Four Color Fiend: Counting Down

Things are finally beginning to come together in the Countdown series. Countdown #27 brings some things to a head, if not clearing them up. Piper & The Trickster decide to make themselves scarce when they discover that a number of other villains who have been taken have seemingly disappeared. It looks like Jason Todd is going to join up with Lord Havok and Donna Troy doesn’t look so good. Jimmy Olsen joins with Forager to try and find those responsible for the “Death of the New Gods.”

With #26, Countdown picks up the new title of “Countdown to Infinite Crisis”, something already known to most of us fan boys & gals. Using the technique of having one of the Monitors (we’ll call him M-1, just to make things easy from now on) explains to all the other Monitors (who should know most of this since they are supposed to be keeping track, which is their job after all) some of what has been happening for the previous twenty plus issues. It also reminds us what we readers have seen and possibly forgotten, since some of us are reading more than this one title.

One thing I’m grateful for is that it is finally explained to we readers why the Monitors, who are supposed to be identical and appear so in some issues, look very different in others. M-1 tells the others that this is due to the tainting of the multiverse by Monarch and others breaching the Source Wall (originally TM Jack Kirby). Not only with the Monitors begin to differ physically but will also gain some individual traits, which may play out in interesting ways later on.

To be honest, it seems more and more that this entire crossover event is an attempt by DC’s Powers That Currently Be to eliminate everything remaining of Kirby’s Fourth World. I’d be surprised if they do away with Darkseid though, since there is no villain/presence anywhere in the DCU who comes close to him. Just about every writer working in the mainstream DCU seems to want to use Darkseid at some point.

Monarch seems to be bringing together quite a huge group of nasty folks and the Monitors have decided (again if memory serves me right) to unite in opposition to him. It also appears that M-1 may not be controlling things as much as he may believe, and the same holds true with Monarch. Again, I’m going to place my bets on Darkseid, who has always been a master at manipulation.

Countdown to Mystery #2 – The latest incarnation of Doctor Fate may just have begun to realize what has happened to him. Steve Gerber does a nice job with Dr. Nelson’s internal dialogue and he becomes a bit more sympathetic. Gerber also gives him a sense of humor, which will certainly be needed as Nelson must confront his own and other very real demons. Nelson is off the streets and working as a handyman/janitor in a sleazy motel run by the slovenly Mr. Swinburne. I don’t think Swinburne will be a likable character, but it should be interesting to see what Gerber does with him.

In the second story in the book we see very little of Eclipso (the less the better in my book), after Darkseid roughs her up a bit and orders her to Earth to spread discontent amongst the heroes. Most of the pages are taken up with Plastic Man acting totally out of character, and decades of characterization of Woozy Winks are tossed out the window for no good reason. I know that Eclipso is manipulating Plaz, but not Woozy so why have him act in such a manner? We then switch scenes to see TV talk show host Jack Ryder acting as much like a jerk as always, but even questioning (no pun) himself. Walking to his dressing room he is confronted by *yawwnn* Eclipso who tells him that she actually wants to see The Creeper, Ryder’s alter ego. We then switch back again to see Plaz walking into a bank, which he means to rob with a firearm. Why? Another tale like this I’m just going to cut the non-Fate pages out of CtM and keep the rest.

Countdown Presents Lord Havok and the Extremists #1 – Who knew that I’d actually find this book more interesting than some of the main Countdown story? I really didn’t know that much about this group, since I barely remember them from their JLA appearance years ago. It seems that Havok and his followers appear to see themselves as ‘freedom fighters’ and Havok actually has a moment where we see a bit of sympathy. I haven’t been reading the “Civil War” stories over at Marvel, but events on Havok’s world seem to mirror some of that. There might actually be more to this character than I thought. I’m giving writer Frank Tieri props for turning what I thought was going to be a single purchase out of curiosity into something more. I’m actually going to reread some of Lord Havok’s Countdown appearances and see if I’ve been missing something. (You can read up as well via the link in the headline to Wikipedia.)

By the way, the first issue of this series gives us the back story of Havok, and brings us up to the point at which the Challengers (Jason, Donna, Kyle & Bob the Monitor) show up at his fortress in Countdown #29. Unfortunately, Havok believes these costumed folks are soldiers for the government, which he is fighting. We’ll see where things progress from this point for Lord H and his minions.

Zombies in Plain English

Hope this isn't too late to save you from those nasty Zombie attacks the other night.

Get ready for zombie relatives coming over for Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween!

Just a quick wish for a Happy & Safe Halloweeen, darlings!

We won't even go for a "How about those pumpkins?" remark, since we are all adults here.

Later for other things.

The Bots Are Back!!!!!!!!!

Just got this from the MST3K mailing list. (If you don't already know, BBI stands for Best Brains, Inc.)



Beginning November 5th, BBI will be launching its very own website at MST3K.com. The site will feature brand-new animated adventures of Crow, Tom Servo and Gypsy. We're told the goal is to have one new adventure each week (though "some settling may occur with shipping," they added). The Web site will also feature work from the original series (which BBI is now calling "the legacy series"), behind-the-scenes footage and other material culled from the BBI vault.



You can bet that I'll be adding a link over on the side ASAP.

Red Sox Nation World Champs Baby!!!!

Dude! What more needs to be said??

Red Sox Nation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Firefighter Tribute

Let's take four and a half minutes to think about the men and women who go where the rest of us will not.

If this doesn't touch you, something is wrong!

Four Color Fiend: Quick Comic Reviews

The headline doesn’t need explaining for folks who have been around for a while. I’ll only say that posts with that title will generally cover several reviews at once. They will also be filled with the usual Spoilers where I give away every plot and surprise that I can.

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DC Countdown #29-28 – I find that I’m almost agreeing with the guys over on Pulp Secret on this title. Yawwwwwwn!!! It really is beginning to grow tiresome, not to say confusing with no resolution in sight. If anything more plot threads are left dangling with each issue, as characters are introduced (sometimes identified, other times not) and then be killed or otherwise disappear from the story.

This time around The Jokester from the Crime Syndicate’s world is killed off, just after discovering that it was his daughter (known on our world as the Joker’s Daughter) had been killed previously. We also have Monarch show up with Forerunner, on the world ruled by Lord Havok and his super-powered group The Extremists. Donna Troy, Jason Todd, Kyle Raynor and Bob the Monitor, along with The Jokester, had transported to this world earlier where they had been captured and tortured. At the end of #28, Forerunner holds an unconscious Donna in her arms while Monarch offers Lord Havok the opportunity to join him or else.

Back on Earth-One Jimmy Olsen, has fled Project Cadmus, joined up with the Newsboy Legion and then been captured by Forager. If you don’t follow any of this, don’t feel bad. You either have had to been reading the DCU for years or been familiar with Jack Kirby’s classic Fourth World series of books. It remains amazing that DC continues to ring stories and plots from books that according to the then Powers That Were didn’t sell well enough to continue.

Anyway, Forager (the female one) has been sent by New Genesis to investigate the deaths of the New Gods. Since that particular story is going to be forthcoming in a mini-series by that very name we will skip any further comment. Although it should be noted that writer/artist John Byrne has all but forbidden folks over on his forum/message board from talking about that series.

In another couple of weeks Countdown will change its title to “Countdown to Final Crisis”, leaving no question that this story will not so much end as stop dead in its tracks and continue next year.

Sergio Aragones Groo 25th Anniversary Special – It’s hard to believe that Aragones & Co. have been turning out the adventures of the World’s dumbest barbarian for this long. It’s more amazing that they continue to make the book so entertaining that folks still wait eagerly for every one-shot and mini-series.

If you don’t know, Groo was created as sort of a spoof of Conan. He is an amazing swordsman who wanders his world in search of battles or at least somebody willing to feed him for doing something, usually deadly or brave. Did I mention that Groo was dumb? If it wasn’t for the fact that he was so deadly with his weapons it’s hard to imagine anything simple enough for Groo to do that would keep him fed.

Groo, besides being dumb, is also very kind hearted and even generous if it doesn’t involve giving away his current meal. Traveling with his faithful, and much smarter, dog Rufferto he constantly discovers new ways to destroy anything in his path, always seeming to do the right thing despite himself.

This particular book has two Groo adventures, one with an adult Groo and the other dealing with an event from his childhood, featuring his conniving grandmother. It also contains the Groo Alphabet, which re-introduces many of the reoccurring characters that have appeared in the series since it began. Many of these characters have discovered that Groo is dumb.

(I recommend both the Wikipedia article on Groo and heading over to Mark Evanier’s site where on his Front Page you’ll find a link to even more information on the character.)

Marvel Zombies 2 - I don’t remember the last Marvel comic I bought, but I think it may have been the last issue of THUNDERBOLTS before it switched to some silly thing about super-powered wrestlers. The last title from Marvel that I recall reading was a thin pamphlet from Free Comics Day promoting the then up-coming “House of M”, so you can figure out when that was.

Despite all the talk on fan sites about CIVIL WAR and WORLD WAR HULK, it probably comes as a surprise (or not, depending on how well you know me) that the very first Marvel comic I buy is the second part of the very dark, yet amusing to a degree MARVEL ZOMBIES. No, it’s not a story about X-Men fans at San Diego! It really is about our favorite undead creatures. Think George Romero doing SUPER-FRIENDS.

In an alternate universe a cosmic event begins to transform Marvel heroes and villains into flesh eating zombies. It is bad enough when you have regular undead folks running around trying to eat your brain, but when they can swing from webbing, grow to gigantic size and have gamma-induced strength you know it is going to get really bad.

At the end of the first series, a group of Zombies (you can spot some of them in the picture reproduced above) devour first the Silver Surfer and then Galactus. Since this transfers some of their cosmic power to each of them (Hey, I’m not Reed Richards! I can’t explain it, okay?), they decide to eat their way across the universe. As the new series begins they realize they have eaten everything there was to consume and not being able to devour each other they need to find a new food source. Fortunately for them, if not for other folks, they remember a device capable of transporting them to other universes where food is still plentiful.

This was actually fun and I’m trying to fill myself in on the whole Marvel Zombie books and tie-ins via Wikipedia and other sites. Writer Robert Kirkman brings just enough humor into the book to keep it from getting too heavy. Artist Sean Philips’ art is particularly creepy to make things scary, but not overly so. My only complaint is that the coloring in some spots does make it hard to tell what is going on. I know this is a horror story, but I'd still like to see what it going on!

I would not recommend this for readers under 16 yrs old, or people offended by guys with their intestines hanging out or having them eaten. There also seem to be zombie good guys, but I guess that’s a matter of degree.

OTR: Sherlock Holmes from London with Carlton Hobbs & Norman Shelly

I love the way that this program begins. We have Watson and Holmes hailing a driver to take them to 221-B Baker Street at the end of an adventure. The announcer then says “From London…” and goes on to announce the up-coming Holmes tale. The program jumps right the adventures, again adapted from the original stories by Sir Arthur.

This time out British actor Carlton Hobbs (the rather Holmesian looking gentleman on the left) played the role of the Great Detective. Before and after that time he also appeared in a number of BBC television productions including I, CLAUDIUS & PENNIES FROM HEAVEN (his final appearance). He played Holmes for BBC radio in over 80 performances, from 1952-1969. Oddly, he had also played Watson earlier opposite Arthur Wontner as Holmes in 1943.

Norman Shelly (the older man who looks very much as we would picture the elder Watson), who was known primarily for his radio performances, played throughout Dr. John Watson. Shelly actually stood in for Winston Churchill in radio speeches when it was deemed too dangerous during WWII for the Prime Minister’s whereabouts to be known. In 1954, Shelly appeared in the dual roles of “Nana” and The Crocodile, opposite Mary Martin & Cyril Richard in Broadway’s PETER PAN. He repeated the performances, along with Martin & Richard in the televised versions in 1955 and 1960.

As with the earlier shows with Gielgud & Richardson, Hobbs and Shelly pull off fine performances as the famous duo. Also, as in the previous episodes (three of which are presented in the compilation) the adaptations are pretty straightforward and the characterizations spot on. The three here are all written by Michael Hardwick, who with his wife and fellow writer Mollie Hardwick (known for novelizations of the series “Upstairs Downstairs” and “Duchess of Duke Street”) wrote several Holmesian pastiches, including the novelization of the Billie Wilder film “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”.

You’ll all be happy to hear that this ends my ranting on the Holmes OTR programs for now. I’ll be picking up another audio book or OTR compilation pretty soon; so don’t get feeling too smug. Admit it, you click over to another blog as soon as you see what I’m writing about anyway, don’t you?

OTR: Sherlock Holmes w/ Sir Ralph Richardson & Sir John Gielgud

Actors can make or break a role, especially with such iconic characters as Holmes & Watson. The choice of Richardson & Gielgud (Watson and Holmes, respectively) was brilliant and their interpretations a delight. After the rather disappointing performances (at least to me) of John Stanley and Alfred Shirley having two great actors made quite a difference.

Gielgud and Richardson accurately portray the characters as Sir Arthur created them. These were two men that admired and trusted each other, though having two very different personalities and upbringings. You never get the feeling, as you did with many actors who looked to the later films by Rathbone and Bruce for inspiration, that Holmes barely tolerated Watson and actually felt he was a burden on occasion. In these performances the two men were obviously friends with a great affection for each other.

These British programs adapted the original Conan Doyle stories, rather than a mixture of old and new, as had the American programs. The Scottish born John Kier Cross wrote the adaptations. Cross started his career writing various programs for radio, including those for children, at the BBC in the late 1930s, going on to do work in American television years later (among them scripts for Alfred Hitchcock’s anthology program). His work on the Sherlock Holmes series included Doyle’s tale of when Holmes & Watson met and both “The Final Problem” and “The Adventure of the Empty House”. The last two dealt with the apparent death of Holmes and his miraculous ‘resurrection’ some three years later.

I was surprised to discover that in the episode based on “The Final Problem” Orson Welles guest-starred in the role of Professor Moriarty. According to the notes accompanying the Radio Spirit collection, Welles had actually been approached by the show’s producer to play Holmes, but was unable to do so because of his schedule. Gielgud was then offered the role, with Welles agreeing to appear for this one program. Fascinating that Welles would play the very villain he faced as Holmes a little more than twenty-five years earlier.

The Killer Shrews movie trailer

One of my all time favorite movies. Perhaps that explains a lot!

Did you know there was a baseball game last night?

There really isn't anything I have to add is there?

We are already stocking up on snacks for the World Series and will be wearing my Sox cap everyday starting Wednesday.

If they were playing any team BUT Boston I would actually be rooting for Colorado, who have had an amazing run.

Kung Fu Jimmy Chow

I forgot to add a headline or comments to explain the video link below. It's a great anime spoof called KUNG FU JIMMY CHOW, which is most certainly not for youngsters!

Blood, profanity and other awesomefullness! Head over to CAMP CHAOS via the headline above for much more.

I think I'm losing it with all this lately.

JLA/HITMAN: On the Darkside #1-2

Back in the Other Life, I used to read dozens of comics each month. Heck, it wasn’t unusual to pick up a dozen titles any time I stopped off at the local shop each week. There were a lot of books I bought each month, some mini-series and lots of one-shots & specials. They would all be cataloged and then put in the order in which I planned to read them. I always tried to read the #1 issues as soon as I could, so I knew if I should continue to pick up that particular series. Some books ended up at the bottom of the stack and I might not get to them for a week or longer.

Then there were titles that I just had to read as soon as I had the chance. One of those was HITMAN by Garth Ennis and Joel McCrea. The hitman of the title was Tommy Monaghan, a paid assassin who only took jobs involving killing those he felt deserved to be killed. The idea of a hitman with a conscious is not original, but Ennis made the reader care about Tommy and the gang down at Noonan’s Bar. During an alien invasion in a series called BLOODLINES, if someone survived the attack of the aliens there was a slight chance that that person might develop a super-power. Tommy was one of those survivors.

Recovering from the attack Tommy discovers that he has the powers of telepathy and x-ray vision. Although both are limited to a degree, you can see how such gifts might be helpful to somebody in his line of work. Only a few people knew about his abilities, since you didn’t really want folks you might have to encounter on a job to know these sorts of things.

For sixty issues and some specials, Tommy, Sean, Natt “The Hat”, and other associates kept to the dark, streets of Gotham trying to stay one step ahead of the cops, a certain Dark Knight and others who didn’t especially care for what they were up to. In one particular issue, Tommy meets a contemplative SUPERMAN and says something to him that the Man of Steel takes to heart. This two-issue mini-series springs from that meeting to an extent and Tommy finds himself taken by BATMAN to the old JLA citadel on the Moon.

It seems that new and more deadly versions of the Bloodline aliens have taken over the astronauts of a NASA mission and members of the JLA need to deal with them. Hoping to learn something about the alien DNA from one of the few survivors of the first encounter, BATMAN brings Tommy up for some tests. The members of the JLA working on the problem are BATMAN, SUPERMAN, WONDER WOMAN, FLASH (Wally West, at that point) and the then current GREEN LANTERN (Kyle “Crab-face Guy” Rayner). Ennis wonderfully captures the personalities of the various members, actually making Kyle likable if a bit befuddled by the presence of the Big Three. Superman especially comes off wonderfully and his interaction with Tommy is delightful for all the right reasons. I’m not going to give anything away, except that this is a flashback, which ends with a very nice moment with Superman back on the Moon.

I would love to have Tommy Monaghan back and the return of the multiverse to the DCU just might make that happen. Ennis and McCrea do a great job letting some of the old gang make cameos for those of us who remember them. I have always liked McCrea's art and he captures easily the major characters making everyone instantly recognizable. You have to love his faces, especially on Tommy, Batman & Superman, letting us see what the character is thinking even without Ennis adding dialogue to a panel.

Thanks to Garth and Joel for making this fanboy very happy!

(By the way, you can learn about Tommy and Co. by clicking on the headline above.)

OTR: John Stanley as Sherlock Holmes

(The above headline will link to a brief obit for Edith Meiser from the New York Times.)

In the Fall of 1947, the production of the Sherlock Holmes radio program returned to New York. Conway and Bruce stayed behind so new actors were needed for the roles of Holmes and Watson. British born actor John Stanley, who began his radio career as a singer, assumed the role of the Great Detective with Alfred Shirley as his Watson.

These are not my favorite OTR performances on this Radio Spirit collection, as Holmes here seems to have almost contempt for Watson at some points. Shirley played the Doctor as Bruce did in later shows, as somewhat slow, and you again wondered why Holmes bothered to have him around. Also, Shirley sounds much older than his roommate, although in the original stories they were not that far apart in age.

Edith Meiser returns as the full-time scriptwriter with a combination of new and adapted stories. Eventually, Meiser would also go on to write the Sherlock Holmes daily newspaper strip with artist Frank Giacoia. She would sometimes adapt her own radio scripts for the strip. The more I learn of Ms. Meiser the more interesting she appears. She actually began her career as an actress, something she continued to do in television into the mid-1960s appearing in episodes of I LOVE LUCY, THE DEFENDERS and NAKED CITY.

In this season Meiser once again has some tales bringing in Professor Moriarty, who like Holmes always seems to escape certain death. Like other writers before and after, Meiser takes some of her ‘new’ stories from cases mentioned but not fully presented by Sir Arthur. Her adaptations include “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches” (which she had previously written for an earlier series of shows) and “The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire”, one of my favorite SH tales and very creepy.

The one episode of John Stanley’s second season as Holmes included here, has Ian Martin replacing Shirley in the role of Watson. This story, “The Case of the Unwelcome Ambassador” was written not by Meiser but by Howard Merrill. Merrill, like Meiser who had begun as an actor, went on to work in television, doing scripts mostly for comedy shows such as GET SMART, F TROOP, GILLIGAN’S ISLAND and THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW among others.

In the next installment a couple of British Knights assume the roles of Detective and Doctor.

Marvel "Stridex" Vintage Pack reprints (1994)

Back in the Other Life I used to hang out with lots of fine folks in the comics industry. During that time I had the opportunity to pick up at cons and through other fans some odd things. While going through the boxes of comics I still have I re-discovered some Marvel reprints which I had all but forgotten I had. I know that Debbie David worked on at least one issue as a colorist and I think that Carl Gafford may have had a hand in some as well.

The other day I was trying to catalog some of these books on Comic Collector Live. I found several were in the database listed as “Stridex 1994 reprints”, so I did some Google searching. I discovered that the books were produced by Marvel for distribution by the J.C. Penney chain as the “Marvel Vintage Pack.” One way to recognize them is the Stridex ad that appears on all the back covers.

The reprints are of Marvel titles dating from the early 1950s thru the mid-1970s. There are fifteen books in the set I have (originally sealed in a plastic bag), and I wonder if there were additional issues. I have looked in the Grand Comic Database and eBay, among other resources, and compared some of the original covers to these reprints and they appear exactly the same in every way. Even the ‘price tag’ had not been changed, reflecting the then current price of the title.

Here’s a list of the books I have:

Amazing Fantasy #13; Amazing Spider-Man Special #5 ; Avengers #88 (Harlan Ellison story, pt.1); Captain America #109; Fantastic Four #66 and #67 (Introduction of Him/Warlock); Incredible Hulk #140 (Harlan Ellison story, pt. 2); Sgt. Fury #13 (Captain America & Bucky appearance); Sub-Mariner #8; Thor Special #2; Tomb of Dracula #25; Uncanny X-Men #26 (intro of Banshee) #62 and #63 (Ka-Zar appears); Young Men #25 (on which Debbie is given credit for coloring in an addition to the indicia)

Internally, the advertisements had been changed to current ones promoting commercial products found in mainstream comics of the ‘90s. The one odd exception is YOUNG MEN, which reproduces what appear to be the original ads, but with the Stridex ad on the back cover. Otherwise, even the indicia on the splash page of the issues seem to reflect the original publication information of each book. They all have “Second printing” following the indicia, in different font and all caps.

Anybody know anything else about these books?

As I get time I may review some of these books, just for old times sake.

OTR: Sherlock Holmes with Tom Conway & Nigel Bruce

When Basil Rathbone left the role of Holmes for the New York stage, actor Tom Conway stepped in as replacement. Apparently some people didn’t even realize that Rathbone was gone as many felt that Conway’s voice was so similar. Personally, when you hear Conway as Holmes immediately after listening to the Rathbone episode you notice the difference, but after hearing several shows you see he does capture Rathbone’s style. It also helps that Nigel Bruce continued as Dr. Watson so there was a sense of continuity that might not have been there with two totally different actors.

Conway was already known to the American public as The Falcon, a role he assumed from his brother, George Sanders. Sanders had left that series to take up the part of Simon Templar (The Saint) for another series of films, and perhaps not so coincidentally later Conway played the role of Templar for radio. ( I mentioned some of this earlier when reviewing The Saint OTR collection featuring Vincent Price, Conway’s predecessor as radio’s Templar.) Both the Falcon and Templar were very similar characters, though The Saint was far better known originating in a series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris.

Lead writer Edith Meiser and others continued to both create new stories for the characters and do adaptations of Doyle’s original tales. Several times Meiser & Co. would even bring back Holmes’ nemesis, Professor Moriarty, but not frequently enough that he wore out his welcome. The major problem I had with the writers on the show was that they continued the habit of making Watson seem more a bumbler than the able assistant that he was in Sir Arthur’s books. This seems to have begun with how Nigel Bruce portrayed the good doctor in the films, so the radio scripters simply went with how the public seemed to perceive him.

During the season that Conway played SH, the program did several adaptations including “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”, “The Adventure of Wisteria Lodge” and one of my favorites “The Red-Headed League.” Getting the story along with the intros and commercials into a thirty-minute problem made it necessary for Meiser and her co-writers to pick and choose scenes when adapting from Doyle’s works, but I must say that most come across well enough.

At the end of the ’46-’47 season, it was decided that the cost of producing the series in Hollywood, so that Conway and Bruce could continue with their film work, was becoming prohibitive. When the show returned in the fall of that year, the production had moved back to New York studios and two different actors took up residence at 221-B Baker Street. More on that next time out.

Web Comics: take a chance

If you look over on The Right you'll find that I've added links for two sites where you can find web comics. If you aren't familiar with them, or are looking for something new these are two really good sources.

If you don't already know, Web Comics are comic strips/books/graphic novels which are posted by their creators. These could be on their personal sites or they could be 'hosted' by a group or publisher. Both Drunk Duck and Top Web Comics have links to dozens of different types of comics. They range from humor strips and single panels to graphic novel length story lines which go on for weeks, if not months. They also cover just about every genre you can find in print comics or on newspapers comics pages. There are even some which don't easily fall into a single genre, mixing several or creating something new.

Some of the artists and writers, often one person is credited with both, are barely above what we used to call 'fannish'. It can be crude and amateurish but often the artist shows promise and you can see her/his abilities improving over the course of the story. Other strips are done by people who are highly accomplished, even well known in the industry for other work. I should also be point out that I believe that some names credited with either art or writing may be pen-names for folks not wanting to be recognized.

Drunk Duck, besides the comics themselves, also has games based on some of the titles and tutorials for folks interested in trying their own hand on doing comics online. You might recognize some of the writers & artists you find here, plus several have published trade paperback editions collecting older strips.

Top Web Comics allows you to create your own list of favorite titles you can check each day, plus allows you to vote for each strip. The Top 100 comics are then posted on the main page, giving the creators even more exposure.

Click on over and check out each site, since you'll find comics original to each. You also should be aware that some of the strips have "adult" themes which goes from graphic violence to profanity to nudity & sexual content.

While you are at it you should also check out the newly designed ComicMix site, where you can find other examples of web comics by folks like John Ostrander, Tim Truman, Mark Wheatly and other. (Warning: Somebody I used to know has something to do with the ComicMix site, but I haven't figured out exactly what it is.)

Star Trek: the Manga (TokyoPop)

This is a great way to get Star Trek fans to try something different. You already have several prose series, based on each television incarnation, as well as comic books based on each. With the popularity of Japanese comics (manga) and animation (anime) it was pretty clever of the folks over at TokyoPop, a major publisher of new and translated manga, to try something like this.

This volume of stories, titled SHINSEI SHINSEI, treats us to five stories with different creative teams that show the continuing adventures of the original ST cast. Kirk, McCoy, Spock and the rest of the crew are all in character, although the manga style drawing does not present the cast as we normally picture them. Some of the artists go for a more realistic style, while others use a mixture including the highly exaggerated (with deformed facial features expressing anger, surprise, etc.).

I’m not familiar with any of the artists presented here, but most do a nice job in their interpretations of the Enterprise crew. Gregory Giovanni Johnson, in the second story “Anything But Alone” does the best when it comes to making the characters resemble the actors we are familiar with. EJ Su and Makoto Nakatsuka both have styles we immediately recognize from manga we have read, moving from Nakatsuka’s more realistic to the ‘deformed’ and big-eyed kids of Su in the last story in the book. All the artists do a good job with the action and tell the stories well.

Of the writers, I only know Mike W. Barr from his work on DC titles (like BATMAN & THE OUTSIDERS) and his own creation the MAZE AGENCY, which has been distributed by several independent publishers. All the stories are decent, with the first, SIDE EFFECTS, by Chris Dows & Nakatsuka, introducing a character who just might be the original member of a race which went on to be a major ST menace. (I won’t give it away!)

Overall, if you find this in the graphic novel section of your local library, or are a real ST fan, you might enjoy this book. I wouldn’t mind finding that this is the first in a series of such manga. The TokyoPop folks have also included a 'bonus' with a prose story by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore, taken from a new anthology of ST short-stories STAR TREK: CONSTELLATIONS.

The Boston Red Sox!

Into the post season with the boys from Beantown!
My fingers are crossed, boys!!!

Countdown to Mystery & Adventure: two 1st issues

As if I were not confused enough by the goings on in the main Countdown title, I have decided to check out a couple of tie-ins. These feature characters who took part in “52” and we get to see where they are now.

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Countdown to Mystery (CtM) begins by introducing the likely future DOCTOR FATE to the DCU. Grant V. Nelson is the grandnephew of the original Fate, Kent Nelson. At one time a happily married psychiatrist, an affair with a student ruined his marriage and eventually brought an end to his practice. When we first see him here he is taking part in a ‘bum fight’, eventually getting thrown into a dumpster after being beaten unconscious. Naturally, as happens in stories of this kind, this leads to his being found by the helmet, although he doesn’t fully realize it yet. As with past wearers the helmet speaks to Fate, telling him what he needs to know mystically as he confronts a demonic creature sent to kill him. This doesn’t go over well with the equally demonic rider who was the creature’s master.

Along the way we get to see not only Nelson’s past, but also some of the others who have used or tried to use the helmet since the last Doctor Fate left this mortal world. I’m really thankful to Wikipedia for filling me on what has happened to various incarnations of Fate since I last read his adventures several years ago. With seven issues left to the series I’m not sure how long the story will keep my attention, although it is great to be reading a comic by Steve Gerber again.

The second part of CtM deals with the new incarnation of ECLIPSO, most recently housed in the body of Jean Loring. Jean was the ex-wife of Ray Palmer the Silver Age ATOM. Back in IDENTITY CRISIS, the last DC books I read before picking up COUNTDOWN, Jean murdered Sue Dibney in a convoluted attempt to win Ray back. Sent to prison she discovers a shard from the black diamond in which the spirit of Eclipso was trapped. (Don’t they check these cells in maximum security for mystic devices?) Eventually, the SPECTRE separates Jean from Eclipso and exiles her to space.

I’m still not clear as to what her goals are, but we see her here manipulating Plastic Man, just she uses those same skills on Mary Marvel in the main series. However, as her encounter with Plastic Man continues we are given a flashback in which we find Eclipso still floating in space, where she was last seen, being retrieved by mysterious beings. Waking at some point later, she discovers that she is in the fortress of DARKSEID, he who had forged the original black diamond and now commands Eclipso. I can’t say that I care much for Eclipso and will be picking up this series solely on how much I continue to enjoy Gerber’s section of the book.

While CtM deals with the mystic side of the DCU, COUNTDOWN TO ADVENTURE is also split into two stories about several heroes formerly ‘lost in space’ for a year and gives us some history about FORERUNNER. Buddy Baker is ANIMAL MAN and he is having some serious problems with his powers. Buddy is able to “borrow” the abilities of any animals (from mammals to insects) he is near for a short time. Since returning to Earth at the end of 52, Buddy is having a difficult time with his powers, or using his acquired abilities for more than a few minutes.

Buddy is very happy to be back with his wife and children, but he has brought along former Titan, STARFIRE who is also having problems with her powers. In her case, she no longer seems to have any. While Buddy’s kids seem more than happy to have her as a house guest, Buddy’s wife feels that both of them would be better off going to the Titans and asking for their help. Since Starfire doesn’t want her former teammates to know she is back she and Buddy decide to keep it a secret for as long as possible. We just know that things are only going to get worse for both these heroes.

Meanwhile, the third member of the group now returned is ADAM STRANGE. Adam is now back on his adopted world of Rann. While he was off in space, following events in the Rann-Thanagar War, the good people of Rann decided they might need another hero. Going back to again to Earth they chose a former ‘ultimate fighter’ turned action-movie star as the new protector. It is obvious to Adam that they have made a poor choice, but after witnessing the borderline psychotic behavior of his replacement he decides to retire from the public spotlight. Since this new hero was also the star of the movie that had hired Buddy as a stuntman, you know that the story lines are going to come together at some point.

The back-up story in this issue gives us the origin of Forerunner, or rather the origin of her race. We find that she is actually the descendant of the survivors of eight races left on what was once Earth in an alternate reality. We won’t even try to figure out how eight totally alien races, seemingly very different physically got around certain …ahem, technical problems. We learn that all of this was actually planned millennia ago by the Monitors to create a race that would be their trained assassins. We also discover that when the race doesn’t do what they were created to do the Monitors may had a back-up plan, which involved other specially created beings to wipe out Forerunner’s entire race.
MONARCH, the former Captain Atom, who is having Forerunner train his soldiers, threw in this last part. Since he has his own plans in motion, as we witness with his recruiting of the Crime Syndicate/Society, we really don’t know if she should believe him, but of course she does.

You really should check out the essays over on Wikipedia if you are interested in any of this. I have been spending hours catching up on things that have happened over the past couple of years and am still thrown by events taking place. I’m sure that folks who have been following all these events understand things much clearer. I’m also positive that wiser folks know where all this is going while I’m still lost.

I’m going to keep picking up both these books for the next few issues at least. Try to follow along with me as I do.

Dead Kennedys/ Rawhide

The intro explains just about everything you need to know.

I must have seen "Terror of Tiny Town" dozens of times as a kid.

Yi hardy ha ha!

DC COUNTDOWN #33-30 (with more spoilers than you could ever hope to read)

(Read more about the Syndicate, if you care at all, with the link in the headline above.)

This event is becoming a car wreck, from which I cannot turn away. I’m still interested enough in what is happening to Jimmy Olsen, but have begun to find most of the other characters tedious and worse, not always consistent in the way they act from issue to issue. If you don't want to know about any of this you can skip to some other blog or the links over on The Right.

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Things are looking bad for the heroes of Earth-One in the DCU. Of course, things aren’t going well on some of the alternate worlds either, but it will be interesting to see how many of these survive over the next year or so. Needless, to say I expect a few more deaths (and not just the for no reason except to show what a dark little b**** Mary Marvel has become type) along the way. Hell, I’m expecting whole worlds and universes of death and destruction before the writers of this thing are done.

The hopeless Trickster & Pied Piper go from one situation to another and are frankly becoming a bit tedious. The writers seem to use them to jump for no apparent reason from one scene of chaos to another to showcase characters we don’t know. Again, it would be helpful to at least name new characters as they show up, since they all seem to know each other. A simple, “Ace-Face! What are you doing here?” might be helpful, don’t you think?

It was obvious that things would go from bad to worse for poor Jimmy Olsen when he allowed himself to be taken to Project Cadmus. Then letting yourself be strapped to some device with a name that spells out A.N.U.S. never turns out well. (You can imagine the squeals of laughter around the editorial table when somebody came up with that clever bit, can’t you?) When last seen Jimmy appears to have been split into several entities, with his physical form liquefying and slipping down a drain. This am bad juju!

Donna Troy, Jason (“I’m really not dead”) Todd and Crab-Face Guy are still traveling with Bob the Monitor. The quartet continue to pop up on one alternate Earth after the other only to find there is no reason for them to be there (Ray Palmer having long since left) except to meet with different versions of other DCU characters that we have tried to forget over the past twenty-five years. Here we get a couple of issues full of the Crime Syndicate/Society of America, basically one-note evil versions of the original Justice League. After getting their butts kicked by the CSA and joining forces with that Earth’s version of the Joker, a hero named the Jokester, the foursome plus one jumps on to a world where Jason is the current Batman and General Zod is good and known as Superman. Back on the CSA-Earth, Monarch and Forerunner (now his lieutenant) show up to offer the Syndicate a chance to be really, really evil and join forces with him.

Mary Marvel finally meets the new female Eclipso, who we knew was the unseen voice MM heard issues ago. Mary remains clueless about being manipulated and goes along with Eclipso who offers to be her mentor in nasty whatever. Meanwhile, Holly (the current Catwoman, still trying to find out exactly what the Amazons are up to) and Harley have just jumped into the waters off Paradise Island to swim with blind Great White Sharks as part of some absurd initiation rite. I guess we should be grateful that the T&A shots seem fewer in these three issues. Then again, I may have grown so accustomed to them that I don’t notice any longer.

The books are quick reads and I probably should go back to re-read the series up to this point. I may be missing something or at least figure out why I should continue to care about certain characters at this point. I know that I’m missing some of the story by not reading every single DCU book, but I don’t have the budget or interest to do so. I did pick up a couple of tie-in books this week (Countdown to Mystery & Countdown to Adventure) which I’ll talk about later this week.

Remind me again, why I’m doing this?

OTR: Basil Rathbone is Sherlock Holmes

(The headline above will bring you to a great site from Marcia Jessen on all things Rathbone.)

Probably the actor best known as Holmes for many older Americans is Basil Rathbone. The actor played the role in fourteen films beginning with “The Hound of the Baskervilles” in 1939 for the Fox studios. He co-starred in all of them with Nigel Bruce portraying his friend and colleague, Dr. Watson. While a number of others have played the Great Detective in films, they have all been compared to Rathbone to some extent. It was not until Jeremy Brett began walking the foggy streets of Victorian London in the 1980s that any other actor became so identifiable as Holmes. Although Rathbone was already a well-known screen actor (appearing often as the heavy) it is as Holmes that he will always be remembered.

Considering that he was already known for the character, it should not come as a surprise that he was eventually contracted to play Holmes for radio. Rathbone, again with Bruce playing Watson, brought adaptations of the original stories as well as new ones to the air first for NBC and later for the Mutual Network from late 1939 until 1946, when Rathbone returned to working in the theatre. While in the films Holmes found himself jumping from his familiar Victorian setting to fighting spies & saboteurs in WWII Washington and London, the radio dramas stuck closer to Sir Arthur’s original concept.

Most of these scripts were by actress/writer Edith Meiser, who with a series of assistants including Leslie Charteris (creator of THE SAINT, whom I have written about before) and Anthony Boucher (another well-known mystery writer/editor for whom an award and a mystery convention are named) was head writer on the show for over fifteen years. Meiser, was personally responsible for getting the original radio program brought to the air, even convincing William Gillette to come out of retirement to play Holmes in the premiere broadcast.

Surprisingly, Rathbone only appears in a single broadcast in this collection. It is Meiser’s adaptation of Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans”, which brings Sherlock’s older brother Mycroft to Baker Street to ask for assistance. A nice adventure with spies, mysterious deaths and a young woman hoping to save the reputation of her late fiancé.

I’ll have more to say on Rathbone’s successor on the series and later shows in a few days.

Ghost Riders In The Sky - Vaughn Monroe

I first heard this song performed on the kid show "Boom Town" by the host Rex Trailer. Heard it again this weekend song by Gene Autry in one of the dozens of his films I watched.

It has always given me goosebumps and thought the animation here only adds to that.

Yippie yi oh!

OTR: Sherlock Holmes, pt. 1

I’m going to bore you all for several days over the next week or so with ramblings about the current 20-CD collection of Sherlock Holmes programs I’ve checked out. As with most of the other audio books I’ve reviewed of OTR this is from Radio Spirits.

It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out from my blogging and knowing me a bit to assume that I’m a big fan of Holmes. I was introduced to the character by watching the old Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce films on television as a kid, and then went on to reading somewhat abridged/bowdlerized versions of the stories in junior high. Eventually, somebody bought me a copy of the original stories for either a birthday or Christmas.

Over the years I’ve seen as many of the Holmes films as I could, as well as reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original stories several times over. I haven’t read nearly half the various continuations, homage & pastiches of the canon by numerous authors. Those I have read run the gamut from outstanding to embarrassing. At one point I had almost as many movie adaptations on VHS of “Hound of the Baskervilles” as I had of “A Christmas Carol.” Sadly, all those tapes were tossed or given away during several moves this past decade.

I believe that the first time I heard any of the Holmes tales read was by Rathbone back in a junior high school English class. The teacher would often bring in albums with readings of the poetry or literature we were reading for class. I couldn’t tell you the first time I heard any of the Old Time Radio (OTR) performances, but it was probably in the late 1970s when in college. Several of the NPR stations had OTR shows on the weekends, which turned me on to so many of the shows I’ve reviewed here.

The headline above will take you to main Wikipedia entry on Holmes and from there you can read as much or as little about the various incarnations of the character as you like. I’m not going to pretend to know much, but will throw in a few things primarily from the booklet included in the collection I’m reviewing.

The first performance is one by Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre. It is Welles’ own adaptation of the SH play written by the actor William Gillette. A Shakespearean actor, Gillette became famous portraying the Great Detective on stage and in at least one silent film. If you look at any existing photos of Gillette you can see that he remarkable resembles what most folks think of when reading Doyle’s descriptions. The play makes use of several of the original tales, along with introducing Professor Moriarty, the “Napoleon of Crime” as Holmes called him. Apparently, according to the Radio Spirit booklet, Welles had once seen Gillette and modeled his own Holmes after the older actors’ performance.

Growing up Connecticut a treat for me were the occasional visits my family would take to Gillette’s Castle near the town of Essex. The actor actually had most of a castle shipped across the Atlantic and rebuilt on a hill over looking the river. It was filled with secret passages, hidden spy holes and strange locks that Gillette had installed. It was said that he liked to keep an eye on his visitors without their knowledge. He also had a room designed and furnished to resemble the 221-B Baker Street apartment of Holmes, which visitors to the castle could see from the doorway but could not enter.

The Welles performance is interesting, giving the actor a chance to do several voices as he plays Holmes in disguise in some scenes. Ray Collins, who appeared in Welles’ CITIZEN KANE & THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS played Dr. Watson ; Eustace Wyatt, who appeared alongside Welles in the film JOURNEY INTO FEAR, portrayed Professor Moriarty.

Next time out I’ll talk about the SH episode with one of the actors immediately identified with the character, Basil Rathbone.

LOST TV WESTERNS - Episode: Cowboys Just Shoot Guns For...

In honor of what would have been Gene Autry's 100th birthday, here are some scenes from some of his films, alnog with Roy Rogers and some other western heroes. Just doing what those guys did best!

CBG #1653: just arrived in the mail

I received the latest issue of Comics Buyer’s Guide in the mail the other day. This time around, learning from my past mistake, I skimmed the issue instead of doing my usual front-to-back reading. I felt bad last time out for not noting Peter David’s column on Leah, so figured I would see what I might not get to for a while in casual reading.

The cover and a nice article discuss the up-coming SPIDER-MAN story arc, “One More Day” and “Brand New Day.” This will be the last story done by current writer (and Babylon 5 creator) J. Michael Straczynski. In it Peter Parker will have to make a choice about his future. This choice will save the life of someone he loves, but will totally change almost everything else about his current situation. If you really want to know about this a quick check of any of the comic book fan sites will let you know than you could ever hope. Either choice will not make some fans happy, but it strikes me, as one of those things that a few years down the line will be changed yet again.

Personally, I haven’t read an issue of SPIDER-MAN is probably ten years that I can recall. The last Marvel title I was regularly reading was THUNDERBOLTS, prior to the reboot, which dropped the super-hero team in favor of a storyline about super-powered wrestlers. Needless to say a good jumping off point! Given the fact that I have been more of a DC fan the past twenty years I am only vaguely familiar with what is going on in the Marvel Comics Universe.

Following the SPIDER-MAN article, the Andrew “Captain Comics” Smith talks about other “One More Day” type events and story arcs that were supposed to make drastic changes to a title or whole line of comics. The ones he picks also had to be rescinded or rebooted a year or more later, often making things worse rather then better and still remembered not so fondly by many fans. Do “Heroes Reborn” or “Return of the Heroes” ring a bell? How about the “Crisis on Infinite Earths”?

The rest of CBG is filled with lots of reviews and comics’ news, some of which is dated by the time it sees print, but is generally news to me. With almost all comic publishers having their own websites and the dozens of comics related news sites around you can pretty much keep up with things. For me it’s the reviews and columns talking about new & old comics, which make CBG so much fun.
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On another comics related note, it appears that a “Justice League of America” movie is being fast-tracked for filming in the spring of next year. The only “name” that seems attached is Jessica Biel, who appears to have been chosen to play Wonder Woman. This would then lead to a solo WW feature, from what the various sites indicate. A hat tip to the many fan sites that are using this as an excuse to dig up as many photos of Ms. Biel partially clothed as can be found on the Internet. That’s the kind of thing which makes our hobby so approachable to females and parents, isn’t it?

3d animation short

Just short and cute. I wanted to share.

Enjoy!

Gene Autry: 100 Years in the Saddle

To celebrate Gene Autry's 100th birthday this month, the Encore Westerns Channel will be broadcasting a 100-hour Autry marathon. If you click on the headline above you can swing over to the official Gene Autry website and read the Encore schedule.

As I've said before, I liked Gene but he was fourth in line on my Top Cowboy list. The Lone Ranger will always be #1 (especially in the television and films featuring Clayton Moore behind the mask); Hopalong Cassidy (my first western hero) takes up the second spot, with Roy Rogers easily in the third. Mr. Autry has a firm grip on the #4 spot, which is not a slight in my book.

I watched dozens of Autry's films and his television show as a kid and enjoyed them. Still there was always something about Gene that struck me as being out of place. It was like he had been a shoe salesman who played guitar and somebody said he should try on a cowboy outfit. Gene struck me as being a bit soft for the outdoor life, although from everything I have read he really did love the out of doors and especially the history of the western expansion of this country.

Anyway, thanks for the memories Gene and I'll see you back in the saddle this month.

Daisy Kutter by Kazu Kibuishi

I love westerns so I was curious when this item showed up in the Graphic Novel section a few weeks ago. As good as westerns are, there is something special about westerns with robots.

Daisy Kutter is a former train robber and thief who has tried to settle down. She and former partner Tom are living in the same town, but have grown apart. She’s trying to run a dry good store, but finds life too quiet. Meanwhile, Tom has taken the job as the town’s sheriff and feels Daisy should join him as his deputy. When she is offered a ‘legit’ job, which offers her a chance to use her old skills she decides to accept it, but finds out that she is being set up.

Kibuishi has a nice clean style that appears simple, but can actually show the emotions of his characters. He also has some wonderful action sequences and quiet moments with no dialogue necessary.

The novel is numbered #1 so I’m hoping to see more of Daisy, Tom and some of the other characters Kibuishi introduces.

Recommended.

Things are looking up!

I hesitate to mention the Red Sox here since it seems that whenever I do they go into a slump. I’ve actually begun writing things, waited and found that they blew a game that day and the standings changed yet again.

Anyway, taking a chance, I want to say that I’m happy to see that Boston has clinched a play-off spot this season. I’d be happier if, like the Angels, they had clinched their division but we’ll take what we can here. Sadly, the Damned Yankees appear certain to grab a wild-card slot, but we can always hope for them to fall down once they get there as they have the past few seasons. It also looks as if the Mets will be moving into the post-season as well.

Whoa! Check out the New England Patriots, huh? Sweet!

What's on Anime Network?

(The headline above will link you to the Anime Nework site.)

One of the nice things about having Cox Digital is having the ‘On Demand’ feature. Aside from allowing us to order movies and special events(which we haven’t done yet) there are also channels called “Freezone” and “My Primetime”. The later currently has programs from the ABC & NBC schedules such as the season finales of LAS VEGAS, 30 ROCK and the yet to be broadcast pilot for BIONIC WOMAN. In Freezone you can check out stuff from various cable networks at any time, but of course you never know what you might get on any particular day.

One of the things you can find every day are selections from “Anime Network”. Usually these are single episodes of AN programs currently being shown on the regular channel and website. Each episode is usually available from two weeks to a month, plus they have a show called DVD DOJO that has previews of up-coming programs and DVD releases due in the next month. While it is generally anime, the show will sometimes have clips from live-action Asian films or videos of Japanese bands & singers. Some episodes have included interviews with people involved in anime, here and in Japan.

I usually try to check out first episodes of new shows, since most don’t give you a recap of ‘what has gone before’ and it’s easy to get lost. As you know if you follow anime the shows have continuing storylines and often a half dozen or more characters involved. Still even watching a later show can be fun depending on the kind of program and how complicated the back story.

Another thing to keep is mind is that some of this stuff is for “Older Teens” or a PG-13 rating. Depending on how you feel about some cursing, T&A and really graphic violence, some of these shows might not be your cup of green tea.

I’m not going to review anything right now, but did want to mention a few shows which some of you might want to seek out. Remember that many of these were once manga titles or have since been adapted into that medium.

MEGAMAN, is a cute super-heroish story of a young boy with a robot body, his family and their cyber-dog. Big robots, nasty aliens and evil scientists make for fun episodes.

AIRGEAR is a future Tokyo where gangs of teens wearing “Air Treks”, basically powered inline skates, allowing them to travel along power lines, over rooftops and other places earthbound skaters could only dream of. Nice stories about teens trying to find their place, fit in and go through the usual ‘coming of age’ things but with martial arts thrown in.

COMIC PARTY REVOLUTION continues the story of the original show, about a group of girls (now in college) trying to make it as manga artists & writers. Plenty of in-jokes for manga & anime fans, with cosplay and the like.

RED GARDEN – I just caught the first episode of this show yesterday and have to rewatch it. A rather grim story of girls who attend a private school on Roosevelt Island (in New York City). Something happened to four female students and they have no memories of the previous night. They also find that besides the partial amnesia other things are different. Generally they have little to do with each other in school, but all find themselves drawn to Central Park. There a mysterious woman tells them that they are dead and must earn the right to return to the world of the living. To do this they must hunt down strange beings. Meanwhile, two NYPD detectives are seeking a connection between a series of suicides of young woman over the past several months. They begin to believe that they might in fact not have taken their own lives, but have been murdered. Creepy, but very intriguing.

Brain Boy: just because

I just happened to be thinking about a comic I used to read and collect. It was called Brain Boy and only lasted about a half dozen issues.

Years ago a friend, Joel Thingvall gave me a page of the original art. A few years later I was contacted by the Smithsonian and I donated the page.

That's the scan over on the left and the headline above will bring you to the page noting my donation.

DC Countdown #37-33: We're still reading it!

Things are not going smoothly in the DCU, at least for the characters featured in this series. I’ve got plenty of SPOILERS in this bit so if you haven’t read these issues you should know that I’m going to give lots away.

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Mary Marvel is acting like a real little B**** here, turning violently on Zatanna to whom she had gone to for help. We get plenty of up the skirt shots of MM thanks to the art teams in some of the books, but we should remember that when not powered up she is a young girl. Banished from Zatanna’s home, Mary turns to Klarion, the Witch Boy (an old Kirby creation recently revived by DC) for assistance. We see behind all of this the manipulation of MM by the new female Eclipso.

Sadly, we also see the return of Slade Wilson (Deathstroke), a killer and child molester for whom DC believes we should feel sympathy. At least that was the implication I got from the two-page ‘origin’ of the character in one of the issues. As of #37, the history of the DCU multiverse has ended and in its place are two page origins of various characters who appear major players in the series.

Anyway, Deathstroke plants mini-bombs in the throats of Trickster and the Pied Piper to keep them from giving his plans away, but the two rogues are helped by Wally West (back again as The Flash). Wally and others are seeking to bring the Rogues to justice for the murder of Bart West, so he is not a big fan of Trickster or Piper. Along with Jimmy Olsen, we are following the two former villains as they stumble from one bad situation to another.

Speaking of the Daily Planet’s cub reporter, Jimmy again gets his butt handed to him by some heroes as he tries to prove his worthiness. His powers only show up when he is being threatened by deadly force, which the heroes certainly don’t intend. In the most recent issue (#33) we see Jimmy first shadowed by and then confronted by agents from Project Cadmus (yet another Kirby creation from his Fourth World books) who offer to ‘help’ Olsen with his little problem.

The current Catwoman, Holly Robinson, along with the former Harley Quinn are still living in the ‘women’s shelter’ established by Amazons. Again, thanks to the art teams we get plenty of “A” but no “T”, if you know what I mean, with Holly and other ladies doing back flips and such in short togas. There is dialogue in those panels, but I don’t know who is paying attention. Personally, I get tossed out of the story by this fan-service stuff.

Finally, Donna Troy, Jason Todd, “Bob” the Monitor and the current Atom (Dr. Ryan Choi) are not having a good time of it in their search for the missing Ray Palmer. In fact, the good doctor gets literally snatched up and disappears from the series, his fate left in the hands of his regular writer/artist team in his book. Fan sites report that he will become one of the new Challengers of the Unknown, or will travel with them. As a fan of many of the incarnations of this old DC team I probably should be on the look out for their appearances. Anyway, Jason & Donna are joined by Crabface Guy…um..Kyle Rayner the imitation Green Latrine (if that doesn't prove my continued dislike of the character I don't know what will). It seems that Crabface will be showing his true colors (pardon the expression) and joining the Sinestro Corps as Parallax.

I have to admit that the last few issues haven’t done as much for me as the early issues. Maybe with so much going on, especially outside the Countdown series and in other books, that I’m still pretty confused by events. I’m still curious enough to keep buying the series, but hope that by the half way point some things are explained. And, yes I know that this series will only lead into another! That’s a spoiler I could have done without myself.

The headline will take you over to the official DC site with some more possible spoilers.

Emmy Awards: No big deal, but...

Not much to add to what has already been said all over the blogoverse. Biggest news seems to be the censor jumping on Sally Field's speech. Word is that is was because she used the expression "G*d Damn" and not her possible anti-war comments. Never can tell with network guys being over-zealous, especially at Fox.

There also seemed to be a couple of other really bad edits, at least as they appeared here on the West Coast telecast. Can't recall offhand when they were, but the camera would suddenly show a darkened stage from way up in the rafters for about five to ten seconds, then badly cut back to what was happening on stage. Since folks out here were seeing the show on a three hour delay you would think they could have come up with something less obvious, like a audience shot or freeze frame on somebody standing nearby. The way it it looked it drew attention to the edit, which it really should not in a professional broadcast.

My biggest question would be the choice of Ryan Seacrest. It wasn't that he was bad, but that he himself seemed almost uncomfortable and joked about his being there.

One of the highlights for me, was Brian & Stewie's dance number early on. Thanks for Fox for that, at least.

Classic Hulk Cartoons #01: The Origin of the Hulk

Back when these cartoons wer being shown on local channels I used to rush home from school. One of the TV stations out of Providence had a guy called Max the Mighty dressed up in a super-hero costume to introduce the episodes.

Yeah, the animation was limited, but you can't beat the art by guys like Kirby, Ditko, Heck, Ayers and others.

I don't see it myself!

I have been told that these two guys look alike. Personally....

One of these guys is an award-winning writer who has worked in television, film and authored dozens of books as well as hundreds of comics. The other guy has sold one article to a publication which didn't survive to a second issue.

The lesser known one was actually introduced to some comic books fans as the brother of the better known one. It took two years for that to finally be put to rest.

You can read the thoughts of the famous guy via a link you'll find to the Right, or by clicking on the headline above. He is a writer of stuff, for sure.

For Leah. Thanks, Peter!

In that Other Life, I had the opportunity to meet and befriend some really wonderful folks. I sadly have lost touch with many of them, not totally through faults of their's.

Anyway, when I get each issue of Comics Buyer's Guide I don't skim the whole issue, but read it from cover to cover. This always saves Peter David's BUT I DIGRESS column for one of the last items I see. Due to this I was not aware that Peter had written about Leah Adezio's passing. I also did not know that he had written a SPIDER-MAN story inspired by her.

Since, as I've said, I don't read many new comics anymore I forget just how good a writer Peter is and how he can move me as a reader. Even if I hadn't known Leah I would have been touched by both the story of his last moments with her and the comic story. Leah would have loved the story and I'm sure her sons loved reading it.

Thanks again, Peter!

The Adventures of Batman and Robin... and Jesus (Episode 1)

You have to check this out. This is the first part of a four part story.

The Julian Secret by Gregg Loomis: a review

Here is the latest Joe Bob Briggs review.

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The Julian Secret by Gregg Loomis
Published by Leisure Books
ISBN: 0843956917

Writing the second book in a series can be a difficult proposition. You have to acknowledge returning readers who have already been introduced to the recurring characters and situations, but give enough information to new readers so they are not lost.
I didn’t know that this book was part of a series, but writer Gregg Loomis quickly got us up to speed once the main characters appeared.

Lang Reilly, former CIA agent, works as a highly paid attorney for corporations and individuals. One day he receives a phone call from the daughter of a former colleague Don Huff, who has been murdered, and she feels the local Spanish authorities are not properly looking into the case. Reilly accompanied by his lover Gurt, also a former agent, begin looking into the matter and quickly become the targets of someone who will kill to keep a secret. It seems that they do not want the information that Huff had uncovered for a book he was researching to be revealed.

Something was hidden by a Roman Emperor in a graveyard, something which he thought of as a great joke against the Christians he hated. Centuries later it is unearthed under the Vatican by workers under the direction of Pope Pius XII. At the end of WWII an American army unit kills the crew of a train carrying stolen treasure, while an American officer secretly meets with his German counterpart. Both this former Nazi and the Roman Catholic Church have something to hide. It eventually becomes to clear to Lang & Gurt that the two things may be connected.

Loomis throws in enough information on church history, theology and other such stuff to keep readers who loved the Da Vinci Code more than happy. He also gives Lang and other characters great dialogue, a sense of humor (especially if you love French bashing) and more than enough skills to stay at least a half step ahead of those trying to stop them. Together and separately, Lang & Gurt are a great pair of characters and I’m looking forward to seeing what Loomis may have in store for them next time out. I’m also tempted to look for “The Pegasus Secret”, the book which introduces Lang & Gurt.

Three and a half stars.

Hop-Along Cassidy - Trailer (1935)

This is a trailer for the very first Hopalong Cassidy film. As you can see the name was spelled a bit differently.

I'm sure growing up I must have seen this movie dozens of times, probably edited totally beyond recognition.

Enjoy!

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote: an audibook review

A couple of years ago I mentioned here that I was hoping to begin reading those books which I had long wanted to read but had never gotten to, or to re-read old favorites. Between the ‘professional’ reading I do for my job and the Joe Bob Briggs review stuff I haven’t gotten the chance to do as much of that as I have wanted. A way around this has been to borrow audio adaptations of these books from the Library and listen on the way to and from work. It’s also a great way to sample authors that I have never read to see if I might be interested. If you don’t do this yourself you might give it a try.

Truman Capote’s non-fiction book on the murder of a family in Kansas has been made into two films and is considered one of the classics of ‘true crime’ writing. The original film featured Robert Blake in an intense performance as Perry Smith one of the killers. The story of Capote’s work on the book, assisted by Harper Lee, was also been made into the film CAPOTE, for which actor Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar for his portrayal of the author. As a fan of ‘true crime’ books and television programs I have meant to pick up the book for several years, but have never gotten beyond skimming a few chapters.

In November of 1959, Perry Smith and his fellow ex-con, Richard “Dick” Hickcock drove to a farm outside Holcomb, Kansas owned by Herbert Clutter. There they tied up the four members of the Clutter family: Herbert, his wife Bonnie, and the two of the four Clutter children, Nancy (16 yrs old) & Kenyon (15 yrs old) who were home. Discovering that Mr. Clutter did not have a safe filled with money, as they had suspected, Smith and Hickcock murdered all four of the Clutters, taking what little money they could find and some merchandise they could later sell.

The book is based on Capote’s research and interviews with both killers, detectives involved in the case and dozens of Clutter family friends and surviving relatives. With the help of Lee, Capote was able to write about the history of Herbert Clutter, Smith, Hickcock, their families and the town of Holcomb itself. Aided here by Scott Brick’s reading, the book brings to life the dozens of characters whose very different lives came together on that fateful night.

The adaptation I chose is from Random House Audio. It was an unabridged edition on 12-CDs, which lasted 14 hrs, 25 minutes. Scott Brick, an actor and screenwriter (his adapted screenplay of Arthur C. Clarke’s RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA is scheduled for a 2009 release) who has made a name for himself as an audio book narrator, reads the book. Brick has worked on over 250 audio adaptations and won over thirty awards for his efforts since 2000. It is amazing what a talented reader can bring to a book, rather fiction or non-fiction, as it is her or his performance, which brings the story alive through only their voice. A very good reader, and Brick is one of the best, can make you forget that there is only one person doing everything.

While I’m on the topic, I also want to recommend readings by David McCallum (who you can hear reading books by Anne Perry and Jack Higgins), Joe Mantegna (Jerry Deaver, Mario Puzo and some of Robert Parker’s Spenser novels) and Mary Peiffer (Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone series and others).

Highly recommended. (The link in the headline will take you to the Wikipedia essay on the book)