Godzilla Ornament Review: Part 1

Man, I would absolutely love these! Check out Twisted Kaiju Theatre, if you aren't already.

Have a Godzilla like holiday season!

I just wanted to go over some of the books I had picked up the previous week. Some of the DC 52 have come out with second issues and I bought enough to know that I'm GREEN LANTERN as of now, but giving GL Corps another issue. You can hear what I have to say about some of the other books, if you're interested.

My comic buys for 9/30/11

I can't believe how much I'm spending and how little I'm enjoying most of these.

My Comicbook grabs: 9/16/11 - pt. 1

You should be able to get Pt. 2 right after this one or go to my YouTube channel and find it there. Sorry to be getting these posted so late here.

DC 52 Week 2

Cataloging Comics and Calling B.S. on Robin

DC B*tching and moaning, why I have been missing.

If you are a fan of DC you might want to skip this, since I don't have much positive to say. I also do give away some of the plot of JONAH HEX #70, the final issue in this run.

Not mentioned in the video, but I want to give thumbs up to the creative team on Marvel's SECRET WARRIORS, which just ended. Started as part of "Dark Reign" the book actually continued and justified its existence by wrapping up decades of Nick Fury & S.H.I.E.L.D. continuity. This was the last continuing Marvel book that I have been reading since the "Heroic Age" started. I was picking up the various AVENGER titles, but dropped most within 3-4 issues, if that. This means that, if you don't count a couple of Vertigo titles (AMERICAN VAMPIRES & AMERICAN VAMPIRES: SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST), I am no longer getting a single book from either Marvel or DC. What kind of fanboy does that make me?

At this point I think most of the books I'm getting are from Dark Horse or,believe it or not, Image. With a scattering of things from IDW, BOOM! and a few other companies. Not going to list them, but if you have seen my past videos on my 'pull list' you know the ones I currently follow.

I'm not sure who, if anyone, still reads this blog, but if you do let me know if you think my picking up the complete DC 52 is a good idea or not.

Four-Color Fiend Rambling

The GRIM GHOST was created by Michael Fleisher for the short-lived Atas/Seaboard Comics back in the mid-'70s. That incarnation only lasted three issues before it, like most of the rest of the line, ceased publication. All three issues featured art by Ernie Colon, itself a reason to seek out the books and helped them stand out among the rest of the Atlas line, since most didn't seem able to keep an artist or writer for their entire run. The third and final issue of GG was written by Marvel & DC scribe Tony Isabella.

Jump ahead to 2011 and we find Atlas and the Ghost once again back in shops. The company is slowly, this time, bringing back many of the characters that starred in those earlier titles. With no reference to earlier continuity (as far as I can tell), the new GG starts fresh with his origin slightly changed and the stories taking place in a strange shadow world neither Heaven nor Hell. Not fighting criminals, whom he dispatched to Hell for their deeds as he did in the old stories, here he rescues those who arrive in the City saving them from creatures who would take their souls. Tony Isabella returns to this character, remaking him, along with the aid of artist Kelley Jones into much more than a costumed crime-fighter with ulterior motives.

GG is not a light book, and Isabella is obviously keeping some things underwraps. Each of the first two issues end with a nice splash page revealing not so much a cliff-hanger but just a hint of something to keep the reader interested enough to come back for the next issue. The first ended with a creepy hint of things to come and the second with a 'OMG!' moment that completely surprised me. I've got my fingers crossed that this new incarnation of Atlas and the GRIM GHOST will be around for a much longer time. Recommended!

If you haven't been a long time reader of Mike Mignola's HELLBOY and B.P.R.D. WHY THE HELL NOT?!?!? Seriously, Mignola's creations, which include the above and other similar books loosely tied into one 'universe', provide good creepy fun and some spectacular art. Along with Mignola's own art you can also find books done by the likes of John Severin, Richard Corben, Guy Davis and others. Things are not looking good in the world as depicted by Mignola & company. Supernatural forces are at war, humans may be on the way out and a new world of darkness may be very close. Having left the B.P.R.D. years before to find out more about himself and his legacy, Hellboy may be about to find his way home. Changes have taken place in the Bureau since he left and it's pretty likely he won't be too happy to discover many of them. Check out the Hellboy Zone on the Dark Horse website and see what you have been missing.

If you have watched my last video I mention that I probably won't be picking up many of the 52 "new" titles that DC will be publishing in September. First off, I think starting all those books again probably isn't the wisest thing to do to begin with, but dumping them (and that seems to be what they are doing) at once on shops and fans just seems a bad mood. Are fans expected to pick up all these books because they are all Number Ones? How are shops supposed to order these if there is little or no track record for some of them? I know a few of the people who work in comics, so I hate to diss the hard work that they put in, but on the other hand...I really would like to see this blow up in DCs face and they find themselves facing an angry fandom that just isn't going to sit around through this.

I am hoping to get to San Diego, at least one day this year, if I can pick up one of the resale passes when they become available. It will be interesting to see what the word on the floor is like about all this.

Response to Schmoes Know review of SUPER 8

I really enjoyed the new film from Spielberg & Abrahms. This is a scary ET for a new generation.

I can't think of a single thing in this film that I did not like, from the soundtrack to the casting and the surprise you get during the credits. Trust me and don't jump up after the film ends.

DC renumbers and goes digital - Do you care?

Not sure how I feel about the DCU comics being rebooted and started over. This has been happening way too much the past five years, with 52, Infinite Crisis, Blackest Night/Brightest Day and now Flashpoint. Why should I care about characters that may be completely different in a few years.

I'm curious if folks agree with me about the effect of digital comics on shops. Also, how many digital comics will be downloaded. You can't resell these and you certainly can't get them graded. I'll stick with comics on paper for now and just not bother with DC. Not that I'm their target audience.

Just a bunch of Trade paperbacks

I think I called Jeff Nicholson, Jack at one point. My bad!

I really should do one of these on my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle books. I have enough of the Mirage books and spin-offs to do an easy fifteen minutes or more.

Anaheim Comic Con 2011: Episode II

Don't pay attention to the old guy being interviewed. A notorious stalker of celebraties, even of the YouTube variety. Closer attention to be paid to any cos-players.

RE: Schmoes review THOR

This was my response to the review of THOR by the Schmoes Know duo. I really enjoyed the film, but felt they covered most of what I had to say.

I didn't understand the need for the Darcy (Kat Dennings) character at all. I don't remember her from the comic when I was reading it, but possible she was added recently. She adds nothing to the story and does little but make some jokes which could have been made by another character or just dropped. It's all Facebook references, etc.

I actually thought Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Natalie Portman (Jane Foster) had chemistry in the film, which they needed if you wanted to feel anything in later parts of the film. Don't want to give much away, but the scene where Thor first finds the hammer and can not lift it was so good and a moment that also shows why Clark Gregg (as Agent Coulson) is so great in all the films in which he appears. Hope he will be in CAPTAIN AMERICA, at least in the contemporary scenes and he is obviously going to be in the AVENGERS film as he ties so many of these characters together.

Hints have been dropped about the plot of the AVENGERS film, but the surprise at the end of the credits (Please stay through them!) makes it clear. It also helps to be a fan of various Marvel titles, but those who only see the movie will get a nice kick out of it as well.

As most of you know, I love getting in early to catch the previews. IMMORTALS looks pretty good for fans of CLASH OF THE TITANS & THE 300, as does Spielberg & J.J. Abram's SUPER 8. Animation & SHREK fans will love PUSS IN BOOTS, apparently a prequel to the first meeting of Puss, Shrek & Donkey. Finally, I'm going back and forth on COWBOYS vs. ALIENS. It looks pretty decent, but I'm not crazy for those movies that are almost totally filmed at night or in semi-darkened rooms, which this film (at least from the trailers) seems to be.

While there wasn't a trailer for it at this showing I'm getting more and more interested in GREEN LANTERN. I did not like the initial trailer at all, but love what I am seeing of OA, the Green Lantern Corps and other things.

Let me know what you think of THOR, if you see it.

Doctor Who - Season Premiere

Quick comments about the first episode of the new DOCTOR WHO season. Hope everybody had a chance to see it already. Didn't really give anything away, but had to mention it.

Marvel Stridex Reprints & older books

I really should learn to edit this stuff. I should also stop saying "you know" so often. I am a pretty annoying SOB, if you think about it.

ghoulish comics

Not the great material you would get from the Warren books like CREEPY, EERIE & VAMPIRELLA but black & white reprints from the pre-Code days. Used to pick up these books at a small store in my hometown that also has spnner racks of regular comics, paperbacks and pornography. What teenage boy wouldn't love the place?

A few comments on comics and other stuff

Man, it seems as if I can't keep reading comics even if I want to. Am I being too picky in my choices or too cheap? (Don't answer that!)

With DC ending both the Red Circle (former Archie heroes) and the First Wave (Doc Savage, Spirit, First Wave)titles I'm down to about a half dozen regular titles and a few mini-series. Only one of them, Stan Sakai's USAGI YOJIMBO, have I been collecting for more than a couple of years, just picking up #135 which is the 100th issue of that book I own, in addition to some TPB collections as I to fill in the rest of the run. I started reading THE WALKING DEAD with #50, going back to buy all the previous TPBs. The various DOCTOR WHO series (classic and current) from IDW I have been reading since they started, along with the Mike Mignola titles from Dark Horse (Hellboy, B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Witchfinder, etc.).

I gave up on DC about eight issues into BRIGHTEST DAY and MARVEL (with the exception of Secret Warriors) less than a half dozen issues into the Heroic Age. Have to be honest that I really don't find myself missing either and if Secret Warriors ends anytime soon that will do it for the big two. I am still buying and recommend AMERICAN VAMPIRE from Vertigo, so I guess you could count that as a DC book. Sadly, I'm still a sucker (pardon the expression) for the various MARVEL ZOMBIE series & one-shots, so I just got MARVEL ZOMBIES SUPREME in my weekly shipment. To show you how often I go to Nuclear Comics, I got both the first & second issues of MZS just yesterday.

Before I wrap this up let me also recommend RED VS BLUE (RvB) from Rooster Teeth. The series of 'mechanime' shorts were collected and my old shipmate Jeff was kind enough to send me a 3-DVD collection. Basically, the guys at Rooster Teeth have taken clips/captures from various HALO games and re-dubbed them. Sort of like Woody Allen's WHAT'S UP, TIGER LILLY for RPG geeks. I talk about it a bit more over on YouTube if you look for my SACHAPUT50 channel over there.

Sorry that it has been so long since dropping in here, but I spend all my time on Facebook & Twitter, so I've learned to rant in under 140 characters or less. Blogging seems almost like a term paper now!

Trading Cards

Rubber - Official Trailer [HD]

C'mon! Tell me this is going to be instant classic?

Fission Chicken's World

This is for J.P. Morgan! We are going to miss you.

J.P. Morgan - R.I.P.

I was saddened earlier today to find that J.P. Morgan had passed away on Dec. 30th. I first became aware of him when he was doing cartoons for various zines, including INSIDE JOKE, produced by Elayne Wechsler (now Riggs), back in the '80s.

While J.P. did other comics, it was his character FISSION CHICKEN for which he became best known. FC, known as The Chicken of Wrath, used his powers (including flight, power blasts & super-strength) to fight various evil creatures (human & alien). Most were J.P.'s satirical takes on modern commercialism and mega-corporations. While he might have been one of the good guys, FC had a pretty short-fuse and he would just as soon hit something as try to think his way through any given situation.

J.P. was one of the good guys and I'm sorry to say that I lost touch with him years ago. I kept meaning to drop him an e-mail or comment on the on-going Fission Chicken webcomic, but I always figured there would be time. Another example of why we should stay in touch and tell your friends you are still there. It doesn't take long to drop them a short e-mail or pick up the phone and chat for a few minutes. With J.P. I just won't have that opportunity.

For the rest of you, just know that I do think of you.

Talking about some movies

Just some rambling about a few of my favorites. Let me know if you like it and would like me to talk more indepth about any of these or other films.