LEGION OF SUPERHEROES

Could Be You
LEGION OF SUPERHEROES

The Legion of Superheroes was a great concept in it’s time. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, back in the light-hearted days of comic yore, the powers that be decided that SuperMAN was a hero when he was a boy called..ahem..Superboy. To add to the fun, they gave him a SuperDOG called Krypto, and tons of other fun stuff. But the most funnest stuff had to be the Legion of Superheroes, heretofore referred to as LOS since I’m a lazy typist. The LOS, as originally conceived, were a super powered teenage club from the far future, a bright, optimistic and again FUN future. Full of escapism and wish fulfillment. In this future, three of the LOSer’s went back in time to meet the legendary Superboy and offer him membership. And this stayed the case until the wrongheaded decision (and series) called Crisis of Infinite Earths, where they basically tried to wipe the slate clean to make things easier for new readers to understand, though they only catered to aging fanboys and the resulting half-assed way they did it only ended up being even MORE CONFUSING AND MISHMASHED (yes a real word). Well one of the casualties was Superboy as they claimed he no longer, ever existed (wrap your brain around that). So without a Superboy to inspire the LOS, they launched and relaunched many new versions of the LOS, all without Superboy, and all FAILED.  Continue Reading →

KIRBY GENESIS

Could Be You
KIRBY GENESIS

Jack Kirby is the king of comics. There are few creators, comics or otherwise, that I admire and respect as much as Jack Kirby. It is one of my biggest regrets in life, that I never got a chance to meet him. While I’ve learned that you are sometimes better off never meeting your favorite celebrities (or hearing them talk or reading interviews etc. etc.), from every piece of evidence out there, he was gracious and never disappointed. There is no Marvel Comics without Jack Kirby. The list of characters he created or co-created, is almost endless. So it was with some trepidation that I sat down to read Genesis Volume 1.

The reason why I was concerned and had hesitation was due to my history with reading Dynamite Entertainment’s line of books. On paper, this should be my favorite comic book company. The owner is a great guy, Nick Barrucci, who has always been kind to me. Alex Ross is one of my favorite artists and his covers excite me like no other. Combine those with the fact that he has brought back many favorite heroes from the pulp and public domain/golden age of comics and their line should be a slam dunk. Yet starting with the HUGE disappointment called Project: Superpowers (which SHOULD have been one of my favorite books ever), it’s been one letdown after another. So I thought to myself, here we go again. However I was pleasantly surprised and it was mainly due to one of my faves, Kurt Busiek.

This may be Dynamite’s strongest book yet as the writing is very good, the art is perfectly suited to the story (reminding me of his Astro City partner Brent Anderson). And the players are so visually appealing ,thanks to the King. My only quibble is it’s hard to follow at times, especially with the names of the cast here. But other than that, I’m on board and I’m happy to give Nick my money.

FOLLOWUP LINKS:

KICK ASS 2

Could Be You
KICK ASS 2

For those 1 or 2 people in the world who don’t know me, I have a long history with the biz of comic books. I have generally been disappointed with comic book based movies, to the point where the adult me doesn’t get excited whatsoever when a new one comes out. The ones I do seem to enjoy the most are the ones where I don’t really care about the source material. This applies well to the Kick Ass movies. I enjoyed the first one though I felt the key changes they made from the comics, really hurt the movie and prevented it from being more of a classic cult film (they did add one deleted moment into the plot of the second movie). The second movie, I watched BEFORE reading the comic and I’m glad I did. My enjoyment would have probably been diminished if I hadn’t. Some changes had to be made due to Chloe’s aging but most were just hollowized changes. Continue Reading →

Orange is the New Black

Could Be You
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

Most of the times, when I hear a lot of buzz about a series, I’m usually pessimistic. It seems the end result is I feel more like an alien than ever, wondering what the heck everyone is seeing that I’m not. Or I feel that the buzz is usually disguised agenda preaching and there is this secret cabal or organization whose sole purpose is to spread their message and prop each other up. I seriously think this way which is why many people think I’m nuts. They may be right. Well in this case, with the new Netflix series Orange is the New Black, the buzz is justified.

First things first, the characterizations are excellent. One thing you will learn about me is I’m all about the characters (and yes I’m quite the character myself). Nothing is exaggerated, no one is depicted as a caricature, they are all believable.

The writing has been consistently excellent, the acting as well. Of course if the lead was weak, none of this would matter and fortunately Taylor Schilling, as the main character Piper, is outstanding. In lesser hands she would be a cliche, typical WASP who gets her comeuppance, but not here. And she is just one of an outstanding cast of actors. The only weak one is Laura Prepon, from That 70s Show fame. She’s just ok, nothing special. And not nearly as good as the rest. Rumors are she won’t be in season two. I won’t miss her if that’s true.

So if you want good drama and directing, great acting and writing or even lesbianic scenes :), watch Orange is the New Black.

Welcome To My Little Place For My Random Thoughts

Could Be You
I Love Puppies

Why the puppy? We’ll get to that in a bit, I promise.

From the man who brought you The Comic Book Show, Access Denied, Your PC Hero and so much more, comes this self-indulgent blog where I discuss whatever pops in my head.

Movies, tv, comic books, random thoughts, whatever. No party politics.

I promise not to ramble and get straight to the point. As quickly and simply as possible.

So come here and check in to find out What I Just…

Oh and as for the puppy, why not a puppy. I love them and they’re cute. Do I need another reason? And if you don’t like puppies, go elsewhere. Sheesh 🙂