Opening Day jitters!

Man, can it actually be opening day for the 2008 MLB season?

Caught a bit of the festivities yesterday on ESPN at National Stadium and had the television on today before I went to work. Great watching BASEBALL TONIGHT and yesterday's highlights over and over! As Donna says, at least there will be something to watch from now through October. :-)

Between ESPN and the various other stations we get we should be able to catch a game most nights and on weekends. While it won't always be either the New York Mets (her team) or the Boston Red Sox (my team) we're happy watching just about any two teams out on the field. Usually we can also depend on being able to root against the Damned Yankees or the Annoying Braves a couple times a week, which is always fun.

I see some folks predicting already and a few thinking this might be the Detroit Tigers' year. Worse things have happened and I don't have anything against the team. It's not hard to guess who Donna and I will be cheering for and it will only get ugly (as folks know) if both teams end up in the Series in October.

Had to laugh at the NYY getting rained out on their last opening day in Yankee Stadium. Just about every broadcaster made some comment about it being an omen or something like that. I think Steinbrenner blamed Joe Torre for the delay and is considering asking him back to New York so he can fire him directly. Me, I'm curious to see how both Torre and the Damned Yankees do their first season apart.

I've got to get my Boston cap out of the drawer, dust it off and keep it handy.

So, who you folks cheering on this year?

Four Color Fiend: Lots of Super-heroes & villains

While it is usually the superhero that gets her or his name in the title of the book, it really is the villain that tends to drive the action. Generally the ‘bad guy/gal’ are also more interesting, at least on the surface. A couple of titles feature some interesting super types of the later group.

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SALVATION RUN #5 begins with an attempt by the group led by The Joker to break into Luthor’s settlement and capture supplies. Luthor isn’t very happy, but is more concerned with the device he hopes will return the villains to Earth. Meanwhile, Vandal Savage reveals his plans for a ‘paradise’ on the planet while he waits for a chance to leave. When he tells Lady Flash about his plan she doesn’t seem especially happy, and the scene ends with what may be an off-camera rape. We will have to wait and see where this picks up next issue. The scene goes back to the seeming standoff at the settlement, where we find a not very selfless Cat Woman (who was found lurking by some villainous I don’t know) revealing the disguised Martian Manhunter. The issue ends with Desade (wasn’t he just killed over in another title?) about to release a hoard of Darkseid’s para-demons onto the planet, which appears to have been his intent from the beginning.

Writer by Matthew Sturges does his best with a huge cast, but I had to go to Wikipedia still to figure out who some of the background characters were. It would be interesting to know what original writer Bill Willingham had in store for the book. Artists Sean Chen and Walden Wong do a nice job making all the villains instantly recognizable, even if I don’t know exactly whom they are. I especially appreciate their not doing a lot of T&A posing with many of the female villains, something I have had a problem with in some of the COUNTDOWN issues.

As I’ve mentioned before unlike the Lord Havok mini that reminds us each issue that the story took place at the midway point of COUNTDOWN, it is unclear when exactly SR takes place. I’m going to guess that SR also happens prior to events in the regular DCU books as Luthor and others appear to be taking part in several titles, even as they battle each other here. My biggest disappointment with the series, as I’ve mentioned before, is that both Lex and The Joker will apparently survive.

PROJECT SUPERPOWERS #1 from Dynamite Entertainment (DE) is actually the second issue of a new series, created by Alex Ross. As with most other titles with which the award winning artist/writer has been involved with you can count on the art (even when not done by Ross himself) to be fantastic. We get covers in this series by Alex Ross, with interior art by Doug Klauba and Stephen Sadowski. As art director, Ross picked artists who do their very best to live up to his expectations.

Dynamite has acquired the copyright for dozens of Golden Age heroes that have all but disappeared. In some cases (such as the Black Terror, The Owl and a couple others), they have been used since by various publishers during the Silver Age and later, but never achieved enough success to stick around. The Black Terror (called simply The Terror in some cases) has shown up in such places as Eclipse, AC Comics and Alan Moore’s ABC Comics among others. On the other hand, The Owl was last seen in two campy issues from Gold Key (drawn by longtime LONE RANGER and western title artist, Tom Gill) along with his side-kick Owl Girl in 1966, obviously inspired by the then current BATMAN television show.

In PS, an aging hero, Bruce Carter III (aka The Fighting Yank) is urged by the ghost of one of his ancestors and the flag-draped American Spirit to seek an urn containing the spirits of some of his old comrades. Apparently, having betrayed his one time friends FY must seek to bring them back to battle a menace, and to finally meet his own lethal fate. Along the way he must find another former teammate the Green Lama, who now resides in a hidden city in the mountains of Asia. Despite a short ‘what has gone before’ note on the inside cover, I really think I need to pick up the ‘zero’ issue of the series to understand some of the back-story. I think in this case it might have been a good idea to actually start over with the first issue, since that is where many fans will be picking up book.

While we see most of the action from the viewpoint of Carter & Co. it is the apparently former hero Dynamic Man and his ‘family’ who have a number of secrets (one seemingly revealed in this issue) causing Carter to release those he betrayed. DM appears to see him/itself in a messianic manner that could explain events. I’ll obviously have to wait and see.

Sketches in the issue show about a dozen different Golden Age characters, only a few of which have made their appearance in this issue. Another reason to look for #0 to see who may have shown up there. It will be fun to see what Ross & Company have in store in this first seven-issue arc and where the characters may go once they have been revived. That is if they survive their first mission.

So, what else is on?

Just a few quick comments about what Donna and I have been watching or looking forward to.

JERICHO had it's final episode broadcast this past Tuesday and I'm sorry to see it go. Robert & Jake have made it to the independent republic of Texas, with the last nuclear device. We won't know the final outcome, but certainly would love to see one of the cable channels (SCI-FI, FX, etc.) pick up the show.

LOST is on tonight and we are hoping to find out what happened to Walt. I seem to recall him appearing to one of the primary characters last season, but can't recall to whom. I was sorry to see a couple more cast members killed, and it appears that a few more will not be finding their way off the island. Of course, the show is contracted to last at least two more short-seasons after this, so we should get ready for more flash-forwards & flashbacks as things move along. Anybody else hoping that nobody from the 'rescue team' make if off? Except, maybe Faraday who seems like a nice guy despite some of his actions.

Still trying to figure out who to really dislike in the fourth season of TOP CHEF. I'm not a fan of Dale, Spike or Andrew, with Andrew's attitude last night really making me want to see him tossed. Why antagonize the judges? I also don't think I can take more of Zoi whining! This show is so much better than FOOD NETWORKS similar "Who Wants to be the Next Food Network Star?"

Four Color Fiend: Have we lost Count(down)?

Things appear to be getting worse rather than better in the DCU, at least in the main COUNTDOWN book. I’m guessing we’ll see a few things get even worse in the final five issues leading up to FINAL CRISIS this summer.

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The group we’ve been calling the “Challengers” have arrived on Earth from Apokolyps. They split up, but soon discover that either they are on the wrong Earth or that memory of their existence has been removed. I’m going to assume that this may be an alternate world, as J’onn J’onzz (Martian Manhunter) appears in his previous non-Skrull look, and minus the leather outfit he now wears. Of course, I have noticed other inconsistencies in COUNTDOWN (even between issues) so I don’t really know if the editorial staff lets the artists in on everything. Needless to say, when part of the group shows up at JLA headquarters (which resembles the Hall of Justice from SUPER-FRIENDS, so I know I’m out of touch) looking for aid they are not greeted warmly by the heroes present. SUPERMAN, of all people, seems the biggest butthead by not really giving the visitors much of a chance to explain before attacking them.

Seeking a cure for the possibly fatal wounds of Karate Kid, and for the deadly virus he also carries the entire group (now including Jimmy Olsen, Harley & Holly, Forager and others) decide to contact the Project Cadmus scientists. They arrive there only to be greeted just as warmly as by the Justice League, but are able to explain the situation to Dubbilex. Unfortunately, by this point Karate Kid has died from his wounds, leaving the former Triplicate Girl (now called Una) devastated. When an autopsy is attempted, the virus he contains (called Morticoccus) escapes the enclosure and begins effecting both humans and animals alike. Having been in the body of a 31st century individual the virus has mutated to become immune to anything available in 21st century medicine. Hoping to find a cure somewhere off-planet Green Lantern takes off, but unknowingly carries the virus with him to infect alien worlds.

Most of the action sequences in issues #7 & 6, involve battles between the Challengers and the ‘heroes’ of this world, plus attempts to contain the virus that takes monstrous form when initially released from KK’s body. We get a lot of discussion of the disease and learn a bit more about some of the characters, much of that from via the journal of this world’s Buddy Blank, who appears to be a minor Cadmus functionary and not the former OMAC. He and the grieving Una escape from the Project to seek Buddy’s family, in the hope they have so far survived the plague.
Lots of things are coming together and I expect that we’ll soon witness the introduction of Libra, who is the announced main villain in the upcoming FINAL CRISIS. What, if anything, he has to do with the plague, Darkseid’s plans and the Monitor/Monarch confrontations remain to be seen. In fact, none of those main nasties from this series show up at all in these two issues. There is a lot to be wrapped up in the next five weeks. Then again this Libra may not appear at all, until the first issue of FC, or he has already shown up in a DCU book I'm not reading. It all makes my head hurt, much like time travel!

More comics stuff over the next week as I go over my latest haul. :-)

RIP: Arthur C. Clarke

I was saddened to learn of the passing of SF great, Arthur C. Clarke. Probably best known, by non-fans, for the short story The Sentinel," written in 1948, that formed the basis of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The director worked with Clarke on the movie treatment and the author went on to expand the original work into a novel. The success of that film moved Clarke to write several sequels, with 2010, also being made into a movie.

When I began reading novels as a teenager, Clarke's work and that of his contemporary Robert Heinlein became my introduction to science fiction. For a decade I read just about every book I could get my hands on written by either.

I expect that there will be a lot of obits appearing over the next few days, by fans such as myself and by Clarke's friends & fellow writers. I can't hope to match what they will have to say about the man. (The link in the headline will take you to the Associated Press obit.)

My condolences to his family, friends and millions of fans touched by his works.

Watching The Durango Kid

I was doing the usual channel surfing this past weekend and happened on a couple of westerns that I haven’t seen in a long time. One of the nice things about being a fan of such things is that I can tune into just about any western at any given point and enjoy it almost as if I had been watching it from the beginning. I think part of that is that is sometimes seems as if I have seen about three quarters of whatever happens to be showing and the other is the predictability of so many of the old westerns.

It really is as if there were only about a half dozen plots available, and you just made small changes and then inserted the ‘hero’ to right things. I’m sure somebody has already done this, but I’m often tempted to create a ‘western’ worksheet or guideline that would enable any director to turn out a successful ‘B’ western. (For example: 1) Hero – masked or unmasked? 2) Sidekick – cranky old-timer or chubby comic relief; 3) Villain – obvious outlaw or double-crossing ‘good citizen’)

The movie I caught on Saturday really did fit into this pattern, and of course I loved every minute. AMC presented a few ‘Durango Kid’ films, starring Charles Starrett as the masked hero. Not as well known to modern western fans as the Lone Ranger, DK did have a following in films and naturally in western comics. Starrett had appeared in dozens of other westerns before first donning the black scarf and outfit that would make him a favorite of moviegoers for over a decade. Like Clayton Moore and William Boyd, Starrett became so identified with his character that it was difficult for him to appear in other roles. He retired from acting at the age of 48, shortly after the DK series ended, having invested wisely and becoming wealthy enough to move on.

The first film, which I caught at the mid-point, was the very first film; simply called “The Durango Kid” starred Starrett as the hero, and wasn’t actually intended to become a series at all. This was made in 1940, but it wasn’t until four years later that Columbia decided to bring the character back in “The Return of the Durango Kid” (the second film shown by AMC this weekend) with the idea of a continuing series featuring their most popular western star. Oddly, while the DK outfit remained the same and Starrett was essentially the same character his unmasked identity changed in every movie. After the first few his first name became “Steve” no matter what his surname. While Starrett himself never sang, most of the DK movies featured the Sons of the Pioneers or other western groups as DK’s assistants, along with his designated sidekick.

You may find it interesting to discover that after the first eight DK movies, that featured Dub Taylor as his companion, Gene Autry’s old buddy (rumored to be tempted by higher salary) Smiley Burnette signed on to ride with Starrett. There’s just no loyalty in the Old West it seems.

When I have time I’ll talk about the much darker, “A Time For Killing” with Glenn Ford, George Hamilton (yes, THAT George Hamilton!) and a few surprises.

Four Color Fiend: Marvel's Secret Invasion Saga

(If you don’t care at all about this, you are welcome to skip this entire post. I promise not to be offended.)

SECRET INVASION SAGA (SIS) does little but set up the up coming eight-issue ‘event’ in various Marvel titles, so I’m not going to toss in the usual Spoiler warnings. If you’ve read any of the promotional stuff Marvel has put out or been reading comics related websites & blogs you already know anything I’m going to reveal. The one-shot covers the history of the Skull race interaction with Marvel heroes since their introduction in FANTASTIC FOUR #2 through recent events.

As I have said before I stopped reading most Marvel comics probably about four years ago. There was a two-year gap where I didn’t read any comics at all; except for the occasional TPB from the library, and when I began buying & reading comics again, I started with DC’s COUNTDOWN titles. Right now I have probably have forgotten more about the DCU than I ever knew about the Marvel Universe when I was reading those books. What I do recall is mostly from the 60s & 70s, so my knowledge of the last couple of decades is sketchy and second to third hand.

I don’t think I started picking up FANTASTIC FOUR until the third or fourth issue, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN was my initial introduction to the Marvel titles, and so my first look at the Skrulls was probably in an annual that reprinted that initial story. The idea of a shape-shifting race had been used for years in comics, and even Marvel/Atlas had used that concept in their old fantasy/suspense titles before returning to super-hero books as their bread & butter. Considering that Stan Lee & Jack Kirby ended the threat of a Skrull invasion by having the aliens turn themselves into contented cows I doubt they thought they would be going back to the concept very soon. It was the introduction of the Super-Skrull a few years later that brought that race back and set them up as an on-going threat.

Over the past four + decades the Skrulls, individually and as a race, have shown up as a menace to just about every Marvel hero or group. Whether traveling to Earth to seek out the heroes, or happening upon them in deep space the Skrull/Earth history has been a troubling one. When writer Roy Thomas used them in the Skrull/Kree war he expanded on the history of the race, making them a true cosmic threat, known for their brutal ways. Given their natural ability to turn into a duplicate of anyone or anything it was no surprise that the Skrull race was viewed with justified suspicion.

The premise of SIS is that Skrulls have been impersonating a number of heroes and villains for an uncertain period. When one of these impersonators is killed, reverting to true form at the end, Tony Stark and others begin to wonder if there are more Skrulls in hiding. As CIVIL WAR showed everyone, Stark doesn’t trust anybody (rightly or wrongly, he’s the Bruce Wayne of the Marvel Universe) so he begins secretly gathering information on what is known of the Skrulls in hopes that he can figure out what they may be up to now.

The book is written by John Rhett Thomas with apparently a half-dozen editors listed looking over his shoulder. Maybe one of them should have pointed out how ham-fisted his dialogue was and had him come up with a different concept for the book. Since I can’t write dialogue to save myself (the reason I haven’t attempted to write fiction in close to thirty years) I’m probably the last one who should say anything, but I’d like to think that after reading comics for almost fifty years I can tell the difference between good and bad exposition. This sucks major!

As bad as the dialogue is on the first page, between Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill, the rest of the book is supposed to be Stark’s internal monologue.

“Even Wolverine’s acute senses couldn’t sniff this out, nor Doctor Strange’s magicks”

This from a caption only a couple of pages in, but I think you get the idea. If I caught myself thinking about anything in this fashion I hope I’d have sense enough to ask Donna to help me in getting therapy immediately. Imagine thirty pages of this, sometimes with half a page of illustration covered by Thomas going on and on like this?

Personally, and of course I’m not a highly-paid comics “professional”, I think it would have been better to have Stark take somebody into his confidence so he wouldn’t be ‘thinking’ all this. Then again, considering how bad the first page was with a second character, maybe dialogue isn’t Thomas’ strong suit in any fashion. Another writer perhaps could have made this interesting, considering the artwork used which includes panels and some full-pages by some of the best artists that ever worked at Marvel. Beginning with Kirby from those early FF books to stuff from recent ANNIHILATION series we see how the Skrulls have appeared over the years.

Maybe if the book had been presented as just a ‘fact file’ created by Agent Hill for Stark it would have given us all the information but Thomas’ attempts at humor and pathos wouldn’t have distracted the reader from learning what she or he needs to know. It’s probably fortunate that SIS was a freebie, since I think even fans waiting for this series would have been unhappy paying a few bucks for this.

Four-Color Fiend: Zombies, The Doctor & The Twelve

Just a few comments on some of the non-DC books I picked up last Friday. I’m recommending all these books, so you might want to check them out if they interest you. Not many but there will be a few….

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Marvel Zombies 2 #5 ends the second mini-series about these former heroes turned undead. The ‘evil’ Zombies, led by Giantman discovers that they have been cured of the hunger, which drove them. At this point, they realize what they have done and decide to try to make amends as best they can. Unfortunately, Hulk already enraged doesn’t grasp the change and begins fighting the others in the belief that they are keeping him from feeding. The Hulk puts a final end to several of the zombies, before reverting back to Bruce Banner, and immediately realizes what he has done and may do again. Teaming with the zombified Black Panther and his allies, the remaining heroes begin rebuilding the homes of the last remaining humans. Meanwhile, Malcolm, son of Magneto, still harbors resentment and feels that he should be the rightful ruler of the town’s inhabitants. He double-crosses the heroes, sending them via Reed Richard’s transporter off into some other universe. Not really, a ‘successful conclusion’ but these are zombies after all. Besides, this sets up any possible third mini or one-shots the team of writer Robert Kirkman and artist Sean Phillips may wish to produce at some future date. Considering how well these books and the characters have been received, I don’t think it will be very long at all.

J. Michael Straczynski’s The Twelve #3 (of 12) shows us how some of the revived team members cope or try to in the new age. The tale is primarily being told from the viewpoint of Richard Jones, the former Phantom Reporter, who having left no family behind wonders what he can offer. He is approached by the Daily Bugle, which offers him a chance to return to journalism, although as strictly a columnist. Others, like Captain Wonder and Mister E. discover that life went on without them for their families, but with very different results. Dynamic Man seems to be fitting in quite well and the Black Widow finds that some things cannot be left in the past, while the hero known only as Rockman seems doomed no matter where he may be. A flash-forward in the first issue indicated that even more of these heroes might find an unhappy ending. I’m really enjoying this book, although it is a bit darker than I had thought it would be. The art by Chris Weston (inked by Garry Leach) reminds me more of the art in the Silver Age ‘suspense’ comics from Charlton and ACG than your typical super-hero book. Very moody, but perfect for the story.

Quickly, I want to recommend both DOCTOR WHO titles from IDW. DOCTOR WHO has new stories featuring the Tenth Doctor (actor David Tennant) and his companion, Martha Jones (played by Freema Agyeman). The first issue features a done-in-one tale of the search for the perfect chocolate milkshake and the last survivors of various alien races. Writer Gary Russel does a good job capturing the humor of the character and the sense of justice all the Doctors have shown. The art by Nick Roche may be a bit too cartoony for some folks, but I think it fits the nature of the Russel script. If you know the show, you’ll instantly see that he captures both actors’ likenesses. It was enough to make me want to pick up the next issue, especially with the usual DW teaser in the last couple of pages.

I’ve already picked up three of the first four issues of DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS, since Nuclear was out of the first issue when I began shopping there. (Something to pick up at San Diego, if not before!). This series reprints the stories originally done for the DW Weekly, published in England by Marvel Comics from 1979-1980. Some of the writers and artists involved, like Pat Mills, John Wagner, Dez Skinn, Dave Gibbons and Paul Neary have become very well-known here in the U.S. since then. Even twenty plus years ago you could tell they were doing good work, and it still holds up. The stories of course feature the Fourth Doctor (played brilliantly by Tom Baker), although in #4 an alien creature in one story causes him to revert briefly into his three earlier incarnations (all the actors are recognizable). If my memory serves, some of these were also reprinted in the U.S. DW series from Marvel. This book reminds you how much fun that series is/was and especially how wonderful Baker was back then.

Still COUNTING at DC

While I have a chance, I want talk about some comics I picked up the other day at Nuclear Comics & Skateshop. By the way, NC was voted the “Best Comic Shop” in Orange County in the OC Weekly annual reader’s poll. Congrats to owner Kenny and the great bunch of folks he has working the shop.

I am not going to do regular reviews, so I’ll skip the usual spoilers.

The COUNTDOWN TO FINAL CRISIS series is moving quickly to the end, with only seven issues left to go. Meanwhile, the tie-ins like LORD HAVOK, C. to Adventure & Mystery are also wrapping up their plots, which may or may not have an effect on FINAL CRISIS when that starts this summer. The Lord Havok book takes place in a period when the main story was only about halfway complete, but it is still the best of the spin-off books. As much of a b*stard as Havok may be I’d be curious to read more about the character and his team of villains. In CtA, Adam Strange, Starfire & Animal Man look to be about to return to Earth-One to fight both the Lady Styx plague and the alien ‘healers’ who are engaged in genocide. They appear to be starting with San Diego, so at least the parking for the convention might improve. (Sorry!) We’re still hoping to see Forerunner not survive her storyline, but DC editorial seems to like sociopath killers as ‘heroes’ so I would not be surprised to see her with her own title.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA is my personal favorite current DCU title, as I may have said before. We finally get to see GOG this issue and the “Thy Kingdom Come” storyline continues gaining momentum. The Old Superman is a wonderful character, as was the Superman of Earth-2, another tragic hero who has witnessed the loss of all he loved. Sadly, I’m predicting an unhappy but heroic ending for this Last Son of Krypton as well.

I just read that my second favorite DCU title, SHADOWPACT, will be discontinued in a few issues. I’m going to hazard a guess that knowledge of that may have led to one of the characters actually having what could be called a ‘happy ending’ to his appearances in the book. I can only hope that the rest of this group go off to equally well deserved ends when all things wrap up.

More when I get the chance about my non-DC purchases.

FYI!! I'm sorry

Just wanted to jump in quickly here with some news.

Apparently the City of Orange, at least their computer filter, has labeled Blogger a ‘social networking’ site. Therefore I am unable to access it while on at my workstation. Since I rarely go online at home (as I like to be spending time with my wife) I can’t say how often I’ll be posting at either of my blogs.

I’m considering trying to find someplace else to post a webpage that I can get to on my breaks and at lunch. I’ll keep you informed.

Four-Color Fiend: Keeping Count & Ape-on-Ape violence

We’re going to jump right into this after the usual…

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In the latest issue of Countdown to Final Crisis (#10), just as Holly, Harley & a repowered Mary Marvel have tracked down Granny Goodness somebody takes the old gal out, for what looks to be the final time. Can’t say I’m shedding a tear for Granny but I’m having problems with this whole “death of the New Gods” thing to begin with. It seems the three ladies freed the original Greek gods from the imprisonment of Darkseid and in return, the Olympians have granted powers to both the one-time Catwoman and The Joker’s former partner. Mary Batson has been given absolution (didn’t know non-catholic gods could do that?) and given back her old powers and white outfit. Needless to say, the Old Gods want to have a word with their captor about a few things.

Meanwhile, poor old Pied Piper does a nice imitation of Jesus being tempted by Satan, with the former rogue playing the Christ role to DeSade’s evil tempter. PP is finally freed of the explosive device that had kept him leashed to what was left of Trickster, but I think he is on the brink of madness. I still think he will have something to do with the final resolution of the current story, since he is on Apokolypse along with most of the major players of the series. Jason Todd, Kyle Raynor and Donna Troy, along with Ray Palmer are all planetside as well, when Brother Eye shows up to merge with Darkseid’s kingdom.

I am glad to see that Paul Dini, Justin Gray and the other writers are finally bringing everything together. I also like the Ron Lim art in this issue, which is something I can’t say for some of the other artists who have worked on this series. Just the lack of thrusting T&A is a nice change. I know that we still have two more months of this, but it seems to be coming together and I have hope that things will flow nicely into Final Crisis.

Over in Salvation Run #4, the Joker & Luthor ‘tribes’ seem to be having some internal squabbles. We also see that Catwoman (I’m guessing the Selina Kyle version) is spying on the Martian Manhunter, who using the form of Blockbuster, has been spying on both groups. Why the telepath is unable to detect the presence of the hidden Selina isn’t mentioned or even hinted at by the writer. It did cause me to step outside the story for a second, which is always a bad thing.

While this is going on some of Luthor’s tribe are not too happy having former members of the Suicide Squad among them, possibly because it was the SS who dropped them onto the planet to begin with. The fact that the Squad’s leader, Rick Flag, deceived some members of the team and sent them along doesn’t seem to matter. Luthor, on the other hand, makes a lame speech about how they all have made strange alliances in the past and the important thing is for them to work together to get off the planet. I know I’m probably in the minority in hoping that both Luthor & The Joker don’t make it off the planet at all.

Vandall Savage has talked a small group of female villains to accompany him to the ‘safe zone’ where they can either wait for a way off the planet or just enjoy Vandall’s company, I guess? Wasn’t Vandall going around eating his descendants at one point? Of course, none of these ladies looks to be the motherly type anyway.

The best part of this issue is the fight between Gorilla Grodd and Monsieur Mullah. Grodd has an enormous ego to begin with, so when he is approached by Mullah (an ape with the brain of a human) as an equal he is not happy. His contempt for Mullah’s plan that the two of them, aided by The Brain, join forces causes him to insult Mullah which leads to quite a battle. Gaining the upper hand Grodd uses the device in which The Brain is contained to beat Mullah to death. The final scene is actually moving if you, like I do, have a fondness for these two long-time Doom Patrol enemies. The story gets an unforeseen twist when Joker comes upon the weakened Grodd.

I don’t know how this fits in with the ongoing events in Countdown or the DCU, but I have enjoyed the last couple of issues far more than I would have thought. Since we already know that Darkseid has his hand in all this, I expect that eventually we will see the connection.

Some quick stuff about comics

I'll be heading over to Nuclear Comics this coming Friday, so I'll be playing catch-up with other reviewers. In the meantime, I just had some comments about some books I'm currently reading.

As you can tell from this site I'm a fan of westerns in most forms. I love western themed movies, comics, television programs and even the occasional western novel. It shouldn't be a surprise to find that I finally got around to picking up the current LONE RANGER series being published by Dynamite Entertainment.

Writer Brett Matthews and artist Sergio Cariello begin with the classic 'origin' story of how Texas Rangers John & Dan Reid along with their fellow rangers are ambushed by outlaws. John survives and aided by Tonto (who he knew when he was younger), takes up the masked identity for which he became famous. Matthews introduces us to the Reid and their widower father, when John was only a boy. In this version of the story, the elder Reid was already Ranger and his sons followed in his footsteps. While Dan stayed with his father, the young John was sent off to college, returning years later to rejoin his brother and father on that fateful outing.

I'm jumping in late on this title, so I don't know where Matthew is going to go after the origin tale. I enjoyed the first issue, and will probably pick up at least a couple more to see how this turns out before adding the book to my "pull list" at the shop.

Again, I've only read the first issue but I wanted to recommend the Marvel book, THE TWELVE. Written by J. Michael Straczynski with pencils by Chris Weston, the series tells the story of a group of masked heroes (some super others not) that had been ambushed at the end of WWII and kept frozen until discovered in the 21st century. Awoken by the American military they are offered a deal, under the new laws instituted in the Marvel Universe in the series CIVIL WAR, allowing them to use their powers and abilities if the will work for the government. The heroes used all appear to be third-string or just plain forgotten characters that appeared in various titles published by then Atlas comics. I'll have more to say on this probably after I read the second issue.

I'm still here!

I haven't posted recently, so wanted to quickly throw something in just so you don't forget me.

LOST is very, good this year. Picking up from where it left off last season and throwing us some curves with scenes that could be flashbacks or flashforwards. These hints of the future let us know that there is a group called the Oceanic Six, apparently referencing six survivors who leave the island. I won't give anything away, but the hint last season showed you to of the six. So far we have seen two more and somebody who may be one of those or have gotten off the island before or after. It was a surprise, believe me.

JERICHO will be on tonight and both Donna & I are curious to see how the show's creators will bring some closure. It seems that the show was given a second chance, but has not been picked up for next season. Looks like the show will have to bring in ratings high enough this time around to get picked up.

Star Wars Music Video

This is for The Child!
I'm repeating myself. :-)

Steve Gerber: RIP

I was sorry today to learn of the passing of comics writer, Steve Gerber. According to Newsarama.com Gerber died Sunday from complications due to a battle with pulmonary fibrosis. Gerber was was 60 years old.

He was probably best known for his creation of HOWARD THE DUCK, over at Marvel Comics. Introduced as a minor character in Gerber's Man-Thing series the feathered foul-mouth quickly became a fan favorite. Sadly, Gerber spent years battling Marvel over rights to the character and other creative differences. During his career, Gerber wrote for both DC & Marvel, working on many of the major characters for both companies.

My condolences to his family, friends and the thousands of comic fans who followed his career.

Four-color fiend: Less than a dozen left to Countdown at DC

It looks as if we will be in the midst of FINAL CRISIS when the San Diego Comic Con comes to town. I’m sure some big Marvel Comics event is also going on, but since I’m only reading two current Marvel titles, I’m not going to concern myself with that.

Anyway, with a few of the usual

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Superman-Prime and Monarch go mano-o-mano (or whatever the super powered version of that is) in #13 and you really want each of them to suffer permanent, if not lethal damage. Okay, some lethal damage might not be so bad considering that both are mass murderers a million times over. Neither should get a second chance at redemption nor, to be honest, ever see the four-color page again. Neither has a personality beyond being over-the-top evil and that rises and falls per book.

What’s left of the Challengers are dragging poor Ray Palmer around, and like other reviewers we hope to see him actually do something to deserve all the aggravation folks have gone through to find him. Still not sure what I think of the whole Red Robin outfit that Jason Todd is wearing, but it combines enough of both Batman & Robin’s uniforms to work.

Darkseid starts to take center stage and we see his interaction with the Monitor now known as Solomon. Their cosmic chess game puts things into perspective and I don’t expect Darkseid to play fair, although he has shown some strange moral code previously. Of course, that was more the original Jack Kirby take on the character, and too many lesser creators have monkeyed around with him since.

Issue #12 seems to indicate that the next few issues will have quite a few of the central cast showing up on Apokolips. The Challengers are already there; Jimmy Olsen gets a ‘message’ hinting that he and probably Forager should head there; Granny Goodness is revealed for what she is by Hippolyta and escapes via Boom Tube with Harley, Holly & Mary Batson/ Marvel (still without powers) jumping in after her; poor lost Pied Piper, who is slowly going mad still connected to what is left of Trickster (hint: not very much at this point), finds himself seeing the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, as another Boom Tube opens in the desert.

Only eleven issues of the series left, along with a few tie-in series, until everything supposedly comes together in Final Crisis, this summer. I expect to still be following part of the story by then, but we’ll see how I feel at that point.

Countdown to Adventure #6 starts off with Adam Strange saved from the Lady Styx consumed Champ, by Adam’s wife Alanna. The couple, along with daughter, Aleea, takes the departing Zeta Beam (and don’t those things always turn up at the most convenient moments) to Earth-One. Meanwhile, Starfire (still without her own powers) and Animal Man’s wife, Ellen are hoping to stage a rescue of Buddy who has been taken by the alien “Healers”. Naturally, the Zeta Beam brings Adam & family to the exact spot where their timely appearance ends with Adam joining in the rescue attempt. Things actually seem to take a positive turn with the rescue taking place, but at that point the Healers decide the only way to cleanse the Earth (and by doing that save the Universe) is to destroy the planet which has become increasingly infected by the followers of Lady Styx. It all seems to be coming together with only two issues left to the series.

Sadly, there is also a chapter of the continuing Forerunner story. At this point the mass murderer and former aide to Monarch has captured a ‘space pirate’ vessel, killed the leader and most of his crew. Piloted by those members she allowed to survive, Forerunner’s vessel is surrounded by a fleet of Thanagarian (the race to which Hawkman belongs) ships that are seeking the now-deceased pirate. Swiping a plot from STAR TREK and hundreds of other Sci-Fi stories, Forerunner makes a deal with the Thanagarians to release her if she can defeat their champion in combat. Since it is her story she prevails, takes the champion back to ship to use as her sex slave.

I hate to say this but sometimes I wish the Comics Code was still available.

It’s repugnant enough that DC feels that they can turn a murderer into a ‘star’ character (it wouldn’t be the first time, witness the various attempts to make Deathstroke into a hero), but you do this in a title where the primary story seems aimed at a very different audience. If things turn out the way they should Forerunner will meet the same fate that Monarch and Superman-Prime so richly deserve. Elimination from the DCU.

More on other comics in the next few days.

Sheldon: Movin' picture cowboys & thar' hats

It's been a while since I plugged Dave Kellett's wonderful SHELDON strip. Today's features one of my favorite characters the duck, Arthur.

The scary thing is that if you have seen even a few dozen old B&W westerns you'll recognize all of these!

An apology and an announcement

The first is to the owners of two sites linked over on the right. Apparently when I put in the URL I made some typing errors and they weren't working. I want to apologize for the folks who put those sites together and have corrected the problem. From now on it might be wise to actually try the links before making them permanent. :-)

I have purchased a four-day pass to San Diego for this year. I'm working that Thursday but will be wandering around from Friday through Sunday (7/25-27) for at least part of each day. Donna, who doesn't care at all about comics, will not be coming down and will be spending the weekend with friends back in Orange County. I'll be sharing a room in Hotel Circle with a friend on Friday & Saturday nights, so I hope to hit a few of the evening events.

I'm sure to be mentioning this several times before July, but I'm really looking forward to attending the convention for the first time in a decade.

Four-color Fiend: Catching up on Countdown #15 & 14

Only a baker’s dozen issues to go until FINAL CRISIS and things are beginning to pick up. This is just a quick run down on the main COUNTDOWN series and some tie-in books.

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Superman Prime (SP), who we knew previously as Superboy-Prime, has totally lost it. He has captured the former ‘lead’ Monitor and is trying to make him find the ‘perfect’ Earth that SP remembers. Forerunner shows up, momentarily distracting him and the Monitor tricks SP into believing that Earth 51 was his world. SP flies off to confront Monarch, leaving a vengeful Forerunner with the one being she holds responsible for the destruction of her people.

Things are going badly for just about everyone on E-51, where Monarch’s forces have killed almost all super-powered resistance. Surviving Monitors are trying to put up a fight, but aren’t really trained for these kinds of thing so are not doing too well. While Green Lantern Kyle is protecting Ray Palmer, the original Atom tells Kyle what he discovered on this Earth and what he has been doing the past years. Apparently, Earth –51’s Ray Palmer carried a natural immunity to all diseases, so our Ray has isolated that ability and was trying to spread this throughout the multiverse. It’s obvious that Ray and his discovery will probably figure prominently in the up-coming Final Crisis.

Meanwhile, Donna Troy impersonates the evil Wonder Girl and is able to defeat the Insect Queen, thereby gaining the loyalty of her insectoid troops who she leads into battle. Jason Todd joins forces with the murderous E-51 Batman, donning the costume created for his namesake, becoming Red Robin (hey, I don’t make this stuff up, okay?).

Back on Earth-One the depowered Mary Batson, is taken to Queen Hippolyta, the mother of Wonder Woman. Hippolyta is in hiding and with the assistance of Holly & Harley is trying to overthrow the disguised Granny Goodness. I’m going to guess that MB is going to play a role in the next series as well, but hoping she isn’t the little b**** she has been here. I would have to go back and check, but I think she actually killed some folks along the way and should have to pay penance for that.

Overall the series is picking up again and lots of things are happening. I think the mistake was in trying to keep the storyline going for too long and in too many titles. The ARENA series, in particular was a waste and the events there could have been shoehorned into the main series. Paul Dini and the rest of the writers have their work cut out for them, but still have over a dozen issues to bring things to the point at which FC will kick off. Working with such a huge cast they generally do a good job keeping characters mostly consistent, even if they are not exactly the characters we like.

COUNTDOWN: New Gods 80-page Special #1 – Like the Jimmy Olsen special, this reprints books from the Jack Kirby era when The King was introducing his Fourth World concepts. Here we get the first issues of the FOREVER PEOPLE & MISTER MIRACLE, plus NEW GODS #7. These show Superman’s discovery of Supertown (which he visited in the Jimmy Olsen tales); we learn of Mother Box; are introduced to Scott Free as he takes up the mantle of the World’s Greatest Escape Artist; and learn the details of The Pact that ties so much of the books together. All this stuff has been reprinted before and you can reread the entire Kirby epic in the Fourth World Omnibus books DC is now publishing. It’s still nice to sit down and remember how wonderful it all was as we all discovered this for the first time.

COUNTDOWN PRESENTS: Lord Havok & the Extremists #4 – We witness some horrendous attacks and Doctor Diehard decides it may be time to take action against Havok. It is also revealed that President AmeriCommando has made a deal with Monarch, and we all know that that won’t work out in the end. Writer Frank Tieri continues to make this all very interesting, even though this tale takes place early in the Countdown continuity, so we already know some of what is going to happen before it ends. I think things are really going to hit the fan next issue as Havok looses control over his followers.

More comics stuff in a couple of days.

Popcorn for One: CLOVERFIELD

OMG!! I have seen THE best monster I have seen in years. If you like stuff like this you have to take my word for it and spend part of an afternoon being taken for a great ride.

Is this the greatest Giant Monster movie ever made? Well, I suppose depending on how you feel about that kind of thing you could make an argument that it just might be. I do not know if it is going to become a ‘classic’ like the original GODZILLA film, but it may be too soon to tell. From this point on however, I think any film of this type, especially American films in the genre, are going to be compared to what J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves & Co. have produced.

If you have been reading or viewing any of the stuff that I have linked to here, already I don’t think I’m going to reveal anything you don’t already know. However, and just to play fair I’m going to insert for your benefit:

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Rob Hawkins (played by Michael Stahl-David) has accepted a job in Japan. His brother Jason (Grounded For Life’s Mike Vogel) is throwing him a farewell party and has entrusted a friend Hud (T.J. Miller recently in the sitcom ‘Carpoolers’) to videotape the whole thing. Unknown to Rob & Hud the camera they are using contains video of a day that Jason and their long-time friend Beth (Odette Yustman) spent together, revealing that their relationship had grown beyond friendship. Occasionally, when Hud or someone else pauses the tape, we see what remains of Rob & Beth’s day in Coney Island. I think this is wise, since it adds to our sympathy for both and makes it easier to understand Rob’s motivations later.

During the party, Rob has an argument with Beth, causing her to leave and him to start brooding. Initially the party is disrupted by what many think is an earthquake. Going to the apartment roof, they witness a huge explosion in the mid-town area, followed by a shower of debris, causing them to run down into the street. From that point (about twenty minutes in) the action does not let up for most of the rest of the movie.

Rob, Jason, and Hud along with Jason’s girlfriend Lily (Jessica Lucas) and a party attendee Marlena (Lizzy Caplan), on whom Hud has developed a crush, join thousands of New Yorkers trying to flee the city. They have seen something huge amidst the destruction and even the few news reports they see on various televisions cannot completely reveal what it is. Armed troops are going about the city and it obviously is not safe to remain so the group makes its way to the Brooklyn Bridge as an escape route. While on the bridge Rob gets a phone call from Beth revealing that she has been injured and asking for his help. At this point, other things start to happen, making it unsafe to continue to another borough.

When one of the group is killed the rest try to convince Rob that returning for Beth would be a mistake. The situation continues to change, and we get to see more of the main creature and things, which are apparently parasites, shed from it as it continues to rampage. All of this causes three of them to join Rob in his mission back uptown. Naturally, things go from horrible to down right insane as the military announces that Manhattan may be beyond saving and a ‘final solution’ for the situation may be necessary.

I could probably go on for a half dozen more paragraphs breaking down the movie, but I don’t want to completely ruin all the surprises. Reviews seem mixed, if generally positive, and I think the more negative ones are from reviewers who don’t like anything but melodramas set in Edwardian England. All reviewers no matter if pro or con mention the camera technique, or rather apparent lack thereof, which bothers some folks. I found it amusing that the ticket booth for the theatre where I saw the movie had posted ‘warnings’ that some people might be sensitive to the jarring camera work, even causing motion sickness in some. Personally, I didn’t have that problem, but saw at least three people leave the theatre between a third and half way through, one saying something to the people she was with before getting up.

Some folks are complaining about the ending of the film, but it seems to me that it allows a sequel. Then again, you could let it end in the way it did and the movie would still be good for what it is. Scary, exciting, with likable characters you care about and small touches of humor to keep it from becoming a total downer.

Finally, the fanboy sites seem to agree that this SHOULD have been how the American GODZILLA movie was done. If you see the movie and remember GINO (Godzilla In Name Only, as it has become known) you’ll know what they and me for that matter mean when they say that.

Four stars.
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As most of you know, I like to get to the theatre early enough to catch the previews. Of course, nowadays most movie chains have some kind of pre-movie program that tosses in promos for movies, television shows and a good half dozen commercials for different products. What I enjoy are the actual theatrical trailers, or what we used to call “Coming Attractions” when I was a kid.

There were at least eight, but I’ll only mention those that I remember.

The trailers for HELLBOY 2, IRON MAN & the teaser for the up-coming new STAR TREK all made me want to see the films. The last because I’m a long-time ST fan and have seen all the previous ones at least once. Using the Black Sabbath song ‘Iron Man’ was an easy choice for that trailer, but it so absolutely nails the feeling of what you see. In addition, hearing Leonard Nimoy do the first line from the famous ST opening sent chills.

JUMPER looks like a teen romance with good SFX & Samuel L. Jackson as the heavy. No interest on my part and I didn’t hear anybody reacting as I had with the three other movies. Finally, 10,000 BC looks like they borrowed CGI from Animal Planet’s dinosaur documentaries and the plot from The Rock’s SCORPION KING. Can we say ‘direct to DVD’ within a week, kids?
I got nothing else!

Village Voice CLOVERFIELD REVIEW!

I forget sometimes how much I miss picking up the VILLAGE VOICE every week. I started reading VV, while living in Westport, CT, which was pretty much a bedroom community for richer folks who worked in The City. How the hell I ended up not only working but living there is a long story that you'll have to ask me about over a beer some day.

Anyway, I was curious about what various reviewers besides Ebert were saying about the movie and all but forgot to check out the Voice until I saw it linked over at Rotten Tomatoes. If this isn't a great review than I've never read one, and it is soooooo Village Voice!

Will CLOVERFIELD Be Worth The Hype?

If you don't care about the movie CLOVERFIELD and/or have no plans to see it, you might just want to ignore this.

I have to admit that I'm one of those Kaiju (basically Japanese Big Monster) fans who has bought into the hype for this movie. I've read reviews and spent hours the past week visiting just about every website (official and not) associated with it. This Friday, since I'm scheduled off, I plan on seeing it at the Kaleidoscope Mall theatre in Mission Viejo. I can't recall the last time I was this curious about a movie, especially a 'horror/sf' flick.

If you go over to the IGN site you'll find links to all kinds of stuff. The folks at Bad Robot and Paramount have created a number of 'bogus' sites over the past months where you can see a lot of back story that is not even mentioned in the film. There are video news reports (supposedly from American & European stations) in at least three different languages that report the destruction of an ocean platform. You can find a site for the Japanese drink SLUSHO! and learn about the mysterious source of this fine beverage. In the movie, the lead character has been hired by this firm and the incidents portrayed happen on the night of his 'farewell' party.

In Japan there is a manga prequel being published, some of which you can find online if you search long enough. Hasbro will be coming out with a Cloverfield monster model for around a hundred dollars later this year, but has not released a photo so as not to ruin things. There is already talk by the producers of a sequel and all types of rumors are flying about tie-ins and related products.

I'll let you all know what I think this coming Saturday. I just hope that I'm not disappointed.

(Spoiler: This is one of the film's posters. Look into the clouds to the right of the Statue of Liberty. Is that it?)

Quick update: Just read the Roger Ebert reviw and he gives it 3 stars. Guess that would be a qualified Thumbs Up if he was in the balconey. The review itself is mostly favorable, mentioning as everyone does that the shaky camera work does bother some folks. Only problem I had was that he seems to give away a bit too much of the ending in his very first paragraph. That's a tad sloppy for somebody like Ebert, don't you think?

Four-Color Fiend: Batman - City of Crime TPB

This book reprints the story arc “City of Crime” (CoC) that originally appeared in DETECTIVE COMICS back in 2005-2006. (The headline above will take you to the Wikipedia entry on all things Dave Lapham.)

I had the pleasure to meet David Lapham for the first time back at Comicfest ’93. He was then doing work for Jim Shooter’s Defiant comics, having followed Shooter over from his previous publishing stint at Valiant. David was very enthusiastic and even then you could tell he was a very talented kid with a lot of potential. You never would have guessed talking to him that his career would take off when he stopped doing super-hero stuff and created the very dark STRAY BULLETS (SB) series. Since then he has acquired several industry awards and a solid fan base, both for his writing and work as an artist.

The disturbing elements he brought to SB fit quite well into the Gotham City in which Batman currently resides. Of course, since its inception Gotham has always been the dark twin of Superman’s Metropolis. Probably natural, since the artists and writers who shaped the early versions of both towns based them on the very real New York City, where they worked and many had been raised. If you have spent time in the Big Apple you know all too well that the same bright sunny boulevards of the workday can turn pretty dark and lonely when all those office workers leave for the outer boroughs. I wouldn’t be the first to point out that the neon lights of that city cast pretty dark shadows into which you don’t want to look too carefully.

Lapham’s Dark Knight makes the one Frank Miller brought us seem like Adam West portrayed him. The Batman I grew up with, although he was the World’s Greatest Detective, had a lighter side that the current incarnation seems never to have had. In fact, there are moments in CoC, especially those involving Robin where I was reminded of Rick Veitch’s creepy super-hero satire BRAT PACK. This isn’t necessarily all bad, since Lapham, like Veitch, uses his characters to reveal things about the folks on the four-color page as well as the readers who love them.

There are a series of brutal deaths, many involving pregnant teens and children, which eventually come to the attention of Bruce Wayne. A chance encounter with a young girl, the daughter of an acquaintance of Wayne’s, causes him to put on the cape & cowl when she is found murdered. Initially it seems that her death may be connected to the disappearance of another young girl, whose mother has become a bit of a media celebrity when she comes forth to demand action. As Batman investigates he soon learns that a group called The Body may be the cause of more than a few deaths. Soon two of the Caped Crusader’s well-known enemies, The Penguin and Mister Freeze turn out to have connections with this new group of villains. Things begin unraveling as it becomes apparent that The Body has a much grander goal in mind than making a profit off of the selling of unwanted infants. The wealthy and powerful of Gotham have long ago sold their morals (if not their souls) for what they desire and are more than willing to turn a blind eye to what keeps them where they are.

The story has a mix of super-heroics, police procedural and more than a touch of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” as the plot progresses. Even Batman finds himself questioning whether what he does can make a difference and if the citizens of Gotham even care. Of course, in the end Bruce does what he must to save those he has vowed to protect even if they are ungrateful for that aid when it comes. Unfortunately, for many it comes too late to do any good.

Dave Lapham wrote the story and provided the layouts. The final art was by penciller Ramon Bachs and inker Nathan Massengil, both of whom do a good job bringing an air of menace to the whole thing. Boy, their interpretation of The Penguin sure ain’t Burgess Meredith!

I highly recommend this book, but warn you that some of the stuff is disturbing and not for younger readers. I also want to warn you ahead of time, but with no Spoilers, that the ending may not be what you want or like. Heck, even I was creeped out by some of this stuff. Four stars.

Four-Color Fiend: Counting Down with Jimmy Olsen & The Atom

Just playing catch-up with some of the latest DC books, as of last week.
As needed we’ll put down some…

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COUNTDOWN #17 picks up right from the last page of #18 where we discovered that Bob the Monitor had used the Challengers (Jason Todd, Donna Troy & Kyle Gaynor) to help him find Ray Palmer (the original Silver Age Atom), only to kill him. We have a battle where Bob kills a number of Earth-51 versions of DC superheroes, currently in their civilian identities. If you remember in the previous issue it was shown that the heroes of this Earth had defeated all of the super-villains so had retired from the dual identity field. Only Bruce Wayne/Batman continued to remain active. We also learn in #16 that this Batman has not renounced the use of deadly force if he finds it necessary. In fact, it looks like Jason Todd may learn this personally in #15 unless something happens pretty quickly.
At the end of #17 Monarch and his minions arrive to begin killing off any super or non-super resistance they encounter. By #16 most of the Monitors (who have begun showing more and more individual traits) have joined with the surviving heroes to battle the invasion. Both sides give no quarter and we see various versions of DC characters fighting, including a ‘dark’ Donna Troy still dressed in her original Wonder Girl outfit. I’m not sure but I think the Earth-51 Zatanna is killed, simply because she gained weight after taking off the net stockings & heels.

Meanwhile, back on Earth-1, Jimmy Olsen is back and sharing his apartment with the female Forager, who looks pretty humanoid coming out of the shower. Seems to be only the upper portion of her face, a bit of carapace and antenna reflect her insectoid origin. Fortunately, the human parts are mostly covered by steam, towel or shadow since we really aren’t interested in how well the art team of Pete Woods, Tom Derenick & Wayne Faucher portrays pink-skinned females.

Issue #17 brings us a slightly different version of the fight between Eclipso and Mary Marvel that we saw in Countdown to Mystery (that I reviewed last time). It seems from this view that point both characters aren’t as chilly and Earth’s atmosphere has taken them down a cup-size or three. Whereas in CtM we learn that the Eclipso entity leaves Jean Loring (as she sinks beneath the waves and is approached by sharks), here we find that dark Mary (who renounced her powers at the last moment to defeat Eclipso) has washed up on the shores of Themyscira. In Mary’s final scene she is confronted by two not very pleased Amazons.

The books aren’t quite train-wrecks but it does seem like things are going at a pace designed just to drag it out for another dozen plus issues. Sadly, I have so much time and money invested at this point that I couldn’t bring myself to give it up.

Countdown Special: Jimmy Olsen 80-page Giant – This book reprints three issues of the old Jimmy Olsen book from when it was written and drawn by Jack Kirby. These issues (Superman’s Pal…Jimmy Olsen #136, 147 & 148) feature encounters with Project Cadmus, the DNAlien, the Newsboy Legion clones and various other Fourth World elements introduced by Kirby into the Superman titles and later the DCU as a whole. Since much of this stuff plays a major part in the current Countdown series it’s probably helpful for new readers and as a refresher for we Old Farts of Fandom who may have forgotten how unique and wonderful it all was at the time. Even if you aren’t picking up the any other Countdown titles (and I don’t know any reason at this point why you would) this is one-shot is fun.

Countdown Special: The Atom 80-page Giant #1 & 2 - As with the J.O. book, these specials reprint past stories which explain some background or at least remind you of why we once cared about these characters. Here we have four stories (originally appearing in Super-Team Family #11-14) written by Gerry Conway that show Ray Palmer’s search for his missing wife Jean Loring, with the aid of his Justice League pals. This was of course before Jean & Ray split and she ended up killing Sue Dibny, so you might find yourself having a bit more sympathy for her here. These stories are typical mid-1970s stuff and typical Conway, who does have his fans they are a nice reminder of the era.

Still have a few books unread that I'll get to ASAP.

WINKY DINK and YOU KIDS TV 28 minutes 1954

My sister Pam and I used to fight over whose turn it was to use the Winky Dink window.

Does the voice of Winky sound familiar?

Four Color Quickie!

I am going to try to give brief comments on the books I picked up on Sunday at Nuclear Comics. If something really catches my eye I'll do something a bit longer.

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In COUNTDOWN Presents Lord Havok & the Extremists #3, we get to see the origin of Tracer. I don't recall much about the character but here he is an Army deserter caught and then experimented on by the government. He gets one of those Weapon Alpha/Wolverine make-overs with claws, healing factor, etc. On one mission he is about to be 'deacativated' by the government, when a mysterious someone in armor (Lord Havok?) saves him and removes an implanted device which would have ended his life. In the final few pages he is ambushed by members of Monarch's super-hero/villain task force and apparently killed. Who knows?

Apparently this is Monarch teaching a lesson to anyone who will not join or bow to him. I expect Lord Havok not to be too happy about all this. The origin of Tracer is said in a footnote to have taken place between COUNTDOWN #29 & 28, but I'm not sure at what point this final scene occurs. To be honest the story is a bit disjointed, probably the poorest issue of this spin off series. Writer Frank Tieri seems to have rushed through this, more intent on giving artist Mark Robinson violent things to draw rather than tell a decent story.

To be honest, I'm only half way through COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #4. An online review tells me that it ties into COUNTDOWN #17, which I haven't read yet. Of course, I didn't know that before I began reading the story.

The opening splash has the female Eclipso using her power to grow Double Ds. I mean I don't recall her being like that in other appearances. We kind of see down her blouse, but that's nothing compared to the 'up the skirt' shot (Who knew that Dark Mary Marvel wore a thong?) in panel one of page 2. It also seems that DMM has used the same bra-straining superpower and we also find out that it really is pretty cold in space, if you know what I mean (and I think you do).

I may have more to say about the story by Matthew Sturges later, but the fan-service stuff by artist Stephen Jorges Segovia so called attention to itself that I had to say something.

Are there any women at DC editorial? Does this offend anybody else? Hell, I'm a guy and it bothers me!!!

More as time permits later this week.

What Comics I'm Reading

I was over on Comic Collector Live yesterday updating and checking out the forums. I'm using their software to catalog my books and generally throw in my two cents when I can.

Anyway, one of the threads in the Forums was about what folks are currently reading and their Top Ten picks. Since there are only about a dozen titles that I'm buying at all on a regular basis it was pretty easy to chose ten. It did however remind me that I haven't mentioned comics here in the past couple of weeks. I expect to be hitting Nuclear Comics tomorrow to see what Ken has pulled for me, so I thought I'd just quickly mentioned some of the books on that list.

1) Usagi Yojimbo - Stan Sakai's samurai series, which just happens to feature 'funny animals' in place of feudal Japanese warriors. This book is always recommended.

2) Shadowpact - the DCU series about magical heroes, who haven't crossed the line to Vertigo yet. You can't go wrong with talking chimps!

3) Justice Society of America - probably THE best comic currently being published by DC, at least from what I have seen. Back when I was really into comics the previous incarnation of this book JSA, was a favorite. Looks like Geoff Johns and Alex Ross are doing a story arc that features the SUPERMAN from the KINGDOM COME series on this Earth. Dale Eaglesham and Ruy Jose do a wonderful job with the interior art, with some amazing Alex Ross covers to just about make the books perfect. Highly recommended!

4) Bat Lash - Sergio Aragones, best known for his creation GROO THE WANDERER and the marginal drawings he does for MAD magazine, returns to a western character he co-created a couple of decades ago. Aided by western writer Peter Brandvold and Silver Age artist John Severin, Sergio brings us a six-issue mini retelling the origin of Bat and what set him out on the trail. If you like westerns or just well done non-superhero stuff, I advise you to give the book a try.

5) Groo: Hell on Earth - Sergio Aragones again along with Mark Evanier (doing whatever it is he does). A fun comic with an underlying message about ecology, politics and why nothing ever gets done about either.

Since I find myself still a tad confused with COUNTDOWN and other DCU titles, even after reading INFINITE CRISIS & THE OMAC PROJECT, it seemed the best thing to do was to pick up the TPB collections of 52. I can see why fans were enjoying the book, even with just the first volume read.

Probably more on this sort of stuff on Saturday, if I get the chance.

What I'm Reading

Felt it was about time I posted here, since I haven't since the beginning of the New Year.

I may have something on comics I'll be posting later tonight or tomorrow, depending on how much free time I get here on the Reference Desk. Mostly catching up on comics I've read the past couple of weeks, but haven't gotten around to talking about here.

I have decided to take a short break from reading the books I've been sent by the Joe Bob Briggs folks, since they have not posted a review for almost a year now. They have over a half dozen or more of my reviews 'in house' so I don't think holding off for a month is going to effect anything. John over at the site acknowledges the reviews, but all he can do is send them along to the web master. The books I have left are all copyright 2006, so there's nothing that has to get out ASAP.

The first book I'm reading is a collection of pieces by Jack Cafferty, "It's Getting Ugly Out There!" Some of you may be familiar with him from his daily "Cafferty File" segments on CNN's The Situation Room. Personally, I first encounted the man when he anchored first the Fox Channel 5 nightly news and then WB Channel 11 evening news in New York. Hard to believe the guy who uses the term the '"F" Network' used to work for those fine folks. Then again, maybe not, since he is familiar with how they operate. I'll probably have more to say on this over at PARTING SHOTS when I'm finished.

I'm also going through one of those periods where I'm listening to or reading 'classic' books, either for the first time or again to see if I feel differently about them. I started with a couple of Jack Higgins novels, featuring former IRA member, Sean Dillon who currently works 'black ops' for the British Prime Minister. Higgins is a master at this stuff, after writing over sixty novels. One of the books, BAD COMPANY, was narrated by Patrick MacNee, who always does a wonderful job on these audio adaptations.

As the cover repro above indicates, I'm currently listening to THE ILIAD. This was translated and performed by Stanley Lombardo, with chapter synopses by Susan Sarandon. It had to have been in junior high when I read one of those versions of Homer's classic edited for kids. I was probably inspired by seeing Kirk Douglas in ULYSSES on television one day. I know I read both this and THE ODYSSEY at some point in high school, since I owned both in paperback before I went into the Navy in '69. I also think it's one of the reasons I preferred the Norse gods over the Greeks, as the immortals in Asgard never seemed as petty or whiny as those on Olympus. I'm really enjoying the work and it makes the drive home go pretty quickly.

Four Color Fiend: some good and bad

I’m not going to go into great detail about some of the recent comics I’ve read, but did have a few comments.

I don’t think I’ll be giving anything away, but just in case….

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The main COUNTDOWN series continues to range from two to three stars on my scale. I’m a bit upset that one character I generally like seems to be dead, which I guess I didn’t really think would happen. Of course, the ways things are in the current DCU just about any character (except sadly Joker & Lex Luthor, at least the Earth-One versions) seem to be fair game. Poor Jimmy Olsen continues to have a really hard time on Apokolips; Holly & Harley are still on Themyscira, home of the Amazons, going through training which we learn will lead to being picked as the newest Female Fury for Granny Goodness (in the guise of Athena); meanwhile, we are apparently supposed to feel some sympathy for Mary Marvel, despite her being such a b**** since gaining power from Black Adam.

In related tie-in books:

In the “Search for Ray Palmer” series the ‘Challengers’ are going from one former Elseworld Earth to another. This is my favorite of the tie-in books and hint that some of the alternate DCU characters may have an impact in the upcoming FINAL CRISIS. The “Gotham by Gaslight” Earth brings us not only an alternate Batman, but also a new Blue Beetle whom I anticipate seeing again. Jason seems oddly taken by this world and I wonder if it hints at something in the future. The ‘Red Son’ Earth, with a Communist Superman was rather grim, but I think he will also be appearing in FC, if not before. The four Challengers continue to bicker, but a reason for that is revealed in one of the books.

The series centering on Lord Havok and his team is revealing more about each of the other members. Not being that familiar with their past appearances I don’t know if it changes things revealed earlier. I did find myself beginning to feel sympathy for Gorgon that I didn’t have before. It will be interesting to see how this story develops and finally moves back into the main series.

Finally, I missed the first issue of ARENA, but picked up the second and wasn’t overly impressed. Alternate versions of DCU characters are introduced, some I believe for the first time, and then killed off within a few pages or even panels. It seems a waste, especially with a very likable Blue Beetle who I think could have had potential beyond five pages. Also, as I have said in some forum posts, I’m disturbed by the portrayal of Monarch in this book. While he isn’t likable in the main series, here he seems totally psychotic and brutal to an extreme. It doesn’t seem to me that this could possibly be the person who was once Captain Atom, unless it is eventually revealed (as was the case with Hal Jordan) that there is something/body manipulating him. I may pick up one more issue of this and then drop it, as I doubt that anything of major importance will be revealed here.

I’m not really sure where SALVATION RUN falls into DCU continuity, or into the COUNTDOWN storyline. It appears that characters that are condemned to confinement on this alien planet are also appearing simultaneously in various other books. I’m not reading any SUPERMAN titles, but I doubt if Lex has been written out for the next six months. It’s likely that this will be one of those things explained in footnotes to have occurred between one issue and another of on-going titles. We all remember the original SECRET WARS, of course!

I wasn’t really sure how I felt about the first issue of SR, but found the second issue to have really turned brutal. This was even before the appearance of The Joker, who quickly shows how scary he can be even to other villains. There are now at least two second-rate villains who we won’t be seeing in the future.

After reading VILLAINS UNITED, I was actually willing to give the character Deadshot some points by the end of that series I wasn’t so sure. He was back to being a full-time jerk in COUNTDOWN as he hunted down various villains and shooting one that I liked, as I said. Still I don’t know that I’m comfortable with the Rick Flag tricking Deadshot, and a couple of other Suicide Squad members, into a Boom Tube for transport to the SR planet. I mean Flag is supposed to be one of the good guys, isn’t he?

Nothing to fear but FEARNET itself!

You would think that during the holiday season I would shy away from gore & bloodshed, but you’d be wrong wouldn’t you? Donna had to work on Monday morning, so what better time to get my bit of holiday horror?

Naturally, having FearNet ‘On Demand’ from Cox makes things like that pretty darn easy. I debated watching one of the longer movies, but figured that I’d catch some of the trailers and short films that they have instead. Of the half dozen I watched there are a few I wanted to mention, if not recommend.

The Deadening: What happens after a zombie has bitten you? How do you spend the next few hours waiting for the inevitable change? There are some amusing moments, but also a sense of sadness as the victim realizes what will be happening to him.

Damnation: I can only recommend this if you really want to be creeped out and shocked. A doctor becomes infected by a disease and allows his knowledge to push him into madness. As things grow worse and more depraved his son becomes witness. How will this in turn damn him? I put this up there with ERASERHEAD and HENRY: Portrait of a Serial Killer as films I could do without ever watching again.

Antebody: Seems to be a straightforward police procedural but quickly turns into something different. When a body is discovered and identified, a man and wife find their lives changed. Can you escape your fate?

The Butcher: Your typical serial killer/girl in peril short, that goes by the numbers, including the ‘shock’ ending. The gore is over the top but nothing else to recommend it. This was probably the most disappointing of the shorts I’ve seen so far.

There were a couple of others the names of which I can’t recall. One short deals with two hit men who discover the young boy they are hired to kill is more than he seems. Another about how you might not want to catch one of those cute little fairies after all. There were also a few that were felt like they were from student film makers trying to do a ‘horror’ movie as their end of term project. If you remember the show PROJECT BLUE LIGHT you’ll know what I mean.

Joe Bob Book Review: War Breaker by Jim DeFelice

There hasn't been a new review posted over on the Joe Bob Briggs site since the beginning of the year. Still they keep sending me books and I keep cranking out the reviews. I suppose there are worse ways to spend my free time.

Anyway, here's the latest.

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War Breaker by Jim DeFelice
Leisure Books
ISBN: 0-8439-4601-6

Michael O’Connell was framed and tossed from the CIA, when a mission he was on went badly. It doesn’t help to know where too many of the skeletons are hidden. Of course, when something happens half a world away, the Agency finds they need him again. While he’s not happy about it, O’Connell takes the mission and hopes that this time he’ll come out with enough money to get his flight charter business back in the air.

O’Connell knows the location of some specially modified B-50s in Pakistan. Secretly aided by the CIA, the Pakistan military can use these aircraft to deliver nuclear bombs to targets in India. When war breaks out between these two countries it’s up to O’Connell to stop them from being put to use, one way or another. With the aid of a Korean War veteran and pilot, the embittered James Greeley, the former agent quickly finds that his mission might not be as secret as he thought. Or, there could be another reason he was chosen and it might mean he and Greeley are as expendable as the aircraft.

While author DeFelice centers on the mission of O’Connell and Greeley, he also introduces us to characters on several sides of the conflict. Pakistani pilot Captain Syyid Khan, newly promoted just hopes to keep his fellow squadron members alive and be able to return to his fiancé, until he is taken out of combat and sent on another mission. Lt. General Arjun Singh, a Sikh and commander of the Indian Third Army, sees the war as a chance to regain Lahore the ancestral capital of the Sikhs, now controlled by Pakistan, for his people. Princess Nizam, the current Pakistani Interior Minister, also sees something to be gained from the war, namely regaining her family’s traditional lands. Unfortunately, O’Connell is unaware of any of this, but events occur which affect the lives and goals of all of them.

DeFelice does a good job of introducing all of these characters, some with a bit more substance than others, but all realistic enough to carry the story. If anyone comes off as the “good guy” it is Khan who does what he does out of genuine love for his family, friends and country. Still it’s O’Connell’s tale for the most part and DeFelice keeps the reader guessing until the last couple of chapters if Michael will succeed. With the CIA, you never really do know whom you can trust.

Three stars

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

I don't know about anybody else, but I'm totally psyched for this movie. I loved the first HELLBOY film and have been waiting for the second installment.

The nice folks over at IGN will be putting up the trailer today at 3:00pm EST/Noon PST. If you click on the headline it will take you to the site where you can view it and more photos from the film.

It's great to see Ron Perlman back as everybody's favorite Nazi-hating, paranormal investigator. Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) & Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) are back along with new team-mate Johann Krauss (seen there in an old fashioned diving suit, which contains his spirit essense).