Not much of a surprise, but....

We all knew that Manny Ramirez was not a happy camper in Beantown, but I was still surprised by the deal. I don't even have a clue who Jason Bay is?

On the other hand, I suppose it makes more sense then the proposed trade with the Marlins, which never made sense to me from Manny's position. The guy is used to playing in a major market, and LA certainly fits him better than the swamps down in Florida.

While we're on the topic of Boston vs. California, don't even bring up the Angels! I've been afraid to listen the the sports report for the past week. *sigh* Only the Sox being ahead of the Damned Yankees (if only by a single game) keeps me from jumping head first into the arroyo.

Maybe I can be distracted by the Olympics starting next week. Nothing like watching folks in speedoes to keep you from watching BASEBALL TONIGHT.

Do I really need another blog?

As if I don't already love ranting on my own two blogs I just received an invitation from Alex Ness to take part in his new comics review page, POPLITIKO. Alex and the others taking part are far better at sounding smart than I could ever pretend, so you might want to skim my stuff and read folks who are doing this much better than I could ever hope.

The site has just started so please be patient while we try and get our act together.

Some more about SDCC '08!

For those who care about this sort of thing I'm going to quickly list some of the stuff I saw and did in San Diego. This list is in no particular order.

1) Where the hell were all the Klingons? You'd think with a new STAR TREK film getting so much buzz that I'd have seen more than three and those downstairs at the local fan club tables. While we're on the subject, I saw a number of Federation officers & crew around, wearing outfits from just about every incarnation of the show, but not a single Vulcan. I'm sure there were some around.

2) The "Quick Draw" challenge this year was as much fun as usual. Regulars Sergio Aragones & Scott Shaw!, along with moderator/quiz master Mark Evanier were joined this year by political cartoonist & creator of MOTHER GOOSE & GRIMM, Mike Peters. It seemed that Peters was having more fun than just about anybody and was laughing at all the suggestions. Both Peters & Shaw! won individual rounds, but Sergio continues to be the fastest 'gag' cartoonist I have ever seen.

3) It seemed that many of the Jokers were trying to recycle their Jack Nicholson/standard comics appearance, but smearing the lipstick to get that Heath Ledger look. I think I've mentioned this before, but this weekend (when I have time) I'm going to download the photo of my favorite Joker.

4) It's been twelve years since my last SDCC and the number of anime/manga cosplay folks have multiplied beyond anything I could have anticipated. Some young ladies, were basically going for the Japanese school girl look, but many had cleverly designed & made outfits that truly resembled their characters.

5) Considering the large number of Jedi/Seth/Storm-troopers that were running around there were only a couple of Darth Vaders in the Hall. One guy was easily 6'5" and looked amazing on Saturday.

6) Zombies were all over the place, along with a few '30 Days of Night' style vampires. Some folks looked like they spent about five minutes with white greasepaint and some fake blood, while others appeared to have been made up by professionals or spent quite a bit for the scars, wounds and gaping sores.

7) Saw two Comedians & one Rorschach on Saturday, but didn't recognize any of the other WATCHMEN characters. Of course, I probably wouldn't know Silk Spectre if she walked by. Seeing the Owlship on the exhibit floor was way cool! It's still hard for me to decide, from the trailers, how good the movie will be or how popular.

8) I know some folks don't appreciate it, but I happen to enjoy Dick's Last Resort over on Fourth. It's loud, crowded and the wait staff go out of their way to insult you, but that is all part of the fun of the place. I had lunch there both on Friday & Saturday, with Dan joining me on my second venture there. The bartenders and other front staff were dressed in costumes or wearing comics related t-shirts, which added to the fun of the place.

9) The Capa-Alpha breakfast was a disappointment, unfortunately. There were only six of us present at the Marriott Gas Lamp Saturday morning. Bob Ingersoll, one of those who did show up and sort of organized it, said that he'd probably just have us meet at McDonald's next year if this was what we could expect. Besides Bob and there was Joe Colgan, his son Elric, Jeff Gelb and Mark Verheiden who joined us a bit later for coffee. I remember earlier K-a meets where we would take over several long tables with a close to a couple dozen pros, fans and family hanging out. Just to name drop a moment we saw Bruce Campbell, a friend of Mark's come in and he waved, plus just about half the writing staff of LOST wandered by. Also, pointed out by Mark, since none of the rest of us would have had a clue.

10) Does seeing Doug Benson (of VH1's BEST WEEK EVER & "Last Comic Standing") and Triumph, The Insult Comic Dog count as star-gazing?

11) I got to chat briefly with William Katt (best remembered for GREATEST AMERICAN HERO & as Della Street's son in the later incarnation of PERRY MASON) who signed copies of his new comic SPARKS (from Catastrophic Comics) and the GAH preview issue of that comic. Robert Culp was joining him at the CC booth, but he was constantly being photographed and signing stuff, so I didn't want to bother him. Both gentlemen looked good and seemed to be enjoying themselves.

12) Sadly, a twisted ankle and energy drain stopped me from going to the MST3-K reunion on Friday night. Fortunately, I was able to hobble over to the RiffTrax booth and get Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett & Kevin Murphy to sign a poster for me. I also have a photo of the three of them signing stuff & meeting with fans, plus one of Tom Servo & Crow that I'll have to post here.

There are other things I'd like to mention, along with some comments about some of the comics and goodies I picked up, but I'll save that for another time. This has gone on much longer than I intended.

Good night, Internet!

I survived San Diego Comic-Con '08 and don't have a lousy t-shirt!

Clovy said he had a great time at the convention and it was good feeding on his fans. (To be honest, this isn't my photo, but from the San Diego Union-Tribune site.)

Seriously, I'll have more to say on the convention and some of the things I did and didn't do later.

It was/is overwhelming and I don't know that it is still something I'd like to do every year at this point. Ask me again in six months when it's time to register for '09. :-)

On the road to San Diego!

Later tonight Dan and I will be driving down to San Diego for the Convention. We both are pre-registered for the entire con but we also had to work today. I think hitting the place for the three-day weekend will be more than enough excitement for both of us.

This is Dan’s first SD con, although he has been to others in New York. He’s more into gaming and action figures and has a list of stuff he wants. Great place to get some of the con exclusive and limited edition figures he collects. I’m just looking forward to hooking up with some folks I haven’t seen in over a decade, meeting some creators and getting as much free stuff as I can fit into my bags every day.


I’ll be sharing some of my adventures with you next week and probably some photos when I have a chance. I’m taking my digital camera down with me and plan to get some pics of folks in costumes, company displays and, if I can make it, the MST3-K anniversary reunion panel tomorrow night. I know that there are going to be dozens of ‘journalists’ and hundreds of bloggers roaming around and I doubt I’ll have anything to report that you will not have already heard or seen, but I’ll definitely have something to say about the rumors and news that will be coming out of the four days.

I have only a limited list of panels that I’d like to attend, although there are a few conflicts. There are always cancellations and changes, so I’m not going to be heart-broken if something happens. The panels and interviews moderated by Mark Evanier are generally the ones I go out of my way for, but there are also some previews and panels going on at the same time that sound interesting. Personally, the Capa-Alpha breakfast on Saturday morning is really the ONLY event that I have to attend, no matter what. I have seen or kept in e-mail contact with a few of my former apa-mates the past decade, but far too few to be honest.


Unless you catch me in the background of some YouTube video this weekend, I’ll be “seeing” you next Monday. Have a safe & fun one whether you’re at the convention or not!

Gorgeous Tiny Chicken Machine Show Ep. 1 - Lick Poop

I have discovered the true reason for YouTube. Kiko will be at San Diego next week. To be having so much fun then! :-)

Remote viewing: what we are watching!

Among the usual stuff on Animal Planet, ID & TruTV we have actually been catching two of the 'reality' entertainment shows on the networks. We got into AMERICA 'S GOT TALENT last year and LAST COMIC STANDING two seasons ago.

AGT is, I admit, a knock off of AMERICAN IDOL open to jugglers and tap dancers, but we get a kick out of it. It has The Hoff, so how far wrong can you go? :-) It was actually won, last season by a ventriloquist which was a nice surprise, so anything is possible. The show is just getting ready to start the semi-finals in Las Vegas (as is LCS), so you might want to tune in and see some of the better of the acts that were sent on. Trust me, that you might be grateful to have missed some of the ...it's hard to call them 'performers', that were to bizarre or just bad to make the cut. If you think the auditions for Idol are horrendous, you haven't seen anything like this since the days of the old GONG SHOW.

Last night, as part of the segment to gain immunity from expulsion the comedians on LCS had to do some prop comedy. Most of them had never done it before, or used it very rarely. Naturally, on this show the only person they could get or afford to act as 'judge' was Carrot Top. Let's be honest here, I have never thought the guy was funny, even when he was this skinny, annoying kid who looked like one of your old roommates. Now the guy is just flat out scary!

Apparently, somewhere along the line as his career continued to go nowhere, but college gigs, the guy decided he would be funnier if he bulked up. He is now this steroid jacked old guy with flaming artificial orange, thinning hair with what appears to be tattooed (rather then real) eyebrows. I had to post the photo (okay, the guy from MASK being there is a joke) so you wouldn't think I was kidding. Do a Google image search, if you don't believe me!

Dude, it was way uncomfortable!

Countdown to San Diego!

Wow! Can it only a week until the San Diego convention begins? I'll be there starting next Friday and am really getting psyched about it. Already planning some of the panels I would like to attend, especially a few moderated by Mark Evanier.

Even back in the early days of the convention (speaking from my own experience in 1975 & '76) there always seemed to be several panels, films or signings going on at the same time. You had to skip the Kirby signing if you wanted to hear Steranko or watch an episode of ASTRO BOY.

I have a list of comics I'd like to pick up to fill-in gaps, but also want to have enough to buy a few items from the folks self-publishing or from small publishers. I remember from when I was hitting the con pretty regularly that there were a lot of freebies and I hope to get a bag full of goodies (or several) in my wanderings.

It's been a while since I've been to SD. Anybody recommend a decently priced place to grab lunch within walking distance of the con? I know there was a small ribs/bbq place that was popular, but it recently was involved in a fire and has closed. Are the wings at Hooters really that good? :-)

Four Color Fiend: some quick thoughts

I'll try to get in some reviews later this week, perhaps tomorrow. I'm in the middle of a few projects at work so don't have much free time. However, I wanted to mention a couple of things from books I read this past weekend.

SECRET INVASION continues to kick butt! I have yet to read a single issue, of the main series or tie-ins, that has disappointed me. I want to mention both CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 and SI: FRONT LINE as two books that present different perspectives of the invasion. The first shows us how the Skrulls seek to capture the magic of Marvel-Earth, while the second series presents former Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich seeing the invasion from the ground, so to speak. As he did in his appearance in the MARVELS series, Urich is the common man caught in events shaped by forces beyond 'human', he gives us a street level perspective missing from the main super-hero books.

I even picked up the current issue of AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, which ties in with SI and found that I wasn't totally lost despite the presence of dozens of characters I had never encountered previously. As with the MS. MARVEL and two AVENGER titles, it remains to be seen if I'll continue to buy the books after SI, but there is a good chance I might at this point.

I'll try to have more stuff in the next couple of days.

Constrictor (Robot Wars Battles)

Remember a few years ago when this and Battle Bots were so popular? I get such a kick out of this silly stuff.

Four Color Fiend: Bunch of stuff

Since I'm not going to be logging in from Friday - Monday I wanted to mention some comics I just read, before I forget.



SECRET INVASION continues to be fascinating. The two Avenger titles and the first issue Young Avengers/Runaway mini are all interesting and much easier to figure out than the DC FINAL CRISIS title. I really like how they are using the Avenger books to explain how various heroes were replaced and what the Skrull queen was doing before she replaced Spider-Woman.

The YA/Runaway book is filled with characters I've never seen before but enough is explained (via dialogue and captions) so a new reader didn't feel completely lost. Don't know that I would go back and pick up the regular series in which they appear, but we'll see how many survive the next few months.

I'm glad that I also picked up MS. MARVEL the past few months since that ties in completely with SI. I can understand why so many folks spoke highly of the book. Finally, INCREDIBLE HERCULES is a lot of fun and the interplay of the gods is really good. I'd definitely picking up earlier issues of this title.

As for non-Marvel books, I continue to enjoy the TANGENT: REIGN OF SUPERMAN mini-series. Not sure if I want to see the characters from that world continue to interact with the Earth-One heroes when this wraps up. Of course, it appears that not all of them will be around come the last issue anyway at this point.

My major problem is that I find it odd that Superman-Tangent can so easily overcome the power of the the GL rings, but has been stopped by the power of the Tangent-GL's lantern. Also, odd that a character so powerful would utilize any super-powered beings for his purposes. It doesn't appear that he trusts them to any degree, so why not simply do away with or imprison all of them. Then again, I guess the book would be boring and if you couldn't use all the Tangent versions of DCU characters at least for a few scenes. Also, I don't think all of the half dozen characters appearing in the back-up story about the Nightwing agency are going to survive until the end either. Never trust mysterious women who pick you up in a limo! Who hasn't discovered that for themselves?

If you are a HELLBOY fan you might want to pick up B.P.R.D.: The Ectoplasmic Man. This one-shot comic tells the origin of Johann Kraus, a character who will be featured in the second HELLBOY film out later this month. Johann is an interesting character and it's nice to finally discover how he became encased in his suit. Not sure how he'll be introduced in the new movie.



Oh, and it was a HELLBOY PVC that I got at ALA on Sunday, since somebody asked

Four-color Fiend: What the...?!

Somebody want to explain to me what the hell is going on in FINAL CRISIS? For the past year I've been reading COUNTDOWN and various tie-ins, the INFINITE CRISIS and OMAC PROJECT stuff, plus the TPB collections of 52. In spite of all this I find that I'm clueless about a lot of the things going on. I'm not even going to mention SPOILERS because I don't know if I'm giving anything away at this point.

The cop/detective that has been narrating part of the story is apparently Darkseid and some of the Green Lantern Corps are actually his former flunkies. He doesn't know who he is, at least not until the end of the second issue of FI, and even there he seems unsure.

Oh and it looks like Barry Allen is back from or forward into the past of whatever time or world we are viewing. Don't even bother to ask about all that crap happening in Japan with some guy calling himself Mister Miracle, who has changed his race.

And the new Black Racer (who I have to assume is the scary guy on long blades) is just too creepy. Of course, folks made light of Kirby's version, so I guess DC decided he had to be more extra-worldly.

The thing is it is well-drawn and nicely, written, but I still don't know that I like it or where it is going. I mean there is some point, isn't there?

Giant Pile of Comics Attack! Part One.

She does this much better than I ever could!

Hail Eris!

very creepy, disturbing children's cartoon, banned from TV

This is from Will Vinton's ADVENTURES OF MARK TWAIN, made back in 1985. There's a reason you don't see it much.

A quick Four-Color Fiend

Real quick F-CF for stuff I picked up last week. There may be a few SPOILERS.

Why did I stick it out through SALVATION RUN? I guess I expected something to happen of note and after four issues I figured I might as well get the final three. It was a bad mistake & a waste of money. It really resolves nothing, and the two of the deaths are of characters certainly more interesting than the dozens of third-raters that escape. Monsieur Mallah and The Brain were fascinating, if sometimes badly used villains created for the original DOOM PATROL. Their relationship was odd, but when handled well quite lovely. I’m going to miss them. Some of the last issue dialogue, plus a ‘house ad’ indicates that this was a lead in to one of the FINAL CRISIS books, none of which I’m going to be buying. I have been suckered too many times the past year by DC. Time to drop most of their titles.


On the other hand, I haven’t been disappointed by any of Marvel’s SECRET INVASION books. From the central title to the books featuring Captains Marvel & Britain and Ms. Marvel, the two main Avenger titles and surprisingly INCREDIBLE HERCULES I have enjoyed each issue. I have hopes for the FANTASTIC FOUR tie-in and may be buying some of the other one-shots along the way. For me the Marvel books have been consistently fun, unlike many of the COUNTDOWN books which seemed to be out only go nowhere.

As for some plot points, I don’t really think that Tony Stark is a Skrull, but rather that the Skull queen is playing with his head as she impersonates Spider-Woman. I didn’t read the Civil War events, but think it would really be a kick in the balls of the fans to suddenly pull a switch. Of course, it would make old time Iron Man fans happy since they could ignore the illegal and immoral stuff Stark did, since it wasn’t really him. It remains to be seen, of course. I’m a bit confused on some books as to whom some minor characters may be, but the writers and/or editors are giving me enough information for the most part so I’m not totally lost. In the case of the Hercules book, I think I’m going to go back and pick up the half dozen prior issues, maybe at San Diego. I also plan on purchasing some of the Civil War books or TPBs so I can try to catch up a bit.


I may have a bit more to say on other books later tonight.

Review: The Bribe by William P. Wood

This is the latest Joe Bob Briggs review. They aren't posting them, or much of anything else on the site, but I want to finish off the final batch of titles they sent along.
*******************************
The Bribe by William P. Wood
Published by Leisure Books; ISBN - 0843957034

When a controversial California Congressman and a cab driver are killed in front of an apartment building, where the Representative lives with his mistress, things may not be as simple as initially thought. After a possible robbery or car-jacking gone wrong are ruled out rumors begin circulating. Finally, Homeland Security and the White House announce that this may be a terrorist act. Things quickly become more difficult for two Sacramento homicide detectives and the Deputy District Attorney.

As the investigation continues, Detective Terry Nye and his partner, Rose Tafoya discovers that the FBI is not being totally forthcoming with certain information. They find on their own that the Congressman has been taking bribes and that his announcement that he was calling for legislation to stop this type of thing may have led to his murder. From the Congressman’s greedy wife, who may have political ambitions of her own, to his secretive head of staff and a shady, lobbyist with ties to the current D.A. there is no shortage of suspects.

Wood alternates the narrative from that of the detectives to that of Deputy D.A. Cooper as each begins looking into the career and private life of the dead Congressman. The trail leads from the former haunts of the one-time military hero turned politician to the halls of Congress in D.C. and back again. His mistress fears for her own life and everybody from the wife to the Congressman’s ‘business associates’ are hiding things from the police. Barred by the FBI from investigating certain aspects of the case, Cooper, Nye & Tafoya must follow the limited leads they do have before things spiral out of control and the case is taken out of their hands.

With a dozen different suspects and the personal lives of the lead characters to follow Wood doesn’t make it easy for the reader. Some aspects of the case go back several decades and it becomes obvious that, just as the detectives, we aren’t privy to every angle. As Joe Bob used to say in his video reviews, there’s way too much plot getting in the way of the story. I don’t want to accuse writer Wood of padding, but I think the tale could have been told in a swifter fashion.

Overall a good book with a successful outcome, and I enjoyed the digs along the way at the current political climate and jabs at the ‘war on terror.’ While I liked the main characters and would like to see them return in another book, I think the author might want to pare things down the next time around. I believe that choosing to focus on either Cooper or the two detectives would help things along.

Two and a half stars.

A few more Four Color thoughts!

This is just a quick follow-up on my post yesterday on comics.

In FINAL CRISIS #1 we see some heroes (that I either don’t know or remember) ambushed and seemingly killed by Mirror Master & Doctor Light. During this we have what I think is supposed to be joking banter between the two hinting at MM procuring some ‘erectile dysfunction’ drugs for the Doctor. This takes place while the villains stand over and further abuse the bodies of the fallen heroes, which would seem bad enough. However, given the fact that DL has been shown to be an abusive and unrepentant rapist & murderer, why are ED jokes supposed to be funny or even appropriate? I was taken aback at the time, but forgot to mention it yesterday while trying to cover several books. Probably another reason why FC may not be on my ‘buy list’ for more than one more issue.

I don’t seem to be the only one who feels this way, although perhaps not for the same reasons. In the reviews I’ve read and seen over on YouTube the general consensus appears to be negative towards FC. If this is what we can expect from DC then I’ll be spending my money on more Marvel and independent titles.

I picked up the hardcover edition of SECRET WARS at the library this past weekend and am really enjoying it. Besides being a good book on its own merits it explains why some of the heroes feel the way they do towards Nick Fury in the current SECRET INVASION storyline. I also really like how Bendis writes Peter Parker and Matt Murdock in the series, but wasn’t thrilled by his Logan, at least in the first couple of issues.

That’s it for now!

Four Color and More!

Those five days in Brooklyn and doing extra-help work in another library threw me off a bit. I’m way behind on reviews and other things so I’m going to try to catch up, with minor SPOILERS. Let’s face it, almost nobody reads my reviews anyway and I generally do it for my own amusement. Don’t mind me I’m not in the best of moods to begin with.


After all the money and time I invested in COUNTDOWN and related titles, I didn’t expect that DC was going to flip me the bird with the first issue of FINAL CRISIS. What the hell is going on? Is that Tor? That sure as heck is Kamandi running up on him later. I’m assuming that The Question and others do not see the armored guy on skis hanging over the crime scene, right? Seems at least some of the New Gods are not dead, simply hanging out here kidnapping kids and turning them into red-eyed fanged little creeps. I really don’t have a clue and am only going to give FC one more issue to make me believe. I’m also going to keep my promise to myself and not buy a single ‘Sightings’ tie-in.


On the other hand, the latest issues of NEW AVENGERS and MS. MARVEL keep the heat on with SECRET INVASION. We still don’t know who all the Skrulls may be, but do learn some things about those ‘70s Avengers who were held captive. Some folks aren’t too happy with a certain ‘dead’ hero showing up, but I don’t believe that is really him. On the other hand, it looks like we will be seeing the some familiar characters showing up in the MARVEL 1985 series. Wow! Talk about fanboy fantasy come true? What would you do if you found out that Doctor Doom & the Red Skull had moved in down the street? Have to thank writer Mark Millar and artist Tommy Lee Edwards for bringing us a wonderful fantasy for those of us who did believe in such things as kids.

Finally, I want to recommend DEAD, SHE SAID from IDW. Writer Steve Niles knows his dead folks, as the creator of 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, and here he’s teamed with artist Bernie Wrightson . Low rent P.I. Coogan has had a bad night. He doesn’t remember much about it, except that somewhere along the line he got killed and he’s not happy. When he is found over the torn apart body of the person who may have been responsible he has a lot of explaining to do to the cops. Wrightson inks his own pencils here and it shows. Damn, he’s good!

On the TV watching front, I caught promos for two new summer replacement shows that caught my interest. ABC’s WIPEOUT is a total rip-off of a Japanese game show, the name of which escapes me. One of the cable networks was showing an English-dubbed version, along the lines of IRON CHEF, where you really didn’t know how accurate the translation may have been. Of course that wasn’t the point. The goal of the show, as is that of the American rip-off, is to have folks attempt to get across this enormous water bound obstacle course. The ABC site calls it a ‘reality show’, but that term has long ago stopped really meaning anything of the sort.


Also from ABC is “I Survived a Japanese Game Show”, where a group of ten Americans are flown over to do exactly that. Or rather, they must compete in the stunts and competitions that are actually used in those shows, but they won’t actually compete against Japanese, but each other.

Hard to believe that the game show concept was created here, isn’t it? The first, “Uncle Jim's Question Bee", was broadcast in 1941, unless the British beat us to it. It seems that the ‘successful’ shows of the past few years are all adaptations of shows from Europe and now Japan.
I think it’s time for Donna and I to breakdown and get that DVR from Cox.

New links and a few other things

I just added a new link over on The Right that you might find fun.

Tabloia! is from Chris Wisnia, who loves comics, big monsters, the old WEEKLY WORLD NEWS and other cool stuff. From 'Dick Hammer' and 'Doris Danger' to 'Dr. DeBunko' and the weekly TABLOIA tabloid you will find a comic or tall-tale to your liking. Chris has contributions from such well known comic artists as Jill Thompson, Sergio Aragones, and Sam Keith, plus Silver Age greats like John Severin & Dick Ayers.

Not going to do regular comic reviews this week, as I'm trying to get caught up with work stuff before Friday. Donna and I will be in Brooklyn until next Wednesday (5/28) and I have a few reports that have to get done.

I do want to recommend that folks pick up the SECRET INVASION series and various tie-in stories from Marvel. Unlike DC's COUNTDOWN (which I liked better than some folks), the SI story involves an alien menace, but sticks closer to Earth. While heroes & villains were getting offed in the DC series you always had the feeling that things would eventually be worked out and with probably few long term effects. In SI you get a sense of real paranoia as the heroes don't know who to trust, which means the reader doesn't know either.

I have to give my thanks to Marvel editorial for giving the reader a 'what has gone before' page each issue. It allowed me to pick up several books which had not been reading, but not feel totally lost. The last issue of the just ended CAPTAIN MARVEL mini, latest issues of MS. MARVEL and NEW AVENGERS all tie in and really should be checked out. The second issue of the main SI book is really good and reveals that some but not apparently all of the heroes who were on the crashed Skrull ship are indeed Skrull's themselves. At least one hero we thought dead seems to be quite alive. I'm going to hold off on judging the SI: Fantastic Four series until the next issue. Lots of things are happening and I'm not familiar enough with the current FF continuity to be sure. On the other hand, I love when the Torch & Thing are the central focus of a story.

If you are not reading this series, at least pick up the main title as I don't think you'll be disappointed. Make Mine Marvel! (At least for now)

Popcorn for One: IRON MAN (with some spoilers)

A friend gave me some ‘free passes’ for the Edwards chain of movie theatres. I figured it was a good time to start using them, so I caught an early Friday afternoon showing of IRON MAN at the local theatre.

I’m sure if you are interested you have already caught the movie or are doing so this weekend. I don’t want to do a complete review, since there are plenty of those around if you are interested. There’s probably nothing I could add to what the professionals critics and other fans have to say. These are just a few comments about my general feelings on the film.

The movie opens with Tony Stark (played wonderfully by Robert Downey, Jr.) being caught in the ambush of American troops with whom he is traveling. The film then winds back to show us what occurred the previous 36 hours leading up to the assault. We get a feel for how Stark goes about his daily routines, seemingly not caring that his corporation is building weapons that could fall into the wrong hands. He’s an electronics genius who has used his abilities to build his father’s company into one of the largest of its kind. Despite his wealth and his playboy lifestyle, it is apparent that he is lonely, with few people with whom he feels totally comfortable.

The Tony Stark of the comics, at least until the recent events of ‘Civil War’, was very close to how Downey portrays him. Brilliant, flawed and only allowing himself a few close confidents. In the current Marvel Universe, he doesn’t even have that, but the Stark of the movie is a better person, at least by the films end.

The cast is very good, with some wonderful actors playing roles in what is after all a ‘super-hero’/action film. Not what you would expect from Downey, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges, but all take their parts seriously without the scene chewing you often see actors doing in these sorts of films. Too many actors feel they can ham it up or just walk through these movie roles, which they seem to feel are beneath them. Than why take the role? Bills piling up?

Stan Lee, who co-created the character, has a nice cameo that made me laugh. If you stick around through the credits you’ll find Samuel L. Jackson showing up as another Marvel character, who hints that we might be seeing several other Marvel characters appearing along with Iron Man at some point. If you have read the Avengers comics you may either enjoy or being angered by the fact that Jarvis isn’t the Alfred-style butler we have become used to in the series. Also, an off-hand remark by Jim “Rhodey” Rhodes (played by Terrence Howard), Stark’s military liaison hints at yet another hero making an appearance in a future sequel.

Given the film’s success and comments already made by Downey, it probably won’t come as a surprise to see an IRON MAN franchise being announced shortly.

If you haven’t guessed by now I highly recommend the movie. Just stay through the credits for the fanboy moment!