You remember how not too long ago I was all hating on comics for being crappy? Well, they're still mostly crappy, and thank god for that because without crappy comics I don't think any of us would ever have a reason to go online, but I'm finding my distaste for them going on a seasonal decline. Why? Beats the hell out of me, really. Since I won't have the funds until friday to purchase new vittles for my comic book reading appetite, I've been going through some old trades to get my jones on. I can't think of a better time and place than now to talk about them so let's do just that!
JSA: The Golden Age
As you all know, I am not what you call a 'DC Guy.' When I think of DC comics, I think of playing peanuckle with my grandma while sipping tea on lazy sunday afternoon. Its great and all, but I'd rather be doing other things. That's just me, though. The good thing about JSA: The Golden Age is that it is the DCU straying away from that middle-of-the-road super hero business and getting down and dirty with it. Its got that edginess laid out in front of you, but with a touch of class that usually escapes most Marvel comics. Using the Red Scare as a backdrop, James Robinson crafted a well thought out suspense thriller that works as a great send off to the bygone era of the 40's and 50's mystery men. Re-reading this makes me wish that there was a comic where Alan Scott punchs Hal Jordan AND Guy Gardner in their stomachs to show the world how sissy they really are when compared to the Tower Of A Man That Is Alan Scott The Original Green Lantern, big puffy sleaves and all. Alan Scott is the type of guy that will be 80+ years old, sitting in a wheelchair, talking about how he could whoop your uppity 20 something year old punk ass. And he probably would, too. Alan Scott is not one to be fussed with. When I first read this a year or two ago, it actually made me want to catch up on the JSA and see how things were going for them in the current DCU. Maybe one of these days I will. Until then, I can look at this Elseworlds Tale and say "Me and Hourman have something in common: we've both done drugs!" Not even reading Amazing Spider-man can make me say that. And that's something.
Fantastic Four: 1 2 3 4
The only FF comics I own are Civil War Tie-ins or are drawn by Mark Bagley. I like the FF, but I just haven't read the right FF story to get me completely hooked. I know, I know, apparently John Byrne is where its at with this book. Enough already. I got this trade because, well....its Grant Morrison and Jae frickin' Lee! And its gooooood. Dark, moody, and scary as all hell at points. Morrison takes one of the brightest, shiniest super hero teams and puts them up against the ropes while Lee illustrates it all for us to see in usual dark and moody style, which works out great to accent to the feeling of DOOM hanging over our heroes' heads. Through the eyes of Grant Morrison, you get a real sense of what makes these characters tick. Its a psychological thriller that only lets up when the good guys finally beat on the bad guy. Its not enough to make want to buy everything FF yesterday, but it helps push me in the right direction.
Kingdom Come
I don't know what's so bad about Alex Ross. Sure, he's all antiquated in ways regarding the DCU and the only new changes that he acknowledges are those that lean towards the ones we see made in Kingdom Come, but brothers and sisters.....the dude can paint. And sure, sometimes the painting comes off as stiff and doesn't explode at you from the page like a Kirby panel would, but that's 90% of the guys working in the industry right now. Regardless, y'all got your opinions and I got mine. Let's move on, shall we?
I like Kingdom Come because I like Alternate Futures. They're fun. Its always interesting to see what time can do to our beloved heroes and villians. What do you think Spider-man's gonna be like when he's older? Let's go to the future and see! You ever think Wolverine will just keep on living while the rest of the X-men die, and if so, will he be all emo sad about it? Let's go to the future and see! Now I can agree with you that most stories that jump forward in time are usually piles of crap. But we're talking about super hero comics here. They're all usually are just big piles of crap. Knocking the premise just because a writer doesn't know what to do with it is unfair and childish.
What Kingdom Come is, is a love letter to DC. Apparently DC has a lot comics that function on this same kind of level, its just that Kingdom Come is doing it like Woah. Kingdom Come works so well as a love letter from Mark Waid and Alex Ross to the DCU that, that love is so great and exponentially infecting that it even transferred itself on to me. That's right! Kingdom Come knocked a little bit of ice off of my cold, cold Marvel heart. I even gave my friend Ryan, a DC fan, a hug after reading this. Its interesting when you compare Kingdom Come to what's going on right now in the current DCU. Not that I'm reading a lot of DC comics, but by the look of things, its getting pretty bad. If I must say, its starting to look like Marvel comics stayed over for the weekend and left the DCU with nothing to show for it except a heaping dose of STDs. If the current issue of the Flash is a clear cut indicator of what DC is doing as a whole(which it seems it has been the past week), DC and Fun had themselves a little bit of a falling out. I thought One Year Later was our way of getting away from all that negativity, but it looks like they're still knee deep in it over there. Sorry, DC fans, but it seems that the Marvel way of doing things is so damn lucrative and appealing that the guys in charge are trying to steal our thunder! We're just better looking, is all! Don't believe me? Go check out the Bendis Board! Nothing but 20 to 30 something year old hotties posting about New Avengers and Veronica Mars! LOL!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
8 things
I just got tagged! Twice! If this was a prayer chain email for some kid in Memphis with cancer, you both would be marked as spammers! Since this is a meme where I talk about me, s'all good in the hood, G.
First things first:
- I have to post these rules before I start.
- I have to tell you eight facts about myself.
- I have to tag eight people to participate.
- I'm supposed to leave a comment telling them they're tagged and to read my blog.
- And the tagees need to write their own blog post, telling us eight things and posting the rules.
Let's do it to it..
"What up, Spiggs."
I have all kinds of stupid nick names. Spiggs. Spiggity. Spence-diggity. Splinter. Speenis. Ol' Dirty Spencer. ODS. Spencedizzle my nizzle. Spencer Con Carne. The Redheaded Stepchild. Howdy Doody. Spencer Carnage is a play off of my last name which I jokingly gave to myself one night when I was skateboarding with my friend Tony. 8 years later, I use it to blog. About comic books.
"Hi. We're Cain Marko from Simi Valley and this song is called Stab Their Eyes."
I have played in a string of really bad bands with equally bad names taken from various pop culture references. Band names I have used are "The Decepticons", "Eeyore", "Cain Marko" and now "Secret Wars." One of those bands covered Body Count's Cop Killer. If I ever get around to starting a sissy rock band, it'll probably be called something like "Westchester, NY."
"Do you work for Fed Ex? Cuz you got a nice package."
I was onced "pranked" on an episode of Girls Behaving Badly by a girlfriend who sent me on my day off to pick up some tickets for the Weakerthans from a friend of hers. While waiting outside a store this "friend" worked at, an old lady with a walker dropped her purse, which I immediately picked up for her. When I bent over to pick it up, she started hitting on me, commenting on my butt and "package." Her grand daughter(played by Shondrella Avery, known to the world at large as LaFawnduh from Napoleon Dynamite) than came up and started berating me about the conversation her Grannie and I just had. Still holding the purse, I just kept saying "I'm just trying to give her back her purse." At that point it was obvious that the "grandmother" was a younger woman wearing a wig, however I was completely baffled as to what was really going on and could only repeat the phrase "I'm just trying to give her back her purse" over and over Seconds later, cameras came out from every where and everyone said 'you've been pranked!' After that, they had me reshoot my reactions, complete with improv dancing and everything. The girlfriend and I both got paid 50 bucks each. I have never seen the episode myself but my friend did and he said I was awesome on it. It was probably one of the most surreal experiences I have ever had.
"Fail!"
I didn't graduated high school on time. Why? Because I ditched! A whole lot! What was I doing when I was ditching? Skateboarding, drinking, and playing the Wildstorm CCG game. In the 12th grade. True story. In a panic, I approached the two classes that I was really messing up in and asked how I could pass. They said to show up for the finals and pass and you're okay. I was going to, however I slept in the day of the final because I went to see my absolute favorite band, AVAIL, play 2 hours away the night before. And you wonder why I like edgey Marvel comics over my dad's DC drivel? Its because I'm all effed up!
"That's supposed to look like Spider-man?"
I'm semi-artistically inclined. My whole life, I've been able to draw. Not very well. Had I nurtured the skill at an early age, I'd could of been the next Rob Liefeld, selling Lee Jeans to your ass right now. Instead, I wasted most of my life getting drunk and reading comics, picking up the pencil for 1 to 2 hours every six months. I have taken a few art classes at the community college level, but could never muster up the drive to do anything outside of the assigned work. Last summer, I told myself that I am going to have a comic out within the next five years with my name on it, one way or another. Putting my free time that I have at work to good use, I have burned through a few books on penciling and inking by Klaus Jansen and Dick Giordiano, and the semi-decent collection of Drawing Tips from various pros that Wizard puts out. Right now, I'm working through Joe Kubert's Superheroes: Joe Kubert's Wonderful World Of Comics. I understand that one has to draw from real life, which I do on occassion, these books really just help me to learn basic rules as well as different ways of solving problems such as "how am I gonna draw this nose?" To show my newfound dedication to drawing, I even set up an art table in my room to be used at night and on weekends. It currently functions as a makeshift table, drowning in clothes and comic books. At this point, the best picture I have managed to draw is one of the Swamp Thing hanging out with a cat, which was inspired by a post from Mike Sterling's Progressive Ruin about that exact same thing.
"Cheaters never prosper"
I once plagarized the introduction to the section devoted to Greek Gods in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Legends & Lore handbook for a paper on mythology in high school. Needless to say, I got an A.
"Sorry, dude can't do it. Gotta mandate with Tony tonight."
When we were 19 or 20, my best friend Tony and I would go on what we called "mandates." That's were two guy friends go out together, doing things that you would normally do on a date. Except, we were single and sore at girls so it was just us hanging out with each other. It all started when Tony, a film student, asked me to go to some art house theater to watch Akira Kurosawa's Ran with him. Usually we would also go to some kind of fancy vegetarian restaurant that we had never been to as well. This was the kind of invitation that was open to the rest of our friends, but most of them being home bodies, decided not to go. After a few times of asking everyone, we gave up on them and it turned into a Tony-And-Spencer thing. Much of LA was discovered by these mandates that we went on. Another variation on the mandate is the masterdate; that's when you go to dinner and see a movie all by yourself. You should try it sometimes. Its practically the only way to insure that you don't miss the previews.
"You mean the semester started last week??"
I once showed up a week late for a semester at my local community college, a fact that was discovered only when I asked the teacher in front of the whole class about when were going to get the syllabus. And by "once" I mean yesterday.
With that out of the way, I now tag Jon Hex, Carla, Pachoob, Earth-2 Leigh, Brian Hughes, David Brothers, Chad, and Gorjus!
First things first:
- I have to post these rules before I start.
- I have to tell you eight facts about myself.
- I have to tag eight people to participate.
- I'm supposed to leave a comment telling them they're tagged and to read my blog.
- And the tagees need to write their own blog post, telling us eight things and posting the rules.
Let's do it to it..
"What up, Spiggs."
I have all kinds of stupid nick names. Spiggs. Spiggity. Spence-diggity. Splinter. Speenis. Ol' Dirty Spencer. ODS. Spencedizzle my nizzle. Spencer Con Carne. The Redheaded Stepchild. Howdy Doody. Spencer Carnage is a play off of my last name which I jokingly gave to myself one night when I was skateboarding with my friend Tony. 8 years later, I use it to blog. About comic books.
"Hi. We're Cain Marko from Simi Valley and this song is called Stab Their Eyes."
I have played in a string of really bad bands with equally bad names taken from various pop culture references. Band names I have used are "The Decepticons", "Eeyore", "Cain Marko" and now "Secret Wars." One of those bands covered Body Count's Cop Killer. If I ever get around to starting a sissy rock band, it'll probably be called something like "Westchester, NY."
"Do you work for Fed Ex? Cuz you got a nice package."
I was onced "pranked" on an episode of Girls Behaving Badly by a girlfriend who sent me on my day off to pick up some tickets for the Weakerthans from a friend of hers. While waiting outside a store this "friend" worked at, an old lady with a walker dropped her purse, which I immediately picked up for her. When I bent over to pick it up, she started hitting on me, commenting on my butt and "package." Her grand daughter(played by Shondrella Avery, known to the world at large as LaFawnduh from Napoleon Dynamite) than came up and started berating me about the conversation her Grannie and I just had. Still holding the purse, I just kept saying "I'm just trying to give her back her purse." At that point it was obvious that the "grandmother" was a younger woman wearing a wig, however I was completely baffled as to what was really going on and could only repeat the phrase "I'm just trying to give her back her purse" over and over Seconds later, cameras came out from every where and everyone said 'you've been pranked!' After that, they had me reshoot my reactions, complete with improv dancing and everything. The girlfriend and I both got paid 50 bucks each. I have never seen the episode myself but my friend did and he said I was awesome on it. It was probably one of the most surreal experiences I have ever had.
"Fail!"
I didn't graduated high school on time. Why? Because I ditched! A whole lot! What was I doing when I was ditching? Skateboarding, drinking, and playing the Wildstorm CCG game. In the 12th grade. True story. In a panic, I approached the two classes that I was really messing up in and asked how I could pass. They said to show up for the finals and pass and you're okay. I was going to, however I slept in the day of the final because I went to see my absolute favorite band, AVAIL, play 2 hours away the night before. And you wonder why I like edgey Marvel comics over my dad's DC drivel? Its because I'm all effed up!
"That's supposed to look like Spider-man?"
I'm semi-artistically inclined. My whole life, I've been able to draw. Not very well. Had I nurtured the skill at an early age, I'd could of been the next Rob Liefeld, selling Lee Jeans to your ass right now. Instead, I wasted most of my life getting drunk and reading comics, picking up the pencil for 1 to 2 hours every six months. I have taken a few art classes at the community college level, but could never muster up the drive to do anything outside of the assigned work. Last summer, I told myself that I am going to have a comic out within the next five years with my name on it, one way or another. Putting my free time that I have at work to good use, I have burned through a few books on penciling and inking by Klaus Jansen and Dick Giordiano, and the semi-decent collection of Drawing Tips from various pros that Wizard puts out. Right now, I'm working through Joe Kubert's Superheroes: Joe Kubert's Wonderful World Of Comics. I understand that one has to draw from real life, which I do on occassion, these books really just help me to learn basic rules as well as different ways of solving problems such as "how am I gonna draw this nose?" To show my newfound dedication to drawing, I even set up an art table in my room to be used at night and on weekends. It currently functions as a makeshift table, drowning in clothes and comic books. At this point, the best picture I have managed to draw is one of the Swamp Thing hanging out with a cat, which was inspired by a post from Mike Sterling's Progressive Ruin about that exact same thing.
"Cheaters never prosper"
I once plagarized the introduction to the section devoted to Greek Gods in the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Legends & Lore handbook for a paper on mythology in high school. Needless to say, I got an A.
"Sorry, dude can't do it. Gotta mandate with Tony tonight."
When we were 19 or 20, my best friend Tony and I would go on what we called "mandates." That's were two guy friends go out together, doing things that you would normally do on a date. Except, we were single and sore at girls so it was just us hanging out with each other. It all started when Tony, a film student, asked me to go to some art house theater to watch Akira Kurosawa's Ran with him. Usually we would also go to some kind of fancy vegetarian restaurant that we had never been to as well. This was the kind of invitation that was open to the rest of our friends, but most of them being home bodies, decided not to go. After a few times of asking everyone, we gave up on them and it turned into a Tony-And-Spencer thing. Much of LA was discovered by these mandates that we went on. Another variation on the mandate is the masterdate; that's when you go to dinner and see a movie all by yourself. You should try it sometimes. Its practically the only way to insure that you don't miss the previews.
"You mean the semester started last week??"
I once showed up a week late for a semester at my local community college, a fact that was discovered only when I asked the teacher in front of the whole class about when were going to get the syllabus. And by "once" I mean yesterday.
With that out of the way, I now tag Jon Hex, Carla, Pachoob, Earth-2 Leigh, Brian Hughes, David Brothers, Chad, and Gorjus!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
New Warriors # 1
I finally got around to reading New Warriors # 1 which is a book that I did not want to miss. And why is that? Because I'm a huge fan of the original 25 issues of New Warriors. I became a fan in the 5th grade when a friend let me read his copy of issue # 1. This series was the first 4 color super hero team book I really sank my teeth into. Other books I was reading at the time were heavily tied to my love for 80's action movies and cartoons, such as Punisher and G.I. Joe, or featured a solo character such as Amazing Spider-man. The first team book I got into was Uncanny X-men (which I jumped on around issue # 270) however the tone of Uncanny X-men at the time was more serious and sometimes darker then the standard super hero fare. Magneto was issues away from killing Zaladane in the Savage Land; Wolverine, Jubilee & Psylocke had just fought off the Mandarin, mind control and a cadre of Hand ninjas in Madripoor; Dazzler was stalked by an obsessive fan; the mutant hating nation of Genosha had just kidnapped Xavier's students, which resulted in one of their deaths. This era of X-men stories were extremely well crafted, so much that they are partially responsible for the "sophisicated, written for the big screen" type comics that dominant the current comic book landscape, however they lacked the one thing that New Warriors excelled at and helped to turn me on to: good old fashion super hero fun.Issue # 1 of this current New Warriors series by Kevin Grevioux and Paco Medina doesn't have that same sense of super heroics that Fabian Nicieza and Mark Bagley's original series did. Where the original New Warriors comics were at most times easy going and fun, this version of the New Warriors seems to forgo the light hearted nature of its predecessor and takes up a completely new agenda of its own which seems to only be saying "F You" to Tony Stark and the Registration. The only real light moment that comes up in this issue is the flirtation between Sofia and a young male customer who frequents the dinner she works at. Unfortunately, it suffers from the same poor dialogue that affects most teen characters in a medium that is mostly curated by middle aged men, a flaw that Nicieza himself, in my opinion, never really suffered from. Other than that, the rest of the book deals with the agenda at hand.
We start up with a glimpse of the New Warriors in action, chasing and catching a villian, only to leave him tied up with a message for both the super-villian community and the authorities in charge: Consider yourself warned. A sub plot is dangled in front of us, involving some NY police detectives that will be no doubt on the case of these New Warriors. We get a look inside the head of our lead character, Sofia, a former New Mutant by the name of Wind Dancer that lost her powers in the Decimation that came from House Of M. The recruitment process for Sofia starts off with a series of mysterious messages from an unknown party that ends with her being led into the Base Of Operations of the New Warriors. Night Thrasher, a former New Warriors, is re-introduced in a cliff hanger ending, leading us to question whether not he is somehow back from the explosion that killed him in Civil War # 1 or his suit is being worn by someone else. Its an interesting introduction to a new series, but its obviously far from over. We're still missing some members from the roster and its safe to say that we're 5 issues away from the obligatory "Woah, Buddy!" moment that solidifies every new super hero team's line up and mission purpose.
This isn't a comic book for new readers. Its a comic book for the fans of the New Warriors and Captain America's anti-Registration side, a demographic that is by its very nature is specific and narrow. Any complaints of the issue being "new reader unfriendly" really miss the point. This is for those Marvel fans that are intimately familiar with what has happened in the past two years of Marvel's publishing schedule, giving them a chance to see some kind of possible redemption for story lines that they are unhappy with. A mutant who was depowered due to Scarlet Witch's "No More Mutants" is given both the character, and all 5 of her fans, a second chance. The New Warriors are brought back to life, turning them from mere cannon fodder into the ones that are now manning the cannons. And they're pointing them directly at Stark Tower. The banner that was dropped by the anti-Registration's side at the end of Civil War is being picked right back up and turned into guerilla-styled tactics and subversive slogans painted on city walls to give voice to protest. The war is over but the revolution lives on...
Its not the worse book out there. It is nice to think of this being the book that echoes our own sentiments towards the outcome of Civil War. At some point, one of the lead characters will undoubtfully being wearing a 'Cap Was Right' t-shirt. Soon enough, we will see our New Warriors going toe to toe with Iron Man & Co. giving a select few of us that strange moment of escapist fantasy where our favorite D-Lister gets to smack Mr. Stark a good one for being such a prick. The only difference from New Warriors and the other comics that feature characters with dissenting voices against the Pro-Registration side such as Nova or the New Avengers is that the whole crux of this foray in escapism is very much dependent on the current state of things. What happens when that status quo changes? When the Post Civil War Marvel U. reverts back into the Plain Ol' Marvel U, a character like Nova can just fly back into space and pick up where the past decade of Marvel publishing has left off. And the New Avengers have Spider-man and Wolverine. What will be left for the New Warriors to do once there is no more Fascist Tony Stark to get them all riled up? Is there a Fugazi in the future for the Marvel U's Minor Threat?
Probably not. When this series gets cancelled, we'll be left with the same small group of dedicated New Warriors fans,
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Some rants inspired by the Marvel Solicitations for September 2007
Every now and then, about once a month, 12 times a year, all year long, Marvel likes to give us "fanboys" a sneak peek into what's coming out. The recent solicitations brought up something that I felt the need to kick around out in the open with the hope that I might understand this insular world that I have embraced to the inner core of my being.One thing I don't get? Fans that get burned about the sudden stream of comic book appearances of a character due to that said character being featured up in a next big super hero blockbuster movie. The new crop of Silver Surfer related projects and appearances is what got me thinking in this direction. You dudes just get hella burnt, you do.
News of the black suit making its appearance in Spider-man 3 and everyone is all "sighs" and whines. Its funny because the people making these kind of remarks are mostly DC fans. As if the idea of Marvel trying to get some extra dollars by indirectly tieing in some of their comic books to their corresponding movies really turns your screw. However, when DC puts out a Silver Age collection of classic Brainac stories around the same time the latest Superman movie comes out in which Brainac is the feature villian, everyone is all "These stories are blowing mind! Yippie skippy!" Not trying to stir things up, its just an observation. Marvel fans get like that, too. Recently at New Joe Fridays, someone had to question Marvel's reasoning behind the Back In Black storyline. You almost feel like the Powers That Be have to apologize for the forthcoming movies editorializing the comics. Don't know about you, but it seems the way to run a business is to capitalize upon any kind of success and milk it for all its worth. When you're done with that, slap a variant cover on that summabitch!
Also, while we're vaguely on the subject of new solicitations....anyone notice a lack of the Black Panther title being solicited? Has it been canceled and I just missed it? If it was officially canceled, I imagine there would have been a nice little storm of thinly veiled racism and the subsequent commentary making its way across my screen. Until now, nothing yet.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Heroes Con & WW Philly: Wrap it up!
Last post I was talking about doing a run down of this past weekend with all news from Heroes Con and WW Philly, separating most of the crap into their related editorial camps. One post, we talk about all things X. The next post, its WWH-related! Well, that was an idiotic idea because of the things they announced, I don't really give a damn about most of them, so....
I'll ramble while you read, alright? Okay.
Out of the Spider-man related announcements, the most interesting one is the cancellation of all the ancillary Spidey titles and making Amazing Spider-man a title that comes out three times a month. You sneaky bastards, Marvel Comics....making us fans buy Friendly Neighborhood and Sensational when we only want to read Amazing....just prey on our completist tendencies, why don'cha! Heaven forbid there should be a gap in my collection where Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's not so great Spidey story takes place for the month! What are they going to do next?! Put Wolverine and Spider-man in every comic so that I have no choice put to buy them all!?!
That would be sheer fucking madness!
And can we stop talking about how a married Spider-man screws up the character? Go read Kraven's Last Hunt to get an idea of what a married Spider-man should be like. The idea that a bunch of 40+ year old men sitting around huge tables at creator summits and discussing ways to make Peter Parker single again in order to recapture that soap opera element that the book had when they were all kids is sad and depressing and will only lead to God awful stories that no one wants to read. Step away from the Retcon button and just deal with the fact that Spider-man has to swing to the super market every now and then to pick up some feminine products for MJ. Okay? Thank you.
Did you catch that part about how there's a Brian K. Vaughan and Eduardo Risso Wolverine Mini coming out? I would love to see an Eduardo Risso Wolverine. And Brian K. Vaughan just might give us back the Wolverine that we all deserve. Its only a mini, but damn, it'll probably all kinds of great.
Let's talk about Skrulls! Just read New Avengers # 31 and it wasn't all that bad. Bringing Jessica Jones and the baby into the mix like that seems pretty stupid, but its too soon to really say. At this panel, Bendis fields the usual stupid comics that a story like this will raise. Me, I just want a good story. Bendis is capable of those from time to time, so here's to hoping that this current path we're on does not give me ulcers.
The one announcement that Bendis did NOT make was the eradication of his catty ass thought balloons in Mighty Avengers. Hopefully by San Diego Comic-Con, we'll get that announcement along with a formal apology and coupons to redeem for re-lettered versions of those Mighty Avengers comics that don't have Ms. Marvel and Iron Man thinking like morons when they're not talking. They can either mail them to my house or send them in e-coupon form. I'm not picky.
Then there is the news of the X-Crossover, called The Messiah Complex. I imagine Magneto will be back yet again and everyone will be all "Dang!" to which Magneto replies "s'right!" and then fighting ensues alongside some parallels to how the X-men represent the struggles of the oppressed people in the real world. Why you gotta make me feel all bad for being a white privileged suburban male, huh X-men comics? Can't I just read about sexy mutants going all stabby and blasty and mental mind reading without having to feel like some jerk? Gosh!
Yeah, this will probably be another huge mess, but apparently that is what's for sale in today's world of mainstream super hero comics. Enjoy yourselves!
I'll ramble while you read, alright? Okay.
Out of the Spider-man related announcements, the most interesting one is the cancellation of all the ancillary Spidey titles and making Amazing Spider-man a title that comes out three times a month. You sneaky bastards, Marvel Comics....making us fans buy Friendly Neighborhood and Sensational when we only want to read Amazing....just prey on our completist tendencies, why don'cha! Heaven forbid there should be a gap in my collection where Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's not so great Spidey story takes place for the month! What are they going to do next?! Put Wolverine and Spider-man in every comic so that I have no choice put to buy them all!?! That would be sheer fucking madness!
And can we stop talking about how a married Spider-man screws up the character? Go read Kraven's Last Hunt to get an idea of what a married Spider-man should be like. The idea that a bunch of 40+ year old men sitting around huge tables at creator summits and discussing ways to make Peter Parker single again in order to recapture that soap opera element that the book had when they were all kids is sad and depressing and will only lead to God awful stories that no one wants to read. Step away from the Retcon button and just deal with the fact that Spider-man has to swing to the super market every now and then to pick up some feminine products for MJ. Okay? Thank you.
Did you catch that part about how there's a Brian K. Vaughan and Eduardo Risso Wolverine Mini coming out? I would love to see an Eduardo Risso Wolverine. And Brian K. Vaughan just might give us back the Wolverine that we all deserve. Its only a mini, but damn, it'll probably all kinds of great.
Let's talk about Skrulls! Just read New Avengers # 31 and it wasn't all that bad. Bringing Jessica Jones and the baby into the mix like that seems pretty stupid, but its too soon to really say. At this panel, Bendis fields the usual stupid comics that a story like this will raise. Me, I just want a good story. Bendis is capable of those from time to time, so here's to hoping that this current path we're on does not give me ulcers. The one announcement that Bendis did NOT make was the eradication of his catty ass thought balloons in Mighty Avengers. Hopefully by San Diego Comic-Con, we'll get that announcement along with a formal apology and coupons to redeem for re-lettered versions of those Mighty Avengers comics that don't have Ms. Marvel and Iron Man thinking like morons when they're not talking. They can either mail them to my house or send them in e-coupon form. I'm not picky.
Then there is the news of the X-Crossover, called The Messiah Complex. I imagine Magneto will be back yet again and everyone will be all "Dang!" to which Magneto replies "s'right!" and then fighting ensues alongside some parallels to how the X-men represent the struggles of the oppressed people in the real world. Why you gotta make me feel all bad for being a white privileged suburban male, huh X-men comics? Can't I just read about sexy mutants going all stabby and blasty and mental mind reading without having to feel like some jerk? Gosh! Yeah, this will probably be another huge mess, but apparently that is what's for sale in today's world of mainstream super hero comics. Enjoy yourselves!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Heroes Con & WW Philly: Mondo Marvel & More
The Summer Con season is in full swing, with both Heroes Con and Wizard World Philly going on this weekend at the same time. Since I am one of Marvel's six blogs, I have decided that its time to start acting like one by posting my idiotic commentary alongside the new announcements. To make things easy, I'll divide it up into different posts based upon editorial camps and what not, starting with basic Marvel stuff.
Are you ready for some hard hitting in your face bloggery?! If the answer is "No!", please click here. If the answer is "Hell yes, brother! Bring the pain!" then continue on....
All in all, things don't look so bad. And believe you me, there is no one more upset about that than myself. Why? Because I'm never really happy with comics unless they're pissing me off!
And then there's the new Marvel Comics Presents. You know that snazzy car that looks hella hot and drives gnarly fast that the protagonist drives in the 2nd The Fast & Furious movie? This is the comic book version of it. Its a mother fraggin' sports car of a comic book that's gonna race off of the racks, right at your ass, so you best get out of the way or else you gonna get run over! And quite frankly, I don't think that some of you could handle that.
Yeah, I'm not too sure what that's supposed to mean other than this comic looks HOT!
If they could Sam Kieth and Rob Liefeld drawing dudes like Longshot and Deathlok, it would buy 5 copies, but I get them CGC graded and shot up into space to insure nothing would ever happen to them that would cause them to lose value! Ok, that wasn't right. Sam Kieth is actually awesome even if he draw some funky Wolverine action back in the old MCP.
Even though this is more X-men related, they talked about it today so I'll just lump it in. The Angel: Revelations mini-series.
Er, uh....what? I, um.....I'm not going to read this when it comes out therefore this will probably be the first and last time I ever blog about an Angel mini-series at all. As a matter of fact, I could quite possibly be commenting on YOUR blog about how unsmart you are for wasting everyone else's time with your review of issue # 3 when it comes out. While we're on the subject of useless mini-series, let's pitch some that could be of equal importance and probably not worthy of anyone's reading time:
Paste Pot Pete: Unglued!
Captain Ultra Happy Fun Time Romancing Love
Erik & Charles: The College Years
What about Frogman?
Rom The Spaceknight: You got your wish. Can you stop bugging us now?
And that's all we have to say about Angel: Revelations and all of the other exciting announcements and preview art we've seen so far. Next, we'll talk about Spider-man. By next I mean probably on Monday or Tuesday!
Are you ready for some hard hitting in your face bloggery?! If the answer is "No!", please click here. If the answer is "Hell yes, brother! Bring the pain!" then continue on....
All in all, things don't look so bad. And believe you me, there is no one more upset about that than myself. Why? Because I'm never really happy with comics unless they're pissing me off! - Captain America being written by the guy who created Rambo is only flawed by the fact that the comic itself doesn't actually STAR John Rambo, but we can just pretend that's whose under the mask, right?
- Even though I only read the Nova mini and issue 1 of Annihilation, I am curious to see what the spin-offs will read like. That Star Lord cover is mega-spiffy in its Jin-Rohesque beauty.
- And this I'm excited about. We get an Iron Fist annual which is proper because that title itself is the best super heroish book on the shelves. According to the cover which you can see to your right, it looks like its going to continue the grand tradition of being amazing.
- I really like the cover for New Avengers # 34 because it hints at some crazy alternate universe story, which I always enjoy. Hell, as bad as House Of M was, I kind of dug it. The premise rocked despite all the glaring problems with the story.
We get a Penance mini-series which I'm sure we could all do without. Unless he's getting his balls back, I could care less for Penance. Nova I like. Don't worry, buddy. I'm going to pick up those two issues I missed when I make it the comic shop this weekend. Don't think I've forgotten about you. Is that Gamora holding his head? And is it okay if I'm slightly aroused by scantily clad space babes? Wait, no, that's not right. Its sexy zombie teenage girls that's got us frat boys all riled up. Thank you, Internet. Don't know what kind of sick fetish I would be chasing this week without you.
And then there's the new Marvel Comics Presents. You know that snazzy car that looks hella hot and drives gnarly fast that the protagonist drives in the 2nd The Fast & Furious movie? This is the comic book version of it. Its a mother fraggin' sports car of a comic book that's gonna race off of the racks, right at your ass, so you best get out of the way or else you gonna get run over! And quite frankly, I don't think that some of you could handle that.
Yeah, I'm not too sure what that's supposed to mean other than this comic looks HOT!
- But dayuuuuuuuuuuuum....that Hellcat looks absolutely splendid. I can't think of anyone else that could do a better job with the character. Writing a comic book with your significant other sounds like it could be dangerous. Does Mrs. Immonen get all "we gonna have the big finish gone down like this or else you'll drawing your little boy comics in the dog house, Mister!"...? Because she totally could. Us men are like silly putty in your hands, women. That's why we oppress you with our comics so much.
- I like Khoi Pham's depiction of the Captain America-copied kick that Taskmaster is delivering to that S.H.I.E.L.D. flunky. It kind of makes me wish that I was at home alone on a lazy saturday afternoon, air-fighting imaginary ninja foes.
- Seeing names like Josh Fialkov, Barry Kitson, B. Clay Moore and Lee Weeks attached to this makes me happy. And Christos Gage, too. He's growing on me, that one.
- Even the Weird multi-verse Spidey doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Especially since it'll probably only be 5 to 10 pages at time for an issue or three. I'm on board. If I ever get a pull started, this book is definitely going to be on it.
If they could Sam Kieth and Rob Liefeld drawing dudes like Longshot and Deathlok, it would buy 5 copies, but I get them CGC graded and shot up into space to insure nothing would ever happen to them that would cause them to lose value! Ok, that wasn't right. Sam Kieth is actually awesome even if he draw some funky Wolverine action back in the old MCP.
Even though this is more X-men related, they talked about it today so I'll just lump it in. The Angel: Revelations mini-series.Er, uh....what? I, um.....I'm not going to read this when it comes out therefore this will probably be the first and last time I ever blog about an Angel mini-series at all. As a matter of fact, I could quite possibly be commenting on YOUR blog about how unsmart you are for wasting everyone else's time with your review of issue # 3 when it comes out. While we're on the subject of useless mini-series, let's pitch some that could be of equal importance and probably not worthy of anyone's reading time:
Paste Pot Pete: Unglued!
Captain Ultra Happy Fun Time Romancing Love
Erik & Charles: The College Years
What about Frogman?
Rom The Spaceknight: You got your wish. Can you stop bugging us now?
And that's all we have to say about Angel: Revelations and all of the other exciting announcements and preview art we've seen so far. Next, we'll talk about Spider-man. By next I mean probably on Monday or Tuesday!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
I got nothing
I'm sorry. I have neglected my blobligations. I'm like that friend that you really want to hang out with that never returns your calls. Its not because I stopped liking you, it just that I've been BUSY.
Honestly.
I blame it all on the band. In case you did not know, I'm in band called Secret Wars. Its loud, obnoxious crap that most of you probably out grew sometime in the early 90's. And yes, its called Secret Wars. It was either that or Robocop A Feel, which we declined to use due to copyright reasons. We've had 4 shows in the past week with 3 more to go between now and next monday. Playing this many shows this close together is a new thing for us so its kind of taking its toll on me. Add in the extra 2 or 3 hours that band members spend after the show picking up on not so good looking chicks(except Sparky! Dude finally came up!) and there have been quite a few late week nights that I could do without.
Other than that, not much comic book reading. I picked up the Other Side which just read like an algamation of every good Vietnam movie thrown into one. Despite that complaint, the last few pages redeemed the whole thing for me. In non-comic book reading news, I'm making my way through Joseph Heller's Good As Gold. Its an interesting book takes Catch 22 and throws it into the realm of Politicians and Family. Its good, but not AMAZING. After I get through this, I think I am either going to pick up some more Chabon or Lethem. Sure, its hipster reading, but its so damn good.
Well, that's all I got. Just wanted to say hey. What's new with all of yous?
Honestly.
I blame it all on the band. In case you did not know, I'm in band called Secret Wars. Its loud, obnoxious crap that most of you probably out grew sometime in the early 90's. And yes, its called Secret Wars. It was either that or Robocop A Feel, which we declined to use due to copyright reasons. We've had 4 shows in the past week with 3 more to go between now and next monday. Playing this many shows this close together is a new thing for us so its kind of taking its toll on me. Add in the extra 2 or 3 hours that band members spend after the show picking up on not so good looking chicks(except Sparky! Dude finally came up!) and there have been quite a few late week nights that I could do without.
Other than that, not much comic book reading. I picked up the Other Side which just read like an algamation of every good Vietnam movie thrown into one. Despite that complaint, the last few pages redeemed the whole thing for me. In non-comic book reading news, I'm making my way through Joseph Heller's Good As Gold. Its an interesting book takes Catch 22 and throws it into the realm of Politicians and Family. Its good, but not AMAZING. After I get through this, I think I am either going to pick up some more Chabon or Lethem. Sure, its hipster reading, but its so damn good.
Well, that's all I got. Just wanted to say hey. What's new with all of yous?
Monday, June 04, 2007
Live Antholobloggin!
Today, for the first time....EV-ER! I, Spencer D. Carnage will be bringing YOU, the fearless reader(s), Live Antholoblogging. For those that are curious as to what exactly Live Antholoblogging is, please consort with the Live Antholoblogging FAQ:
11:10 AM 6/4/2007
Let's take a look at the cover. That's Jeffrey Brown throwing down a picture of a kid getting pinned to ground. Oh nos!, that beetle's gonna get yo 'shit! Eh, I'm not a big fan of Mr. Brown's work, but I like the concept that he's got going on here.
11:11 AM 6/4/2007
"A Recipe For Youth" by Hope Larson. 2 pages of nice things that you should touch in order to stay young. It starts out with a purring cat which is thumbs up in my book! I could make some joke about how a woman's hoo hoo is not on the list, but I won't.
11:13 AM 6/4/2007
"Puzzles" by Meg Hunt. Another little story about the nostalgia of our youth as incited by doing puzzles when you are older. See? Even indie artists nerds are all about nostalgic. I bet you Meg's all "The crosswords in Garfield's Crossword Extraganza from 1985 were so much better than the ones they got in those wack ass Spongebob puzzle books..." Right?
11:15 AM 6/4/2007
"Enormous" by Patrick Murphy. Okay. Some big ass ol monster comes up to a some kid's house, which prompts this small child to climb up the monster's back and fall asleep. While sleeping, guess what the monster does? EATS HIS HOUSE. Got a nice chuckle out of me, so it's all good in the hood, G. Yeah.
11:17 AM 6/4/2007
"Weatherlad" by Weatherwise. Finally! Some of those stupid super heroes that I hate/love/hate so much! Wait a second...this isn't a super hero story. Its about a nerd that likes super heroes being forced to ask girl out! Now that's Science Fiction if I ever saw it. Nicely done, Mr. Weatherwise, even if there's no one getting punched out or being forced to Register or else!....
11:20 AM 6/4/2007
"Those Were The Days" Mitch Clem is funny. One page, six panels, all about the agony of being a teenager. I think Mitch has voyeuristic access to my youth as an awkward hessian turned punk rock adolescent, sans the hilarious alcoholic father.
11:22 AM 6/4/2007
Ugh... duty calls! BRB!
11:24 AM 6/4/2007
Ok, I'm back. Where was I? Oh yeah, Mitch Clem. Good stuff! Next!
11:24 AM 6/4/2007
"Chimney Preference" by Jeffrey Brown. Umm. I don't really like Jeffrey Brown. Everything I've read is just super whiny emo crappity crap comics. He can't really draw and his life does not seem interesting enough for me to want to read about it. That what he does, auto-bio comics right? Yeah, not fan. This two pager just recounts some childhood thing he did, which is miles better than the young adult to adult things he does, but so what? First crappy strip of the book. Let's hope that's all we gotta deal with.
11:27 AM 6/4/2007
"Michael Redhead" by Jordyn Bochon. Let me tell you something. I am a redhead. More of a reddish-brown head, but still pretty much a red head. As a red head I have a confession to make: I don't really like other redheads. It like showing up at prom and someone else is wearing the exact same dress. Now there are exceptions, but for the most part, if you got red hair, I don't want anything to do with you. In this strip, we briefly analyze the down-trodden childhood life of Michael Redhead and then state that we don't know what happened to him after some presumed escape from our lives in highschool. Who cares? He's a stupid ass ginger that's probably trading tricks for rocks. Good riddance to bad rubbish! The art in this one is really good though. Thank god it was in black & white. Don't wanna flare up like a bull looking at Michael Redhead's flame orange hair. God!
11:31 AM 6/4/2007
"Indian Princess" by Colleen MacIssac. One page strip about two friends that want to dress up as indian princesses. Of course, the honky girl shows up as a native american. (The other girl was actually Indian.) Stupid white people! They're # 2 on the list of people I hate, right below mother fuggin' redheads!
11:33 AM 6/4/2007
More work stuff. Hold up.
11:36 AM 6/4/2007
Alright. Next we have "When I grew up" by Liz Prince. This falls in line with that same Jeffrey Brown rant, artistically speaking. The punch line isn't as bad, but I'm not running out to buy any of her work anytime soon.
11:37 AM 6/4/2007
"Overcompensating Babies: 1988-Lunch Special" by Jeffrey Rowland. Its a bunch of white kids running around, talking ebonics and going on about lunches and Yo! Mtv Raps. The improper use of Street Knowledge can be a bit cliche, but it works here. So far the longest story at 7 pages.
11:40 AM 6/4/2007
"Of Course, Of Course, Of Course" by K Thor. Jensen. Oh, see that's what I like. Some indie artist talking about how when he or she was a kid, that they hoped they would get super powers and now they tell us in their artsy fartsy way how they went about doing it. Haven't read any of K. Thor Jensen's work, but now I'm inclined to do so. Funny stuff he's got going on in here.
11:43 AM 6/4/2007
"The Eve of" by Blaise Laramee. An interesting little look into the world of teenagers after high school going back and doing the stuff they used to do IN highschool. You see the overall theme this anthology's got going on? Its drawn well and doesn't upset me like redheads or Jeffrey Brown so I give it 2 thumbs up. At the end, there's a fade out right after the two girlfriends approach each other, with words "Oh, Yvonne." captioning the fade to black. This take place in a cemetary. Am I an a-hole for assuming this was their first lesbian kiss with each other? Or is Blaise Laramee an a-hole for not showing us the goods? Please don't skimp on the girl-on-girl make out sessions next time, thank-YOU!
11:47 AM 6/4/2007
"Litter" by Grant Reynods. Woah. Show us some cute puppies being taken care by they momma only to show the owner do away with the whole pack. Its beautifully illustrated but harsh. Why you gotta make me all sad?
11:48 AM 6/4/2007
"The Third Cat" by Lilli Carre. Ok, a cat comic. Not so sad anymore. Hold up. Did that guy just break that cat's back just because Mr. Whiskers got a little scratch friendly? Indie comics just want to bum you out and make you feel as miserable as the people doing so. Thanks alot, you underpaid miserable cartoonist!
11:50 AM 6/4/2007
"With Pig Eyes" by Jason Turner. Jason Turner did my Lockjaw & Lockheed sketch, so he's cool even if the story is a little bongo. We get to take yet another trip into someone's past, except this guy seems crazy and wears a pig's head on his head. I like his brush work even if its a little rough.
11:52 AM 6/4/2007
"Sharp Young Minds" by Phil McAndrew. Another fine little 4 page strip. Its got charm and wit, and was drawn like hell. Reminds me a little bit of the art from Where The Wild Things Are. I like it.
11:54 AM 6/4/2007
"Gunplay" by Jeff Bent. An imaginary tale of kids playing "war" that's pretty funny. Playing "war" as a kid was the best. Except for when Kevin played. Kevin was the neighborhood nerd that was always getting whooped by whatever powers and/or weapons I devised for myself that day. Right as you were about to lay the smack down, he'd cross his arms across his chest and yell "teleport!" all whinyish. That used to PISS us off. Or he would always come up behind you and "paralyze" you with his "paralyzing touch." Paralyze? Teleport? Please! You wanna play war, you gotta play WAR! There's no teleporting or paralyzing in Energized Bo Staff to Energized Bo Staff combat! Did I tell you that Kevin was also from Missouri that wore Coke bottle glasses? Yeah, he was pretty lame.
11:57 AM 6/4/2007
"Fanboy Meets The Wooly Bear" by Dalton Webb. Fangboy vs. Wooly Bear over the last fig. Fangboy wins. And that's about all I can say for this one. Next!
11:58 AM 6/4/2007
"Sled" by Jon Sukarangsan. Kids go sledding and run into the Goddess of Fate who inquires into the death defying nature of children. Its fairy tale-ish. And stuff. Drawn very well, too.
12:00 PM 6/4/2007
"Books Before Bed" by Graham Kahler. Another pleasant little romp into the fantasy land of children. I think.....? Decent, but whatever.
12:04 PM 6/4/2007
"A Fifth Hole Adventure" by Fred Grisolm and Jamie DeeGaleey. This one's good. Two guys get attached to each other by two umbilical cords which eventually shatters all of reality. A nice little commentary on gay marriage in showing how stupid people are when they talk as of allowing gay marriage to take place will ruin life as we know it. Why you gotta be all oppressive and shit, dang ol' homophobic straight people?
12:07 PM 6/4/2007
"Untitled" by Dalton Sharp. Another good little strip. Just a bunch of panoramic glimpses into the various different generations of young adults, starting in the 40s that ends with a post-apocalyptic future. Sometimes I wish that society would just get over itself and just destroy itself. Then I could outfit my Civic with steel plates and gun turrets and call it the UnCivic. Don't be trying to steal gas from me unless you want a crossbow to the skull!
12:12 PM 6/4/2007
"Up Til Now" by Neil Babra. And we finish off with a wordless montage of life, love, and heartbreak. Neil Barba sure can draw. It gets a little weird and metaphysical half way through, but then again, what is love without a little bit of metaphysical squid tentacles coming at you to illustrate your broken heart? Its stupid, that's what it is.
And that's it. Our first foray into Live Anthoblogging! I feel kind of exhausted and tired after all that. Maybe this wasn't the best anthology to try this little experiment out with because of the shortness of all the stories. Then again, most anthologies are like that. Short and sometimes sweet.
Damn. How the hell could a person do this for the god awful Oscars or American Idol is beyond me.
Q: What is Live Antholoblogging?Work's slow so I thought I'd treat you guy(s). Today we are going to Live Antholoblog New Reliable Press's you ain't no dancer vol. 2 which was released towards the end of the last year that I picked up two months ago at APE. Let's dive in, shall we?
A: Live Antholoblogging is where I read a comic book anthology and blog to you, LIVE, about the whole thing. Its kind of like blogging the Oscars but not as boring or "Been there, done that, yawn"-ish. In other words, its groundbreakingly awesome.
11:10 AM 6/4/2007
Let's take a look at the cover. That's Jeffrey Brown throwing down a picture of a kid getting pinned to ground. Oh nos!, that beetle's gonna get yo 'shit! Eh, I'm not a big fan of Mr. Brown's work, but I like the concept that he's got going on here.
11:11 AM 6/4/2007
"A Recipe For Youth" by Hope Larson. 2 pages of nice things that you should touch in order to stay young. It starts out with a purring cat which is thumbs up in my book! I could make some joke about how a woman's hoo hoo is not on the list, but I won't.
11:13 AM 6/4/2007
"Puzzles" by Meg Hunt. Another little story about the nostalgia of our youth as incited by doing puzzles when you are older. See? Even indie artists nerds are all about nostalgic. I bet you Meg's all "The crosswords in Garfield's Crossword Extraganza from 1985 were so much better than the ones they got in those wack ass Spongebob puzzle books..." Right?
11:15 AM 6/4/2007
"Enormous" by Patrick Murphy. Okay. Some big ass ol monster comes up to a some kid's house, which prompts this small child to climb up the monster's back and fall asleep. While sleeping, guess what the monster does? EATS HIS HOUSE. Got a nice chuckle out of me, so it's all good in the hood, G. Yeah.
11:17 AM 6/4/2007
"Weatherlad" by Weatherwise. Finally! Some of those stupid super heroes that I hate/love/hate so much! Wait a second...this isn't a super hero story. Its about a nerd that likes super heroes being forced to ask girl out! Now that's Science Fiction if I ever saw it. Nicely done, Mr. Weatherwise, even if there's no one getting punched out or being forced to Register or else!....
11:20 AM 6/4/2007
"Those Were The Days" Mitch Clem is funny. One page, six panels, all about the agony of being a teenager. I think Mitch has voyeuristic access to my youth as an awkward hessian turned punk rock adolescent, sans the hilarious alcoholic father.
11:22 AM 6/4/2007
Ugh... duty calls! BRB!
11:24 AM 6/4/2007
Ok, I'm back. Where was I? Oh yeah, Mitch Clem. Good stuff! Next!
11:24 AM 6/4/2007
"Chimney Preference" by Jeffrey Brown. Umm. I don't really like Jeffrey Brown. Everything I've read is just super whiny emo crappity crap comics. He can't really draw and his life does not seem interesting enough for me to want to read about it. That what he does, auto-bio comics right? Yeah, not fan. This two pager just recounts some childhood thing he did, which is miles better than the young adult to adult things he does, but so what? First crappy strip of the book. Let's hope that's all we gotta deal with.
11:27 AM 6/4/2007
"Michael Redhead" by Jordyn Bochon. Let me tell you something. I am a redhead. More of a reddish-brown head, but still pretty much a red head. As a red head I have a confession to make: I don't really like other redheads. It like showing up at prom and someone else is wearing the exact same dress. Now there are exceptions, but for the most part, if you got red hair, I don't want anything to do with you. In this strip, we briefly analyze the down-trodden childhood life of Michael Redhead and then state that we don't know what happened to him after some presumed escape from our lives in highschool. Who cares? He's a stupid ass ginger that's probably trading tricks for rocks. Good riddance to bad rubbish! The art in this one is really good though. Thank god it was in black & white. Don't wanna flare up like a bull looking at Michael Redhead's flame orange hair. God!
11:31 AM 6/4/2007
"Indian Princess" by Colleen MacIssac. One page strip about two friends that want to dress up as indian princesses. Of course, the honky girl shows up as a native american. (The other girl was actually Indian.) Stupid white people! They're # 2 on the list of people I hate, right below mother fuggin' redheads!
11:33 AM 6/4/2007
More work stuff. Hold up.
11:36 AM 6/4/2007
Alright. Next we have "When I grew up" by Liz Prince. This falls in line with that same Jeffrey Brown rant, artistically speaking. The punch line isn't as bad, but I'm not running out to buy any of her work anytime soon.
11:37 AM 6/4/2007
"Overcompensating Babies: 1988-Lunch Special" by Jeffrey Rowland. Its a bunch of white kids running around, talking ebonics and going on about lunches and Yo! Mtv Raps. The improper use of Street Knowledge can be a bit cliche, but it works here. So far the longest story at 7 pages.
11:40 AM 6/4/2007
"Of Course, Of Course, Of Course" by K Thor. Jensen. Oh, see that's what I like. Some indie artist talking about how when he or she was a kid, that they hoped they would get super powers and now they tell us in their artsy fartsy way how they went about doing it. Haven't read any of K. Thor Jensen's work, but now I'm inclined to do so. Funny stuff he's got going on in here.
11:43 AM 6/4/2007
"The Eve of" by Blaise Laramee. An interesting little look into the world of teenagers after high school going back and doing the stuff they used to do IN highschool. You see the overall theme this anthology's got going on? Its drawn well and doesn't upset me like redheads or Jeffrey Brown so I give it 2 thumbs up. At the end, there's a fade out right after the two girlfriends approach each other, with words "Oh, Yvonne." captioning the fade to black. This take place in a cemetary. Am I an a-hole for assuming this was their first lesbian kiss with each other? Or is Blaise Laramee an a-hole for not showing us the goods? Please don't skimp on the girl-on-girl make out sessions next time, thank-YOU!
11:47 AM 6/4/2007
"Litter" by Grant Reynods. Woah. Show us some cute puppies being taken care by they momma only to show the owner do away with the whole pack. Its beautifully illustrated but harsh. Why you gotta make me all sad?
11:48 AM 6/4/2007
"The Third Cat" by Lilli Carre. Ok, a cat comic. Not so sad anymore. Hold up. Did that guy just break that cat's back just because Mr. Whiskers got a little scratch friendly? Indie comics just want to bum you out and make you feel as miserable as the people doing so. Thanks alot, you underpaid miserable cartoonist!
11:50 AM 6/4/2007
"With Pig Eyes" by Jason Turner. Jason Turner did my Lockjaw & Lockheed sketch, so he's cool even if the story is a little bongo. We get to take yet another trip into someone's past, except this guy seems crazy and wears a pig's head on his head. I like his brush work even if its a little rough.
11:52 AM 6/4/2007
"Sharp Young Minds" by Phil McAndrew. Another fine little 4 page strip. Its got charm and wit, and was drawn like hell. Reminds me a little bit of the art from Where The Wild Things Are. I like it.
11:54 AM 6/4/2007
"Gunplay" by Jeff Bent. An imaginary tale of kids playing "war" that's pretty funny. Playing "war" as a kid was the best. Except for when Kevin played. Kevin was the neighborhood nerd that was always getting whooped by whatever powers and/or weapons I devised for myself that day. Right as you were about to lay the smack down, he'd cross his arms across his chest and yell "teleport!" all whinyish. That used to PISS us off. Or he would always come up behind you and "paralyze" you with his "paralyzing touch." Paralyze? Teleport? Please! You wanna play war, you gotta play WAR! There's no teleporting or paralyzing in Energized Bo Staff to Energized Bo Staff combat! Did I tell you that Kevin was also from Missouri that wore Coke bottle glasses? Yeah, he was pretty lame.
11:57 AM 6/4/2007
"Fanboy Meets The Wooly Bear" by Dalton Webb. Fangboy vs. Wooly Bear over the last fig. Fangboy wins. And that's about all I can say for this one. Next!
11:58 AM 6/4/2007
"Sled" by Jon Sukarangsan. Kids go sledding and run into the Goddess of Fate who inquires into the death defying nature of children. Its fairy tale-ish. And stuff. Drawn very well, too.
12:00 PM 6/4/2007
"Books Before Bed" by Graham Kahler. Another pleasant little romp into the fantasy land of children. I think.....? Decent, but whatever.
12:04 PM 6/4/2007
"A Fifth Hole Adventure" by Fred Grisolm and Jamie DeeGaleey. This one's good. Two guys get attached to each other by two umbilical cords which eventually shatters all of reality. A nice little commentary on gay marriage in showing how stupid people are when they talk as of allowing gay marriage to take place will ruin life as we know it. Why you gotta be all oppressive and shit, dang ol' homophobic straight people?
12:07 PM 6/4/2007
"Untitled" by Dalton Sharp. Another good little strip. Just a bunch of panoramic glimpses into the various different generations of young adults, starting in the 40s that ends with a post-apocalyptic future. Sometimes I wish that society would just get over itself and just destroy itself. Then I could outfit my Civic with steel plates and gun turrets and call it the UnCivic. Don't be trying to steal gas from me unless you want a crossbow to the skull!
12:12 PM 6/4/2007
"Up Til Now" by Neil Babra. And we finish off with a wordless montage of life, love, and heartbreak. Neil Barba sure can draw. It gets a little weird and metaphysical half way through, but then again, what is love without a little bit of metaphysical squid tentacles coming at you to illustrate your broken heart? Its stupid, that's what it is.
And that's it. Our first foray into Live Anthoblogging! I feel kind of exhausted and tired after all that. Maybe this wasn't the best anthology to try this little experiment out with because of the shortness of all the stories. Then again, most anthologies are like that. Short and sometimes sweet.
Damn. How the hell could a person do this for the god awful Oscars or American Idol is beyond me.
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