy or didn't Dick Grayson buy the old Haley Circus at some point in the past? Did I imagine that? I know this is the New52 and all bets are off as to what did or didn't survive the continuity reboot and whatnot, but still...did that happen? I kinda think it did. Anyone? Help?!!! FANBOY FUN!!!

STAR TREK/LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1 (OF 4) - Chris Roberson really knocked this one out of the park, for me.

I was a fan of the original Trek back when I was a little kid (I'm talking late 70s/early 80s), but I have LONE SINCE outgrown my fandom for Trek. I am just flat out....Not. A. Fan. Period. But I am a hardcore geek when it comes to The Legion of Super-Heroes. So...if they had to tie-in with any incarnation of Trek, I'm happy it was this one. Sadly, I know if this is in any way successful they'll do a Legion ST:TNG cross-over. I'm not stupid, and neither are DC or IDW. Roberson does a great job of keeping all the characters from both series in character and keeping the head-scratching plot line interesting enough that it doesn't get too bogged down in needless exposition. Another plus for me is the fact that veteran Legion artists Phil and Jeff Moy have returned to the characters that made them famous, and their slightly American-ized manga style has never been better. Surprisingly - this was FANBOY FUN!!!

YOUNG JUSTICE #9 - Ah, I see what you did there, Capt. Atom. Making these damn kids prove your innocence in that Cold Case. Pre-tt-y Sne-ak-y. OKAY!!!

FANBOY FUN # 51 - LILY OF THE VALLEY

2011-10-16T01:59:00.003-05:00

I could lie and say I'm burning with jealous rage because one of my bestest pals in the world, Danny, owner of http://www.bolt-designs.com/, is in New York this week for the NY Comic Con...
OR - I could lie and say that the season finale of BREAKING BAD last week had reduced me to a shivering fetal position shell of a man, who can only cry and whisper "Lily of the Valley" to myself. Over and over....
OR - I'm getting myself psyched for the release of BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY later this week!
But the truth is I'm just flat out dead tired. I've been working (my real job) my tail off this week and...I just don't have much left to give in the way of jaunty preamble talkin'.

So....On to the comics!

BATGIRL #2 -

Batgirl continues to battle her first new villain, Mirror, who reminds me a lot of the "Batman: Year Two" villain, The Reaper, for some reason.

Gail Simone and Ardian Syaf do a great job bringing Barbara Gordon's supporting cast to life and making Batgirl's battles with Mirror really gripping and action packed with tension. Especially in showing how Batgirl refuses to let herself be beaten by either a villain or her own frailty. Simone does a great job of addressing the new status quo of a wheelchair-less Barbara Gordon and shows us the fears and self-doubt of someone in that situation. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite titles in the New 52. FANBOY FUN!!!

BATMAN AND ROBIN #2 - Seriously, why does this cover...

...look like Batman and Robin are driving in a giant Cerebus the Aardvark head?

I liked this issue much MUCH more than I did the first issue. Peter Tomasi does a great job with portraying Bruce Wayne as an actual new father to his son Damien. Where in the first issue I was concerned that Tomasi was making some of the same mistakes Joel Schumacher made in his (atrocious!!!) Batman movies, it seems like this issue is more focused on the dynamic between the characters mentioned in the title of the book. It's enough to make me think I might enjoy this book more than I thought I would. But seriously.....what's with the Cerebus-mobile? If the artist, Patrick Gleason, shows up for the Austin Comic-Con like their promo material claims, I will definitely ask him about it. GOOD STUFF!!!

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #12 - What more could you ask for from a Batman Halloween comic book than a team-up with Zatanna and a mystery to solve in The House of Mystery? Always a well written and drawn delight and consistently a pleasure to sit down and read this title with my kids. FANBOY FUN!!!

BATWOMAN #2 - Four out of four Bat-titles this week and not a bad one in the bunch! J.H. Williams III and Haden Blackman continue to make this the single most gorgeous looking comic book I have ever - EVER - laid eyes on. This book is just flat out comic book Heaven on the printed page. Williams has, thus far, done a great job of picking up where Greg Rucka left off on the character and done a pretty decent job of it too. If you're not picking this book up - you are missing out! BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON NINE #2 - I'm really enjoying watching Buffy wallow in self-loathing and having a pity party for herself after she wiped out all magic in the world in Season Eight. I think I might actually prefer seeing Buffy in misery. What does that say about me as a fan? I mean, sure, I like to see her eventually triumph over adversity and whatnot, but....I kind like the journey it takes her on to get there rather than the end results. I guess that's the closet soap fan in me. I was genuinely surprised by that last page reveal, too. GOOD STUFF!!!

DC COMICS PRESENTS: BATMAN 100-PAGE SPECTACULAR-BLINK - This bargain priced book collects a nice little three issue story by Dwayne McDuffie and Val Semeiks and single issue story from Action Comics written by McDuffie. This book is easily worth the cover price for the gorgeous Brian Stelfreeze cover alone, but McDuffie and Semeiks' story, Blink, is a nice tight little story involving underground snuff films and a blind man with the ability to see through the eyes of anyone he touches. It's a good story as well as a nice tribute to McDuffie, who sadly passed away in February of this year. GOOD STUFF!!!

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #2 - Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli are on fire with this book! On the surface it looks like it might be a clone of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., but Lemire makes it just different and original enough to get away with it. This was one of the best surprises for me of the New 52. A solid goofy fun book with plenty of action and oddity to make it a strong FANBOY FUN!!!!

GREEN LANTERN #2 - Geoff Johns is the first person who ever made Sinestro seem like a viable threat to me. And now he has turned the whole thing on it's ear by making him a reluctant recruit into the GL Corps. He does some....very surprising things with his ring this issue. Things involving Hal Jordan. Things involving Sinestro making Hal into his little bitch. I'm going to enjoy seeing where Johns goes with this. Also - Doug Mahnke is one of the most under-rated comic book artists working today. GOOD STUFF!!!

LEGION LOST #2 - I read this twice, and I'm still not sure what the Hell is going on in this book! DC is seriously making me question my life-long stance as a big-time Legion fan. EH!

CBLDF PRESENTS: LIBERTY ANNUAL 2011 - The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) is always a worthy cause to give money to. You can find out more about the CBLDF here: http://cbldf.org/
This annual benefit comic comes in two great covers.

One by my personal comic book hero, Matt Wagner, featuring GRENDEL!

Also included is a really great Grendel short story and tons of other great short stories, pin ups, strips and more. I can't recommend this book enough for the fight against censorship and charity alone - but it doesn't hurt that it's such a great book by itself and I would be happy to have it in my collection no matter what. Also - GRENDEL!!!! VIVAT GRENDEL!!!! BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

PUNISHER #4 - This book is such an intense slow burn that I'm worried a lot of readers might have abandoned it within the first three issues. That would be a mistake. Greg Rucka is writing one of the best interpretations of Frank Castle that I've ever read. Rucka is writing to his strengths with the book being largely a police procedural/crime story with The Punisher himself being sort of an enigma. He's like this brutal primal force to be reckoned with, like an urban myth or Jason Voorhees from FRIDAY THE 13TH. In fact, this issue marks the most we've actually heard Castle speak. It's not a totally unique interpretation for the character, but Rucka manages to make it seem new and brilliant. Castle is more of an anti-hero or villain in his own book, than a hero to be cheered for. Of course the script wouldn't be half as affective without an artist as capable as Marco Checchetto. His art really emphasizes the fact that Punisher is more of a vengeful ghost or force of nature than a man. I look forward to more from this creative team in the future. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

PUNISHERMAX #18 - Speaking of BUENO EXCELLENTE Punisher series...Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon are really making this series their own and almost erasing the Ennis/Dillon run from memory. (Almost) Aaron's Punisher is just as much a brutal force of nature as Rucka's, but he's almost a berserker rage on two feet. He comes off like an aging bad ass 80s action hero who refuses to give up. And where Rucka's book is more of a straight crime story, this one takes more of a bloody chess game approach, with Punisher and The Kingpin facing off against one another from issue to issue. Also separating the two from one another - (thus far) Rucka's book takes place in it's own world, with Aaron's taking place in at least some version of the Marvel Universe Earth. We've already met Elektra, Bullseye, and The Kingpin, and Aaron's interpretations of all characters listed above is meaner and nastier than any version I've ever read. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

THE SHADE #1 (OF 12) - They say you can never go home again, but James Robinson (aided by Cully Hamner) is clearly trying to do just that in this maxi-series, which revisits one of his greatest creations from his legendary STARMAN series. Fortunately - it works.

For fans of his Starman series, this issue represents something we never thought we would get - a sort of sequel to one of the greatest DC Comics' series of all-time. I have to admit - I got a thrill simply seeing Hope O'Dare, of the Opal City crime fighting family, The O'Dares, again.

Robinson's triumphant return to comic books in the pages of JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE made me cringe with every page, and I swore off reading his regular Justice League series based on that alone. But I couldn't refuse the chance that maybe he would show me how wrong I was to jump to conclusions and show me that Opal City was alive and well...and I could return home after all. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

S.H.I.E.L.D. #3 (OF 6) - This one is purely Dustin Weaver's baby, for once. Jonathan Hickman takes a backseat and directs while Weaver drives the bus off the cliff and through a wall and then off another cliff and then into a supernova. Like some incredible homage to G.I. Joe #21 (the silent issue), this issue is pretty much just one big battle with a giant robot. FANBOY FUN!

ULTIMATE COMICS ALL-NEW SPIDER-MAN #3 - I'm telling you - this is good stuff. Remember when you read Ultimate Spider-Man for the first time and thought, "Wow! This Bendis guy really gets it! I haven't even seen Peter in costume yet, and I'm still loving this book." Well Bendis and Sara Pichelli have recaptured the magic of a young hero in the making and his discovery of what he himself is capable of, with his powers and within himself. This is good comics, y'all! FANBOY FUN!!!

FANBOY FUN # 50 - ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.......

2011-10-09T01:45:00.004-05:00

I am thoroughly exhausted!!! So thoroughly exhausted that I can't think of anything cool or special to do for my big 50th blog post since moving over from MySpace blogs. HaHa! MySpace. Oh, those were the days...

Now - To the comics!!!

ACTION COMICS #2 - For whatever reason - I really liked this a lot better than I did the first issue. I kinda liked this fledgling Superman's smug and self-righteous attitude better with a villain to play against. Imprisoned against his will by Lex Luthor - Superman's cocky swagger makes him come off less like a douchebag and shows more of the glimmer of the hero he will eventually become. GOOD STUFF!!!

THE BOYS #59 - ~jaw on the floor~ *choke*........

w-w-w-why?

BUENO EXCELLENTE.

CALIGULA #4 (OF 6?) - If you haven't ever read this book - take one part Starz' SPARTACUS,

an equal measure of Avatar's own uber-violent and disturbing CROSSED series,

and mix with a dash of JULIUS CAESAR.

Now stir slowly with a wooden ladle that from a crack house, let it simmer for 30 days, and then you'll have some small idea of how truly messed up this series, by David "STRAY BULLETS" Lapham and German Nobile, is.

This issue - a little light role play before dinner. GOOD STUFF.

DC COMICS PRESENTS: BATMAN - THE DEMON LAUGHS 100-PAGE SPECTACULAR - I love this format, which takes stories throughout DC's history that failed to be collected in a trade paperback format (for whatever reason), and slaps a cheap sticker price on the cover. The story in this issue comes from LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT, written by Chuck Dixon, with pencils by Jim Aparo. If you want a quick self-contained old school Batman story for the sake of nostalgia - you can't go wrong here (or any of the DC COMICS PRESENTS 100-PAGE SPECTACULAR books). FANBOY FUN!

DETECTIVE COMICS #2 - Maybe I'm just used to it by now, but I'm kind of finally starting to warm up to Tony Daniel's Batman stuff. He seems to be going for a hard-boiled Frank Miller sort of vibe with some genuine shock value thrown in. I've expressed in previous blogs how his art has been improving in leaps and bounds, and it seems his writing has finally caught up, as well. Color me surprised. OKAY!

HUNTRESS #1 (OF 6) - This, and the Penguin title below, are the first "official" mini-series of the NewDC. Paul Levitz goes with a straight up Huntress versus the mob story, as opposed to any type of "reboot" origin, with the story being very light on continuity shenanigans and a focus on action adventure. The whole thing is beautifully illustrated by former Aspen Studios and RED ROBIN artist, Marcus To, who has a really nice clean line style with sort of a manga sensibility and some strong story-telling chops under his belt. FANBOY FUN!!!

MOON KNIGHT #6 - I like this book, but I'm starting to think Bendis and Maleev's talents could be put to better use somewhere else in the Marvel playground. For critics of Bendis' decompressed storytelling - he's in full on "lets take six issues to do what could have been done in three" mode, because...this title has sort of been spinning it's wheels for the past three issues and by the end of this one - the story doesn't come close to being completed. OKAY.

PENGUIN: PAIN AND PREJUDICE #1 (OF 5) - Gregg Hurwitz, unlike Levitz in this month's Huntress mini-series, opts to go for more of an examination of Oswald Cobblepot's origins in this dark and moody story drawn by Szymon Kudranski. I've long proclaimed Penguin to be my absolute least favorite Batman villain, but I have to admit that Hurwitz manages to make him a somewhat compelling or sympathetic figure. For once. GOOD STUFF!

STORMWATCH #2 - And the melding of the Wildstorm Universe and the DCU continues. Paul Cornell manages to make this incarnation of the Stormwatch team exciting and different with a cast of mostly new versions of old Authority team members. This issue ties into the first issue of SUPERMAN......somehow. I dunno. I wasn't paying that much attention, really. OKAY!!

SUPERNATURAL #1 -

This is actually the fourth mini-series to tie-in to the CW TV show, but the first written by Brian "DMZ" Wood. He does a decent job capturing Sam Winchester's "voice", but I can't help but wish this story wasn't just about one of the Winchester Brothers. GOOD STUFF!!

FANBOY FUN #49 - AQUAMAN? IS THAT YOU?!!!

2011-10-01T01:54:00.004-05:00

Welcome back, everybody! It's been a long week, and I've played waaaaay too much GEARS OF WAR 3 Horde Mode.

Hopefully I can manage to churn out a big TV blog soon. I haven't done one in a long time, so...I'm actually kinda itching to do one again. My past TV blogs have always been some of the more popular blog posts, but they take so much longer for me to write than the comics stuff. But like I said - I got that itch. So....we'll see.

Now - straight on into the comics!

ALL-STAR WESTERN #1 - The writing team behind JONAH HEX have done it again! This just might be my single favorite New DC title out of all of them.

I truly love Jonah Hex and loved each and every issue of their previous series, but - even I was a little nervous about this new direction. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti have taken Hex out of the frontier and placed him in the middle of Gotham City at the turn of the century where his skills seem to work best as a sort of an Anti-Sherlock Holmes-ian archetype. Where Holmes would use shrewd deduction and cunning to ferret out information - Hex uses brutality, intimidation, and blunt force trauma, to get to the bottom of things. Somehow they've made it work for the character, while not reducing him to a guest star role in his own book. My fears have been laid to rest. Hex is still in good hands, indeed. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!!

ANGEL & FAITH #2 - Christos Gage knows his Buffy/Angel history, and he knows what makes these characters work so well together. Some of my favorite episodes of ANGEL, the ones that left me feeling the most shaken, were always the one Faith and Angel teamed up. They both get the need for redemption and were always willing to give the other the benefit of the doubt when no one else was. It was a nice dynamic to their relationship, beyond the obvious Buffy and Angel parallels. Gage really seems to get that and shows it here, while really setting up the big story arc for the rest of the season. Here's a hint - they want to bring someone back to life! I'm ready to be impressed by the rest of this series. Wow me, Whedon & Co.!!! GOOD STUFF!!!

ANNIHILATORS: EARTHFALL #1 (OF 4) - This more or less picks up where the previous mini-series left off, but for some reason Silver Surfer is missing from the team this time. Did he leave the team after the last series, and I forgot about it? Whatever. The big news is that next issue will be a big Annihilators versus Avengers battle. Considering this is still written by a pair of guys who really know how to write an epic battle of that scale - it should be as FANBOY FUN as this issue was. This is good stuff, y'all! Even if you don't like Marvel comics - you will love Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's "cosmic Marvel" stuff. You have my word as a comic book nerd! I guarantee it!!! FANBOY FUN!!!

AQUAMAN #1 - I do not like Aquaman. I know Geoff Johns is writing this and I don't care. I didn't order it because - I do. not. like. Aquaman. I don't hate him, I just don't....really care. He's fine as a supporting character, but....I don't want to read a monthly book about him. Having said that - one of our customers (and my good friend, Tyson) begged me to read this. BEGGED!!! So, I did. And it was good. Really really good. The art was amazing and the story was a nice reboot that sets him up as an established character, but still manages to introduce him to new readers and give him a background and a mission statement for the future. It had a good pace, nice action (I'll even forgive the fact that there is NO WAY anyone could lift an armored car over their head with just a pitchfork. There is no way that could actually happen!), it made me laugh and it even made me -gulp- care about Aquaman.

Dangit! I can't believe this is happening - here I am...caring about Aquaman. Dummy! BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #1 - There is just something about the way David Finch draws...well....anything, that I love. He could draw a can of beans and I would probably love it. I'm still not sure why this book needed a new number one so soon after it debuted last year, but....whatever. Joining Finch on this book is Paul Jenkins, who has always done an admirable job as a writer. If you liked this book pre-reboot, you'll like it still. Just a beautiful Batman comic book.

My one quibble (well,....two) I know it "looks" cooler to have all these prisoners break out of Arkham wearing their costumes, but seriously....there is no way all those villains would be sitting around in an insane asylum wearing their costumes. Also - One-Face? Really? But he's still got the whole half and half thing going...wha...? For the art alone....GOOD STUFF!

BRILLIANT #1 - Speaking of beautiful artwork.....this has the single worst first issue cover I have ever seen. And I like Mark Bagley!

But that cover is just...not dynamic at all. I think they were banking on fans of all their other books being the target audience here, rather than trying to really draw in a new audience. or something. That cover just does not work on any level. Having said that - this is all set up - establishing the characters and the very basic premise, about a group of friends who decide to invent real super powers in a very real world. It's a good premise and Bendis is always a solid writer, so I'll be back to see where he goes with this. I just hope they improve on the covers from here on out. OKAY!

DOCTOR WHO #9 - I can't quite put my finger on the reason why but I've loved every issue, of this new series by Tony Lee, 1,000% more than I have any previous series including the original reprints from the UK. He just really seems to draw inspiration from Matt Smith and the gang. And his own characters, such as Kevin, the talking cybernetic dinosaur, have mingled well with the series' regulars. It's a solid, fun, series for fans of the show. GOOD STUFF!

GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #1 - I'm not really sure why this book exists, and even after reading it, I'm not sure what the point is. The first seven pages are just a recap of the origin of Kyle Rayner as a GL. Not sure why we need that when we didn't get one in any of the other THREE Lantern books!?!!! This is followed by five pages of various color spectrum Lanterns suddenly losing their rings at an inopportune time and dying an untimely death. Is there really any reason that couldn't have been done in two or three pages? I mean - I got the point the second it happened to a yellow lantern and then a red lantern. Anything after that was just overkill. In fact - nothing really interesting or noteworthy takes place until the last five pages, and even then it wasn't enough to make me want to pick up the next issue to find out what happens next. EH!!!

NEW AVENGERS #16.1 - Neal Adams artwork alert! The New Avengers are tasked with escorting Norman Osborn from one prison to another, and....I'm not giving anything away by saying he attempts to escape. It would have been a boring issue if he hadn't! Anyway - this issue sets up the big plot lines for the next years worth of NEW AVENGERS. Bendis' DARK AVENGERS era stuff is one of my all-time favorite NEW AVENGERS storylines, so...I might be a bit biased, but I'm expecting this next years worth of stories to absolutely rock! GOOD STUFF!

SUPERMAN #1 - Wow! I was reminded, while reading this, of why I eventually dropped George Perez's WONDER WOMAN series way back when. He is and always will be my favorite comic book artist ever, but....my word are his scripts just as dense and overly detailed as his artwork. I'm all for a writer just really packing in the script, but...this is just overly wordy and more than a little boring. We meet more of, and see more of, the supporting cast than we do Superman or even Clark Kent. So basically - absolutely nothing happens except Superman fighting some...fire alien..or something...while everyone stands around and talks. And talks. And talks. And Clark Kent writes one of the worst news stories I've ever read in a comic book. I wish I could say that at least Perez' art saves the book, but all he really did was the layouts, which amounts to basically stick figures telling the finishing artist where to put everyone and how. Nice cover, though.

I will say that, so far, only Jim Lee and Perez have managed to make that new Superman costume look awesome. Which is still entirely debatable. EH!!!

ULTIMATE COMICS: ALL-NEW SPIDER-MAN #2 - I'm in love with this new Spidey! Bendis and Sara Pichelli have somehow managed to strike gold and recapture the fun and genuine curiosity factor of the original Ultimate Spider-Man. Pichelli's artwork is flawless! She has a dynamic clean line style and excellent storytelling abilities that combine to make this one of the best looking books Marvel is producing at the moment. Bendis does a great job fleshing out Miles Morales, the new Spidey, while also giving him a great family dynamic and moral center. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

ULTIMATE COMICS: THE ULTIMATES #2 - If you're a new reader to The Ultimates and wanting to do a little background reading, start with Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's two ULTIMATES series, skip everything that came afterward, and start with the first issue of this new series. Johnathan Hickman is the spiritual heir apparent to Millar and Hitch with the threats getting bigger and bigger and then even bigger still. This is Warren Ellis' "widescreen" comics at the very best. FANBOY FUN!!!

WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS #10 - Just so we are all on the same page - I'm still only getting this for Juan Jose Ryp's artwork. I wish he was drawing SECRET AVENGERS for Warren Ellis.

FANBOY FUN # 48 - ALL WORK & NO PLAY, MAKES ME....NOT WANT TO DO A PREAMBLE

2011-09-24T23:17:00.003-05:00

DEAD.
TIRED.
Comic Reviews.
Below....

AVENGERS #17 - I'm getting a little burnt out on the whole "reality TV/book interview" plot device on this book. It was clever at first, but it's starting to seem a little lazy using it every issue. Bendis is one of the few writers who could do it well, and he does a good job, but still...little tired of it. OKAY.

BATMAN #1 - Am I the only one bothered by the fact that The Riddler is sporting a big green question mark-shaped hairdo on the cover? Just me? Okay then, moving on... This first issue, written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Greg Capullo, is probably the first New DC book that really blew me away in terms of what I was expecting. Having already been a big fan of Snyder's Bat-titles work with his run on DETECTIVE COMICS, I knew I was in good hands with him, but Capullo was a bit of an unknown. I'm familiar with his work from flipping through copies of SPAWN at the comic store, but (since I don't read that book) I'm more of a casual admirer than a real fan of his stuff. This might be the first book with his artwork I've actually bought since he worked on Marvel's mutant titles back in the late 1990s. I'm truly loving his work on this. It's a nice mix of cartoony/anime and dark realism. I think I'm going to enjoy this book the most out of all the new Batman stuff. As for the book itself - it's another issue of not really much changing from the previous Bat continuity. Batman tries out some new technology and investigates a murder. What more do you want from a Batman comic book? I will put on the old Fanboy Outrage hat and mention one minor quibble I have, and it isn't with this book so much as it is with any Batman writers. I know Batman is supposed to be this cool millionaire with tons of cool gadgets and fancy technology and whatnot. I get it. But the thing is - Batman also took the time to begin training himself to fight crime, practically the day after his parents funeral. He's traveled the world learning and perfecting techniques that make him the modern day equivalent of Sherlock Holmes. His detective skills should be so perfectly tuned that he doesn't need a special device to read Commissioner Gordon's lips across a crowded room. His special device should be HIS MIND! He's freaking Batman, for God's Sake!!! BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

BUTCHER, BAKER, CANDLESTICKMAKER #3 (OF 5? 6? I dunno) - This single issue might be the best script Garth Ennis has written since the ending of PREACHER.

It's just a brutal gut punch of reality and characterization that breaks your heart and gives you hope for the future - all in one page. I'm praying we get one more issue of this happy and peaceful Butcher, before the inevitable ending comes and rips out or hearts. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

CATWOMAN #1 - ****SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED**** I didn't buy this one. I know you're curious where I fall on the whole Batman and Catwoman having sex thing, so I thought I would comment. Now, I didn't buy this because Judd Winnick has always been a bit of a hit-or-miss writer for me, and I'm just not a fan of Guillem March's artwork. He's a decent enough draftsman, but - I just don't like his style. It ain't for me. Now take the fact that you have those two working on a Catwoman book when I have NEVER enjoyed a regular Catwoman series that wasn't written by Ed Brubaker and the fact that I was already picking up RED HOOD and BATWING and I wasn't truly excited about either of those series either - I opted not to pick this one up. I thumbed through a copy, at the store, on Wednesday and saw "everything" that has raised stink and...it did raise my eyebrows, I'll admit. I'm not offended by anything in the book, per se, except that it looked like soft core porn and a little too fanfic for my tastes, but overall I wasn't disturbed by it. I just thought it read and looked stupid. Like fanfic. It was clearly done to "shock" readers and it did. Mission accomplished, DC! I'm not a prude that thinks Batman and Catwoman shouldn't have sex, and it isn't above my fanboy sensibilities either. I loved what Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee did with the two in HUSH, and I loved the relationship they maintained in Brubaker's run on the title. It's perfectly plausible that they would have sex. But....did we have to see it? No. ****SPOILER ALERT DE-ACTIVATED**** AWFUL.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS #1 - I'm starting to see a trend here. Before the DC reboot and the New DC 52 came along - the main books I got from DC were the Batman, Green Lantern and Legion titles. And my beloved, JONAH HEX, of course. The trend I'm starting to see, though, is that post-reboot....not much has really changed in my neck of the DC woods. Like this book....which picks up right after the end of the previous series and the War of the Lanterns. I've said it before - it's still true - Peter J. Tomasi is my favorite Green Lantern writer (currently). I liked this as much as, if not more than, I thought I would. It's a fun book with plenty of GL action and cosmic level threats. And Fernando Pasarin's artwork has never looked as slick and pretty as it does in this issue. Zero changes to continuity that I can see, but still a great read. GOOD STUFF!!!

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #1 - Once again - Picks right up where we left off. One thing has me puzzled, though. This and LEGION LOST are the only DC titles to refer back to FLASHPOINT and they even refer to it as period of time they aren't able go back too now. So....if they live in the future and Flashpoint is in the past...how do they even know about it, much less know what caused it or how it changed their present/our future? That.....that just doesn't make sense. Like - at all. EH!

MARVEL UNIVERSE VS. WOLVERINE #4 (OF 4) -

Jonathan Maberry needs to be given his own little post-Apocalypse corner of the Marvel Universe to play with. His previous book, MARVEL UNIVERSE VS. PUNISHER (which was not a prequel to this series), was one of my favorite mini-series from Marvel in the past two years. This was a solid effort that offers just as bleak and action packed a story, but with a different lead. While the previous series could best be described in short as I AM LEGEND starring Frank Castle, this could best be described as THE CRAZIES starring Wolverine. How could you not want to read that? FANBOY FUN!!!

NIGHTWING #1 - Here we come to our second excellent New DC book of
the week. I guess you could make a case that the New DC continuity hammer struck here and made Grayson give up the cowl, but - like DC was going to let the Nightwing brand sail gently into the night, so Dick could run around in cape and cowl too? I knew as soon as he put on his ward's costume that he would eventually go back to being Nightwing. It fits him better anyway. So - this issue is largely set up with Dick Grayson discovering his old pals at the Haley Circus, the same circus his family died at, and then running in to an assassin with a mad on for 'Dick Grayson" and spouting apocalyptic gobbledy-gook. As far as first issues go this one is a well rounded one that kinda gives a touch of Nightwing's new mission statement and his new surroundings. Judged on that aspect alone I give it a solid BUENO EXCELLENTE!!! Also - I'm digging the red.

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #1 - Speaking of digging Red! .....this was pretty damn goofy. I'm not the first person to complain about Scott Lobdell's characterization of Starfire, in this book. Laura Hudson over at www.comicsalliance.com does a far better job of explaining why this (and CATWOMAN #1, above) is not only a stupid idea, but an absolute travesty in portraying females in comics. If you haven't read anything about the controversy somewhere else - you should head over there and read up first. Let's just say - I agree with Ms. Hudson. As for Jason Todd/Red Hood and Roy Harper - why does Red Hood wear a red Batman symbol on his chest? Just to remind us he was Batman's sidekick? Batman would NOT let his butt sport that thing anywhere in the world. Especially not carrying guns. As for the conundrum of Roy Harper - how does he exist if Green Arrow is a kid again? Is this another lesson in creative retcon continuity shenanigans, like in JUSTICE LEAGUE and ACTION COMICS? Either way - seeing these three characters running around killing and sexing it up is like watching the cast of THREESOME (1994) go on a Starkweather-esque "romp".

This is one I won't be picking up a second issue of. AWFUL!

RICHIE RICH #4 (OF 4) - Way back when I was a wee little lad - Richie Rich was the first comic book character I fell in love with.

I had every Richie Rich comic I could get my hands on. Richie Rich was my gateway drug to George Perez and Marv Wolfman's NEW TEEN TITANS. Having said that - this is not my Richie Rich.

It's okay to try and freshen the kid up for today's readers, but I suspect the majority of the audience for this book is made up of folks like myself that liked the character as kids themselves. It isn't a bad book. It has it's charms, but the characterization just isn't quite there. You can keep the globetrotting adventure angle, but lose the younger and hipper Cadburry, lose cousin Reggie, bring back PeeWee and Freckles, make Gloria a little more sassy and make Richie a little sweeter. Just a little bit sweeter, though. Not too much. It's a balancing act. OKAY.

YOUNG JUSTICE #8 - I'm all for a tribute to GI JOE #21 every now and again, but...it just didn't work here. But the bits in between all the silent action worked magnificently! Artemis is a fully fleshed out young girl looking to make a name for herself and redeem her family's honor and we get plenty of action (mostly wordless action, but still...). I'm kinda wondering why DC didn't look to the Cartoon Network's YOUNG JUSTICE cartoon for inspiration when it came to rebooting the mainline DCU. Best of all - you can read this with your kids and not be afraid to turn the page and see Batman and catwoman doing the reverse cowgirl. GOOD STUFF!

FANBOY FUN # 47 - DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME, I'LL BE ALONE, DANCING, YOU KNOW IT BABY!

2011-09-19T01:29:00.003-05:00

I'm a little under the weather this week, so I'm just going to dive right in there. This is week two of the New DC Reboots (aka NuDC):

BATMAN AND ROBIN #1 - Back when Joel Schumacher was talking to George Clooney about casting him as Batman, in his abortion of a film called BATMAN & ROBIN, the two of them decided that Bruce Wayne had "gotten over the death of his parents" and that Batman should be "having fun and fighting crime because it's fun" and "it's unhealthy to dwell on something like that [his parent's deaths] for so long". (I'm paraphrasing there. Those were not direct quotes, because I don't remember where I read it and I'm too tired to look.) Now - we all know how that rationale turned out for Schumacher and Clooney, right? It was a franchise killer. Keep that in mind as you read along.

Right off the bat, if you'll pardon the pun, I had a big problem with this issue. ***SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED*** I mentioned in my last post how I think DC stepped out of the gate with a misfire by NOT rebooting EVERYTHING. So, we have the Batman and Green Lantern lines being virtually untouched with a few small exceptions. Fine. Whatever. I'll go along with it in the spirit of being a team player. Then writer Peter J. Tomasi, who I've always thought to be a solid writer in his own right, comes along and throws out the long standing sub-plot about Bruce Wayne/Batman making a yearly vigil to the spot where his parents died and he, in effect, became Batman. Batman tells Damien, his new Robin (also his biological son, who is actually the 4th or 5th Robin if you count Stephanie Brown....see? Try explaining THAT one to new readers!), that he will no longer be honoring the night his parents died but, instead, the night they were married. It's a small quibble probably, but...it bothers me. Why? Two words. Joel Schumacher. Do I think changing the date of Batman's annual vigil is really going to change things that much? Probably not, and I can see this being retro-actively "forgotten" at some point in the future, but it does show me that Tomasi, who I loved on GREEN LANTERN CORPS., doesn't really "get" Batman. And you can't convince me otherwise. Sure, it's unhealthy to dwell on the death of your parents for your entire life. But....that's kind of the point. You have to remember - that's really the night that Bruce Wayne died and Batman was born, too. ***SPOILER ALERT DE-ACTIVATED*** My other problem is that without some sort of history lesson or quick facts cheat sheet - a new reader coming off the streets is not going to understand a lot of the dialogue between Batman and Damian/Robin. I did enjoy the creepy serial killer taking out the Russian Batman, and I look forward to seeing more of that mystery unfold. So, yeah, despite my trepidation, I will continue to buy this. I'm a whore for the Bat, what can I say? OKAY.

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #11 - I've gone on and on about how much I love this little throwback to DC's Silver Age before, so....here's my nine year old son's take on this issue. "AW, MAN! It ended! I wanted to hear more. You were right, Jonah Hex was cool" - Gavin, 9. What better endorsement do you want, people? FANBOY FUN!!!

BATWOMAN #1 - I said it when Greg Rucka was writing Batwoman in the pages of DETECTIVE COMICS and I'll say it again. This is, hands down, the best looking book on the stands. The realistic yet slightly nouveau/gothic art style, the dynamic layouts, the bold and subtle colors....hell, even the lettering. No comic book has a right to look this good. I was worried when DC announced that JH Williams III, the artist of said book, was announced as the new writer. Fear not! This is the first NuDC book to truly exceed my expectations. But then again, I am a little biased.

I should note, this is no more or less accessible to new readers, but it does have an artistic info dump near the end that does a better job of bringing new readers up to date than a lot of the NuDC books have done thus far. Williams is now assisted on the art chores by Amy Reeder, and the book does not suffer for her presence. Reeder is just as capable as Williams in bringing the page life. This is why I read comics. This is what all comic books should aspire to. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON NINE #1 - Season Nine picks up a few months after Season Eight ended, with Buffy waiting tables and trying to redefine herself after she wiped out all the magic at the end of the last series. It's basically back to basics Buffy, which is what I want. Season Eight started out really great for me, but after they hooked up with Oz mid-way through the series it seemed to steadily go downhill for me. Back to basics Buffy is exactly the direction I need after....whatever the Hellmouth that finale was. GOOD STUFF!

CRIMINAL: THE LAST OF THE INNOCENT #4 (OF 4) - Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips just depressed me. If you don't read CRIMINAL you're missing out, but especially this storyline, which is basically a much better (adult) version of the LIFE WITH ARCHIE series by Archie Comics, or even THE MANY LOVES OF DOBIE GILLIS (Google it, kids!).

To say anymore would ruin it, except to say that Sean Phillips has proven himself as an artist to be reckoned with in these four issues alone. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

FEAR ITSELF #6 (OF 7) - I'm enjoying this despite itself. It's a long drawn out affair with about one significant plot point per issue, and could have been completely done two issues ago, but The House of Mouse wants your extra $3.99 an issue. This issue - watch Capt. America pick up a gun. EH!

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E. #1 - Jeff Lemire really impressed me with his Frankenstein mini-series during the Flashpoint cross-over, so I was willing to give this a shot. The script did not let me down. Lemire really knows how to approach this series, with the right mix of Hellboy-esque paranormal governmental bureaucracy, action and humor. The only thing that didn't work for me was the artwork, which looked too rough and sketchy compared to the slick Ibraim Roberson artwork from the Flashpoint mini. Alberto Ponticelli's artwork is nice and capable, but I was looking forward to something more polished and flashy to contrast the dark and scary world of Frankenstein. Hopefully it will grow on me. GOOD STUFF!

GREEN LANTERN #1 - I don't want to sound like a broken record, but...it really bothers me when DC goes full out and relaunches every single book with a new number one issue, and yet fails to restart everything (stories, plots, histories, etc.) from the beginning. It seems especially lazy and half-assed when one of the architects of the whole thing doesn't bother to even try to catch new readers up with the story he had going pre-reboot. This could just as easily have been issue 68 of Green Lantern. So - for new readers (I'm going to come right out and say it) - as a launching point for the NuDC this is one to be avoided. You may like what you read, because Geoff Johns is a very good writer, but you [new readers] are going to have A LOT of questions! For longtime readers this is a great issue 68 of the adventures of Green Lantern. GOOD STUFF.

LEGION LOST #1 - Who do the what now? If I hadn't read the solicitation for this book, and been a lifelong Legion fan, I doubt I would understand much of it. No one is introduced, and nothing is really explained. I, myself, thought that the character Tyroc...

...was Jacques Foccart/Invisible Kid until someone said his name.

And where did this female Durlan come from? Am I forgetting something? As of the end of the issue, are they "lost" in the past or "lost" in time? What happened to Gates?!! I'll let you know if issue #2 clears anything up. EH!

NEW AVENGERS #16 - (FEAR ITSELF TIE-IN) I'll be glad when this cross-over is finished. This issue just read like THE BREAKFAST CLUB...

...for super-heroes. "It's okay to be a sorceror. Ex-con. Secret Agent! etc. etc."
Yeah, yeah. I get it.

OKAY.

PUNISHERMAX #17 - Those of you who have seen HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN will appreciate this issue. GOOD STUFF.

RED LANTERNS #1 - This is one of the few books that does a lot to catch new readers up on the whole Red Lantern mythos and the background of Atrocitous, leader of the Red Lanterns, while establishing a new direction for the series and the characters. Unfortunately it's kind of a mess. EH!!

ULTIMATE COMICS ALL-NEW SPIDER-MAN #1 - I loved everything about this new Spider-Man.

Bendis did a good job of establishing a new character and making him three-dimensional without pandering or turning him into a ghetto fabulous blaxploitation parody of a multi-racial character. I like that, in a nod the the first issue of the original Ultimate Spider-man, he doesn't appear in costume during this issue. It's purely set up, but it does a good job of giving readers a glimpse of Miles Morales' background, supporting cast, his hopes and dreams, his triumphs and his failures. In just one issue he is a fully rounded character and his origin, while a little too coincidental, works fine in establishing how he came about these powers. I also liked the little twist there at the end. BUENO EXELLENTE!!!

FANBOY FUN #46 - OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE HE-MAN WOMAN HATERS CLUB!!

2011-09-10T23:54:00.003-05:00

I'm back after an extended hiatus. I'll try my hardest not to do it again any time soon, but I've can't make any promises. If you're new to my blog - I hesitate to call these full fledged reviews, so much as they are just off the top of my head opinions. If I wrote a full on review I would end up babbling for 10 pages on one book alone, so...I guess you can call it a capsule review. Even that doesn't seem right to me, but...whatever. Let's just dive into it, shall we?

Now....ON to - the comics!!!

ACTION COMICS #1 - I'm giving Grant Morrison the benefit of the doubt here. I liked this issue in and of itself, and I think I know where he is going with this. Sorta. Probably not...but... Anyway. I like the fact we are getting a Superman who has just started his career as a hero, and he's a little too cocky (I see some humility in his future.) and maybe a little too ruthless in dealing with the bad guys. He's a little closer to how Batman deals with criminals. I like how there is clearly a history already established, even if it is still early on. When DC announced the relaunch my immediate thought was "I don't want to see another baby Superman crash landing origin story." We just got through with Geoff Johns' version, JMS' version and just a few years prior we had Mark Waid's version. And now DC was asking me to embrace yet another version of the same story. So....I appreciate Morrison starting his story mid-origin as it were. Another thing I like about this is Rags Morales' artwork. He's always been under-rated in my book (despite him shafting me at Wizard World Texas few years ago. *cough*jerk*cough*). My gut reaction is that Morrison plans to show us a hero in progress throughout his stay on the book. I suspect we'll see how he goes from here to the full costume version seen in Johns and Jim Lee's JUSTICE LEAGUE, and I can't wait to see how Morrison executes it. But most of all - I can't wait to see how he ditches this goofy hillbilly look with the cuffed jeans and blanket dangling out of his T-shirt. He looks like Lennie from OF MICE AND MEN.

"Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?" GOOD STUFF!

ATOMIC ROBO: THE GHOST OF STATION X #1 (OF 5) - Atomic Robo. Always a good solid plain old fun read. This issue is no exception, even though half the issue is Robo and his team sitting around a room trouble-shooting ideas to rescue the crew of an out of control space station. This book deserves a wider audience. FANBOY FUN!

BATGIRL #1 - The Foo Fighters' new single "Walk" started playing just as I cracked open the cover of this issue. I took it as a good sign.

Gail Simone has always been a dependable writer, in my opinion, and she addressed the one question we [long time readers] all had, right up front. Barbara Gordon was shot by The Joker and left paralyzed from the waist down, but after three years (retcon?) of rehab (this is sort of a gray area, they never really come out and define it. Yet. Maybe in the future?) she is back in costume and kicking butt. It was a solid first issue, answering most of my questions and setting a status quo, meanwhile giving us plenty of action and consequences. This is probably my favorite of the New DC 52 so far. FANBOY FUN!!!

BATMAN: DETECTIVE COMICS #1 - I've had problems with Tony Daniel in the past. No secret there. Here's the thing - his artwork has improved 1,000% over the years, but his writing was my real problem. I just didn't think he could cut it. What a difference a few years makes?! He doesn't do a half bad job here, just going straight into an old school Batman versus The Joker storyline that seems to be channeling some Frank Miller here, which is always a good thing. My one disappointment is that DC didn't just flat out start from scratch on every. single. character. If you're going to go to such an extreme as relaunching every book with a new #1 issue, announce sweeping line-wide changes across the board and then stutter..."um....except for Green Lantern and Batman" then what was the point? I wouldn't have minded seeing a fresh young Batman running around. I know why they did it (If it ain't broke, and whatnot...), but part of me kind of wishes they had. Just for grins. They could always let Grant Morrison finish his BATMAN INC. story in a book set outside of the new continuity. GOOD STUFF.

BATWING #1 - I had a lot of problems with this. I'm not one of those people that bash Judd Winick no matter what he does. I've absolutely loved some of his books in the past and some not so much. His scripting here is decent, but it doesn't really give me much to go by. I don't know much about the lead character even after reading the book, other than the fact that he is the Batman of Africa. The script here is almost as minimalist as Ben Oliver's artwork. (Hope you don't like backgrounds.) My biggest problem, however, is that I feel like I've already read this when it was written by Joshua Dysart and called THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER.

...and it was pretty damn good. This one....EH!!!

THE BOYS #58 - I've really been enjoying this book since Garth Ennis started wrapping it up, or rather getting ready to wrap it up, by answering some of the book's central mysteries and long lingering sub-plots. GOOD STUFF!

FLASHPOINT # 5 (OF 5) - Since I've been on hiatus from the blog I just wanted to let you know that FLASHPOINT was better than I ever thought it would be (although #4 was kinda so-so). Every issue had some unexpected revelation or event, and the big shocker in the finale was no exception. Just flat out FANBOY FUN!!!

HAWK & DOVE #1 - Ugh! I really wanted to like this. I really did. I gave it a chance. Here's the thing - I don't hate Rob Liefeld as much as "the internet" does. Sure, I'm not above taking a pot shot at him. I'll admit it. He has his fans, and deserves the attention he gets. I will also be the first to admit that when he first came into the industry on the HAWK & DOVE mini-series back in the late 1980s - I thought he had a decent style all his own.

Still does. Unfortunately his anatomy, page layout and....practically everything else....just don't get the job done, for me.

Even with a different artist I doubt I would have liked this. The script was cliche and flat and just didn't do much for me. I liked BATWING more than I did this, and you read what i thought of that one, right? EH!!!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 - I really wanted to like this more. It has a lot going for it. Geoff Johns always does a decent job, and Jim Lee is tied with George Perez for top two comic book artists ever, in my book. It could have been a book about Jimmy Olsen and I would have bought it sight unseen! So when DC announced the two would be on THE flagship title of "THE NEW DC" I was expecting a solid first issue with tons of introductions to the new DCU and plenty of....story...I guess. It seems DC went a different way with it, though. We meet two characters with a small cameo by one other at the end and a brief pre-origin cameo of another. And....not a lot.....um....scratch that....nothing happens. Nothing! I read like this should have been a zero issue rather than the big introduction to the new DCU. After reading ACTION COMICS #1 - I think that would have been a better and more appropriate book to establish the status quo for a big relaunch. It looked real pretty, though. I'm going to need another issue or two before I decide if this incarnation of the JLA is ging to do it for me, though. OKAY!!!

JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL #1 - This is the book I was truly the most curious to see. The Giffen, DeMatteis, Maguire era of the Justice League has always been my favorite, and Dan Jurgens has always been a reliable storyteller. So after reading I see some things I like, and some I don't. The issue itself is a far better set up for the New DC than the other Justice League book (see above), with characters being introduced, plots and sub-plots being laid out, and a world outside of the heroes is actually shown beyond faceless cops and crowds. One thing I like is that, even though we only see a cameo head shot, it looks like the new Green Arrow more closely resembles the character from SMALLVILLE, which suits me just fine. I thought G.A. should have gotten his own spin-off when the series ended. But I digress...now for what bothered me the most. Rocket Red. I would rather they had used Dmitri Pushkin as Rocket Red instead of his replacement. Nitpicky, I know, but it just seems disrespectful. Dmitri was Rocket Red longest - why not give him a second chance. If you insist that the NuDC is highlighting the "most recognizable version" of the characters (like you insist Barry Allen is over Wally West, even though the majority of your readers prefer Wally), it seems like you would have gone for Dmitri. I'm probably the only person that noticed this and was bothered by it, but still... All in all it was a fun read and it interested me enough to go ahead and pick up the second issue (or collect the series in trade paperback). GOOD STUFF!!!

MEN OF WAR #1 - This is the biggest disappointment of the week. I'm a huge Sgt. Rock fan, a huge fan of war comics, and the prospect of a modern war comic featuring the grandson (great grandson?) of Sgt. Rock was too much to pass up. I absolutely love the cover, too.

Unfortunately the issue falls victim to a whole lot of unnecessary jargon, cliche characterization and just overall goofy storytelling. I liked the backup story better than the main feature. I don't think I want to try out another issue of this one. EH!!!

MOON KNIGHT #5 - I think we get the gist of the premise. Moon Knight now has Capt. America, Wolverine and Spider-man as his multiple personalites, instead of the various secret identities he has had in the past. So...why is it that we are now five issues into this book and we still don't really know why? What happened to his other multiples? Are they still in his subconcious? I think I need some answers now, if you expect me to keep shelling out $3.99 an issue for this. Otherwise, I'm going to add this to the series I only read/collect in collected format. OKAY!

THE NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL #1 - Now that half of you think I'm hating on Bendis because of the review above, allow me to just go ahead and say - This is the book I was most looking forward to this week. I'm an old school sucker for Simon Williams, aka Wonder Man. (I can't explain it.) When I read that Wonder Man was going to assemble his own team and take on the Avengers I was expecting to see a good old fashioned super hero slobber knocker, and that's exactly what Bendis and Gabriel Dell'Otto delivered. Page after page of clobberin' time!!! I can't wait to see the conclusion of this story in AVENGERS ANNUAL (2011) #1. FANBOY FUN!!!

THE PUNISHER #3 - I am in mad love with Greg Rucka's Punisher! I'll admit it. Rucka's Frank Castle is a man of few words who bursts out of a cloud of gunsmoke and disappears into a shadow. ....after he obliterated everyone in the room, of course. It really appeals to the macho testosterone fueled He-Man Woman Haters Club side of me.

This is kind of the perfect fusion of his badass soldiers in QUEEN & COUNTRY and the police procedurals of GOTHAM CENTRAL (both excellent series if you've never read them.) BUENO EXCELLENTE!

STORMWATCH #1 - I've been a big fan of almost every incarnation of Stormwatch, and Paul Cornell can do no wrong in my eyes, so I may be a little biased on this one. Like most Wildstorm fans, I was really curious to see how DC would lace Wildstorm characters into the New DCU. Color me surprised to see they didn't so much weave the Wildstorm characters into DC continuity as they did populate the Wildstorm universe with a smattering of DC characters (i.e. they plopped Martian Manhunter into Stormwatch and called it a day). Here's the thing though - it totally works, and with Cornell on writing duty, it works better than it has any right to. MM fits in well with the Authority cast, who are now officially DC's Stormwatch. If you don't know any of the characters it does not matter. You meet the cast as you go along as they attempt to recruit Apollo into the team, and then we meet Midnighter, and then... The issue does a great job of filling in the background for the team and their world, while leaving you just tantalized enough to come back next issue and find out what the heck is going on with the moon, huh? If I had to bet I would say the moon was a woman hater!!!

FANBOY FUN!!!

Under Construction!

2011-08-19T01:42:00.000-05:00

Well, that got away from me...

I know. I know. I promised to get back to blogging ASAP and then one month lead into the next and then the next and now....here we are and my last post was back in April.

What can I say? Life kinda got in my way. A lot.
I'm hoping to get back to my regularly scheduled blogging by the time DC unrolls their big NEW 52 initiative. Hopefully.....fingers crossed.

So....please forgive me. I hope I haven't burned any bridges by not blogging for so long, and I hope you'll come back in September for more FANBOY FUN!

As always, thanks for reading!!

-Todd

YOUR MUSICAL INTERLUDE(S) OF THE DAY! 30 DAY SONG CHALLENGE WRAP UP

2011-04-28T23:55:00.002-05:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to post this, but...here is a wrap up to my 30 Day Song Challenge I was partaking in over on facebook. I know you were all just desperate for me to finish it off. Ha!

Day 29 - A Song From Your Childhood

One of my fondest memories -one of those comfort places in the back of my mind- (this is before child seatbelt laws) is curling up in the floorboard of my Mom's Impala on a snowy winter morning and listening to this song as she drove me to PF Brown. (I was probably in Birdie Treadaway's 1st grade class, I think.) This song always reminds me of that random moment from early in my life.

Day 29 Alternate!

I freaking loved Eddie Rabbit when I was a kid! If I'm not imagining it - I think he came to the Fair Park when I was a kid and my mom took me to see him.

I was really sad when he died in '98.

‎30 Day Song Challenge - The Final Day!!!
Day 30 - Your Favorite Song At This Time Last Year
Of all the songs Eddie Vedder and company have written over the years, and all the times I've made this declaration repeatedly, I'm saying it again...This is the prettiest song Pearl Jam has ever done. (The audio on this is really low, so....turn it up.)

R.I.P. Elisabeth Sladen, aka Sarah Jane Smith

2011-04-20T00:51:00.003-05:00

Due to some real job work issues, I'm still in Low Content Mode (Apologies to Mike Sterling ), but I couldn't let the day go by without touching on the sad news of Elisabeth Sladen's passing.

I wasn't always a fan of DOCTOR WHO. I grew up around a comic shop in the 1980s and over the years I met lots of DOCTOR WHO fans, but to me he was always this weird guy with a long silly scarf.

So when SciFi (now SyFy) started airing Russel T Davies' reboot with Christopher Eccleston back in 2005 (?) I decided to finally see what all the hubbub was about. I should have known I would like it. I like Science Fiction and I've been an Anglophile since I was about five years old sneaking up to watch MONTHY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS late at night on PBS.

The thing that immediately drew me in was Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), as she was meant to, and through her I became a fan. Not a slobbering uber-fan, but....I liked the show enough to keep watching. It wasn't until David Tennant took over the role as The Doctor that I began to morph into the slobbering uber-fan that I am now.

In fact - it wasn't until the episode SCHOOL REUNION, when Sarah Jane Smith was reunited with The Doctor, that i truly began to even see the potential fun that "classic" DOCTOR WHO could provide. I had always kind of dismissed what came before Davies' reboot as hokey and campy. But here was this amazing actress with this incredible performance AND she had been the Doctor's companion before. There was history there that I just had to know. Sarah Jane really opened up a new universe to me.

I'll admit that I have cried when watching select episodes. When Rose got whisped into the parallel universe....I cried. When Martha Jones makes that great speech about saying goodbye...I cried. That look in David Tennant's eyes when The Ood tell him his song is ending...that one crushed me.

But today, losing Elisabeth Sladen,...when I saw that headline it just tore my world apart. She was one of those rare people who remain astonishingly beautiful no matter how many years go by. And her talent just grew and grew.

Thank you for all the wonders of the universe you shared with us, Elisabeth. I'm really going to miss you.

YOUR MUSICAL INTERLUDE(S) OF THE DAY! - again

2011-04-20T00:37:00.004-05:00

Still doing the 30 Day Song Challenge on Facebook:

Day 22 - A Song That You Listen to When you’re Sad

This just might be THE saddest song ever written. Also one of the prettiest.

Day 23 - A Song That You Want To Play At Your Wedding

I've been happily married since 1996, but if I had to do it all over again...I would have her stand at the alter while I walked down the aisle...and this is what would play. Just so my girl, Jennifer knows what she's in for.

Day 24 - A Song That You Want To Play At Your Funeral

What? That's how I roll, y'all!!!

Day 25 - A Song That Makes You Laugh

This never fails to crack me up.

Day 26 - A Song That You Can Play On An Instrument

I can't really "play" anything but chopsticks on the piano, but one Summer I did teach myself how to play the first few notes of this song on the piano. It wasn't really the same, but still...

(Because Metallica won't allow embedding)

Day 27 - A Song That You Wish You Could Play

Who doesn't wish they could play like this?

Day 28 - A Song That Makes You Feel Guilty

Back when this came out I just liked the slow tempo unique sound it had. It didn't sound like any song I had ever heard. But I didn't know what the lyrics describing what Nikki was "doing with a magazine" in that hotel lobby meant, so I asked my Mom. She refused to tell me.

(The Purple One will probably make them take this down, but the song is DARLING NIKKI from the PURPLE RAIN soundtrack.)

YOUR MUSICAL INTERLUDE(S) OF THE DAY, numero tres

2011-04-12T23:01:00.003-05:00

I've been kind of busy, sorry. Here's what you missed from my 30 Day Song Challenge (if you haven't been following along on facebook):

Day 17 - A Song That You Hear Often On The Radio

I've always liked this song, and the only place I ever hear it is on the radio. Everybody needs a little bubble gum in their lives once in awhile.

Day 18 - A Song That You Wish You Heard On The Radio

The world would be a better place with more Anthrax on the radio.

Day 19 - A Song From Your Favorite Album

This was a hard choice not only because there are so many great songs on MELON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS, but also because I can literally listen to every song on the album over and over and have been since it came out in 1995. It is just so perfect in every way. Best album by any one ever ever ever.

Day 20 - A Song That You Listen To When You’re Angry

If you haven't ever heard this song it is very very angry and the lyrics are.....not safe for work...consider that your warning. Also - unless you want to blow your speakers - make sure the volume isn't too loud.

...unless you're angry

Day 21 - A Song That You Listen To When You’re Happy

It is scientifically proven that you can't listen to this song and be unhappy.

Your Musical Interlude of the Day - Red Hot Chilli Peppers

2011-04-07T23:09:00.003-05:00

‎30 Day Song Challenge

Day 16 - A Song That You Used To Love But Now Hate

I don't hate this song, but it falls into a category of songs commercial radio single handedly drove into the ground through repetition and I can't willingly listen to them any more. If it comes on, I unconciously reach to turn it off. Commercial radio has literally ruined more songs for me than exposed me to good music. I can't listen to Nirvana's SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT, Metallica's ONE, almost all of the discography of Soundgarden and Alice In Chains, and way too many others to count. I will forever mourn the loss of KTXT 88.1 for more reasons than words can explain. They didn't relentlessly drive the Top 40 into my brain over and over, and their only agenda was playing something you might not have heard otherwise. God Bless you, KTXT 88.1. Down with Commercial Radio!

Your Musical Interlude of the Day - Green Day

2011-04-06T22:38:00.001-05:00

‎30 Day Song Challenge

Day 15 - A Song That Describes You

I'll let the song speak for me. HAHAHA!!!

I'm afraid I couldn't post the video for this one, so you're going to have to make one little old extra clicky today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5zEP4kvfnc

Your Musical Interlude of the Day - Shania Twain

2011-04-06T01:26:00.001-05:00

‎30 Day Song Challenge

Day 14 - A Song That No One Would Expect You To Love

I was channel surfing one night and caught this performance on VH1 Diva's Live (Don't start!) and....I was smitten. It's time the world knows my secret shame - I loves me some Shania Twain (hey that rhymed!).

Your Musical Interlude of the Day - Europe

2011-04-05T04:13:00.001-05:00

30 Day Song Challenge

Day 13 - A Song That Is A Guilty Pleasure

I know the lyrics are horrible.
I know this song is cheesy as all get out...

...but I still love it.
It's catchy!

I was giddy with delight when Gob on ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT used this song as his personal theme song when he performed magic acts.

FANBOY FUN # 45 - RETURN OF THE SPLASH

2011-04-03T23:30:00.004-05:00

Just straight up comic book reviews this time out, with the added warning that my real life is about to once again intrude on my regular blogging schedule. I'm going to be pretty busy over the next few weeks at my "real" job, so I doubt I'll be able to post any new reviews . You can keep checking back for Your Musical Interlude of the Day though. Those take like five minutes to crank out, and as long as you enjoy them - I'll keep doing them (when I have time).

Now - on to the comics!

AVENGERS 11 - Not since the black poly-bagged Death of Superman, in SUPERMAN 75, have I seen a book told entirely in splash pages!

Splash pages normally work as a visual cue to the reader that introduces a character or setting, helps establish a mood and can properly provide some sense of perspective to the scope of the protagonist's dilemma. In other words - artists use a splash page to let you [the reader] know that s*** be getting real! Now normally a stunt like this, which (usually) reduces the word count of an issue to emphasize the artwork, comes off very poorly executed. But Bendis being Bendis each splash page is filled with one image and tons of text, so the page isn't wasted. John Romita JR, love him or hate him, does a decent job as a story teller, but giving him an all splash page issue may have been asking for too much. His monthly grind art style is very different from his DAREDEVIL, so the splash pages look a little less focused and detailed as I know he is capable of, but they still look decent. All in all it was a decent issue.

GOOD STUFF!

CALIGULA 1 - I wasn't sure what to expect from the first issue of this series, by David Lapham and German Noble, considering that lately it seems Lapham's books have been some of the most disturbing things I've ever seen in any medium. I ain't exaggerating either. His CROSSED not only topped series creator Garth Ennis' disturbia, but it topped 99% of the splatter porn movies out nowadays, also. I mean - it was sick! Surely a series about one of the most depraved individuals to ever walk the Earth would be disturbing. Well - it had the potential. I'm not sure if it was German Noble's artwork, but the story told herein didn't really provide a point for Lapham to instruct his artist collaborator, Noble, to really try and make readers....vomit. To be fair - there are some disturbing images inside, but not nearly as many as CROSSED: FAMILY VALUES had per page. Why....it's down right, wholesome. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ah. So, this only being the first issue, I fully expect to see something in the next issue that will make me want to have my eyeballs replaced with cheeseburgers. GOOD STUFF!

DETECTIVE COMICS 875 -

I said it before, but this issue just cemented it. Scott Snyder has officially surpassed Grant Morrison as DC's premiere Batman writer, while at the same time making me once again mourn the loss of GOTHAM CENTRAL, because Snyder would be perfect for the streetwise crime comic noir of Gotham Central. This issue picks up on the previous incredible issue and blows it out of the water with layers of mystery, suspense, tension, regret and humanity. Snyder doesn't just tap into the character of Jim Gordon, he breaks him down and builds him back up again as we go from the present to the past and then back again. I haven't seen writing as well done as this in a Batman comic book since Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker were in charge. I can't wait for the next issue of this. hell, I can't wait until I get a collected edition of this storyline. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

DOCTOR WHO 3 - Speaking of crime comics - in the current storyline, The Doctor, Amy & Rory are in England smack dab during the Jack the Ripper murders. I don't know what it is, but so far I'm enjoying this - and I hate to say this and jinx it - I am enjoying it far more than I have any previous Doctor comic book stories. The Doctor can be a hard character to get perfect, but I think Tony Lee has a good grasp on how to make him seem like the smartest person in the room and balance that manic wackiness that humanizes him. He also does a good job of capturing Amy and Rory's characters and the group dynamic between the three. In fact - that might be why I like this current incarnation so much. In a lot of the current IDW Who stuff (not the Classic stuff!) the writers have either failed to really capture the particular cadence The Doctor speaks in (i.e. David Tennant), or failed to truly and properly portray the dynamic between the Doctor and whomever his companion at the time was. That's not to say they were all horrible. Far from it. They just weren't quite as good as I had hoped they would be. Hopefully this is the start of good good things for IDW's Doctor Who comics. GOOD STUFF!

GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS 8 - This issue is part three of the big War of the Lanterns storyline running throughout the three Green Lantern books right now. I'm enjoying this a lot more than I was enjoying the long drawn out build up to it. I've been pretty vocal about how stagnant the momentum was in the main GL book, but now that this story is kicking into gear that seems to have course corrected a bit. (That could change as we get further in to the story, though.) It's always a pleasure to see Guy Gardner knock the stuffing out of Hal Jordan. Did I just reveal my bias there?

GOOD STUFF!

INCOGNITO: BAD INFLUENCES 5 (of 5) - On the one hand we got a sort of dark ending that was kind of a bummer. On the other hand we got an ending that very much sets us up for a sequel. C'mon - they can't leave it there, can they? I might appreciate this more when I sit down and re-read the entire series, but this ending kind of soiled my appreciation for this series as a whole. I wasn't expecting a happy go lucky kumbaya type thing with sugar plums and rainbows, but by God I didn't want to see it go out like that! GOOD STUFF!

TERRY MOORE'S ECHO 29 - The end is almost upon us. I'm really going to miss this book when it ends. BUENO EXCELENTE!

YOUR MUSICAL INTERLUDE(S) OF THE DAY, numero dos

2011-04-03T23:16:00.002-05:00

In the interest of keeping you in the loop, here are the posts I made for the 30 DAY SONG CHALLENGE that I'm participating on my facebook page:

Day 10 - A Song That Makes You Fall Asleep

A long time ago BB King actually came to Lubbock, TX and my wife and I figured he would probably die soon (I know. I'm a horrible person.) so we should see him while we could. (i.e. While he was still alive) My cousin Kelly Gray went with us, and it was honestly the most bored I've ever been at a concert. An hour into it I turn to Kelly and the dude was snoozing like Sunday morning. I was so jealous.

Day 11 - A Song From Your Favorite Band
The first song I ever heard by Ben Folds Five was BRICK. That was the song that got me to listen to their CD at a listening station. ARMY is the song that made me think "I've gotta buy this CD!"

Day 12 - A Song From A Band That You Hate
It's amazing how quickly the words HATE and CREED joined together in my mind. If there is one singer, one band, in all the world I despise to my very core - it is these losers. Hypocritical arrogant #$%&*!!!##$!! I would genuinely like to spit on them.

Your Musical Interlude of the Day - Dirty Vegas

2011-04-01T00:33:00.000-05:00

30 Day Song Challenge

Day 09 - A Song You Can Dance To

Pffft. I can dance to anything. I'm kind of a badass.

Your Musical Interlude of the Day - Ferris Bueller!

2011-03-31T00:40:00.003-05:00

30 Day Song Challenge

Day 08 - A Song That You Know All The Words To

This one is a freebie, because I could sing a heckuva lot of songs at the drop of a hat, and have been known to pull out some pretty obscure stuff. I would also like to point out that Marcus Parks is the closest I've ever come to meeting a real life Ferris Bueller. Everybody loves the guy!!!

Marcus is the director of comedy at http://breakthruradio.com/ where you can hear him on some really great comedy podcasts like Portrait of a Comedian, Round Table of Gentlemen, Sex and Other Human Activities, and many many more! He's pretty much awesome.

Your Musical Interlude of the Day - Fastball

2011-03-29T22:43:00.002-05:00

‎30 Day Song Challenge
DAY 07 - A SONG THAT REMINDS YOU OF A CERTAIN EVENT
This song always reminds me of moving to Albuquerque. I was in a strange city looking for a job, and I got roped into spending a day w/ a door-to-door "promotions" salesman, who was selling really expensive coupons. He bought me lunch at Wendy's and he played th...is song really loudly after I told him this wasn't the kind of job I wanted and made him take me back to my car.

I'm lucky I didn't end up stuffed in some guy's trunk.

Your Musical Interlude of the Day - Godsmack

2011-03-29T01:26:00.002-05:00

30 Day Song Challenge

Day 06 - A SONG THAT REMINDS YOU OF SOMEWHERE

The first time I heard this song was on a roadtrip to San Antonio. It was the first time I had been there, and just as my wife and I finally reached the outskirts of the city and started hitting heavy traffic - this song comes on the radio. Perfect song for the mood.

YOUR MUSICAL INTERLUDE(S) OF THE DAY!

2011-03-27T22:55:00.006-05:00

I apologize for the delay in new comic review content. I had fully intended to get some reviews done, but I had a death in the family and to be honest blogging is about the last thing I want to do right now.

If you care, I was going to review the following titles: BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT 2,
BATMAN INCORPORATED 4, BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM 21, GREEN LANTERN 64, GREEN LANTERN CORPS 58, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 11, SUPERMAN/BATMAN 82 & ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN 156. It was a handful of win! Good stuff all around. I even liked WAR OF THE GREEN LANTERNS better than I thought I would.

In the interest of finishing what I started - here are the songs I chose for the past few days of the 30 DAY SONG CHALLENGE on my facebook page.

DAY 03 - A SONG THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY
I don't know how anyone could listen to LA BAMBA and NOT be happy. It is physically impossible! This is also one of my favorite movies of all time in the "life story of a musician" genre.

DAY 04 - A SONG THAT MAKES YOU SAD
Billy Corgan wrote this song after his mother died. It's one of the most beautiful and yet saddest songs I've ever heard. It's also one of the songs I want played at my own funeral.

DAY 05 - A SONG THAT REMINDS YOU OF SOMEONE

Your Musical Interlude of the Day - Suzanne Vega (shudder)

2011-03-25T03:20:00.001-05:00

I will not blame you if you choose to skip today's Musical Interlude of the Day.
I'm still doing the 30 Day Song Challenge on facebook and Day 2 is YOUR LEAST FAVORITE SONG.

I die a little bit inside everytime I have to hear this song. It just drones on and on and on.....~sigh~ I hate it sooooo much!

Your Musical Interlude of the Day - Ben Folds Five

2011-03-24T03:27:00.002-05:00

Over on Facebook I found a 30 DAY MUSIC CHALLENGE that I decided to do.

DAY 1 - YOUR FAVORITE SONG

This is, without a doubt, my favorite song. Period. I really miss Ben Folds Five. As much as I love Ben Folds - I loved him even more when he was with Darren Jessee and Robert Sledge.

Your Musical Interlude of the Day - Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians

2011-03-23T03:40:00.002-05:00

Your Musical Interlude of the Day! I think my wife was right - I listened to too much 80s music on our recent trip. I blame Sirius.

As for Edie - what the hell is she doing with her body while she's singing?

Your Musical Interlude of the Day- Wham

2011-03-22T04:31:00.001-05:00

I've been posting YOUR MUSICAL INTERLUDE OF THE DAY! for awhile over on my Facebook page, and I've thought about sharing them with the Fanboy Fun crowd just as long. These are all videos I just felt like sharing. I don't own any rights to any of them, and I'm not profiting from this in any way except to share some music with the masses....or subjecting the masses to some music. Whichever. I just want you to laugh, smile, tap your toe to the music or discover something new. Enjoy - Your Musical Interlude of the Day!

Your Musical Interlude of the Day! I watched this Comic Relief video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdg7Tgv5lo0&feature=channel_video_title and because of it I've had Wham! stuck in my head all night. So I thought I would share with the class:

...and because you can never have enough Wham! in your life....
.....What? Don't judge me!

SPRING BREAK BREAK, Y'ALL!!!

2011-03-11T03:42:00.002-06:00

I'm taking a break from blogging during Spring Break. Until then - you need to check out Jonathan Hickman's SECRET WARRIORS. I just read the first four volumes in hardcover and it is amazing stuff. Best action movie of the year!!!
I'll be back in about a week. Until then - enjoy this fine musical selection by FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS (as seen on CONAN)! They are truly awesome!!!

FANBOY FUN # 44 - ANNIHILATORS, GO!!!!

2011-03-06T22:31:00.004-06:00

I think we've all learned far too much about Charlie Sheen this week, and now I want him to go away and take Justin Bieber with him. That is all.

Now - on to the comics!

ANNIHILATORS 1 (of 4) - Someone at Marvel thought it would be a good idea to take all of the "Alpha level" powered cosmic heroes and throw them in to a group together.
No!!!! Not those guys! I meant Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Ronan the Accuser and Quasar. Although Lubbock's own ANNIHILATORS certainly do rock! But I digress....Then that someone at Marvel decided that rather than make a possibly low selling Rocket Raccoon mini-series that would appeal to a limited but ravenous and loyal fan base, they would smoosh the two series together and make one big book of cosmic Marvel goodness - at no extra cost to you, the consumer. I gotta say - by the time they announced Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning were going to stay on as writers....Marvel had all but guaranteed I would buy this. I've made it well known how much I loved DnA and their cosmic Marvel stuff and the two stories in this are no different. The new team is joined by Ikon, a space knight, who quickly teaches the gang that just teaming up together isn't a guaranteed win for the side of good and then they have to rush off fight the Dire Wraiths. It is pretty much all set up for the next three issues, but DnA always manage to acknowledge what came before and set up the new status quo without making the story seem bogged down by exposition or an info dump. They can actually write, and they do it well. As for the Rocket Raccoon story -Included At No Additional Cost to You, The Reader!- we learn that since the catastrophic deaths of several members of the Guardians of the Galaxy in the pages of THE THANOS IMPERATIVE (now in a convenient hardcover edition), Rocket has taken a job in a cosmic mail room as a menial laborer...and then we go from there.

Hands down - this is the best bargain on the stands this month, and the best book all around for the week. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

BATMAN BEYOND 3 - What I love about this issue is that it looks as though they are willing to go down the road I hoped they would and not keep things level with how the continuity of the show ended. At the end of this issue, things are slightly different than they were at the beginning of issue one. Terry agrees, against Bruce's advisement, to join the Justice League with certain conditions. It isn't a big change, but it is big enough of a change to give me pause and hope to see in the future of this title what I had hoped to see when they announced it -and actual continuation of the TV show rather than an homage to a canceled TV show from the past. FANBOY FUN!!!

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 54 - Fifty Four months ago (give or take), DC canceled the long running LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT, which took Batman from any time in his history and told in or out of continuity stories featuring a young (usually) Bruce Wayne and allowed different creators a springboard to tell Batman stories of their own when they may not necessarily have had a place to tell a story any where else. Then Dan Didio, in all his genius wisdom...

Didio decided to replace the book with this one. They didn't really change anything but the name, despite what they may have tried to claim in the press - bottom line is that the book was pretty much the same as LotDK in every way but name. So of course it makes sense that this is the final issue of this series. Goodbye, Batman Confidential. I'll miss you. At least they sent you out right with a really decent story arc by Marc Guggenheim and beautiful artwork by comics legend Jerry Bingham. FANBOY FUN.

BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM 20 - Start saying goodbye to this title too, because it is being canceled next month. It's a shame too, because Paul Dini was doing pretty decent stuff with this book. GOOD STUFF.

THE BOYS 52 - I am all for these history lessons into Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson's super powered universe. They are always interesting. What I am not for is the way they drop the fact that you had to read the HUGHIE mini-series to get the full story. I had a lot of problems with that series because for the most part I thought it wasn't anything that couldn't have been told in the regular series. Apparently it mattered more than I thought and it wasn't only the final two issues that were important.Back to the history lessons - this one is about the history of Vought American dating back to WW2. GOOD STUFF!!

COMIC BOOK COMICS 5 - This may be the most important comic book you read all year! If you missed out on Ryan Dunlavey and Fred Van Lente's ACTION PHILOSOPHERS let this be your introduction to their work. Each issue of this series is pretty much a stand alone lesson in the history of comic books - in comic book form! Much like their ACTION PHILOSOPHERS book, each issue tackles a variety of subjects and presents them in short vignette stories that could stand complete on their own, but as a whole make for 32 pages of fascinating and entertaining fun. The best comparison, and highest praise I can think of is, that Dunlavey and Van Lente are filling the void left by DC Comics' much lamented PIRAHNA PRESS series of BIG BOOK OF.... graphic albums. This issue is the All-Lawsuit issue, covering Seigel & Shuster's struggle to get the credit they deserved from DC COMICS, Jack Kirby's struggle to get the credit he deserved from MARVEL COMICS and a good dissection of the tangled battle for the rights to MIRACLEMAN. They could have done a single issue devoted to the tangled rights to MIRACLEMAN alone! What a mess! BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS: THE SEVENTH DOCTOR 2 - I don't think I've ever mentioned how much I love Frobisher. For those of you who don't read the adventures of The Doctor in comics, Frobisher was a companion of the 6th & 7th Doctors in the comic strip pages of DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE.

He was a Whifferdill, an alien race with shape-changing powers, but soon after his introduction he decided to remain in the shape of a penguin. (He liked being a penguin for some reason.) Anyway - this is the issue where he leaves the company of The Doctor. It makes me sad knowing I won't see him again. The other interesting footnote of this issue is that Marvel UK's character Death's Head pops in.

I've always enjoyed Death's Head, so it was a nice surprise. Even more of a surprise since this is an IDW book and I wouldn't have thought they could get the rights to Death's Head so easily. Shows what I know. FANBOY FUN!

GREEN LANTERN 63 -Blah blah blah, War of the Lanterns prelude, blah, color spectrum, blah, Krona and the Guardians, blah. I'm bored. EH!!!

INCOGNITO: BAD INFLUENCES 4 (of 5) - I could blast Ed Brubaker for pulling out the old "introduce the old pal of your hero and make the reader sympathize with him before you kill him off" trope, but it works so well. It gets the hero invested in seeing through something they don't want to do, it gets the audience invested in seeing the hero get revenge....it just works on so many levels. Which is why it shows up again and again in mysteries. Plus, it helps when your name is Ed Brubaker. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

JONAH HEX 65 -

How is that every done-in-one issue of this book is better than the last? It's like Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray are using some comic book alchemy or something. I don't know. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

SECRET SIX 31 -The Secret Six can go to Hell!!! And this issue - that is exactly what they do. This issue picks up a thread left dangling since the very first story arc where someone on the team came into possession of a literal "Get Out Of Hell Free" card. FANBOY FUN!!!

ULTIMATE CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 (of 4) -If you've ever wanted see into the mind of a twisted patriot and/or see Capt. America being tortured for 22 pages - Jason Aaron has the book for you!!! GOOD STUFF!!!

WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS 4 - Apparently someone at Marvel thinks coloring "blood" in black is going to lessen the impact of Juan Jose Ryp. Someone at Marvel doesn't know Juan Jose Ryp very well! When you want blood and gore in your comic book, you go to the best. The Best There Is!!! Juan Jose Ryp!!! You try to be the best, cause you're only a man, and a man's gotta learn to take it. Try to believe though the going gets rough, that you gotta hang tough to make it. History repeats itself try and you'll succeed. Never doubt that you're the one and you can have your dreams. You're the best! AROUND! And nothing's going to ever keep ya down! You're the best! AROUND! And nothing's ever going to keep you...DOOOOOWWWWNN!!! Sweep the leg, Johnny!!! SWEEP THE LEG!!!!

Umm....sorry about that. ~cough~

FANBOY FUN # 43 - SHOCK & AWE WEEK

2011-02-26T17:15:00.008-06:00

Why is it so hard to think of something clever or funny just gracious to start each blog post with? Welcome back. Thanks for reading. I hope you make it past these first two lines of text.

I'm pretty sure I'm the very dead last place anyone would come to for comic book news or reviews, but in the slim chance that my silly little site is your first stop for comic book info - the industry was saddened and shocked, this week, by the passing of Dwayne McDuffie.

McDuffie was an important part of comic book history. He co-founded MILESTONE MEDIA, an African American created and owned comic book imprint, in the 1990s - from which the cartoon series STATIC SHOCK came from. He wrote many beloved comic book series for DC and Marvel Comics and animated series for DC. He was a great promoter of diversity in comics and he will be missed dearly. I encourage you to visit http://www.comicbookresources.com/ and any other comic news sites for much more coverage and far better eulogies for the man than I can provide.

Before we dive in, I should note that all four parts of my essay/column-type thing are up and ready for reading at: http://revolutionsf.com

Now - on to the comics!

ABYSS: FAMILY ISSUES 1 (OF 4) - It's been a long time since we've seen Kevin Rubio's superhero comedy series, and it was well worth the wait.

Sorta. If you didn't read the first ABYSS series, in a nutshell, Eric (our protagonist) finds out his father, who just died, was actually a super-villain and Eric decided to use his new resources to redeem the family name and be a super hero. It was kind of like INVINCIBLE (kinda!) but a lot funnier. Rubio's humor is still firmly intact and he does a nice job balancing the drama with the humor, but where this first issue fails is solely in the artwork. Alfonso Ruiz doesn't do a bad job, but he could really use some work in storytelling and backgrounds. His art serves the story okay, but I'm hoping he uses the remaining three issues to really push himself and expand his skills and his craft. Altogether not a bad book and certainly worth picking up - even if you didn't read the first series. I do have to say - the obvious flattery they throw G4's Blair Butler is kind of silly, but kind of....flattering. You know what...you'll see what I mean. It could have been worse is all I'm saying. GOOD STUFF.

ATOMIC ROBO: DEADLY ART OF SCIENCE 4 (OF 5) - So let me get this straight - she's more upset by the fact that Robo is technically 7 years old than she is by the fact that she is in love with a robot? Well now you're just being silly. ....which is one of the main things I love about this book.

Seriously - you should check this book out. It has consistently been a good clean fun read with science, humor, action and a lot of heart. Consistently GOOD STUFF!!! Also, if you're in Austin, TX March 5-6th, head on over to STAPLE! The independent Media Expo and meet the creators of this book and tons of other cool comic book folk. You are guaranteed to have a great time! Hell - Jill Thompson is going to be there. JILL THOMPSON!!!!! http://www.jillthompsonart.com/ Check out the STAPLE! site here: http://www.staple-austin.org/

AVENGERS 10 - I would have appreciated Marvel throwing in the full 22 page first issue of HEROES FOR HIRE #1 more if I hadn't already bought and read it back when it came out. Still it was a very cool move on Marvel's part, and it makes this single issue one of the best purchases (provided you didn't already buy HfH#1) of the week for your hard earned $4. Bendis + Avengers + Infinity Guantlet fun = FANBOY FUN!!!

CROSSED: PSYCHOPATH 1 (OF 6?) - Dear God! Why did someone let David Lapham loose again? Just when the lingering nightmares left over from Lapham's previous Crossed mini-series, FAMILY VALUES, had started to subside - along comes another one. This one is pretty much all set-up for the rest of the series, but in a way only a Lapham script could provide, it twists and turns the stomach in its own special way. Raulo Caceres is Lapham's cohort in splatter porn this time out. I'm not to familiar with his stuff, but he has a nice Tom Mandrake on SPECTRE meets Steve Bissette vibe going in his pencils. GOOD STUFF!!!

DETECTIVE COMICS 874 - As Joey Lawrence once said, "WOAH!" I did not see that coming. New series writer Scott Snyder masterfully wraps the seemingly unrelated backup feature of the previous issues into the main feature and then starts bringing the heat. This single issue might have been my favorite Batman comic book in a couple of years, just for the sheer brilliance of Snyder's pacing and storytelling. I have officially sat up and taken notice of you, Mr. Snyder. That was well done. Very well done. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

DETHKLOK 3 - Oh my God, this book makes me laugh.

I'm not sure there is much crossover appeal for anyone that doesn't watch the show, though. Without prior knowledge of the show I doubt the very particular cadence and speech patterns a few of the characters speak with would be in the slightest bit ka-ka-ka-funny. See? I doubt half of you got that. Anyway - short premise synopsis for METALOCALYPSE - Dethklok is a bad ass Death Metal band who are also the most successful and popular band in the world. It's also super violent and hilariously funny, and the music in the show is 1,000 times better than it should be. FANBOY FUN!!!

TERRY MOORE'S ECHO 28 - ****SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED****

Damn!!! Yet another book this week that socked me in the gut and left my jaw on the floor. Now - did I miss something or has Terry Moore just this issue tied this book in with STRANGERS IN PARADISE? Did he do it while I wasn't looking? Cause my favorite psychotic lesbian hit woman, Tambi (along with one of Darcy Parker's girls) pops up in all her feminine Schwarzeneggar-ian glory.

Just in time for the end game! This book has been on fire for the past few issues, and this one didn't let me down. I'm going to miss this book. ****SPOILER ALERT DE-ACTIVATED**** BUENO EXCELLENTE!

ULTIMATE DOOM 3 (OF 4) - Bendis has done a pretty handy job of building this Ultimate Enemy trilogy into something very unexpected and unpredictable. I'm hoping the whole Ultimate Reed Richards gone evil thing doesn't get retroactively erased or it turns out he was mind-controlled by Ultimate Puppet Master or something. I really like the idea that Ultimate Reed went bad. I guess I'll find out next issue when the whole shebang gets wrapped up, huh? GOOD STUFF.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN 154 - Speaking of Bendis doing a great job...

I don't know where the whole "Death of Spider-Man" thing is going, but I'm liking it so far. In fact, my only complaint about this book, is that soon we will lose artists David Lafuente and Sara Pichelli for returning artist Mark Bagley. Don't get me wrong - I really like Bagley and I like seeing him draw Spidey, but the thing is - he's done it before and I was really enjoying the new artistic direction the book had taken. It's hard to complain when they change something from this thing you were really digging and switch it back to the old thing you have been digging for years. See the dilema? Anywho...GOOD STUFF!!!

fanboy fun # 42 - Fun With Exclamation Points RevolutionSF.com edition!!!

2011-02-19T11:49:00.005-06:00

Good Day, Citizens! Welcome back to another installment of the addled stream of consciousness that I call a blog. This was a particularly important week for me as the rambling ten page mess of an essay on Grant Morrison's BATMAN that I wrote, at the request of my good pal and former Twitter-Girlfriend, Sarah Arnold, was published at www.revolutionsf.com. She's a Helluva editor as she took my rambling shambling ten pages of crap and edited it down to the good stuff to make me sound like less of an idiot. That can't be easy y'all! Thanks, Sarah! You have no idea how much this means to me. I owe you one! (Which I'm working on as we speak.)

If you're new to Fanboy Fun, hopefully you read my Batman article at www.revolutionsf.com and followed the link from their website to here. If so...Welcome! I implore you to stay awhile and check out some of my past columns. They aren't all winners, but I try my best. In addition to comic reviews, I occasionally write a TV blog called MY WIFE IS A DVR WIDOW that is a lot of fun but takes forever to produce, and I'm way behind in churning out a new edition. At any rate - welcome. Stay awhile and I hope you enjoy what you read. I also encourage you to "Follow" my blog, so I can temporarily inflate my ego with the knowledge that there really might be more than one person reading along with me.

Before we dive in, it might be a wise idea to go over the ground rules for my rating system. I'll admit to kinda sorta outright stealing the rating formula from www.savagecritic.com I changed it enough to make it different, but the fact is - they are the best comic book critics on the Internet and I was inspired to even do this by them, so....please don't sue me, Mr. Hibbs! Comics are rated with a one word, bold-faced, rating in ascending order of severity: AWFUL, EH, OKAY, GOOD STUFF, FANBOY FUN & BUENO EXCELLENTE. In addition the strength of the rating is buffered by either a period "." or exclamation point "!" So....the more exclamation points a rating has "FANBOY FUN!!!" the more I liked what I read. Bascially, I just really like exclamation points! Once again - welcome. I hope to see you again next time!

Now - on to the comics!!!

BATMAN 707 - Way back when DC was publishing COUNTDOWN and the collective comic book lovin' Internet community was declaring it the worst thing DC had ever published, on my MySpace blog, I was pretty much joining in and churning out negative comment after negative comment week-in and week-out. Until eventually I remembered that old saying "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." So I changed my tune and tried as hard as I could to find something nice to say about every issue, instead of focusing on the bad. I think I've been complaining about Tony Daniel for way too long, and my reader(s) now knows how I feel about him. So instead I'm going to try and find something positive about each issue.

Here goes - I really do think Daniel's artwork has gotten 1,000% better than when he first started working on this book. EH!!!

THE BOYS 51 - This book is just getting darker and darker as we get into the backroom politics of the story, and yet somehow we can still make time for a two full pages of a shot of a man tied to a bed as Butcher twists the figurative knife in his back. GOOD STUFF!

GREEN LANTERN 62 - I am just so not into this storyline, I can't even tell you. It isn't badly written or anything. Far from it. It just feels like Hal Jordan has been running around with the rainbow league since BLACKEST NIGHT started back in 2009, and now it looks like everyone is starting to lose faith in Hal (again) and he might be going bad (again) or having a crisis of conscience (again). It just all feels like something I've read before. OKAY.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS 57 - On the other green ring-bearing hand we have this book, where everything still feels fresh and different. I'll admit, when I initially saw The Weaponer I thought he looked kinda hokey, but he really grew on me over the course of this story. He grew on me so much that he might be my favorite new member of the....Ah-ah-ah! I'm not going to tell you. You'll have to read it for yourself. I will say that I appreciated the appearance of caption boxes on the first few pages to point out that Firestorm doesn't just randomly show up in the book, but in fact this is a tie-in to BRIGHTEST DAY. I'm still not going to read that book though, and I've always thought Firestorm was kind of goofy.

I don't care how powerful he is - at the end of the day it is still just a dude with a big hole on top of his head that spouts fire. He doesn't even have to fight - all he has to do is show the bad guys the fire-hole on his head and they will probably vomit themselves into dehydration and have to go to the hospital. SMILEY!!! FANBOY FUN!!!

JENNIFER BLOOD 1 (OF 4?) - Garth Ennis has said that this mini-series is his attempt to "have some fun" writing comics again, because lately all his books have been pretty dark. He equated this book to being more akin to HITMAN than his more recent stuff. being that this is just the first issue, I'm not quite sure I agree, but I'm willing to keep reading. There really isn't much here to judge yet. A bored housewife spends her nights dressing like Emma Peel and killing lots of bad guys, and then goes back to her husband and kids during the daytime. This issue is pretty much all set up. We see her family life and then she kills some guys and goes back home. The End! OKAY!

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 10 - DURLAN FIGHT!!!!

GOOD STUFF!

S.H.I.E.L.D. 6 (OF 6) - As Janice on FRIENDS used to say, "OH! MY! GOD!" Now that this first volume is completed, I need to dig out the other five issues and reread this all together. This is pure revisionist historical madness with my favorite character in history, Tesla, going full on badass as he meets the fathers of Tony Stark and Reed Richards and.... time travel...and Armies of Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton and...I'm....~wheeeeze~ I'm hyper-ventilating. Hold on. ~breathes in~ *Sigh* That's better. To be honest - I'm not even sure what the Hell happened in this series, but it was just so well done that It pretty much became a classic the minute I opened the first issue. Like I said - I need to reread this one. The thing is, I'm late to the party when it comes to Jonathan Hickman's work, but I've slowly been picking up the SECRET WARRIOR trade paperbacks and I'm almost read to dig into those. Considering that book is all about Nick Fury - is this mini-series something that will tie-in to that series? I'm guessing it might at least tangentially, but I don't know for sure. I guess I'll find out in the next few weeks, huh? BUENO EXCELLENTE!

SUPERMAN/BATMAN 81 - This is the first part of a story arc where Superman and Batman meet their counterparts from an alternate reality where the DCU meets Warcraft...or something.

It sounds like all kinds of fan-service wankery, and for the most part it kind of is, except for one saving grace. It's written by Cullen Bunn, who not only has one of the best names of all time, but he also writes THE SIXTH GUN for ONI Press. I recently got my hands on the first trade paperback of SIXTH GUN and it more than lives up to the hype. It might be the best Joe R. Lansdale book that Joe R. Lansdale never wrote.

Anyway - Bunn really does a damn good job with not only the title characters, but also brings in Shadowpact and Phantom Stranger. He does a great job of making his characters distinct and three dimensional and also keeps them "in character" without forcing them out of it for the sake of the plot. From this issue alone it looks like Bunn is having fun playing in the DC sandbox, and I think we are in for even more fun watching him do it. I should also mention that Chriscross, one of the most under-appreciated artists of the last decade (in my opinion), really draws the hell out of this one. FANBOY FUN!!!

YOUNG JUSTICE 1 - If you haven't checked out the new cartoon that this series ties into, on Cartoon Network, you might want to give it a shot. I don't usually watch cartoons much, but I've kept up with this one so far and liked what I saw. I'm not sure about the new Aqualad yet, but he might grow on me.

I would like to point out one common fallacy about DC books that tie-in to their respective cartoon shows - they are NOT adaptations of episodes. They are always new stories that are not part of the show! One surprising thing about this issue is that is actually ends on a cliff-hanger to be continued next issue. I was surprised because these cartoon tie-in issues are generally pretty much done-in-one, but perhaps they expect a slightly older crowd than they had with the previous TEEN TITANS cartoon, or even TINY TITANS. At any rate - this is a pretty fun book, and my kids are going to love it when we read it at bed time. GOOD STUFF.

FANBOY FUN # 41 - aka VALENTINE'S DAY EDITION

2011-02-14T22:55:00.006-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody! Thanks for joining us once again for some comic book fun. This year, for V-Day, my lovely wife gave me....her cold. So...because I've been fighting this thing for a few days now, AND because I got a metric ton of stuff in this past week, I'm just going to do another edition of Lightning Round Reviews. I'm thinking of having that patented. Any way - in Lightning Round Reviews I hit each title hard and heavy with as short a review as I can think of that doesn't just consist of me slapping a review on it or cheating myself and my readers. ~snicker~ Ah, who am I kidding? It's just an excuse for me to write less because I feel like crap. At any rate - Happy Valentine's Day to all of you, and Happy Birthday to my lovely wife, Jennifer!

And now.....on to the comics!

ADVENTURE COMICS 523 - Always a pleasure to see Phil Jimenez draw anything, much less one of my all-time favorite superhero groups. I especially like seeing him cut loose and design new characters like he did here with the Legion Academy. GOOD STUFF.

ATOMIC ROBO: DEADLY ART OF SCIENCE 3 (OF 5) - Wha.....um.....what is that girl kissing.....exactly? Atomic Robo doesn't even have lips! GOOD STUFF!

BATGIRL 18 - As always - solid FANBOY FUN!!! My nomination for Line of the Week: "It looks like a blue-skinned pilgrim has a dead pimp's heart in his hands." -Batgirl, after Klarion the Witch Boy tries to tell her it [the scene she stumlbed upon] isn't what it looks like. Bwa-ha-ha-ha!!!! Also, Dustin Nguyen really draws the Hell out of this issue!

BATMAN AND ROBIN 20 - Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason's first issue, as the new creative team on this title, does not disappoint. Tomasi has slowly proven himself to be a capable and dependable architect for the DCU over the years through every title he's written. Although one thing did make me stop and think. in the scene where Batman and Robin are meeting with Gordon in the morgue, we see the classic Gordon-turns-around-to-see-Batman-snuck-out-and-he-missed-it type thing happen. But...didn't someone do a scene like that after Dick Grayson became Batman, where he was still there when Gordon turned around? Am I imagining that? At any rate - GOOD STUFF!

THE ALL NEW BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 4 - Batman and Wonder Woman get married. Sort of. Maybe. Ah...you know what? You should really read it if you don't want it spoiled for you. This is one of those issues I am going to have more fun reading to my kids than they are having me read it to them. FANBOY FUN!!!

DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS: THE SEVENTH DOCTOR 1 - EH! (That's all I got. Sorry.)

GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS 7 - At one point Guy Gardner has the Red Lantern chick (I don't know her name.) vomit her red rage (or whatever) into his open mouth. That there is enough to make me gag, but the thing is....doesn't that usually turn someone with a lot of rage in their heart into a Red Lantern? So....why didn't it turn Guy into one again? I'm confused. OKAY.

INCOGNITO: BAD INFLUENCES 3 (OF 4? 6? I dunno.) - In a better world this book would be selling at X-MEN level sales. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips are doing some of the best work of their careers on every book they collaborate on, and this title is no exception. BUENO EXELLENTE!!!

KNIGHT AND SQUIRE 5 (OF 6) - I would never in a million years have guessed that I would fall so quickly in love with a rip-off of The Joker, but by God I am loving Jarvis Poker, the British Joker. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

NEW AVENGERS 9 - Speaking of BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!...Bendis tears it up again this month, this time ably abetted by Howard Chaykin and Mike Deodato. I'm ashamed to admit how much I love this book! It is quickly growing on me to near Kieth Giffen-JLI levels of love and adoration.
Coming from me - that is some of the highest praise I can offer. I can not tell you how much I love everything about this book. The characters, the team dynamics, the art, the writing...

Simply put - this is the real deal. BUENO! BUENO EXCELLENTE, MR. BENDIS!!!

PUNISHERMAX 10 - A few weeks ago Jason Aaron wrote an infamous column for CBR that tore into one of his heroes, Alan Moore, that I did not agree with and didn't even really want to acknowledge. Out of spite - I resolved not read anything Mr. Aaron wrote. Thankfully my resolution lasted about as long as my outrage, and Mr Aaron really can back up his stance. This book is freaking awesome! Damn you, Jason Aaron! How dare you be so freaking good! It's like an action movie in a comic. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

RED ROBIN 20 - Sadly, I do not get TEEN TITANS anymore (cause it sucked after Johns left!), and I refuse to be forced to buy a title I do not normally get just to read the second part of a story. Too bad, cause this was pretty decently OKAY.

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS 4 - In the hallowed halls of comic book artists there is only a small handful of names I will buy anything they draw sight unseen. George Perez is at the top of that list. So....I was thrilled beyond words when I opened up my new favorite book (of the moment) and saw that he penciled the first few pages.

And then I read the rest of the issue - praying it stayed as good as the previous three issues - and it surpassed the unbridled awesome that the first three issues achieved. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

ULTIMATE AVENGERS VS. NEW ULTIMATES 1 (OF 4) - I have no idea why or how this ties into the big Ultimate Cross-Over "DEATH OF SPIDER-MAN" thing, but it is off to a good start. It picks up right where Millar's last couple of Ultimate Avengers books left off and then goes from there. Thankfully that whole vampires thing is over. GOOD STUFF.

ULTIMATE CAPTAIN AMERICA 2 (OF 4) - Dammit, Jason Aaron! You did it again!!! Even this was awesome! Plus, you got Ron Garney to draw it. I want to stay mad at you, Aaron, but I can't. Not when you consistently put out such kick-ass comics. GOOD STUFF!!!

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN 153 - This is the prelude to the big "DEATH OF SPIDER-MAN" event happening in all the Ultimate titles right now. My favorite moment of this issue is the big training sequence with Tony Stark, where Tony admits he has no idea how to do...something. It's not a big thing, but it really humanized him for me and I loved it for that alone. I have no idea how this is going to pan out, but I'm hoping the title "Death of..." is more of a figurative thing than a literal one. GOOD STUFF!!

FANBOY FUN # 40 - A MAN CAN CHANGE A LOT IN TWO DAYS.

2011-02-03T23:22:00.003-06:00

What an exciting two days it has been in the exciting world of comics since I posted. Man, what an exciting...two whole days. (I really need to get these posted faster.) But, I don't want to break Mike Sterling's rule about blogging about blogging (does this count? I think it may! GAH!!). If you don't know who Mike Sterling is, may I direct you to a far more consistent and entertaining blogger than myself: www.progressiveruin.com

Speaking of teh internets - Gawker Media have gone through a massive redesign on all of their websites this week. What do you know? Actual news happened in those two days between posts! What a coinkydink! Anywho - the redesign may eventually rub off on me, but even after messing around on www.io9.com and www.kotaku.com (which are normally daily ritual sites!) for a little while - I'm less than thrilled. I've come to enjoy the content from both sites enough that I pray the interface gets easier or faster, or both, or the changes grow on me. I would hate to have another www.newsarama.com situation on my hands. Newsarama used to be the first website I visited every day. I even had it has my homepage for awhile. After they redesigned the website in 2009 (?) I stopped going to it at all. It became the internet equivalent of WIZARD MAGAZINE, but with much less dick and fart jokes. For all intents and purposes www.comicbookresources.com and www.comicsalliance.com have replaced Newsarama in my daily life. I really hope that doesn't happen with Kotaku and io9. I guess time will tell.

Now - on to the comics!!!

BATMAN BEYOND 2 - I've raved and raved about how well I think Adam Beechen handles the characterization of the elderly Bruce Wayne and his protege Terry McGinnis (which I always have to look up the spelling for), but this issue contains my favorite moment of this series (and the previous mini) to date. Bruce, back in the cave, is telling Terry how to beat the Justice League single-handedly until Terry decides to team up instead, to which Bruce looks at Ace, the Bat Hound, and says "...the boy's right...but it sure would have been fun to beat them again." That right there is perfect Bruce Wayne psychology, folks. I think you have your regular Batman writer right here, DC. Get Tony Daniel out of the writer's chair and give the job to Beechen. He can handle two Bat-books a month, I'm sure. FANBOY FUN!!!

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 53 - There I was, praising Marc Guggenheim and Jerry Bingham's "Super Powers" story arc and then Guggenheim had to go and throw a kink into it. All through the arc Bingham has done an incredible job of drawing the "present" and "past" sequences with equal skill and a true masterful pizazz.
The example below is not from the issue in question, but it was all I could find and it serves as just as good of an example as any page from this issue could.

The stumble this issue, for me, was totally in Guggenheim's possible suggestion that Bruce Wayne's uncanny ability to appear and disappear with ninja-like stealth is manufactured/assisted/possible by some sort of elixir that allows him to focus on his Bat-totem. What? I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt here since we still have another issue to go, but if the story implies in any way further that Batman is anything less than a human being with NO POWERS that has trained his body through endurance and skill to be THE PERFECT ATHLETE, DETECTIVE and WARRIOR....I'm afraid me and Marc Guggenheim are going to have us a Come To Jesus Meeting, if you know what I mean. Still...this is GOOD STUFF!

CROSSED: FAMILY VALUES 7 (of 7) - That was certainly not the ending I expected to see. I'm still really worried about David Lapham's mental state, though. In the words of Catherine Tate, "Say no more. I wouldn't want it to come between us." GOOD STUFF (Sick, but good.)

JONAH HEX 64 - Another done in one classic Hex tale. Hex meets girl. Hex meets boy. Hex kills boy. Girl tries to kill Hex. Hex and girl...~cough~ Hex rides off into the sunset without girl. Classic, Hex! That scoundrel.

You know, in all seriousness, artist Nelson has come a long way since the days of drawing EUDAEMON. GOOD STUFF!!!

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES ANNUAL 1 - I don't think I've ever told anyone else, but my all-time favorite Legion villain is the Emerald Eye of Ekron.

Not the Emerald Empress necessarily, but the Emerald Eye itself. It kind of all started back in L.E.G.I.O.N. '89-'94 (which is one of the most under-rated books in DC history. Fact!) when the Eye showed up and took possession of Garryn Bek.

This annual brings the Eye back into regular future (?) continuity by introducing a new Empress. This has to be one of the best packages DC has produced in a long while. Paul Levitz & Keith Giffen (re-united and it feels so good!) do a bang up job (in classic Giffen 9-panel grid format) with the story, before the book is rounded out with a great Legion history lesson/board game by Douglas Ahern and then we get a fun Legion alphabet/glossary. FANBOY FUN!!!

SECRET SIX 30 - First part of a two part story that crosses over with DOOM PATROL, which I stopped reading at issue four. It was decent, but I refuse to be forced into buying a book I don't collect just to finish the story. I only got this issue to fill the hole I would have had in my run of the title. OKAY.

ULTIMATE NEW ULTIMATES 5 (of 5) - Have I mentioned how much I wish Frank Cho could pull off drawing a monthly book on an actual monthly schedule? That would be just divine!

What can I say? Loeb did a far better job on this than he did on scripting ULTIMATES 3, that's for sure. All in all it was nice seeing Cho draw the team for five issues. OKAY.

ULTIMATE THOR 4 (of 4) - Like the master storyteller that he is, Jonathan Hickman proves he has the chops to be one of Marvel's architects for the Marvel universe for the future. When I started reading this mini-series I thought we were just in for a look at Thor's history as he fought Loki, Ice Giants and Nazis. Never in a million years did I expect him to find a way to tie it all up AND use the issue to bridge his story with the introduction of Thor in Mark Millar and Brian Hitch's classic ULTIMATES series. And once it started to come together it seemed like he just raced past me and took me by the neck while he did it. Dragging me all the way to the finish line and loving every minute of it. If you loved THE ULTIMATES - you should read this. FANBOY FUN!!!

WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS 3 - I love you Juan Jose Ryp, but I'm ashamed to admit I am buying this book. Ryp's artwork alone is BUENO EXCELLENTE, but Charlie Huston's story comes off like splatter porn meets fanfic. Huston's script earns one big EH!!!

FANBOY FUN # 39 - NOW W/ 4X THE BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS AS THE LEADING BRAND!!!

2011-02-01T23:56:00.005-06:00

Welcome back to this sorta weekly written chronicle of my nerd obsessions. It's been a helluva big newsworthy time in comics since we last spoke.

Perhaps the biggest announcement was DC Comics' releasing the titles for fourteen (14!!!) tie-in mini-series for their big Summer line-wide crossover series, FLASHPOINT, by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert. No mention was made of creative teams or if the minis would be replacing existing titles, which is what everyone I spoke with is kind of hoping for, and apparently there is a mysterious 15th title yet to be announced.

You can call me biased, call me a traitor, call me a cynic - whatever. I have literally no interest whatsoever in this mini-series event. I've always shouted from the rooftops loudly how much I preferred DC over Marvel Comics, with the exception of the past few years. I think it actually started around the time COUNTDOWN started, but my interest level in DC has slowly began to erode to the point where - not even DC's Wonderboy Johns can sustain my interest. BLACKEST NIGHT just limped to a finish (for me) and I only made it six issues into BRIGHTEST DAY before I bailed entirely, and from the reviews I've gotten of B.D. from the customers off the street and online - it was a wise decision. At this point the Bat-Family titles (most of them), Legion titles and the GL Corps titles are almost the only things I get from DC on a monthly basis anymore. Plus, from what little they have shown us in online previews, FLASHPOINT looks to be just DC's version of HOUSE OF M or AGE OF APOCALYPSE. The last thing I want to see is DC's version of either of those stories, much less to see fourteen different tie-in mini-series along with the usual monthly stuff I still buy from DC. I learned a long long time ago (Hello, SECRET WARS 2!!!) that I could never hope to afford every single book that ties into a mega event from one of the Big 2, nor would I want to. Most of those tie-ins are just ancillary at best or just downright unnecessary. Nice try, DC.

I also wanted to comment on Marvel letting slip the identity of their big new VENOM relaunch by Rick Remender and Tony Moore.

When I saw the design sketches for the new Venom, a sort of paramilitary Snake Eyes version of Venom, I thought it looked just different and fan-service enough to raise an eyebrow, but the revelation of who is under the mask just as quickly made me roll my eyes and groan. ****SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED**** So the new Venom is Flash Thompson? The man who made Peter Parker's life a living Hell in high school and then became a trusted confidant and ex-soldier is the new Venom? I'm willing to give Remender the benefit of the doubt - even though I despised his Franken-Punisher story arc - but this revelation is pretty much the equivalent of announcing that Willie Lumpkin is the new Venom. ****SPOILER ALERT DE-ACTIVATED**** Ah well. We'll see.

Now - on to the comics!!

AVENGERS 9 - Marvel Comics' next big "event" is FEAR ITSELF, which starts sometime in the next few months. The thing is - no matter how big an event it is (in my humble opinion) it can't possibly beat The Hood remaking The Infinity Gauntlet. How is this not Marvel's big Summer event? It is the freaking Infinity Gauntlet!!! The focal point of Marvel's greatest (again - IMO) big event comic book series, where Thanos literally killed half the universe and defeated every single Marvel superhero before he was pretty much responsible for his own undoing. I'm running out of ways to praise Brian Michael Bendis' work on this book, but Hell - I have three other books this week alone to try and come up with something fresh for you.

The narrative sequence in this one reminded me of Bendis' SECRET INVASION stuff in NEW AVENGERS, which was about 1,000% better than the main event comic. I'll say it again - How is this not Marvel's Next Big Thing? BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

THE BOYS: HIGHLAND LADDIE 6 (of 6) - I love you, Garth, but this mini-series was pretty pointless. It could have been told in one or two issues and without all the goofy supporting characters. The only point of it was to get Hughie and Annie back together and show Hughie his past wasn't so bad. It didn't take six issues at $3.99 to do it. OKAY.

DETECTIVE COMICS 873 - I just may have a new favorite Batman writer. Not only am I loving Scott Snyder's dark and moody script revealing new dark levels of Gotham City, but I love the little details as we watch Dick Grayson come into his own as Batman and as his own man. Sure, we watched him do that as Nightwing over the years, but this book is about Grayson becoming his own man - even if it is just to decorate his penthouse apartment and make it his own. And Jock's atmospheric artwork just really makes it pop. Flip through this issue and find the page where he draws Batman in a fancy jet pack outfit and tell me that doesn't look all kinds of bad ass! FANBOY FUN!!!

NEW AVENGERS 8 - Speaking of really great artwork - Daniel Acuna shows up to help Bendis out this issue. I do miss Stuart Immonen's pencils, but hopefully after he finishes up on FEAR ITSELF he will come back. (We get Mike Deodato next time.) Anyway - Bendis almost tops last issue (which I still proclaim as the greatest issue ever!), by spending the majority of the book focusing on my two current favorite characters in the entire Marvel Universe, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones (Is it Jones-Cage or Jessica Cage? Anyone?!!).

This issue comes very close to the title, but I actually think Immonen's artwork might have been a bigger factor in contributing to the appeal than i had given him credit for. Acuna's artwork is nice, but Immonen's style just appeals to me in a lot of ways that Acuna's never could. When it comes to Luke Cage - I don't think anyone captures him quite as well as Bendis does. One thing I would have loved to see though is, during the big bust up on the streets of New York, a passerby runs away from the scene screaming how she is done with the city! A bigger but nearly identical scene takes place in Bendis' ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN this week. It would have been hilarious and all kinds of awesome if it had been the same woman coming to this decision in two different yet similar universes within the same week. But I digress - BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

ULTIMATE AVENGERS THREE 6 (of 6) - Um. Did anyone else think this was kind of goofy? EH!

ULTIMATE DOOM 2 (of 4) - Damn! How many times can the entire Ultimate Marvel Universe be ripped to shreds? Did they not suffer enough in ULTIMATUM?

Also - Bendis really turns the knife with that memory Sue has of her slightly creepy/sinister conversation with Reed. GOOD STUFF!

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN 152 - Bendis wraps up the week with another full on FANBOY FUN outing for the Ultimate Wall-Crawler. I've never been a very big fan of IRON-MAN (I was rooting for Cap in CIVIL WAR.), so I loved the brow beating he gets from Aunt May over his own idiotic actions and then his subsequent excuse for said actions. (I don't want to spoil it.) The best part of this issue, however, is the scene where Peter and Gwen finally talk to each other about what led Gwen to leave in the first place.

Bendis handles teen angst with a rare grace that doesn't feel heavy handed or padded and actually "sounds" like teenagers speak. It ain't easy, folks. To much in one direction can make your characters feel like a Disney production or extras in AMERICAN PIE (I don't mean either of those as a compliment). Bendis has always had a deft touch when it comes to realistic dialogue and this instance is no different. FANBOY FUN!

FANBOY FUN # 38 - BATMAN DON'T DANCE

2011-01-25T00:17:00.007-06:00

"BATMAN DON'T DANCE." - Holden Gray, aka Batman, age 4

What a heck of a week it has been so far! Comic sites everywhere are commenting on the death of the Comics Code Authority, the death of WIZARD MAGAZINE or the death of a member of the FANTASTIC FOUR in issue #587 which comes out this week.
As far as those three things go - I'm actually sad to see the Comics Code Authority go away. It was one of the last hold outs from when I was a kid. Sure, it was useless and out-dated, but it felt like an old friend. Always there in the corner, waiting to comfort me when things got me down. I'll miss you, Comics Code Authority seal of approval.

As for WIZARD MAGAZINE - I'm not sorry to see it go. I am sorry for everyone who depended on the magazine for work and everyone who is now out of a job, but I'm not sorry to see the magazine go. Years ago, when I still bought the magazine regularly, I would read from cover to cover and just wonder why I wasted my time reading a magazine that did nothing but reinforce every bad stereotype of comics and just flat out refuse to cover anything that was not published by Marvel, DC, Image or Dark Horse. Now, granted, those are largely the only comic companies I buy from, but Wizard seemed to have some sort of deal going (or just blind fanboy enthusiasm) for Marvel. They rarely, if ever, gave DC any love. I've always been more of a DC fan than a Marvel fan, and it just rubbed me the wrong way. I was bias towards DC. Sue me. So...along comes this interview with Warren Ellis where he questions the very need for Wizard because, according to him, everything I read Wizard for could already be found on the Internet. I turned that over and over in my head until Wizard put out one issue where they tried to promote the idea that comics were profitable (I know. I know. It was a price guide.) and that fans could create an online "portfolio" with a system listing their "assets" or something like that. It was the final straw for me. I canceled my subscription that day and never regretted it. In fact - a few months later someone called to ask what they could do to get me to renew my subscription. I said they could change their editorial policies first off...and then they hung up on me. I've never read an issue since. I heard good things over the past couple of years, that they were focusing on comics like they should and didn't have as many boobs and fart jokes, but...I just couldn't. Plus - if I really wanted to read a comics magazine, I could always pick up a copy of good old dependable THE COMICS BUYERS GUIDE.

As for Jonathan Hickman's FANTASTIC FOUR and the death of one of them...I haven't read any of Hickman's run on the book yet. Sorry.

Before we dive into the comics....today at the gym, my sons go to a Kids' Zumba class. If you don't know, Zumba is a very popular Latin-based dance class that is sort of sweeping the world right now. Anywho...the kids go to the class and, since my class had just gotten out, I decide to go in with them and watch. The teacher instructs me that normally my sons, Gavin (8) and Holden (4) are the leaders of the class and love to participate. What the teacher didn't realize is that Holden had decided to wear his Batman costume today and refused to answer to anyone unless he was addressed...as Batman. Then he decided to sit down on the sidelines and refuse to participate. When I tried repeatedly to get him to stand up and join us he declared, "Batman don't dance."

Batman don't dance? I beg to differ, Holden. I beg. To. Differ:

Now....On to the comics!
BATMAN 706 - ~Patented TODD Sigh!~ Really, Tony Daniel? I admit to all the world that you've come a long way as an artist and then you do this to me? As if it wasn't enough that you and Geoff Johns created Enigma, aka The Riddler's Daughter, now you have to give the world Catgirl? When is Damian going to get his own sidekick? http://tencentticker.com/butterflycomics/TheButterflyCollectionVolume1.pdf
As for this issue - EH!!!

BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM 19 - You would think that when Dustin Nguyen read in Paul Dini's script that Hush says "...I assure you we're all smiling behind our masks." (Indicating that four of the five people pictured should be wearing gas masks.) ...you would think that might be a clue to draw everyone with more than something the size of a chapstick that barely covered their lips. Just an observation. EH!!!

THE BOYS 50 - Wow! Now this is how you do an anniversary issue, folks! Packed with (argueably) one of the most emotionally charged issues of the series to date, loaded with pin-ups, interviews and a preview of Garth Ennis' new series, JENNIFER BLOOD. Issues like this make me happy this isn't a series I only collect in trade paperback format. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON EIGHT 40 - I know WHY Joss Whedon had to write this big finale the way he did (FRAY pretty much painted him into a corner.), but I don't have to like it. And so - I didn't like it. I may change my mind when I eventually dig out the entire series and reread it from start to finish, but I seriously doubt it. I have an odd relationship with Buffy. For the longest time I considered her my - other woman. Which isn't very respectful of my wife, and I apologize immensely, but c'mon - she's a fictional character. I don't get offended when my wife says she has a crush on Don Draper! Looking back it feels like a lot of decisions were made just for shock value ***SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED**** Buffy having a lesbian tryst, Giles' death and her having sexy sex with Angel just seemed exploitative (?) somehow. Some of it was pandering to fans: Xander and Dawn hooking up, Fray showing up, Spike and Angel showing up, Riley showing up, Oz showing...you get the idea. And, yeah, a lot of it was pure genius! Fray!! Twilight! Harmony "coming out" on reality TV!!! The world turning against Buffy - THE WORLD!!! ****SPOILER ALERT DE-ACTIVATED****

I'll admit - I was hooked more than I felt let down, but somewhere along the way (I think it was the Oz storyline.) the whole series just started to leave me feeling like something was missing (?) or just....off. That's the hard thing to grasp. I'm still not sure what or why the series just fell flat for me. Actually - by the time Angel showed up and they had the whole super powered sexy sex in the air issue - well....by then...I was totally turned off by the series. Maybe it is because the die hard Buffyverse fanboy in me still thinks Spike is the right man for Buffy no matter what Joss Whedon or anyone else thinks (So There!). At any rate - I'll still be around for Season Nine. I can't wait to see how Joss takes that one and runs with it. And I can't say this issue wasn't written well. On the contrary, as always, Whedon's scripts are GOOD STUFF!

DOCTOR WHO 1 (again) - This is the first issue of the new series featuring the 11th Doctor and his companions Amy Pond and her husband Rory. It's a decent harmless fun little done-in-one romp written by Tony Lee. You could do a lot worse. ~shrugs shoulders~ OKAY.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS 56 - I'll be honest. I read this last night and all I remember is the Sinestro Corps showing up to fight The Weaponer, a small handful of GLs defending the Weaponer, and....not much else. But I look at the solicitation for this issue online and it says "The Sinestro Corps battles the Weaponer as the Green Lantern Corps finds itself caught in the middle of the mayhem! Will the GLC shatter its truce with the yellow fear masters to protect innocent Qwardians? Has the Weaponer brought doom upon his world? And what role does Firestorm play in this BRIGHTEST DAY tie-in?" Really?!!! I don't even remember seeing Firestorm in this. WTH? Did I blackout?!! Do I have that memory thing like Guy Pearce in MEMENTO?

What's going on, guys? God, I'm old!!! OKAY???

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 9 - So....apparently that whole thing where RJ Brande was talking like someone who barely learned English was all some sort of...ruse? ...or something? I don't get it. OKAY!!!

SUPERMAN/BATMAN 80 - Apparently all of the Twitter community really really liked this issue. I agree it was fun, and this book often gets the short end when it comes to recognition. It is usually a solid dependable fun little read, with very light continuity decent writing and decent artwork. I also agree that it was fun, it always is fun, seeing all the various Batman and Superman pairings of the future. If this is what we can expect of Chris Roberson's SUPERMAN tenure - we are in some capable hands. GOOD STUFF.

YOUNG JUSTICE 0 - This is DC's newest comic book property to be given a TV show on CARTOON NETWORK. The cartoon is, so far, pretty decent. I like most of the choices they made, but kinda wish Robin wasn't actually Dick Grayson, just so was could see Nightwing in action sometime down the line. I also am not incredibly keen on the new Aqualad, but...I'll let it slide. This book does a nice job of filling in the gaps between the scenes of the first episode where Batman tells the kids he will decide if the get to stay together as a team and then when he finally tells them they can. As always - if you like the show, you'll like this. And even if you don't want to watch the show - you might still like this. OKAY.

FANBOY FUN # 37 - THE ABSENCE'S ABSENCE

2011-01-13T23:34:00.007-06:00

Once again my life is kicking my butt all over the place, and in about 50 different fun new ways, too. Yay!

I would like to mention my pals at AWESOME BOOKS (3009A 34th Street, Lubbock, TX,
(806)771-9948). They carry used books, comic books, graphic novels and more. And their secret hideout, THE NERDERY, is pure nerd heaven. Stop by and tell them I sent you: http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=30994431608&v=info

Straight in to the comics, what do you say?

ALL NEW BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 3 - Flash, the Golden Age Flash and Batman team up against Mad Hatter and Mirror Master in "Through The Looking Glass." Bottom line - If you like the TV show this comic is based on, you'll like this comic book too. OKAY.

BATGIRL 17 - This is officially my request to DC to make a Batgirl and Damian/Robin series written by Bryan Q. Miller. At the very least they can throw me a mini-series. So, once again, let me proclaim my undying love for this book. Miller fills the issue with very light plot and 100% heavy character interaction and comedy gold. In all honesty, at this moment in time, there is absolutely nothing else on the stands like it. True and unadulterated - FANBOY FUN!!!

BATMAN AND ROBIN 19 - I really and truly do love your work, Paul Cornell. Having said that - I would not be bothered one little bit if this was the last time we ever saw The Absence. OKAY.

GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS 6 - Douglas Wolk recently observed what I probably should have noticed awhile back (Sue me, I've been distracted!) http://tinyurl.com/4wgsppu DC Comics is pretty much just the Bat-Family line and the Green Lantern lines right now, a fact made all the more obvious with the recent announcement that they were going to give the Red Lanterns their own regular series this year. So color me jaded when, in this issue, all this talk of prophecies left me thinking about the prophecy that DC was going to wring all the money they could out of their readers as the release date for the GREEN LANTERN movie gets closer and closer. As for this issue - OKAY.

KNIGHT AND SQUIRE 4 (of 6) - Now, this is more like it, Paul Cornell. No one does British super-heroes quite like you do. Everything I love about British television mixed with super-heroes and that famous dry British wit. FANBOY FUN!

RED ROBIN 19 - So this issue leads into the next issue of TEEN TITANS, huh? There's a story I'll never see the conclusion to. OKAY.

SECRET SIX 29 - So this issue the story is continued from Paul Cornell's ACTION COMICS, which I was waiting for the trade paperback collection of, and next issue is part of a crossover with DOOM PATROL, which I don't get anymore. I guess that will be two issues in a row that will disappoint me. OKAY!

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS 3 - My discovery of Wally Wood's super hero spy sci-fi series, in the 1980s, was a seminal event in my comic book collecting growth. I was sucked in by the cool George Perez artwork on the cover of the the DELUXE COMICS reboot and I immediately fell in love with the entire cast. All these bizarre heroes with their cool gimmicks and limitations just really separated them from the characters I was used to seeing in DC and Marvel comics. I've been there for every attempted reboot since then, from the brief PENTHOUSE COMIX version to the never-to-see-the-light-of-day DC version of a few years ago. In my humble opinion, this might be the best "treatment" these characters have ever gotten. Nick Spencer just nails the humanity inherent in the characters and the real world political spectrum and he does it with drama, action and pitch perfect dialogue. Perfect from cover to cover. Wally Wood would be proud. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

FANBOY FUN # 36 - LIGHTNING ROUND EDITION!!!

2011-01-09T22:58:00.004-06:00

Sorry I've been away so long folks. Life keeps getting in the way and all that jazz.
I'm STILL too busy for this, but I feel guilty and I've always wanted to try a column with just one or two sentences per book, so...don't expect anything in depth this time around. I would eventually like to do an entire review column using just one word (other than the review rating) for each book, but I'm afraid I'll show my true colors (Stupid!) a bit too much.

But before we dive in, I would like to address DC COMICS' recent decision to reduce story pages to bring the cost per issue down to a more reasonable $2.99, as opposed to $3.99, an act I heartily applaud. However, DC recently announced they would fill those two pages with the return of a letters column to ever book. I'm not totally opposed to this, but I think now would be a great time to add, instead, a recap page at the beginning of every issue (like Marvel does!) to make each issue more accessible for new readers. It wouldn't cost any more than it does to produce a letter column and, let's be honest, your books REALLY need this. You guys at DC are shedding readers like a cocker spaniel shedding hair in the Summertime!

Now - on to the comics! LIGHTNING ROUND EDITION!!!

ADVENTURE COMICS 522 - I really like seeing Mon-el as a Green Lantern, but why does his GL companion/mentor look like a Space Sperm? FANBOY FUN!

AVENGERS 8 - Bendis' Avengers books might be my favorite monthly comic books currently being produced. I just wish someone other than Romita Jr. was drawing this particular one. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

BATMAN BEYOND 1 (ongoing!!!) - If you read the mini-series last year, that this ongoing series spun out of, then you already know how faithful and well done Adam Beechen and Ryan Benjamin's take on the classic TV series is. If not - Do Not Miss Out! FANBOY FUN!!!

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 52 - I can't believe DC is canceling this book, but they chose to keep GOTHAM CITY SIRENS. That book is horrible! Sure the quality on this one varies, but I guess it is missing one ingredient GOTHAM CITY SIRENS isn't - Titties! GOOD STUFF!!!

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT 1 - I really liked David Finch's interpretation of Bruce Wayen and his storytelling is as good as his art, but why does Batman have a huge back lit Rodeo Superstar belt buckle on his chest? FANBOY FUN!

DETECTIVE COMICS 872 - Scott Snyder and Jock. I think I have a new favorite Batman creative team. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

GREEN LANTERN 61 - That was kinda bad ass! If it wasn't for the red vomit thing - I would totally want to be a Red Lantern. FANBOY FUN!!!

INCOGNITO: BAD INFLUENCES 2 (of 4?) - Is it just me or does it look like they [Marvel editorial] had someone draw in a towel over a hooker's head as she - um...gave it a kiss...during the scene where Zack meets Midas? You'll print pictures of naked breasts two pages later, but the suggestion of oral pleasure is forbidden? Prudes! BUENO EXCELLENTE!

JONAH HEX 63 - HOLY S***, THAT WAS BRUTAL!!!!! BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

S.H.I.E.L.D. 5 - Okay, I don't remember what happened in the first four issues. I'm going to have to read this all in one sitting. OKAY?

TERRY MOORE'S ECHO 27 - Only Terry Moore can break my heart by just drawing a girl's eyes. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

THE THANOS IMPERATIVE: DEVASTATION 1 (of 1) - Good God, I miss getting my DnA fix two to three times a month. But more than that - I missed seeing Cosmo, the talking psychic Soviet Space Dog, every month in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!!

ULTIMATE CAPTAIN AMERICA 1 (of 4) - I find it "curious" that Jason Aaron's controversial "column" on CBR comes out the very same week his high profile new book comes out. GOOD STUFF.

ULTIMATE AVENGERS THREE 5 (of 6) - I'm so tired of vampires. ~sigh!~ EH!

ULTIMATE THOR 3 (of 4) - It's sad that Carlos Pacheco's artwork looked better on X-TREME X-MEN (Think about that one for a minute). Very very sad. OKAY!

WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS 2 - I am officially only buying this because of Juan Jose Ryp's artwork. I might not even read it anymore and just look at the pictures. FANBOY FUN for the artwork. EH!!! for the script.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2010-12-23T00:42:00.006-06:00

We're taking a couple of weeks off, here at FANBOY FUN CENTRAL...

To be with the family and celebrate all the excitement that The Holidays can bring...

Or other Holiday type situations...

Hopefully I'll be able to post something next week...

Until then, I hope all my readers and friends have a safe and Merry Christmas, and I hope you all get exactly what your heart desires!

A PLEA FOR SANITY

2010-12-17T05:21:00.003-06:00

And now - A Plea For Sanity,

MOONSTONE BOOKS - Publisher of KOLCHAK, THE NIGHT STALKER and THE PHANTOM. I'm sure someone out there is buying this stuff, but I have NEVER seen more than ONE COPY of any given title they publish walk out of the door of STAR COMICS - EVER!!! And those few people that do pick up any given MOONSTONE PRESS title for any length of time - they eventually stop getting them. Every single time.
http://www.moonstonebooks.com/shop/default.aspx

AC COMICS - Publisher of FEMFORCE and more public domain comics than you can count. I know most of these golden and silver age comics are fun. I know they should be preserved for future generations and I agree that reprinting them is a service to future generations. I'll even admit to having been a big fan of AC COMICS back in the early to mid-1980s, when they were publishing AMERICOMICS, CAPT. PARAGON and FAZE 1 FAZERS. They had good colors, nice paper, quality production values and they made good fun comics. They even had the rights to Charlton Comics' characters for a brief moment in time. (CAPT ATOM, THE QUESTION, BLUE BEETLE, etc.) Right before DC bought them and threw them into CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. but those glory days are long long LONG since gone. Now - I don't think I've ever even seen a copy of one of their comics on the shelves of any comic store in any state I've visited since high school.
http://www.accomics.com/

BLUEWATER PRODUCTIONS - Publisher of uunnecessary biographical comics about people you can learn more about by visiting wikipedia. You know who buys these comics? People that don't read comics.
http://www.bluewaterprod.com/

DYNAMITE COMICS - Sure they publish some great stuff like THE BOYS and LONE RANGER, etc. But do they have to kill so many trees to do it? Does every series have to have unlimited variant covers? And if the variants aren't enough - they are churning out multiple series for licensed characters that are so poorly labeled and titled that to the trained eye - it looks like they are trying to fool people into buying comics they don't want, just to make a quick buck. Look at the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA comics. There was practically no difference in the logos for the classic crew and the new crew. Same font, same logo, same damn book as far as anyone walking in off the street could tell. And do we really need 50 GREEN HORNET comics in any given month? Do we need a variant for every time Alex Ross touches a piece of artwork? We got sketch variants, B&W variants, negative variants, foil variants, variant variant variant!
http://www.dynamiteentertainment.com/htmlfiles/

To the publishers above, I issue this plea. This desperate - DESPERATE! - Plea. - GUYS, YOU ARE KILLING TREES! Can you please stop killing the trees? Please?

FANBOY FUN # 35 - OUR LOVE'S IN JEOPARDY, BABY!!!

2010-12-10T02:11:00.005-06:00

Not really much of a preamble this week, but I would like to take the time out to congratulate an old friend and former cast member of METROPOLIS, a college radio show about comic books I was featured on a few years ago, "A nameless friend." Nameless, so called for legal reasons, tried out to be a contestant on A GAME SHOW (Which may or may not have something to do with the title of this blog)over a year ago, and he/she got the call this week asking if he/she would like to compete on the show. I wish him/her nothing but Ken Jennings sized winnings and good luck!!! Way to go, whomever you are!!!

Now - on to the comics!!!!

BATGIRL 16 - I've sung the praises of this book for 15 issues now, and every issue has been an exercise in how to write fun old school super hero comics in this day and age. This issue is no different, however, it might be the first one that made me stop and step out of the story for a minute. It starts off well, with Batgirl giving her pursuers a raspberry and then forcing Oracle to listen as she flirts with a police officer trying to help her for a great awkward moment of fun. The thing that bothered me is that the whole "Hunt for Batgirl" thing gets wrapped up almost as quickly as it started, and it felt like they could have mined that for tension for at least another issue. It just seemed a little rushed, to me. The thing that left me frowning, though, was the TRON-looking bad guy on the last page. Still - as always - FANBOY FUN!

CHAOS WAR: ARES 1 (OF 1) - I'll admit - I'm waiting for the trade on CHAOS WAR, but I loves me some ARES, and I was pretty heartbroken when he died in SIEGE, so....

This one shot, written by Michael Avon Oeming, picks up right at the moment of Ares' death in SIEGE. We get a nice flashback into Oeming's original Ares continuity (He wrote the 2006 ARES mini-series that was better than it had any right to be, and sort of got the ball rolling on this CHAOS WAR business.), and then it ends, or rather leads into the CHAOS WAR mini-series and made me really regret waiting for the trade on that one. Which, I guess, is as good a compliment as I can give this thing. FANBOY FUN!

CROSSED: FAMILY VALUES 6 (OF 7) - ...............................what? Apparently my appeals to get David Lapham some psychiatric help have gone unheeded. This book just gets more and more disturbing. I wonder how Garth Ennis feels to know he has been usurped? BUENO EXCELLENTE!!

DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL 12 - So....I guess French Batman is really David Belle from DISTRICT 13? NICE!!!

It was a little goofy for Bruce Wayne to be so quick to solve that unsolvable riddle so quickly and still try to maintain that he's just Batman's boss, or something. And I'm not really sure what the point of the Question back-up story was, but still....always nice to see her again. All in all this was OKAY.

KNIGHT AND SQUIRE 3 (OF 6) - Paul Cornell is a genius! If you think Batman and Monty Python is something that would mix well together, then this is the book for you. I grew up watching Monty Python and Benny Hill on PBS and reading BATMAN FAMILY when my uncle was done with his copy, so.....this book is like a shining moment of my week when it comes in. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

NEW AVENGERS 7 - Speaking of BUENO EXCELLENTE.... This just might be the single greatest issue of NEW AVENGERS that Brian Michael Bendis has ever written. Ever!!! Why? Because for the entire issue we get a break from all the super hero action, and just get to see inside the character's lives. We get to see Peter Parker's righteous indignation, see Luke Cage be humbled by his wife (who hasn't had to deal with that, am I right, fellas?) and see Stephen Strange accept help instead of offer it. We get high comedy and drama. Revelations like - Wolverine and Squirrel Girl have a past!?!!! I know Bendis has done this once or twice before in his long tenure as the driving force behind Marvel's biggest franchise, but never as well as this, in my humble opinion. This one was bordering on the greatness of Giffen and DeMatteis' JLI/JLE run back in the late 80s/early 90s. Damn, I had fun reading this book!!! BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

RED ROBIN 18 - I've loved Red Star since I was a young lad reading NEW TEEN TITANS #18 back in 1982.

(Yeah, I'm old.) Always a pleasure to see him show up again. Even if Fabian Nicieza saddles him with questionable morals. OKAY.

TERRY MOORE'S ECHO 26 - I have no idea where Moore is going with this anymore. GOOD STUFF!

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS 2 - DAMN! This is good stuff. Y'ALL!!!! (Y'ALL!! YOU ALL!!! Y'ALL!!!! ~wink wink~) Truly, this one tied with NEW AVENGERS for best comic of the week. I was expecting standard super hero espionage action out of this one, but by God, Nick Spencer did Wally Wood's legacy proud. I consider myself a T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents fan from waaaaay back (I bought the reboot in the 80s because of the awesome George Perez cover, and I've loved them ever since.), so it does my heart proud to see the team get the overhaul and reintroduction they are worthy of. I love the STRIKEFORCE MORITURI-esque feeling that Spencer is laying down on the team. (HEY! Why hasn't someone reprinted that? Huh? Marvel or IDW, I'm looking at you!) Believe the hype! This book is all kinds of badass!!! BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

TINY TITANS/LITTLE ARCHIE AND HIS PALS 3 (OF 3) - You could find a lot worse stuff to read with your kids at bedtime. ~shrugs shoulders~ GOOD STUFF.

TORCHWOOD 5 - My only complain about this book is that there are two stories and a text piece, and the one continuing story that has run through most of the issues, hasn't been all that good. It was okay, but the lead story has surpassed it in almost every way since the beginning. Still - always nice to see Capt Jack, Gwen and Ianto together again. OKAY.

FANBOY FUN # 34 - HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE MARIA?

2010-12-07T22:28:00.004-06:00

Back in the 1990s I had a gloriously magnificent head of hair that went down to about the middle of my back. I know. I know. Yes, I was beating back the ladies with a stick. "Sorry girls, I'm taken!" It was like God himself had christened my hair.

Any who...one fine day I pulled up to a stop light. I hear this guy in the car next to me yell "Maria?" I turn around to see who he is talking to, only to find - he was talking to me. His eyes bug out of his head and his mouth drops open as he apologizes profusely and drives away as soon as he gets the arrow indicating he can turn.

To say I was livid is putting it mildly.

Cut to yesterday afternoon. My head of hair ain't so glorious anymore. It's rapidly thinning and graying in all the wrong areas (i.e. any area at all), and my voice, which has always been deep and gruff, has been compared to dry gravel and akin to Christian Bale's BATMAN. In other words - I don't sound a damn thing like a woman, much less have girl hair anymore.

My cell phone starts vibrating. I look down to see who is calling me, and it is a number I don't recognize. "Hello?" "Maria?" "You got the wrong number." "Is Maria there?" "You. Have. The. Wrong. Number!" "yeah, uh......is Maria there?" "YOU. HAVE. THE. WRONG. NUMBER. DUDE!!!" "Is this Maria?" "DUDE, DO I SOUND LIKE MARIA?!!?!!" And then I hung up on him... So....that's been my week.

Now - on to the comics.....

ADVENTURE COMICS 521 - I was legitimately surprised by the outcome of the whole "Who shall be the next Green Lantern?" story thread working it's way through the Legion books since Paul Levitz took over. Never. Never in a million years would I have thought one of my all-time favorite Legionnaires would get it. ***SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED (Sort of...)**** I'm not sure if I've covered who my favorite Legionnaires are on this blog, but it goes like this: 1) Lightning Lad, 2) Ultra-Boy, 3) Mon-El, 4) Wildfire 5) Karate Kid/Timber Wolf. I'll just say - it was one of them and if you care, I'm sure someone else out there is willing to really spill the beans. ****SPOILER ALERT DE-ACTIVATED**** FANBOY FUN!!!

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 51 - I'm curios to know if this was an unpublished inventory story, or if it was something created just for this book. On the one hand Marc Guggenheim is a relatively recent addition to the comics scene which leads me to think this might be a newer story, but on the other hand half of the book is painted by classic comics artist Jerry Bingham (BATMAN: SON OF THE DEMON), and you just know that took him a long time to finish. Either way - this story is more than making up for that awful sequel to Superman/Batman Vs. Vampires/Werewolves. That one was just tree murder, y'all! GOOD STUFF!

BATMAN ORPHANS 1 (OF 2) - Speaking of inventory stories - Eddie Berganza and Carlo Barberi's mini-series, which takes place prior to Grant Morrison's run on the Bat-titles, pretty much reeks of an inventory story. For one thing the mini-series is comprised of two over-sized books that (assuming the 2nd issue will be as big as this one...) seem to be just two issues crammed into one cover. Barberi is doing his best impression of Humberto Ramos, and he pulls it off quite well. As for the story, which has a group of runaways being duped into being teenage vigilantes by a fake Batman, it comes off OKAY. Not bad, but not the best.

THE BOYS 49 - Is it just me or did Garth Ennis finally sober up? This series went from goofy dark humor to a deadly serious hand-wringing affair in the space of a year. I know the series is starting to build to a crescendo, but - damn! Every issue just gets more tense as secrets are revealed and plot lines build to an end game. GOOD STUFF!

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON EIGHT 39 - It wasn't enough to break a million fanboy and fangirl's hearts just once this year? You're just lucky you don't live in Lubbock, TX, Joss Whedon. Damn Lucky! GOOD STUFF! (It might be higher if I wasn't so mad at you.)

DC COMICS PRESENTS: BATMAN BEYOND 100-PAGE SPECTACULAR 1 (OF 1) - I'm really loving the way DC has chosen to reprint selected or out-of-print stories from their past, to celebrate their anniversary, in non-expensive bursts. This volume reprints four great stories from the "animated" tie-in run of Batman Beyond comics, originally published back in the late '90s. These are family friendly books that still manage to tie-into the continuity of the show and remain as great as they were originally. FANBOY FUN!

HEROES FOR HIRE 1 - Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning gave up their corner of the cosmic Marvel Universe for this? Ah, don't listen to me. I'm just bitter. In all fairness - this is probably the most I've ever cared about Falcon, Moon Knight, or Elektra in a long time. My problem with this book is that, yes it sort of is Marvel's answer to DC's BIRDS OF PREY, but the characters themselves are practically a who's who of Marvel Knights and...well...haven't we already seen that?

Sure, the roster isn't exactly the same, but it feels similar enough. But, because of my undying trust in DnA - I will give this a book a shot beyond the first issue. That revelation at the end was at least enough to earn me picking up issue 2. GOOD STUFF.

IRREDEEMABLE 20 - I like that The Plutonian, himself an analogue of Superman, has "seemingly" been defeated by his own sort of version of Alan Moore's classic Black Mercy plant, which put Superman into a coma and then kept him in that state with his "heart's desire." Of course, I don't for a minute think this will last longer than the next issue. Then again, Mark Waid could surprise me and keep it going for as many issues needed to fill out the next trade paperback. (Did that sound cynical?) GOOD STUFF!

JONAH HEX 62 - Apparently that horrible horrible movie has helped kill sales on this book enough to actually make Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti worry about the future of the title. So - allow me to ONCE AGAIN - ensure you all that the COMIC BOOK JONAH HEX IS NOTHING LIKE THE MOVIE VERSION!!!! In the same way that the Buffy movie only bore a passing resemblance to the Buffy TV show - the same can be applied here. Hex is one of the greatest characters ever created in comics. In comics! As for the movies - not so much. They tried to turn him into THE CROW or something. So to clarify...movie Hex had psychic powers and talked to the dead. Comic book Hex has guns. Movie Hex had gadgets like Gatling guns mounted on horses. Comic book Hex has six shooters and knives. Movie Hex is basically WILD WILD WEST 2 without Will Smith. Comic book Hex is basically a Sergio Leone movie put to paper. The two are nothing alike. YOU SHOULD BE READING THIS BOOK!!! As for this issue - as much as I love Eduardo Risso doing this book, I kind of missed Jordi Bernet's artwork this month. I would love to see what he could do with some circus freaks. FANBOY FUN!!!

MARVELMAN FAMILY'S FINEST 6 (OF 6) - Marvel really should have colorized this stuff. I'm afraid this is my last foray into the "classic" Marvelman stuff until a) they finally reprint the Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman stuff and b) put some effort into their reprints. this book didn't bust the bank, but that hardcover collection that was released around the same time this mini-series was released - 160 pages of B&W material, on newsprint, for $34.99, is just too much to ask of your customers, Marvel. The stories are charming and fun, but not at the price you are asking for the packaging you are giving us. OKAY.

SECRET SIX 28 - Maybe its just me, but did it bother anyone else to see this issue end without a clearly defined team of six, only to be told to pick up ACTION COMICS this month and then come back next issue for the reveal of the line-up? Sometimes I hate comic book crossovers. OKAY.

SUPERGOD 5 (OF 5) - This may have fried my little brain into a puddle. I think this one is going to require a re-read before I can fully wrap my head around it all. I should note that as desensitized as I am to violence and creepy stuff - the sight of millions of people being sucked up into that Cthulu-looking God beast was almost enough to rattle me. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

WOLVERINE: THE BEST THERE IS 1 - Oh, Charlie Huston and Juan Jose Ryp - where do I begin? I would like to start out by noting that thanks to Warren Ellis' BLACK SUMMER and NO HERO - I am one of Ryp's biggest fans. So I have mixed feelings about this book to start with. I'm happy Ryp is getting wider exposure, and higher profile work, but sad to see him leave AVATAR PRESS and Warren Ellis' side. (I hope he's freelance!) So - being his biggest fan - I had to support my boy, Ryp! He doesn't disappoint with the extreme violence and detail I've come to know and love in his work. He's like George Perez and Tim Vigil's bastard son. Now, Charlie Huston, an acclaimed crime fiction author, is mostly known in comics for his run on MOON KNIGHT. He wrote a pretty decent Punisher one-shot a few months ago, that I kind of liked (HOT RODS OF DEATH), and I've never read any of his novels so that is about the extent of my exposure to his writing. Having said that - I'll admit - I'm kind of scared for my boy, Ryp. This book was borderline fanfic. It has a huge "Parental advisory" warning on the cover, and tons of censored cursing throughout so - why was this not a MAX book again? And that ain't even the half of it. Wolverine runs around complaining about Simon Cowell and then turns into Edward Scissorhands cutting women's hair. I'm just not sure what to think about this one. It comes across like a high school student's idea of what a badass Wolverine story would be, and - it ain't very good. I'll give it an OKAY, but just for Ryp's pretty pretty pictures.

FANBOY FUN #33 - TURKEY DAY EDITION!!!!

2010-11-26T00:02:00.003-06:00

Before you dive in to the comics, please enjoy the greatest episode of WKRP in Cinncinati to ever air.

No preamble tonight. It's Thanksgiving, what do you want? I gave you WKRP!!! (okay, that was actually courtesy of hulu, but still!) Straight into the comics!!!

BATMAN AND ROBIN 17 - This issue marks the first installment without Grant Morrison, and the team of Paul Cornell and Scott McDaniel do a more than capable job of filling the shoes left by Morrison and his frequent collaborator, Frank Quitely. Well....mostly. Let's admit it - Scott McDaniel ain't for everybody. Personally - I actually do like his artwork, and no one can argue that he isn't a good storyteller. And he does a good job of interpreting Cornell's script and bringing it to the page, which is where this book really shines for me. Cornell became one of my favorite writers back when he did WISDOM and the CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 for Marvel, so to finally see him unleashed on my favorite hero, Batman, was just a real treat. I'm looking forward to seeing the explanation for just how....um....just...how.....their new villain, The Absence is....actually....physically.....still alive?? At any rate - only McDaniel could make this character work. FANBOY FUN!

BATMAN BEYOND 6 (of 6) - There is just no way this could have been a better reintroduction to the world of Batman Beyond. Adam Beechen and Ryan Benjamin truly did an outstanding job of capturing the dynamics of the relationship between the elderly Bruce Wayne and his protege, Terry McGinnis. They successfully transferred the technological future Gotham City to the printed page, and they touched on long standing continuity points from the show as well. I can not wait for them to begin the regular series next year. FANBOY FUN!!!

BATWOMAN 0 - Yet another incredible book this week! JH Williams III's artwork in the character's all too brief run as lead of DETECTIVE COMICS recently was some of the most dynamic artwork to grace the pages of a comic book - EVER!!!! My only complaint about this issue is that Greg Rucka didn't write it. However, Williams does an outstanding job on scripting the book himself. He even manages to satisfy my very strict characterization guidelines for Bruce Wayne himself. If you keep this up, I might be developing a little bit of a man-crush on you, Mr. Williams. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

DETECTIVE COMICS 871 - Yet another excellent - BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!! - Batman book this week! Scott Snyder and Jock make their debut as the regular creators on DETECTIVE and they really bring their A-game. Snyder's Batman is a focused street level crime comic and it perfectly fits the moody atmosphere Jock creates with his minimalistic dark artwork. This along with my surprise love for BATMAN INC. last week has me officially hesitantly hopeful for my beloved Batman comics again. I doubt it will ever be as good as when Brubaker and Rucka were in charge, but - a boy can dream.

INCORRUPTIBLE 12 - At the store (STAR COMICS, 2014 - 34th St, Lubbock, TX!!!) on Wednesday, we were trying to sell this book to a friend of ours and he made a very very good point that I've kinda of complained about in the past, but also kind of overlooked from time to time because I enjoyed the story so much. And you can kind of make the same case for IRREDEEMABLE as well - it is really hard to sell this book to people when they look at the price point ($3.99 an issue!) and then thumb through and see nothing but sub par artwork. I've have previously complained about the horrid covers these two books are regularly plastered with, but for the most part I've turned a blind eye to the artwork (sorta), for a number of reasons. The main reason is that the story itself is usually so much fun (a villain seeking redemption and trying really hard to walk the straight and narrow), and the script so tight, that I can forgive the art because it is from an independent company and I know most of the pencilers are just learning their trade - so I can give them a slight learning curve there. Another reason is that this series has had three different artists in twelve issues. I don't know if this was by design, by editorial directive just to get the book out on time, or if BOOM! just has a really high turn over rate for artists. At any rate - some consistency is sorely needed on these books. Preferably with a "name" artist for each book. As for this issue - GOOD STUFF!

SECRET AVENGERS 7 - My favorite moment of this issue was when Steve Rogers (formerly known as Capt. America) tries to intimidate a captive by threatening to unleash Black Widow and Sharon Carter on him. Now....is it just me....or does that sound like a reward? GOOD STUFF!

ULTIMATE AVENGERS THREE 4 (OF 6) - Worth the price of book for the first few pages alone. Here's a hint - Blade versus a very famous sparkly douche-b....um....vampire. GOOD STUFF.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN 150 - And thus was Ultimate Spider-Man returned to it's original numbering as if to say...."Nevermind that whole now we call this the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man with a new numbering and everything. We just wanted your money for that new #1. We'll go away now. Sincerely, Marvel!!!" Any who....as far as anniversary issues go, this one was decent, but certainly not the best I've ever seen. In fact, the bulk of this whole package is taken up by a reprint of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN SUPER SPECIAL #1. I can appreciate a reprinted story as much as anybody else, but when the main feature of the book has a smaller page count than the "extras" in the issue - I have a problem. I didn't want to pay $5.99 for a story I already own, plus... I would have liked to see an extra short story or a couple of new pin-up pages. Even a sketch book section, would have been nice. Don't get me wrong. I really did like the new story in this, heck I even learned two new words! Caloonies and shmegegies!!! (Whatever those words mean.) I just feel Marvel could have done more to earn that $5.99 I shelled out for this. GOOD STUFF - but with more backmatter this could have rated higher.

15 Seminal Graphic Novels That Are Not WATCHMEN

2010-11-22T00:13:00.004-06:00

Sorry I haven't been able to post a proper FANBOY FUN review for the past few weeks. I've been busy either preparing for, or recovering from, WIZARD WORLD TEXAS (aka AUSTIN COMIC CON). The show itself was...um....not great. Let's just say that as much as everyone complained about the declining Dallas shows - this one was about a third as good as the worst one of those.

Any way - I'm behind on reading so no new reviews again this week. But I did get an unexpected bit of news in Austin, but I can't talk about it right now, so...stay tuned for that.

In lieu of any actual content - here's a goofy "note" I posted over on facebook:

Yes, yes, I know - WATCHMEN is a neutron bomb, the comic that broke your brain and made you rethink everything you knew about the form and function of comics. Of course it did. It's WATCHMEN and you read comics. What I want to know is, what else does it for you?

Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen graphic novels (OGNs, collections, whatever) that ignited, maintained, or rekindled your love of comics. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag at least fifteen friends, including me, because I'm interested in what you have to say. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules in a new note, cast your fifteen picks, and tag people in the note.)

~Please note: I'm cheating a little. My list itself was written in less than 15 minutes, but my actual typing this thing out is going to take a little longer because I want to share my thoughts about each choice. Also - There is just no way I can break some of these into individual story arcs.~

1. CAMELOT 3000 - My pal Kirk Berryhill showed me the first issue of this back when it came out, and I forced my mother to drive me to the comic store that afternoon so I could have it too. I've reread this story in collected form about 1,000 times.

2. ELFQUEST 1-20. This is the first four volumes of the graphic novel series. Screw those pansy elfs in any other books you've read. These elfs are part wolf, they kill, cuss, and kill some more. Trust me. The first 20 issues of ELFQUEST are an epic worthy of your time.

3. MAGE - Everything CAMELOT 3000 did to make me interested in Arthurian Legends - this sealed the deal and made me love Matt Wagner until my dying days. You want to know me? You need to read this!

4. GRENDEL: DEVIL BY THE DEED - Take everything I said about Mage and duplicate it here except leave out the Arthurian Legend stuff and add in some Machiavellian twists. # 3 & 4 are why I read comics - right here.

5. PREACHER - Here's where I really and truly cheat on this list. PREACHER spans across a total of nine volumes, but I can't really pick one as my favorite. To me - it is one sprawling epic about two people, Jesse Custer and the love of his life, Tulip. This is hands down my favorite comic series ever.

6. DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN - I love Frank Miller's DAREDEVIL as much as the next guy, but this is my favorite story.

7. THE ULTIMATES - Millar and Hitch really outdid themselves on this. Nothing they ever do will come close to the sheer badass widescreen cinematic epic feel of this first volume.

8. DOOM PATROL - Grant Morrison took one of my all-time favorite super hero groups and made them great again. Everything TWIN PEAKS taught me about how to watch TV/films - this one taught me the same thing about comic books.

9. STRANGERS IN PARADISE - This little romantic triangle between Katchoo, David and Francine will break your heart every time.

10. KINGDOM COME - I doubt Alex Ross can ever top this, baby. I still shudder when Superman finally dons a cape again and shows the "kids" how to be a real hero.

11. LONE WOLF AND CUB - It's hard to pick a single volume of this, but I might suggest the first and final volumes. Betrayed by his clan, Ogami Itto and his three year old son, Daigoro, travel "The Road To Hell" as they seek vengeance against the Yagyu Clan.

12. SIN CITY - Frank Miller used to be really really good at his job, didn't he? "Sigh."

13. THE INVISIBLES - If I absolutely had to pick - I mean HAD TO PICK - one volume of this series it would be BLOODY HELL IN AMERICA, but you really should read the whole thing.

14. CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS - This is the book that really sealed the deal for me, and did more for turning me into a lifelong comic book fan than anything else on this list (including #3 &4). I was already more of a fan of DC Comics over MARVEL because I grew up in the era of SUPERFRIENDS, and I had been falling in love with NEW TEEN TITANS for a good long time because of the art. So when I saw that George Perez and Marv Wolfman, the guys who made me fall in love with the Titans, were doing another book - I was already down. Suddenly there are all these cool looking new characters I had never heard of and then - BOOM! - half of them up and died....I was hooked for life. These big company crossovers will never ever be as all around awesome as this one.

15. SANDMAN - What? You thought I could write this list and not mention Neil Gaiman and/or SANDMAN? This series should be experienced in it's entirety. Every panel of every page is important to the story. Every plot point reaches a satisying conclusion. Every single character is a living breathing person as much as you or I. There will never be another book like this. WATCHMEN showed us what comics were capable of. SANDMAN showed us that and more. (My favorite volume is A GAME OF YOU, though.)

This one almost made the list, and because I don't follow rules very well: 15a. THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY - Who knew Gerard Way, of MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, could actually back his shit up? He really stepped up to the plate and knock one out of the park.

FANBOY FUN # 32 - REMEMBER, REMEMBER, THE 5TH OF NOVEMBER

2010-11-05T01:51:00.003-05:00

Remember, remember, the fifth of November! ...and the seventh (my Mom's birthday) and the eighth (My birthday!). As always - I like to remind people to stop by STAR BOOKS AND COMICS (2014 - 34th Street, Lubbock, TX (806) 744-0727) to celebrate Guy Fawke's Day by picking up a copy of the V FOR VENDETTA graphic novel. tell them I sent you!

I haven't been up to much this week, but I did manage to squeeze in the premiere of WALKING DEAD and the first few episodes of LUTHER, which I had saved on the DVR. WALKING DEAD doesn't need my help to push it. I think 11 million viewers kind of sells itself. I will say that is was great fun, pretty darn faithful to the source material, and I can't wait for the second episode. If you weren't in that 11 million viewers who already saw it - you can catch it streaming on the amc.com site for a limited time.

The series you might not have heard of, and actually do need to catch while it is on, is LUTHER on BBC AMERICA. Idris Elba, of THE WIRE, plays a police detective named John Luther, who "plays by his own rules" and is a "wild card" and/or "nitro-glycerin" depending on who you ask. I know. I know. I only kid about how cliched it is, but I would be lying if I said it was just a little stereo-typical at times. The thing that really sells it is Elba, so so sooooo fantastic as Stringer Bell on THE WIRE, does an incredible job of taking Luther from a stereotypical super cop and into new territory as he masterfully skirts the playing field with his antagonist in the series, a brilliant woman who killed her parents and just may get away with it. Their relationship is both co-dependant and a little bit "oil and water", if you get my drift. I'm hoping it goes beyond the six episode first series, and we see more of John Luther. ...if he's still alive at the end of episode six.

Now - On to the comics!

ADVENTURE COMICS 520 - Little known fact - LIGHTNING LAD is my favorite Legionnaire (Ultra Boy and Mon-El fall in behind at 2nd and 3rd, respectively) and in all of Legion history there is no story I like better than the oft retold Death of Lightning Lad story. Well.....actually I like the Death of Ferro Lad better, but that was because it was one of those rare Silver Age deaths that actually kinda stuck (for the most part). Levitz, Lightning Lad, Legion lore - the only way it could be better is if Phil Jiminez drew it. GOOD STUFF.

THE BOYS 48 - This issue is pretty much all set up for the next arc, a background info dump for some much needed pre-Hughie history lessons, and a nice breather from all the angst and drama of the previous story arc. As a breather it actually kind of sucked the air out of the forward momentum that had been building previously, but it is a necessary core as we build toward the big finale next year. OKAY.

BATMAN AND ROBIN 16 - Yes, this is the big game changer that everyone and their mother is talking about. If you were anywhere near the comic book news sites on Wednesday, you are probably already aware of the major changes, if not... ****SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED**** In this issue Bruce Wayne all but admits to being Batman in front God and everybody at a press conference to announce the first issue of BATMAN, INC. - er, um....to announce his new Batman, Inc. initiative. They may address this in the future but...wouldn't Batman think that parading his whole family onstage behind him, and then admitting he has something to do with Batman, wouldn't you think someone other than Vicki Vale out there might put 2 and 2 together? "Hey look, Bruce Wayne's kids are all about the same ages as Batman's various sidekicks have been. Hmmm...WAIT A MINUTE!?!!?!!" It ain't that far a stretch to make, folks. Ironically - as much as I have complained about Grant Morrison's run on this title - and such a huge game changing moment as this that I think is actually pretty stupid in the long run - ironically, this is the best issue of this series so far. Credit where credit is due - this is a great issue. Cameron Stewart and Frazer Irving kick ass on art duties, and Morrison wraps up his run on this series (He's moving over to BATMAN, INC.) with grace and skill. I may not like where he went with it, but he did it well. ****SPOILER ALERT DE-ACTIVATED**** BUENO EXCELLENTE!

BATMAN CATWOMAN: FOLLOW THE MONEY 1 (OF 1) - It's been a long time since we've had a straight up Batman one-shot totally unrelated to any crossovers or events, and it's increasingly rare that Howard Chaykin both writes and draws his own story. Too bad this one is so forgettable. OKAY.

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL 50 - Marc Guggenheim and Bat-veteran Jerry Bingham (SON OF THE DEMON), drop the 50th issue of this book and it is about twenty times better than it has any right to be, and fifty times better than I expected it to be. Both stories in this issue begin or tie-in to the "Super Powers" arc that begins here, but it isn't readily apparent how the backup story, an untold tale of the early-JLA, ties in yet. Also unknown is why a non-Batman Silver Age JLA story is in BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL. At any rate - the main story jumps back and forth to show Batman and a young Bruce Wayne in action. FANBOY FUN!

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: SEASON EIGHT 38 - Is anyone else bored and slightly confused by this book lately? Just curious. I've been pretty much bored with this book since the whole Oz storyline. EH!

HACK/SLASH 1 (IMAGE FIRSTS EDITION) - I picked this up because I've always been curious about this title, and Hell - it's only a buck. So I took the bait and decided to take advantage of Image's kind offer and preview the book for only the low low cost of a dollar. And you know what? SOLD! This is a helluva fun book! The premise is that the female protagonist of a horror movie decides to hit the road and fight the slasher anti-heroes of horror movies (think Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kreuger, etc.) along with her trusty sidekick Vlad. As a kid who grew up watching gory horror movies - the gorier the better - this brutal little series seems tailored made for a big budget adaptation of it's own. FANBOY FUN!!!
IRREDEEMABLE 19 - I did enjoy the slight homage to Alan Moore's FOR THE MAN WHO HAS EVERYTHING-lite ending. GOOD STUFF.

JONAH HEX 61 - I'm kind of surprised that it took this long to address the fact that Hex used to be married, but more surprised that they just kind of drop the fact in without anything more than an info box. Still....this is, as always, a great book. Forget all about that horrible movie, and just revel in the violent fun of the comic book series. FANBOY FUN!

MARVELMAN FAMILY'S FINEST 5 (OF 6) - Every time I read these old Marvelman stories - I keep expecting Kid Marvelman to start cussing and killing everyone around him. OKAY.

RED HOOD: THE LOST DAYS 6 (OF 6) - EH!

SCARLET 3 - Well that's one way to make a point, Scarlet. ~gulp!~ But seriously - Bendis is writing one of the best creator-owned books he has ever written, here. And Alex Maleev is just blowing me away with page after page of some of the best storytelling experiments and artwork that I've ever seen him do. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

SECRET SIX 27 - It's a shame, because this used to be my favorite DC monthly title, but I've been feeling about this title the way I have been feeling about BUFFY for the last few months. Kinda bored, now. I did enjoy that scene with Amanda Waller though. Gotta love The Wall! OKAY.

FANBOY FUN # 31 - HALLOWEEN EDITION

2010-10-31T23:21:00.003-05:00

I totally didn't plan that #31 being written on the 31st. SYNCHRONICITY!!!!

Happy Halloween, everybody! I trust everyone else is as dog tired as me? Here at Fanboy Fun we crammed as much as we possibly could into the day, and now we are feeling the aftermath.

Unlike those readers of my blog who don't have kids - I didn't get to watch AMC's premiere of the TV adaptation of Robert Kirkman's THE WALKING DEAD comic book - yet. I set the DVR to record it, so - hopefully I can get to it sometime this week. I also set it to record the marathon of DEAD SET on IFC and LUTHER on BBC America. DEAD SET is a British series that take the premise of reality TV show BIG BROTHER and throws in a zombie apocalypse for grins, and LUTHER is the British mini-series starring Idris Elba (aka Stringer Bell from THE WIRE!!!) as a cop investigating a murder. Sadly - there weren't any new episodes of VENTURE BROS or METALOCALYPSE this week. ~cue sad clowns~ At any rate - it's time to wrap this puppy up in a blanket.

So.....On to the Comics......!

AVENGERS 6 - This is the first Bendis book this week, and they literally get better and better as they come along. In this one he wraps up the story begun in the first issue, and once again makes me wish Marvel would give us a regular series featuring the kids from NEXT AVENGERS: HEROES OF TOMORROW.

If you haven't ever seen the Direct-To-DVD feature written by Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, you should slap it on your Netflix queue. It owes more to BATMAN BEYOND than it does to MUPPET BABIES - if that makes sense to anyone else but me. FANBOY FUN!

BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD 22 - As much goofy fun as Aquaman is on the cartoon, he doesn't have quite as much charm on the written page without the vocal characterization he gets on the show. It just ain't the same. GOOD STUFF.

BILLY BATSON AND THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM! 21 - And thus ends yet another series featuring nobody's favorite but me and Jerry Ordway - Capt. Marvel. I'm not sure who to blame for this one. The books was launched with DC's much hyped relaunch of kiddie books, but it suffered from a lot of different factors. 1) It was sorta based on Jeff Smith's Shazam books, but it always seemed to be written for people my age and not kids. The text was dense and wordy, making it a daunting read when it came to bedtime reading for me and the kids. 2) The art was wildly unpredictable. Going from beautiful cartoony pencils by Mike Kunkel, Stephen DeStefano or Mike Norton and this odd lengthy interlude where Byron Vaughns came on and tried to make it look a little more realistic. It was odd choice and didn't fit with the tone of the book. Especially confusing is that perusing Vaughn's website I see that he can draw cartoony as well as the other guys, just fine. It wasn't until the final few issues that the book seemed to really find its own identity and get kind of fun. See ya next reboot, Marvel Family! GOOD STUFF.

BRUCE WAYNE: THE ROAD HOME - ORACLE 1 (OF 1) - OKAY! I would have liked the conversation between Barbara and Bruce, in the hospital, to be just a little more inspirational. Small quibble.

BRUCE WAYNE: THE ROAD HOME - RA'S AL GHUL 1 (OF 1) - This is probably the best of these Road Home books so far. Told mostly from the perspective of Ra's, it shines one of my favorite lights on the fact that Ra's respects the Hell out Batman so much that he is willing to kill anyone who threatens the Detective in any way, so he can continue to confront him himself. FANBOY FUN.

DETECTIVE COMICS 870 - There is a really great bit in this issue, which wraps up the whole uneven False Joker storyline, that addresses the old "Does Batman's existence perpetuate and create his very Rogue's Gallery?" In fact - this storyline has been so uneven that I was kind of dumbstruck when I read it. OKAY.

GRAVEL 21 - Does anyone know if this is the final issue of the GRAVEL regular series? It sure seems kind of final. I hope this isn't the last we've seen of my favorite combat magician, but I have to hand it to Mike Wolfer - he wrote the Hell out of this book, and Warren Ellis should be proud he handed the character over to such capable hands. If this is the last issue...it goes out with Gravel doing what he does best (and the reason I love him so much), blasting the crap out of everything in sight with his magic guns. FANBOY FUN!!!

INCOGNITO: BAD INFLUENCES 1 (OF 3?) - Welcome back, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, I've missed your twisted morality plays. This book picks up where the first mini-series left off, with our protagonist, a supervillain in the Witness Protection program, coming out of the dark and joining the "good guys". Wouldn't you know it - the "good guys" are almost as bad as the "bad guys" AND they want him to go "undercover" and back to his bad ways. I don't care if it is slightly cliche - Brubaker spins it like you wouldn't believe and makes it his own. This is going to be awesome, i can already tell. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

INCORRUPTIBLE 11 - I can't believe it took eleven issues for someone to finally think of trying to discredit Max Damage by falsely accusing him on TV? I have to say it though, not to say the art on the book isn't decent, but this and IRREDEEMABLE could really use some better artists. At least give us some better covers to choose from. This issue was a choice between so-so and eh! GOOD STUFF!

SECRET AVENGERS 6 - I'll be damned, if this isn't the first book I've ever - EVER - read that Mike Deodato drew that I actually really liked his pencils. I've always found his artwork to be a little too "early IMAGE-y" for my tastes, but for some reason it really works on Shang Chi. In fact - this might also be the coolest Chang Chi has been in a long long time. GOOD STUFF!

TORCHWOOD 4 - Why is it that Torchwood can score a really decent Mark Buckingham cover, and yet INCORRUPTIBLE had two bland covers to choose from this week? Also - who knew that Gareth David-Lloyd could write a comic book so well? Impressive! GOOD STUFF!!!

ULTIMATE AVENGERS THREE 3 (OF 6) - My old pal Marcus said it once, and I'll second it here...Steve Dillon should draw everything. Everything! His Blade is a cool study in badass poses and moody atmosphere. FANBOY FUN!

ULTIMATE MYSTERY 4 (OF 4) - I wish this hadn't ended on such a cliffhanger, but I can't say I was really surprised. Well....not as surprised as I was to see who the villain was at the end of last issue. Actually - the biggest surprise is seeing Bendis swoop in with his second book of the week and knock it so far out of the park with the tale of ***SPOILER ALERT ACTIVATED*** a young Reed Richards being bullied for so much of his young life that he finally snaps! ***SPOILER ALERT DE-ACTIVATED*** Yeah, I did NOT see that coming. FANBOY FUN!

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN 15 - And Brian Michael Bendis just blows everybody else away this week, with his new artist Sara Pichelli, and the best issue he has written so far. I've been saying this a lot lately, huh....but only because it is true - this really might be his finest hour! The surprises that came out of the Chameleon Twins storyline are game changers! As much of a game changer as Aunt May finding out his identity even! If they don't try to magic their way out of this, and why would they just to ruin the new dynamic (?), then the Ultimate Spider-Man universe is now officially as different as night and day from the 616 Spidey's life. Totally! BUENO EXCELLENTE!!!

FANBOY FUN # 30 - DAVID LAPHAM NEEDS HELP, Y'ALL!!!

2010-10-24T23:52:00.006-05:00

Not much to babble on about this week. Any free time I've had this week was pretty much consumed by DARKSIDERS and BRUTAL LEGEND on the XBOX 360. I picked up DARKSIDERS mainly because Joe (BATTLE CHASERS) Madureira, who created the game, is going to be at WIZARD WORLD: TEXAS November 12-14th and I wanted to get him to sign it.

So far - I'm really enjoying it. It's like a really violent LEGEND OF ZELDA but drawn by Joe Mad. And that is the beauty of the game - it really does look like a Joe Mad drawing come to life. I was lucky enough to pick up a used copy at Gamestop as part of their "Buy 2 Used Games Get 1 Free" sale. So I picked up BRUTAL LEGEND, which is a lot more fun than I thought it would be, and a copy of the GHOSTBUSTERS game for my son. Like I said - not a lot to babble on about this week.

So....On to the comics.....!

BATMAN AND ROBIN 15 - Grant Morrison was born to write dialogue for The Joker. Look over here, Kevin Smith. This is how you do it. Not with sophomoric frat boy anal rape and homosexuality jokes. GOOD STUFF.

BATMAN BEYOND 5 (of 6) - Adam Beechen really does know how to write Terry McGinnis and the elderly Bruce Wayne's relationship. He has the perfect mix of mentor and student dynamics and respected partners with a dash of over-compensation and control freak mixed with rebellious teen angst. It's not a dynamic that translates as well on the printed page as it did on the show, (see the original cartoon related comic series) but Beechen really has made this one of my favorite titles each month. I'm glad DC saw the light and quickly announced a regular series to follow after this one wraps up. FANBOY FUN!!!!

BRUCE WAYNE: THE ROAD HOME - COMMISSIONER GORDON 1 (of 1) - I'm really glad I didn't get suckered into ordering every one of these one-shots. They aren't bad, but they just seem like a desperate inconsequential cash grab. OKAY.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS 53 - There's just something satisfying about seeing someone knock the holy crap out of Sinestro. I wish every issue of Green Lantern ended with someone clocking his pansy ass in the kisser. Also - is it just me or does The Weaponer, who is actually kind of a cool villain...

remind you of The Monarch Henchman #21 from THE VENTURE BROS.? FANBOY FUN.

LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES 6 - Is it just me, or does everyone else suspect that Earth-Man has some ulterior motives for remaining with the team? He kind of suffers from that "used to be a villain and now he's a hero" trope, but is that what Levitz wants us to think? I mean - does Levitz want us to think he has ulterior motives and will eventually betray the team or does he want us to think he really is just a hot head with his own reasons for staying and he has seen the error of his ways and will redeem himself, but still remain the team a-hole? Either way - never trust a guy with mutton chops like that unless his name is Logan. This is also the issue that Phil Jimenez joins the book, for a backup feature, to introduce us to the members of the Legion Academy. It is always a pleasure to see Jimenez draw anything, but it feels so right when he draws the Legion. He's claimed in interviews before that The Legion are some of his favorite characters, and the attention to detail he is famous for just pops off the page when he gets the chance to draw the team and design new costumes or characters. For example - look at the costumes of the trainees. Chemical Kid and Dragonwing in particular are some of the coolest designs I've seen new characters debut in - in I don't know how long. Sure, part of me wishes Dragonwing was actually Dragonmage from pre-ZERO HOUR continuity, but I'm just happy to see Jiminez on the book so I won't split hairs. FANBOY FUN!

NEW ULTIMATES 4 - I wish Frank Cho could always draw Ultimate Thor. FANBOY FUN!

PUNISHERMAX: TINY UGLY WORLD 1 (of 1) - This seals the deal for me, here. I am officially worried about David Lapham's state of mind! If you were repulsed by Lapham seemingly trumping Garth Ennis - Ennis, Master of Disturbing Comics!!! - with his sequel to Ennis' CROSSED mini-series, CROSSED: FAMILY VALUES....he really blows that one out of the water here. Where CROSSED: F.A. was an exercise in disturbing images and the artist was really allowed to let loose and show as much as possible - the really unsettling stuff in this one is all revealed slowly in the written word making the reader as responsible for ~shudder~ what they "see" as Lapham himself. And....damn you Lapham....what I saw is something I don't ever want to see again. BUENO EXCELLENTE!!! I know. I'm being vague on purpose. Think Jeremy Davies in SPANKING THE MONKEY and you'll have the tiniest tip of the iceberg. ~Shudder!~

SUPERMAN/BATMAN 77 - Supergirl teams up with Damian/Robin. To be honest - I don't even remember what happened in it. I just remember Ale Garza drew it - always a plus - and he will be at WIZARD WORLD: TEXAS, November 12-14th. OKAY.

THE THANOS IMPERATIVE 5 (of 6) - I'm unhappy that this is to be the cosmic Marvel heroes swan song, but I could not be happier that Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning have made their corner of the Marvel U so entertaining for the five (?) or so years they have been in charge of it. You just don't get better writers for epic sci-fi action in comics than these two. Thank you, gentlemen. BUENO EXCELLENTE!

FANBOY FUN # 29 - HAPPY BRUCE WAYNESDAY!!

2010-10-15T00:17:00.002-05:00

Hey folks! (Man, I really need to come up with something catchy to start this thing off with.) Glad you could all make it back. You have no idea how much it means to me that you have even half an interest in my stupid little blog. Even if it is just to secretly point and laugh at me.

Why Bruce Waynesday? Comic Bob, owner of STAR COMICS (2014 - 34th, Lubbock, TX, 806-744-0727) declared this past Wednesday to be BRUCE WAYNESDAY (get it?!!) due to the release of BATMAN: RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #5 and no less than four (4!!) of the BRUCE WAYNE - THE ROAD HOME one-shots. Yeah, I promise, I'll slap him when he ain't looking.

So...like I said last week - I've been crazy busy over the past few weeks. So busy being a nurse/father/chauffeur to the family since my wife had surgery that I haven't had time really read anything. I'm trying like hell to catch up, but it ain't gonna happen this week. So rather than let another week pass by with no new posts - I've decided to just throw you a bone with some of my favorite picks from recent weeks. These aren't books I've read yet (necessarily), but they are ones I picked up in anticipation of reading them, and I'm gonna tell you why you should too.

BATMAN HIDDEN TREASURES #1 - Thirteen years ago Bernie Wrightson drew an entire Batman story using only splash pages, where Batman fought Solomon Grundy in a swamp. This story was inked Kevin Nowlan and written by Ron Marz. For whatever reason - it then sat in a drawer forgotten by the world. Until now. If the thought of seeing Wrightson draw Batman doesn't send you into fanboy spasms of glee - you need to hand in your comic collection. You don't deserve it. As an added bonus - they threw in a classic reprint of SWAMP THING #7, also drawn by Wrightson and written by Len Wein.

BLOOM COUNTY COMPLETE LIBRARY VOL. 3 HC - Bloom County is one of those seminal event/works of art that literally changed my life. Bloom County opened my mind up to the fact that "hey, maybe all these weird ideas I have of equality for all and whatnot are shared by others". Growing up in conservative Texas smack dab in the middle of the Reagan Administration was....well....lets just say it was awkward for someone who grew up leaning a little more to the left than everyone else in his family. Bloom County is wildly subversive but in the most subtle of ways. For one thing - Bloom County took pop culture and the world around me and really skewered it in ways that I had never seen other strips do. Doonesbury and others may have led the way, but none of them did it quite the same way as Berke Breathed. He took all the Cold War anxiety, childhood innocence and pop cultural obsessions of the time and brought them to life with some of the cutest, warmest most three-dimensional characters I've ever seen. AND - the guy could draw better than anyone else on the Sunday comics page. Hands down! Breathed's art is what I wish the world looked like when I open my eyes. Yes, I do already own all of the collections these new hardcovers are reprinting, but these new volumes are fully annotated with notes from Breathed himself and printed in a fancy schmancy hardcover format. Pretty, ya'll! Pretty!!

HARVEY COMICS CLASSICS TREASURY TP VOL. 1 CASPER & VOL. 2 HOT STUFF - Harvey Comics were the first comics I actively sought out in my precious formative years. I spent hours groaning at every horrible pun in Richie Rich, and laughing at every silly adventure in the pages of Casper, his little witch friend Wendy, Hot Stuff, Baby Huey, Little Dot, Little Audrey, Little Lotta, and - my favorite - Casper's cousin Spooky. I recently started picking these up whenever I ran across one, and they are still high comedy in my mind. Do yourself a favor and pick these up. The seven year old in you will not regret it.

TINY TITANS/ LITTLE ARCHIE #1 (of 3) - This might be one of the few times I'm actually excited to read a crossover with Archie. I love Tiny Titans. My kids love Tiny Titans. I love to read Tiny Titans to my kids at bedtime. Throw in a little Archie and it's a recipe made for fun! This can't possibly suck in any way whatsoever.

SUPERIOR #1 (of 4) - Mark Millar of KICK-ASS, THE ULTIMATES and NEMESIS fame. Lenil Frances Yu of SECRET WARS, NEW AVENGERS and SUPER-MAN: BIRTHRIGHT fame. That's enough for me.

I would love to post a big Fall TV blog with my thoughts on all the new and returning shows I'm watching for the 2010 Fall Season, but as of this week it would only consist of SUPERNATURAL, MAD MEN, VENTURE BROS., METALOCALYPSE, BIG BANG THEORY, SMALLVILLE and lots and lots of X-PLAY. The only new shows I started watching this season were MODERN FAMILY and THE EVENT. I caught up on MODERN FAMILY after the wife and I devoured the first season on DVD and as of this moment I've only really seen the first episode of THE EVENT. For too many reasons to go into here - I passed on every other new series. At any rate - I'll eventually get a TV blog posted, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

ALL APOLOGIES, AND ALL THAT JAZZ....

2010-10-11T00:06:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the delay in posting over the past few weeks, folks. My wife had some major surgery (all is fine and she is healing quite well, thanks for the concern) and I've been busy doing the Mr. Mom duty. In fact - I've been so busy with taking care of my wife, kids and home - I haven't even had time to read the past few weeks worth of comics or catch up on my TV shows. In fact, the only shows I've been keeping up with during my nurse/butler/nanny-filled days is MAD MEN, SUPERNATURAL, METALOCALYPSE and THE VENTURE BROS.

For those of you (all two of you) slobbering over what I bought in the way of comics - I'll throw you a bone. Here are my top 5 picks from the past three weeks (not that I've read them, or anything):

1. METALOCALYPSE/DETHLOK #1 (of 3) - I love this show more than you will ever know. It is totally wrong and I love every non-P.C. minute of it. That Sexual Harrassment video from a few weeks ago was the work of a certifiable genius and should enter the lexicon of sexual harrassment videos the world over.

2. RICHARD STARK'S PARKER THE OUTFIT by DARWYN COOKE - If you didn't read Cooke's adaptation of Stark's THE HUNTER or THE MAN WITH THE GETAWAY FACE - you must not like good things.

3. WALKING DEAD: THE COVERS HC - My biggest complaint with Robert Kirkman's WALKING DEAD has always been the lack of covers included in the trade paperback collections (my preferred format for the book), so of course I snatched this baby up as soon as it was solicited.

4. DC COMICS PRESENTS JACK CROSS - I passed on this Warren Ellis book when it was initially released. I think I was waiting for the trade paperback collection. I've always thought Ellis' work reads better in collected form. I'm happy DC finally got around to releasing one.

5. ULTIMATE THOR #1 (of 4) - I always thought of Thor as a goofy Superman wannabe until I read Marvel's ESSENTIAL THOR and saw that Kirby & Lee really brought thte character to life. I've loved him ever since. And then came Millar & Hitch's Ultimate version and I fell in love all over again. I think I might actually prefer Millar & Hitch's versions of all the Avengers characters to the "real" versions. I can't wait to read this one!

Hopefully I'll get back to a regular blogging schedule soon. Hell, hopefully I'll be able to actually read some comics soon. Anyway - thanks for your patience and thanks for reading.