earth's yellow sun

Silver Bullet

2006-02-08T15:45:00.000-08:00

So if you like these little pithy reviews I churn out to keep in the writing habit, well head over to SILVER BULLET COMICS because I will be reviewing comics for them. Pretty sweet.
Thanks to Jenny over at SBC for giving me the opportunity.

comic review : : : NEW COMIC SHORT REVIEWS 02-01-06

2006-02-05T11:11:00.000-08:00

Captain America 14
Captain America has always been one of my favorite characters. When I was but a tyke I used to run around with the lid to the plastic hamper pretending it was Cap’s shield. It didn’t matter that the lid was square, it was light enough for me to throw at my brother and that was enough for me. The story of captain America is so interesting as it defines his persona but also allows him growth as a character. Under writer Ed Brubaker, Captain America has achieved the status due the character. Sure everyone in the Marvel Universe holds Cap in high-esteem, but until this current story arc, “The Winter Solider” fandom has not necessarily been eagerly awaiting the monthly Captain America stories. What is it about Brubaker’s Cap that makes the character more popular than ever before? For me it has to do with Brubaker’s ability to find the humanity in the icon. Like Superman, Captain America’s prestige comes before his actual character, and like Superman, Captain America’s supporting cast have always been there to lend the character humanity. Brubaker has keenly attached the more popular, long-time Cap allies, Falcon and Sharon carter into the mix, giving Captain America the human connections that keep him, as a man out of the past, a necessary and personal tie to the present. Brubaker also understands that Captain America is not always going to go toe to toe with garish villains. Cap is a soldier and Brubaker’s choice to reinstate the espionage/secret agent aura to Cap allows for storylines that can sidestep the usual super heroic narrative paces. Steve Epting’s pencil art is the best he ahs ever done, and his semi-realistic style and skill at giving his characters actual emotion really allow Cap’s current conflict with The Winter Soldier to strike both an exciting and emotional chord.
This issue wraps up the mystery of the identity of the Winter Soldier. The impact of the reveal and the process by which Captain America deals is an example of how good this book is.

Uncanny X-Men 469
I’m in a conundrum. I like the X-Men. I really do. I just can’t get into this current storyline. Nothing is happening. And I wonder why? Creative teams keep shifting, and the same plot points are reiterated over and over. Did I enjoy this issue? Sure. Claremont can write these characters, we know that. Billy Tan is a talented artist in the Jim Lee School, and while his art does not blow me to smithereens, it doesn’t exactly leave me flat. That’s the best I can say about this current batch of creators on the flagship X books – they aren’t knocking my socks off, but neither are they boring me. This shouldn’t be the case Marvel’s franchise book.
I think I’m going to have stick to the trades for these x-books. Even if the story isn’t the best, at least I get a whole story.

X-Factor 3
Here’s the flipside to the rest of the x-verse. A character driven, interesting story that not only sets up long term story arcs but also delivers enough each issue to justify my monthly purchase.
This issue continues the opening arc that sets up the characters and relationships as well as X-Factor’s place in the X-verse. Peter David’s writing is more nuanced in this title than it has been in years, and compliments that shadowed, bold art of Ryan Sook. It was just announced that Sook will be leaving X-Factor, with a regular penciller not joining the book until issue 8. This frustrates me as a reader, a storyteller. This lack of dependable artist who can meet their deadlines and essentially do their job is a giant thorn in the professionalism of the industry. As fans, we could do something about it and not buy late books, but the publishers know that we will, every month, so this fill-in trend continues and will do so until the next format change in the comic medium occurs and the monthly issues are eliminated and a new form takes over. Until then, just read X-Factor, because the story alone is worth it.

Detective Comics 816
I nominate Detective Comic 815 & 816 right now for whatever sort of Oscar there is for the comic industry. The Eisners? The Harveys? I don’t know, but dammit, these two issues showcase exactly what is wrong with the Batbooks today by doing everything right.
Top-notch writing, top-notch art, and good story, packed with details and plot that concludes in two issues. Wow. Recapturing the character and essence of Batman not seen since Timm and Dini’s Animated version of the character, these two issues of Batman made me realize why I like Batman…why I like THIS Batman and not the brooding, plot point that he has become in his own title, or in the big crossover.

Green Lantern 8
I liked it, but it can’t save this title from my chopping block.
(ahem)
In brightest day, in darkest night,
This book will escape my sight,
Until the creative teams set right,
The true power of Green Lantern’s light.

Aaaaand scene.

Athena Voltaire - Flight of the Falcon 1
As Red Sonja is to Conan, Athena Voltaire is to Indiana Jones. This book almost had me, and perhaps when collected it will read better, but as an introductory issue my desire to like the book was constantly held at bay by the inconsistent artwork and awkward pacing. I’ll take a look at the trade, but based on the first issue, this book just didn’t hook me in, despite my desire to let it.

Academy Awards

2006-02-01T06:18:00.000-08:00

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman – CAPOTE; Terrence Howard - HUSTLE & FLOW; Heath Ledger - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN; Joaquin Phoenix - WALK THE LINE; David Strathairn - GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.

Who Should Win – Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s performance, as Truman Capote should not be overlooked by the Academy. Hoffman’s detailed, nuanced performance captures the troubled soul of Truman Capote that existed just below his broad personality. Hoffman emerges as an actor who truly deserves the accolades he is finally getting. Unfortunately, with Jamie Foxx winning last year for a biopic, and with the cresting wave of Brokeback fever, Hoffman may be robbed.

Who Will Win – Heath Ledger. While heath certainly emerged as the “Holy Crap” kid this season, and as good as he is in Brokeback Mountain, I think Hoffman and even Stathairn’s journeymen presence in this category would make Heath’s win a bit bittersweet.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
George Clooney - SYRIANA; Matt Dillon - CRASH; Paul Giamatti - CINDERELLA MAN; Jake Gyllenhaal - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN; William Hurt - A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

Who Should Win – Why is Matt Dillon not getting better scripts? After years of wallowing in “Last Night a McCool’s” and straight to video boobie flicks, Dillion finally captures a role worth his wasted years of potential. A fearless performance that encapsulates the internal dilemma of the film itself, Dillon deserves the statue.

Who Will Win – Paul Giamatti. Cuz he lost last year and beneath the god appliqué, Oscar is a cruel bitch.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Judi Dench - MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS; Felicity Huffman - TRANSAMERICA; Keira Knightley - PRIDE & PREJUDICE; Charlize Theron - NORTH COUNTRY; Reese Witherspoon - WALK THE LINE

Who Should Win – Felicity Huffman. I haven’t even seen the flick. I don’t care; she’s a brilliant actress who needs to teach the Kiera Knightley’s of the world what it means to be an actress.

Who Will Win – Reese Witherspoon, because Hollywood needs another Julia Roberts right now.

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams - JUNEBUG; Catherine Keener - CAPOTE; Frances McDormand - NORTH COUNTRY; Rachel Weisz - THE CONSTANT GARDENER; Michelle Williams - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

Who Should Win – Keener or Williams. Keener not only for her tender portrayal of Harper Lee, but also for a career of just being superb. Williams for shocking everyone for being the best thing to come out of Dawson’s Creek.

Who Will Win – Keener might pull this one out if Weisz doesn’t show up as a dark horse.

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
BATMAN BEGINS ; BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN ; GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK.; MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA; THE NEW WORLD

Who Should Win – Batman…cuz’ it’s a Batman movie that even jerks liked.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN; CAPOTE; THE CONSTANT GARDENER; A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE; MUNICH

Who Should Win – I’d like to see HISTORY take it, but I really want Capote to win something.

Who Will Win - Brokeback

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
CRASH ; GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK; MATCH POINT; THE SQUID AND THE WHALE; SYRIANA

Who Should Win – Crash.

Who Will Win – Crash.

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN; CAPOTE; CRASH; GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK; MUNICH

Who Should Win – Actually who shouldn’t win? Spielberg for Munich. Everyone else deserves this nomination but him. Munich was good, but compared tot eh emotional depths of Brokeback, Capote, and Crash it pales in comparison.

Who Will Win – Brokeback. Why? Cuz’ everyone who isn’t a bigoted republican loves it and Hollywood will make a point of that.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN; CAPOTE; CRASH; GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK; MUNICH

Who Should Win – Crash.

Who Will Win – I think Crash could take this if it doesn’t win for orginal screenplay. If Crash wins that category, Brokeback may take this one.

comic review : : : NEW COMIC SHORT REVIEWS 01-25-06

2006-01-29T19:26:00.000-08:00

Daredevil 81
I’ll admit that I stick to the trades for Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev’s DAREDEVIL. However issue 81 represents the team’s final issue in an impressive run and I want to see how they left things foe Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark who start their take on The Man Without Fear in issue 82.
Whatever my issues with Bendis, I do love his work. This issue is superb, and it wraps up some dangling plotlines that have been around for a few years. While not the farewell a fan might have hoped for, Bendis and Maleev simply submit their usual top-notch superhero melodrama. Since they know Daredevil so well issue 81 is as much a Greatest Hits issue as it is a send off. I felt many of the subplots were rushed into a conclusion, and while there is an inherent sense of the torch being passed, issue 82 will be interesting because it is not “an all new direction.” Bendis and Maleev have not only raised the bar for their successors, but left the protagonist of the series in quite a quandary. I’m sure, however, that Brubaker is up for the job.
Bendis and Maleev shook Daredevilo up and gave the title a tactile feel and independent nature that is sorely lacking from most superheroic books on the shelves. It was however, time for them to find a different pasture to uproot, and re-sod. Matt Murdock was certainly put through the wringer by this pair and by their machinations they have made it all the more interesting to see how Murdock gets himself out of it.

New Avengers 15
A typical Bendis character development issue before something big happens. The Avengers are announcing their new line-up, and for some reason Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel/Warbird) shows up to mope about her wasted potential. It reeks of plot to have Frank Cho draw the Marvel version of Powergirl (Fanboy Zing!). An interesting Bendis filler issue,with the all-too-unimpressive Cho fumbling through his narrative storytelling.
Boobs, talking, awkward male faces, boobs, talking, and still no costume for Luke Cage.

X-Men 181
The third issue of the umpteenth creative lineup in the past few years,a dn already there’s a fill-in artist. Boo.
I didn’t care one-lick about this story, or the characters involved. Second rate character development of background fodder characters and the unnecessary development of a villainw itha mysterious past.
Oh, and all of the interesting plotlines from the previous issue have been ignored. Boo.

X-Men? Dropped.

Batman 649
A beautiful cover by Jock to an interesting lead-in to a conclusion a long-time in the making. There’s a nice comic book “twist” given last month’s cliffhanger, but you didn’t think Red Hood was dead did you? Silly rabbit, tricks are for the reincarnated sidekicks of brooding superheroes. (yeah, that was crap.).
How much longer unitl Batman and Jason Todd square off? One month? Meh.
How much longer until Batman starts being interesting again? Who knows. Meh.

Catwoman 51
God. Pete Woods can freaking draw.
His beautiful work almost makes the deconstruction of the past few years of Selina Kyle seem worth it. The reinvention of Catwoman as a retro bad good girl made this character come to life in a myriad of ways. Hopefully the revelations of the past few issues will maintain the depth and complexities of the past few years of the title as well as giving her some room to move beyond the shadow of Batman.

Robin 146
Wonder woman 225

Mediocrity is the result of Infinite Crisis. Damn you Superboy Prime, damn you.

comic review : : : NEW COMIC SHORT REVIEWS 01-18-06

2006-01-22T12:56:00.000-08:00

NEW EXCALIBUR 3
There was something about the original Excalibur that kept the book odd and quirky but with enough ties to continuity to keep it somewhat anchored in the X-verse. For better or for worse, this one-foot-in, one-foot-out pedagogy gave the title of its own personality and flavor. This "New" series, written by the Claremont who created the original, tries to capture lightning in a bottle again by giving the Excalibur team it's quirkiness back. Does it work? In a way. The feel of the book is far different that the reverent, self-referential Uncanny and Adjectiveless X-Men books on the shelf. "New Excalibur" is lighter and seemingly more casual. Matthew Ryan's pencils are more cartoonish and apt for the overt, over-the-top action for this issues conclusion of the series' initial story arc.
The worst that you can say about New Excalibur is that something happens. There are superheroics and mutant battles a-plenty, with witty superheroic banter amidst explosions. What doesn't work are the characters and in fact, the tone of the book itself. Claremont is trying to give us a fresh take on the classic Excalibur team, but in doing so the whole concept seems somewhat tired. Maybe it's because he's done it all before. Maybe it's because we've seen it all before. Maybe it's due to the uninspired "evil X-Men" villains that kick off the series. There are a good deal of possibilities dangling about this series. As the book finds its legs, perhaps the kinks will be worked out. Nevertheless, New Excalibur features mutant mayhem rather than the pages of exposition found in the other x-books. Perhaps that is its saving grace.

UNCANNY X-MEN 468
This is a great storyline in the vein of the classic Claremont/JRJR Uncanny run. Claremont clearly has good grasp on Rachel Grey, and this is the storyline that will define her and her place in the x-verse, much as the run mentioned above defined her when she first appeared. Phoenix, now Marvel Girl, has always been a character that is somewhat frightening given the level of her abilities and her history. As the character has progressed, much of her unsettling backstory has faded into her history as multiple writers have tried to work her into more of an x-team player. While this storyline attempts to define her as such and give her more of a reason to do so, it also reconnects Rachel with her dark past, and the potential that her connection with the Phoenix give her...for better or worse. The art by Chris Bachalo is superb, if you like his style. Claremont is in top form; obviously connecting with characters he has a fondness for. While I'm not sure if I will stick around for the next arc, this "End of Greys" storyline has really delivered in terms of interesting, well written character development.

GREEN LANTERN 7
I have always loved Green Lantern. He’s been one of my favorite characters since I was a wee fanboy. I remember watching the SuperPowers cartoon show and seeing Green Lantern create things with his ring – jackhammers to break through boulders, giant mirrors to reflect Brainiac’s laser beams. It was a good time to be a Green Lantern fan. Then there were the 1990’s and Hal Jordan, the Green lantern I loved since I was in short pants, turns into a galactic super villain that nearly destroys the universe. Ugh. I never really cared one way or the other who was a Green Lantern, there’s a dozen of them in the DCU, but you just don’t kill off Hal Jordan for no good reason. Flash forward a decade and Hal Jordan is back among the living and wearing the emerald ring once again. His inspired return in the “Recharge” storyline is what makes his ongoing monthly series so disappointing. The pacing is so slow it’s almost as if Brian Bendis is writing this book on his coffee break. (Nerd Zinger. Yeah!) The art is substandard, especially for Carlos Pacheco. I love this guy’s stuff usually, but the glorious depth and detail he usually brings is suspiciously absent - lots of bland characters and rarely any backgrounds. Overall the series has been lackluster, and even an attempt to rekindle the 1970s Green Lantern/Green Arrow Neal Adams luster falls short this month. Boo. Surprisingly what this series needs is more character development and less pointless action.

LEGION OF SUPERHEROES 13
This book is almost touching the hem of being great. I like the direction the Legion is taking. I like Mark Waid and Barry Kitson’s overall plot and art, but my complaints are nothing uncommon in today’s marketplace. The length of the story does not justify the actual story that is being told. Too long, too drawn out, and with so many fill-in artists- the first year of this series is mediocre at best. This is quite a shame as the potential for this series far exceeds what it actually is. In a galactic revolution the scale of which this series is trying to convince us, as reader, is happening, never once have I felt any tension or drama. The almost lackadaisical pace of the story has robbed the natural drama from the plot. The art is clean, but he colors are washed out and bland.
This is a series called “The Legion of Superheroes.” The title alone implies over-the-top, Technicolor melodrama, as does the pedigree of the concept. So why is this series so uninteresting? I keep waiting for it to kick-start but I doubt it will happen. This series has, unfortunately been wavering near the top of the “drop” list, and I fear that this issue clenches it. Once the DCU kicks into the One Year Later and Supergirl somehow joins the LOSH, I won’t be around to see what happens. I, at least, will have my Levitz era monthlies to keep me happy when I need a real Legion of Superheroes fix.

movie review : : : THE MATADOR

2006-01-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

THE MATADOR is a small film elevated to new levels by the celebrity status attached to it.
At its heart, THE MATADOR could have been a small indie film about an assassin in mid-life crisis, befriending a low level white collar nobody. It would have been praised for being clever, well written and directed, and then it would have faded into obscurity, an interesting DVD on your shelf right next to PRIMER.
However, place two celebrities in these main roles, the businessman and the assassin, and you have a different film. THE MATADOR could have become THE WHOLE NINE YARDS, a smug, arrogant comedy resting on the shoulders of Hollywood stars that test audiences and Middle America adore. However, THE MATADOR caters to class rather than crass. It brings to mind films of an older generation. Films filled with movie stars that people genuinely liked, successfully creating roles based on their natural charms. How to define this? Jimmy Stewart versus Bruce Willis. I rest my case.
THE MATADOR stars Pierce Brosnan as the assassin, Julian Noble. Brosnan carries has the ease on screen, and seemingly genuine wit of an old time movie star. He’s good-looking, and undeniably likeable - he’s just a cool guy. His James Bond films should have been far better than they were had they played to Brosnan’s natural strengths instead of bad special effects. In THE MATADOR, Brosnan is everything but what he should be, but-damn, it- you just enjoy him on screen. He’s a cad, a charming rascal, he’s Doctor House with a talent for killing people. Shining through the charming bastard facade is Pirece’s toothy grin. He’s obviously having a ball playing the lewd Julian Noble, and with that effortless smile, he makes us enjoy watching him. There’s no irony or shtick in the character, such as Bruce Willis might have thrown into the mix, no self-awareness. Julian is a bastard, but there’s no doubt he’s a charming sonuvabitch.
Greg Kinnear has almost found the movie that will catapult him into the stratosphere of stardom many times. AUTOFOCUS should have been a big hit, but it was clumsy and too well meaning. NURSE BETTY was brilliant but too quirky for the mainstream. GODSEND was just a disaster. On paper, Kinnear should be a bigger name than he actually is, but the more he tries to reach for leading man credentials the further he strays from his true gift which is “the buddy”. Greg Kinnear is the best second banana working in Hollywood today. He’s superb when he doesn’t have to carry a picture on his shoulders, and in THE MATADOR, Kinnear gets to wallow in character, and play off the perfectly written Julian Noble. Greg Kinnear is in top form, despite the overt ridiculousness that the script could have become, the characters are so well acted, that you believe in them and thus, the movie fires on all cylinders.
Of course, if you are a fan of crime movies THE MATADOR even includes a step-by-step scene where it is laid out precisely how a kill will go down, and honestly, when there are good characters involved, those kinds of scenes just can’t get better.
THE MATADOR is well written, and well directed by Richard Shepherd. He keeps the comedy based in the characters thus never diluting the inherent drama of the plot. Fueled by spot on performances by Brosnan and Kinnear, THE MATADOR oozes charm and class, while never losing the characters beneath the machinations of the story.

comic review : : : NEW COMIC SHORT REVIEWS 01-05-06

2006-01-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

by Beausephus

DOC SAMSON 1
I'll admit, I bought this issue based solely on my fond recollection of Peter David's late 1980's run on The Incredible Hulk. It was before the Las Vegas Mr. Fixit era, or any of the stumbling blocks that have plagued the Hulk as a title since then. Back then it was a confused, lonely Hulk sitting on a rock in the Badlands asking himself probing questions like, "Why no one like Hulk?" as he strokes a wild hare or a butterfly lands on his shoulder. Then, of course, out of nowhere comes a missile and nukes the entire landscape. But out of the flames, or dust, or smoke, emerges the Hulk, all scowling and gritted teeth, getting stronger as he gets more and more enraged.
Now, the guys who were always up Hulk’s purple tatters were the...ummm...Hulkbusters. Yeah, I know. But their boss was Doc Samson, green haired, super strong, psychiatrist with an alternating mad-on for Hulk and a desire to help poor Doc Banner trapped inside the jade giant.
So what does this have to do with the all-new Doc Samson #1? Not a whole helluva lot. Nothing, in fact.
Apparently Doc Samson is the super shrink to the capes and tights set, even Nick Fury has him on speed dial.
With pretty art, and well intended story that's equal parts smash-em-up action and supernatural tomfoolery, DOC SAMSON seems to be serving too many masters with no real idea as to what each master wants. He's got a hodge podge team of misfits, and this title seems to want to establish Doc and his crew as the scientific supernatural problem solvers of the Marvel Universe. I look at DC's new team books like Villians United or Shadowpact, and I see examples of niche teams working, based mainly on the reinvigorated b-list characters in their ranks. DOC SAMSON would have fared better had it done a little more of that...at least it would have made me want to buy issue 2.

JSA 81
This is the only time in a year where I was actually happy to read JSA. Ever since Alex Ross started his pretty painted portrait covers JSA had been cruising along at pace of a bored snail. Why did I keep reading it? My love of the characters and the faith that Geoff Johns would pull this wreck of a title out of the tailspin it's been in for the past few months.
Apparently, Mr. Johns is busy elsewhere in the DCU.
So it is with hesitation that I bought this issue. My comic pusher, saw my hesitation, and asked if I was going to drop the title. I said, probably. He nodded, adding that such was the popular opinion of the book. How did Johns alienate the fans that once made JSA a huge book? Well, it was the lack of stories such as the one found in this issue.
The heart of the JSA is just that...it's emotional core, the generations of heroes with links to all corners of the DCU. JSA is a family, but with the more universe spanning, magical realm jumping adventures they had the more the teams ceased to be just that and became another boring team book. The confident art of Don Kramer and Leonard Kirk has been dependable, but ultimately uninspiring and undynamic.
This issue feature Dale Eaglesham on pencils, and it's like a breath of fresh air into the series, even the colors seemed bolder. Johns focuses on the whimsical duo Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. Every bit of familial drama that once filled the pages of JSA was instantly re-infused. I actually cared about the characters, and I was excited to look at the pages. it was superhero melodrama at it's finest. It was the best JSA story in a long time, and sadly, it was only for one issue.

DETECTIVE COMICS 815
I recently got rid of a few long boxes of comics. Many of the Detective Comics in those boxes were from the post-No Man's Land era of Batman, when the titles had a definite perspective and stylistic approach. The Batman title was the more super hero style adventures, while Detective was the just that, the crime solving Dark Knight. Scott McDaniel was on Bats and Shawn Martinbrough was penciling Detective. Martinbrough's art was like that of Michael Lark's recent flashback scenes in Captain America- retro before Darwyn Cooke made it hip. It might not have worked all of the time, but it was at least a dynamic bold direction.
the last 16 months of DETECTIVE have given us 2 parts of the misdirected and cloudy "City of Crime" storyline and some asinine "War Games" tie that had to do with the Joker and the world's most uninteresting criminal foil, Black Mask. David Latham’s lamentable turn at combining his Stray Bullets noirish tendencies with a superheroic mystery was an over-extended fill in run.
And now, as the "One Year Later" reboot looms ever closer, Detective fills it's pages with a fairly more straightforward Batman/Bruce Wayne adventure. In fact, this new issue reminds me of the classic Batman comics from the seventies when Bats and Bruce were not so separate, and the Dark Knight needed both identities at times. (In fact, when is the last time we even saw Bruce Wayne as a character in Batman or Detective? And I mean, besides as Batman with the cowl off...)
This issue of Detective is a nice turnaround from not only the style but also the entire tone that Detective has been mired in for the past year.

DAY OF VENGEANCE SPECIAL
Of all of the Infinite Crisis Mini Series, I enjoyed Day of Vengeance most of all. I have always enjoyed the second-class citizens of the super hero world, those smaller costumed heroes overshadowed, usually with good reason, by the bigger named, franchise players. Day of Vengeance takes a few of these nobodies and turns them into heroes in their own right on their own terms. Writer Bill Willingham is a spectacular comic book writer. he knows where the butter and the bread should meet to appeal to fans of all types.
Witty dialogue and strong characters? Check.
Imaginative plot with momentum and direction? Check.
Slam bang Kirby style action? Check. (It's a comic book, folks, not high literature.)
While this issue was supposed to tie up loose ends and answer the questions raised in the wake of the Mini and Crisis, all it does is raise more interesting questions that make me want more.
First of all, Juntiniano is back, handling the art, and damn, can this guy draw. His dynamic poses and expressive faces make his work a veritable Whitman Sampler for the eyes. I will miss his pencils in the upcoming Sahdowpact series, but look forward to whatever is next on his plate. (I mean check out his Dr. Fate throughout the issue. Ka. Boom.)
This one shot is obviously meant to reinstate the Marvel family as the premier icons of the magic community in the DCU and perhaps Cap can start down the path where his potential as a character can be exploited. A new Dr. Fate, and a more involved Phantom Stranger only add delectable spices to the pot of magic that is bubbling, toiling, and troubling all over the coming effects of the Crisis.

comic review : : : NEW COMIC SHORT REVIEWS 12-29-05

2006-01-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

By Beausephus

New Avengers 14
Brian Michael Bendis' tour of duty on New Avengers has been a primrose path full of good intentions. While I like the concept of the book, the Avengers without all of the 30 year back story, and some fresh faces to enliven the dynamic; Bendis' much lamented storytelling makes me feel a little cold at the end of every month. This is not to say that New Avengers has been bad, it's just lacking in momentum. This month's issue is the much anticipated reveal of Jessica Drew's double dealing ways...but honestly, I just don't care. Sure it was a fine read, but by issue 14, this comic should be at another level, not dealing with sub-plots clumsily handled since issue 1. Frank Cho's art is also a bit sub par. Sure he can draw pin-up style gals, but a story like this needed an artist with a better sense of nuance and communication than Frank Cho currently has.
I like this book...or maybe I want to like this book. I just want the storylines to be more substantial.

The Thing 2
Remember Marvel-Two-In-One? Remember The Defenders? Remember when Benjamin J. Grimm was the head busting, rasslin', hagning out with Vance Astro, Ever Loving Blue Eyed Thing? Well, then, this comic is for you. Laughs, lighthearted, campy superhero fun with far more action and characterization than the far more serious, supposedly character driven stories out there right now.
Do it.

X-Factor 2
A fill-in artist on the second issue? Oy.
Nevertheless, this is the most interesting X-title on the market today. Forget that Deadly Genesis nonsense. X-Factor is fantastic, with some quirky characters that are actually fun to read even when they are just talking. I'm tempted to wait for the trade, but I'm liking it so much every month...

X-Men 180
I was temporarily roped back into the X-Universe after the House of M fallout...but this issue has convinced me to either wait for the trade or go back to ignoring the X-Men. I liked it, but it didn't do much for me, and honestly, I've got too many long boxes full of X-Men titles I liked reading and then promptly forgot.

Young Avengers Special
A cute issue if you've been reading since issue 1, but a great "jumping on point" as they so love to say in the tag lines. Once again, a great combination of expostion disguised as clever dialogue with enough substance to justify a whole issue. Take a note, New Avengers.

Batman 648
I hate Black Mask. As a villain, he's just plain boring. Why does he look like the Red Skull? Couldn't the artists have done something more creative with him? But..at least Doug Mahnke can make him look good...hell, he can make any character look good. In fact, my only complaint about the artwork is how little of it there was. I wanted more than 4 panel pin-ups on every page. Oh well, blame Judd Winnick who gets points for trying to "decompress" his storytelling but ultimately only reveals the gaping shortcomings of his plans. How long until the reboot?

Catwoman 50
Catwoman is the only DC title that does night feel like it is treading water during the Infinite Crisis event. It's one of the few top level DC books that actually has top-level creative talent on it. Pete Woods on interior with Adam Hughes on covers? That's enough to justify the cover price. This issue really cranks things up, and if you've been following the rumormongering regarding the post-IC DC Universe, this issue lays out very nicely Selina Kyle's possible place in the new world order. This is a beautiful book, with great writing and overall pacing. While not the stylized Brubaker/Cooke Catwoman that I adored, this run is second only to that greatness. Catwoman 50 is the best book of the week. Get it.

Wonder Woman 224
Ugh. Did you read Infinite Crisis 3? Good. Then don't read this.
Rucka, as good as he is, cannot save the piping hot mediocrity of this title the last few months. Again, another DC title just treading water.
Why does Wonder Woman never have a regular top tier artist? She's freakin' Wonder Woman!

Night Mary 5
This one might have slipped under your radar, but when it comes out in trade, pick it up. A clever plot and really nice visuals from Kieron Dwyer, make this one worth reading. In fact IDW should have just released this as a Graphic Novel, it will read much better as one volume. Pick it up.

Revelations 5
Paul Jenkins is a great writer with a great mind for big concepts, and a good ear for dialogue and interaction. I really enjoy his "inner monlogues" in this title, but despite how much I look forward to this title every month, I think it's been drawn out a bit too far and the tension and nuances of the plot are suffering. Read the trade.

movie review : : : MUNICH

2005-12-29T15:06:00.000-08:00

By Beausephus

In a nutshell, MUNICH is the Jewish MISSION IMPOSSIBLE...
or maybe the Jewish SUPERFRIENDS but with more "pathos".

Either way the bulk of the film is dedicated to the rag tag team of Jewish soldiers, all with a different specialty, seeking revenge for the murders of the 11 Israeli Olympians in 1972.
Directed by Steven Speilberg, MUNICH is a long winding tale of a film that is equal parts suspense, action, and cultural lecture on the sociopolitical history of the Middle East. It is only near the end of the film where things get far too busy, and the focus of the narrative gets blurred with heavy-handed symbolism. For the most part, Speilberg is forging new pathways for himself as a director. Taking European handheld camera techniques and melding them with his own flair for the melodramatic, Speilberg's vision has ever looked so un-Speilbergian. He even avoids his own inherent flaws. Every Speilberg movie in the past decade or so has self-destructed due to an unnecessary turn of events or character development in the third act. In MUNICH's third act, Speilberg does not so much derail the plot as he puts it away and wallows in pseudo-artistic montages instead. As a film MUNICH deserves a better capper, a more concrete finale than the merely passable one Speilberg delivers.
Speilberg's Hasidic A-Team is lead by The Incredible Hulk, Eric Bana. Bana seems to constantly pick roles that limit his range as an actor, but allow him to show how well he can do an emotional breakdown. When he does break, it's gripping. for the most part however, Bana is the focus of exposition, the square jawed, well-coifed leading man who gets told the same information over and over. He is a likeable actor, as are the rest of his team, and slowly as the structure of the film becomes apparent you get to spend some quality time with your favorite international Jewish assassin.
I enjoyed MUNICH more than I thought, and there are some wonderful moments of examining religious and political rhetoric that strike the right notes without reaching towards sappiness, or heavy handed melodrama. That doesn't come until the final reel.

comic review : : : FABLES vol. 1 & 2

2005-12-27T15:28:00.000-08:00

by Beausephus

I'll freely admit it. I missed the boat on FABLES and Y - THE LAST MAN.
I just didn't give either of these series the time of day. Now, my initial loss, is my current gain. Because I have a few years worth of stories to catch up on, I have volumes of collected trade paperback editions to relish. I prefer to read comics in the collected, trade paperback format. It feels more substantial than a 32 page monthly comic book. I can read an entire story arc, plus, it fits on my shelf.
Anyway...FABLES. There has been a trend toward taking beloved stories and giving alternate versions of characters we know and love from childhod. Gregory Maguire has his WICKED, LOST, CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY STEPSISTER. Terry Gilliam created his too-good-to-be-true film BROTHERS GRIMM, and there are countless comics and children;s pciture books dedicated to this "reimagining" trend. I assumed FABLES was of this ilk, and I ho-hummed my way past it every month. On the face of it, the idea seems sort of bland - fairy tale characters exiled from their imaginary realms and forced to live in our reality. There was a sitcom on years ago called THE CHARMINGS that played to this theme, and even as I child I could tell it was crap, so perhaps I was jaded,or just didn't give a fig...either way, I remained a FABLES virgin until two weeks ago.
Now the premise is still a bit tired, but as in all good fiction, the magic is in the execution. FABLES does not lead the reader in with a welcome, hand held guided tour. Taking a page from LAW & ORDER, the story starts out with a murder, a grisly one at that, and then the players are slowly introduced during the course of the investigation. And because it is an investigation, what might come off as cloying exposition is actually cleverly delivered by means of canny plot twists and melodramatic reveals. FABLES straddles self-awareness and straight faced seriousness so well that it is often laugh out loud funny without having to be obvious about it.
In a nutshell, the characters of fairy tales and lesser mytholigies are forced to adopt civilian identities in our world. THey even have a central bureaucracy headed by King Cole, and Snow White, the real power behind the throne. The Big Bad Wolf, in chain smoking, trenchcoat wearing anthropomorphic form is Bigby Wolf, the head and sole member of the Fable-folk police force. It is Bigby who leads us through the murder investigation interrogating the main players and introducing us to the intricate web of relationships in the fairy tale hierarchy. There are a good deal of "ah-ha" moments in Vol. 1, spotting a lesser known character here, understanding a clever allusion there, but the heart of the story is the investigation of the crime. The murder is dark and grisly, and allows us to immediately seperate what we know from what we will learn and understand about these supposedly familiar characters. Writer Bill Willingham is a comic book veteran, but for the first time here exhibits what makes comics such a great, multi-disciplinary medium. FABLES Vol. 1 takes a basic concept and becasue of the characterizations and execution of plot, makes the ideas soar. As with SANDMAN, LUCIFER, and HELLBLAZER, Vertigo proves time and time again that comics are more than spandex clad heros trading punches.

In FABLES Vol. 2, the story picks up where Vol. 1 ended,a dn instead of retreading familiar territory, it explores the other side of the fairy tale character's exile in our world. What of the monsters, and dragons, elves, dwarves, and the three little pigs? All of the these non-humanoid characters live on an expanive upstate New York farm, far from the eyes of normal folks. Yet, for all of their non-human appearance, each of these farm residents has uniquely human desires and thoughts. FABLES Vol. 2 is aptly titled "Animal Farm", and like the book of the same name, these farm residents are not pleased with their living arrangement.
While I applaud Willingham for not merely rehashing familiar haunts and motifs from his first story arc, FABLES Vol. 2 seemed a little inferior due to the more over-the-top story and it's more,dare I say, "comic book" nature. While most of what made FABLES Vol. 1 so interesting is maintained, the drive of the narrative jsut isn't there. It's a creative, clever story, but not nearly as involving or page-turning than the initial volume. Now, this still puts FABLES Vol. 2 in the upper echelons of the graphic story telling medium and far better than most of the disposable trash on the New York Times Best Seller Lists. No small feat.

Overall, FABLES is a series that promises to be consistantly enthralling given that writer Bill Willingham is able to keep up his narrative balancing act. FABLES is a fantastic gateway comic, and like so many of the VERTIGO titles, it deserves to be read by more than the comic book subculture.

movie review : : : BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

2005-12-27T14:57:00.000-08:00

To say that BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is a moving film does not begin to do justice to the heartbreaking sense of lonliness that this film exudes. Set against the backdrop of big sky country, this is small movie about a small, deeply personal story that resonates big universal themes. The joy of this moive is in the silences. Silences that are full of unspoken words, grief, wrestling with demons, and silhouttes against that big, open sky. As the characters evolve, and their lives become more and more full of the things they care less, and less about, the noise is akin to clutter - a continuous messy blot on the silences that these characters prefer to live in.
Heath Ledger has been just abother pretty boy actor, his name synonomous with his dimples and toothy grin - see the trailer for Cassanova if there was ever doubt. His arrogant mumbling and handsome aloofness the vehicle for most of his forgettable films. However. Heath Ledger is hands down fantastic in this film. His "Ennis Delmar" is a character fraught with depth and complexity, his southern drawl the steretypical simple everyman mask that hides his tumultous inner monologue. Wholly compelling and unquestionably believeable, Ledger is astonishing, a performance that will redefine his career.
Jake Gyllenhaal, on the other ahnd, further establishes himself as an actor, and as "Jack Twist" he bears his boyish tendencies on the strong shoulders of an actor who has grown up on celluloid coming to full terms with his adulthood. To his credit, I never realized how tall Gyllenhaal was, having always held him in his teenage "Donnie Darko" personae. Like Ledger, Gyllenhaal finds the nuances and persoanlity of "Jack Twist" giving a potentially unlikeable character the human pathos that the film desperately needs.
These two men bring a steely earthiness to a story that could have become high melodrama. What Ang Lee does however, is allow the silcne of the two men to speak for them, the flaws in their characters to define them in the quiet moments that this movie captures so brilliantly. Once the realtionship is established, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN ceases to be about two homosexual cowboys, and becomes about the simple unrequited longing for a life that is unattainable.
Ledger and Gyllenhaal give fearless performances, the style of which are rarely seen by Hollywood stars in the prime of their youth. Painstakingly and emotinally directed by Ang Lee, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is a superb character potrait of longing, loss, and the lonely struggle that love can be.