Archive for the 'Comics' Category

I’m a Marvel…I’m a DC…It’s f’n brilliant.

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Thanks Doug for the link.

‘Nuff Said.

Wolverine (I hate movie reviewers)

wolverine1

Yes, I hate movie reviewers. I am including myself to some degree, although no one is paying for my opinion. I read the reviews for Wolverine yesterday before seeing it at the midnight showing and all of the bashing had me concerned. Don’t believe the bullshit. It’s a great, fun(ny) and action packed start to the summer movie season.

Hugh Jackman was great, fully embracing the character and story and making even preposterous scenes feel genuine. This is another case that depending on your knowledge of the original comic books your mileage may vary as far as overall enjoyment. If you’re going to get pissy about every little detail not being carried over from the books, or about the filmmakers taking certain liberties then you’ll have some issues. If you haven’t read the books or are more forgiving, I think you’ll enjoy the crap out of this like I did. However, I do wish Deadpool, Agent Zero and Gambit got a bit more screen time because what was there was simply awesome. Continue reading ‘Wolverine (I hate movie reviewers)’

Dicks leak Wolverine workprint

So apparently an early version of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was leaked on the internet. It’s missing key scenes, finished effects, and finalization but clearly this sucks for all involved in the making of the film. Certainly from a creative level (it’s not finished), and less so (I think) from a financial level and here’s why. A film like this which has, arguably, the most popular Marvel comic character AND a rabid fanbase that has been aching for a Weapon X story is going to get butts in the seats opening weekend. Continue reading ‘Dicks leak Wolverine workprint’

Touch Not, Lest Ye Be Touched

Ok guys, since I am apparently the biggest dick on this site, I felt the need to review Tales of the Black Freighter before the other softees did.  I don’t know if it was evident from the most recent podcast, but I was not enamored with Watchmen.  It really had nothing to do with what they left out, and what they changed or any of that, it was more a fact that the movie just can’t be made with the source material provided.  Now I’m not about to say I hated the movie completely because I liked nay loved certain parts.  The way they Snyder altered the ending for example…better than the book.  Rorschach was awesome and Jackie Earl Haley was the highlight of the whole move.  In fact I agree with one of the commentors that an all-Rorschach movie would have been sick.  Nonetheless, I left the theater feeling underwhelmed and under-entertained, but in reality I don’t think it could have been better, unless they made a miniseries…and at that, who knows.  Now, onto the supplemental material that was released this week.  As a whole, it was much better than the theatrical release.  The Black Freighter story is very gritty and dark, it is certainly not for the faint at heart.  Snyder and Co. left no stone unturned here and gave me exactly what I wanted…a faithful replication of the story within a story.  Gerard Butler’s voice over was ominous and angered.  As Chuck and I left the movie we both were wanting more of the MinuteMen back story…well you will get that here with the Under The Hood interview by the original Night Owl.  It is done in such a way that it seems like you are watching a 60 Minutes-like show from the 1960s with Seiko commercials included.  As such, a lot of Sally Jupiter’s story shone through here as well as the original masked vigilante Hooded Justice.  When Watchmen come out on BluRay, I will rewatch both in tandem and I feel that this may change my opinion for Watchmen, even possibly raising it’s iScore for me…nah.

The Walking Dead chews my face off.

So I may have been a little late to the party. Cesar has been evangelizing this series for some time now and I jumped on the bandwagon fairly recently. However I feel that I need to do my part and let my legions of fans ( Hi Mom!) know exactly where I stand.

If you like any of the following: Incredible art, fantastic storytelling, thought provoking dialogue, deep characters, rollercoaster action and gut renching drama ** then use some of that Christmas money grandma sent you and order the first Walking Dead. Once you read the first, you’ll have to continue through the rest. The ninth volume comes out in graphic novel form this week ( or if you’re Cesar, last week) and if it shapes up anywhere near as tense as #8, I may have to get some medication.

If however you like puppies, rainbows, happy thoughts and feel good moments… you may want to take a pass. This graphic novel, and yes I realize this is just a book, is not for the faint of heart. (I deleted a line here that was just too disgusting to post, sometimes I even gross myself out. trust me on this… you owe me one )

So if you’re not a fan yet, get cracking. If you are a fan let’s talk. True iconogeeks already have an outbreak plan of some sort. So here’s a question… If it comes tomorrow, who are you?

Are you a Rick?

A Carol?

An Andrea?

A Glenn?

A Tyrese?

The Governor?

It’s never too early to start planning.

** also ok if you like zombies

Best. Day. Ever.

Well, maybe not the best day. But if you’re a fan of the steadily downward sloping Heroes, then this past Monday was indeed the best day ever.

I’ve been lukewarm on Heroes for a while. Last season was a bust, severely damaged by the writer’s strike. This season seemed to get moving , but it was still a little “meh.” Well “The Eclipse, part II” finally got the old chutzpah back and I’m excited to see where it goes.

With the genius casting of Breckin Meyer and Seth Green as small town comic shop employees (owners?) Tim Kring and crew where able to capture what made this series great in the first place. The wonder and awe that came from actual, real people possessing what used to only exist on the inked page. By using the comic shop as a storytelling tool, the viewer is both in AND out of the story; “Kirby plaza doesn’t count, they never actually even talked” – friggin’ genius.

Being a long time comic reader and huge X-Men fan, I was always intrigued with the melodrama that ordinary people with extraordinary abilities faced. The Cockrum/Clarement years that pitched a perfect allegory for racism and put it in a fantastic realm of super powered mutants set me on the path of believing in the characters and the amazing storytelling that accompanied them.

Heroes recaptured that for me in its first season. But from the second season through the beginning of the 3rd, various ridiculousness and especially Hiro’s shark jumping idiocy almost pushed me out the door. And for those of you that listen to the podcast know, jumping the shark is a series killer for me.

Finally, the show feels back on track, and with the cancellation of Pushing Daisies (a travesty, I know) the possible (probable) return of Bryan Fuller to fold bodes even better news. So, what stood out?

  1. Peter wasn’t an idiot.
    Finally, the youngest Petrelli finds his strength. Consequentially, without his powers intact. Although, I am sure now that the Eclipse has ended he has them back, at the very least his absorbing powers.
  2. Hiro did something right.
    Seriously, about friggin’ time
  3. Matt Parkman is back on track.
    I felt for a while that Greg Grunberg’s character was on the verge of getting eaten by the smog monster (LOST reference, anyone?). The hilarious attempt at reading Speedster’s father’s mind sans powers was excellent.
  4. Claire gets her groove back.
    Getting killed is the best thing to happen to her since, well not getting killed.
  5. HRG kicks ass.
    He does, he really does. HRG contiunues to be the most consistently excellent part of this series.
  6. Ando speaks REALLY good english.
    Seriously, where did that come from?
  7. Mohinder is back, sorta.
    Get this guy back on track. His new storyline is too Jeff Goldblum for me.
  8. Meyer and Green.
    ‘Nuff Said.
  9. Nathan is a bad guy.
    Well, not really, but he is a politician. He’s doing the wrong thing for the right reason. I’m real interested to see where it goes.
  10. Sylar is back and badder then ever.
    Zachary Quinto’s Sylar is the second best thing on the show (to Jack Coleman’s HRG) and it’s awesome that he’s back as the villain. He was interesting “good”, but he’ soooo much better “bad”.

Neat New stepheN kiNg Named N!


I stumbled across this new Stephen King 25 episode web-based series. Just watched the first 5 installments (all that’s there). So far, pretty good. Great art, it’s done in a graphic novel feel with still plates and limited animation. But with a very high quality voice over.

New Wolverine trailer at Comic Con

Holy Crap! How would you like a look at the new Wolverine trailer from Comic Con? Keep an eye out for Gambit and Deadpool, BTW.

And seriously? Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool? Jason’s gonna have a ball with me on this one!

And how much weight did Liev Schreiber put on? Holy shit, he looks like he ATE the brick shithouse! That’s commitment.

Oh, and Kevin Durand is playing Blob – our 2nd favorite badass Keamy from LOST (First being Ben Linus, of course)!

I’m officially psyched for this flick.

Why…So…Serious?!

Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale moon light?This might be the most difficult review/commentary I’ve had to write in my time as an iconogeek poster. The Dark Knight was cast into movie history on early Friday morning, amid hype bigger then Jack Nicholson’s shit-eating grin way back in 1989. I’ll admit that I had enormous expectations for this flick for several reasons, including the immense Batman Begins, my love for all things Batman (minus a little misstep known dearly as “the nipple suit”), Christian Bale, and oh by the way, Heath Ledger tragically and unexpectedly passed away right after his filming and post-production. Needless to say there was a minute amount of mystique and anticipation surrounding TDK.

Now that the weekend is over, Bale and Co. have broken the records for Midnight Opening Gross (over Revenge of the Sith), Opening Day and Weekend Gross (over Spider-Man 3). So the fans liked it….which, is a good thing, I think.

As far as what I thought about the movie is difficult to describe. In recent weeks I suppose I’ve been labeled as a rather stringent critic, which I have no problem with. Maybe you’ll hear more of my side on the next podcast. But to discuss how I would score The Dark Knight feels near impossible. Entertainment Weekly touted the flick by saying “This is what you call raising the bar.” In a way I both agree and disagree with that statement. The bar for comic book movies was certainly raised in a sense, but I feel more inclined to describe the bar as being broken down into little pieces and upgraded to a newer, shinier, nipple-less bar.

The Dark Knight is less a comic book movie and more an investigation into the human condition and the emotions shrouded behind a bad-ass bat suit, and psychotically applied white make-up. This summer has now seen three phenomenal comic book-based films in which the first 2 started the trend and the 3rd and most spectacular broke the mold. It seems that The Dark Knight has ushered in the era of Oscar-buzz worthy chatter amongst previously lighter fare.

It took me 2 days to finally post because the movie had so many story arcs that it took that long for me to process. That’s not to say that there were too many plot lines, its just an observation that no comic book movie has ever bitten off more than its ADHD riddled fanboys can chew at once (hence all the sequels). Where Batman Begins revitalized a tired franchise, The Dark Knight revitalized a tiring genre.

It’s an understatement to say Heath Ledger was superb as the Joker. Once the final credits rolled, and the Joker had already exited stage left, it was apparent that all the other players including a solid Bale, Aaron Eckhardt, Maggie Gyllenhall, and Gary Oldman among others, were simply a big name supporting cast to true work of acting genius. Ledger clearly had a vision in mind of what the Joker is and why he is that way. If for nothing else, this movie soared because of what Ledger added to it. Jack Nicholson…stick to Boston-based mob movies…because you just got out played.

The two scenes that stood out most were when Ledger and Bale are face to face in rather quiet and alone situations. I started to forget that the Joker was wearing ridiculous face paint and began to see him as a deranged criminal, with an ominous past, which I couldn’t even imagine, that would set him off the straight and narrow so far. He became a psychotic murderer the likes of which hasn’t been seen on the big screen since the aforementioned Nicholson in the Shining.

I’m going to use the old >I<score system for this one because it’s all too confusing as of yet.

Watchmen: The Trailer

Wow. That’s all I can say, probably one of THE very best graphic novels I’ve had the chance to read. The film is being directed by Mr. 300, Zack Snyder. Hopefully he will be faithful to the graphic novel and bring it to life on the big screen.

You still reading this nonsense? Click on the link already! Nuf’ said!

Watchmen Movie Trailer