Alone at Last – Preview Reviews for 8/1
Hoo boy, is Comic Con over! Now I sit, alone at Metro, waiting for a ride back home.... and reading preview books. Pardon my spelling, but without further ado...
- (the new) Fantastic Four #548
- This is actually a pretty fantastic issue (thank you folks, I'll be here all week). The Wizard has a grudge against Mr. Fantastic being the better man and so now he's devised this plan to prove him wrong, which included getting a new Frightful Four back together (the Trapster, Hydro-Man and Titania, since she's got red hair), taking the Invisible Woman hostage and blowing up the FF's rescue ship. Not a shabby plan... but Black Panther's here to save the day with quick thinking. They rally, show up to save Sue and it's on like Donkey Kong. Action! Adventure! Humidity (take that, Hydro-Man)! And, with some quick thinking on the Wizard's part on how to take care of that pesky know-it-all Black Panther, THE RETURN OF THE KLAW!
Sure, it's a heavy on the Black Panther side, but you know... I'll forgive that for showing some fun villain and hero action in a day where most mainstream Marvel heroes are threatening to choke fools and/or making situations worse.
- Ms. Marvel #18
- Now, I haven't been a fan of Ms. Marvel since her series started adn she just seemed to fall into mistake after mistake. Her last storyline left her with tons of "whoops" and very little to show for it. So that's why they brought in the big guns. At Comic Con, Brian Reed said that Machine Man would be joining the cast in all his Nextwave glory and he was not kidding. Not many can be Warren Ellis, but he does a fine job of giving some humor and anti-BS to a book that really seemed to cater to the whims of a woman not really cut out for the jobs they keep giving her. Sleepwalker also joins as a wet behind the ears recruit who will be our audience's viewpont on this wacky situation which is... the Puppet Master! Giving up evil villainy (so he says), he's gone into the slave trade, kidnapping chicks and selling them as living dolls. Apparently, he's getting a super-heroine collection for the utra-kinky, and we end with underage Araña showing up as the latest part of his collection.
Hey, Machine Man's in it! Yay!
- New Warriors #3
- Night Thrasher may be Bill Foster's nephew (last seen in Incredible Hulk #107 ready to watch the Hulk beat up the guy who had a hand in his uncle's death); in any case, this New Night Thrasher can grow really big and that's our clue. Also, Wolverine shows up to confront "Wondra", Jubilee's new alter-ego and to make sure that she knows what she's doing here. All signs point to "Not really" as people are starting to question this dude who's funding all this New Warriors business. Thanks to some loving starting shots of the last New Warriors are gross and dead and unpleasant, it might just be that Dwanye Taylor just got really small during the blast as nothing remained of him but the tattered remnants of his uniform. Starting to show some meat on this story, but I'm just not getting that the New Warriors are doing anything but just existing. Where is all this vigilante crime stuff they're doing? Where's the good that can come from being a rebellious teen? Besies the anti-Stark and SHIELD graffiti they apparently put up on Stark Tower with no one noticing? Still not entirely sold here, though showing Tony in a SHIELD uniform since he's the FRIKKIN' DIRECTOR is a great idea.
- Shanna the She-Devil: Survival of the Fittest #1 (of 4)
- Sorry. This is going to be short since I just can't get past this artwork. Something about it just peels my eyes and I can read the story without wondering if we can get the inker a thicker pens so the action doesn't look so transparent. Because boy, there's a lot of action here. The book barely stops between a bunch of pirates hijacking a boat that gets attacked by a giantsquid who's pirranha friends crash the pirate boat that lands them on Shanna's island where they're chased by dinosaurs until they are chased by beees and ... *phew* I'm tired just typing all of this. And I know I'd like the story if my brain could just get past this art...
- Spider-Man/Red Sonja #1 (of 5)
- That's weird. Second story page in is a two page spread of Spider-Man kicking crooks in the face while talking to MJ on his cell phone. That's surprisingly awesome for a simple, barely understandable crossover book. I mean, Red Sonja? Really?? No, really, this is actually a pretty fun little book. Hyborean villain, Kulan Gath, takes over some poor fool through an amulet, turns New York into something more his style and then- best part- puts Red Sonja in the body of Mary Jane to make sure that Spider-Man is far too busy chainsg around his wife, mind controlled to try and stop the Spider-Man, to bother with his evil plans. Continuity be damned! They harken back to the old Red Sonja/Spider-Man crossover, but nothing else touches this funny little adventure book. I had my doubts but this is some good stuff.
- Thor #2
- Thrill as Thor, God of Thunder, BUYS REAL ESTATE! He buys the land after he brings Asgard back by shouting really loudly and doing a lot of weather effects, and so now Asgard looks like a weirdly medieval castle. He pays off the local yoakles with armloads of gold to keep the land then decides to go and find the Warriors Three. According to the teaser for the next issue, he finds Iron Man instead. Despite Iron Man being in World War Hulk right now. *sigh*
- Uncanny X-Men #489
- On one hand, we have Kurt and Professor X on the hunt for Magneto, knowing that he's confortable enough to wander about after being blown up in a hellicopter after that whole ridiculous New Avengers issue to be walking around, visiting gravesites. Oh, and geting called out on YouTube. Masque is getting braver and braver with these random mutant-ing attacks and Storm is assembling some X-Men at the FF's place, much to Johnny and Ben's chagrin. They go into the tunnels and find the leftovers of a confrontation with Sentinel Squad O.N.E. That's of course when a Sentinel is going to show up on the scene instead of... I guess Sentinel Squad O.N.E's ground troops... and think that Storm, Queen of Wakanda and public member of the Fantastic Four, totally just killed some guys. A fight ensues, Skids of the Morlocks comes to just in time to show some SHIELD creds and tells the Sentinel to stand down.
Meanwhile, in the Endangered Species back up, Beast encounters Dark Beast for a good talk about what he's destined to become without morals and Dark Beast gives his goody two shoes counterpart the keys to the old Neverland project from the old Weapon X series, effectively gving him an eeeeevil laboratory. Not a bad piece of the back up, but still a little odd to find within all this.
The Sun Rises and the Monsters Go Away
So tired. So very very tired.
Comic Con was awesome, of course, but only when you're home, in your bed, far far far away do you realize that you just spent a very long weekend with a hell of a lot of people running across convention floors with a laptop in tow.
Hoo.
I have tons more to say, as said laptop's battery wasn't fantastic and I switched to the ol' pen and paper method of notes for the most part, so continue to expect more Con info from Yours Truely.
But for now I'm back home, selling books and listening to the wonders of peace and quiet.
Day Four – Sunday at SDCC
Still here. Hanging on. Vision blurring. Shoulders weak.
The last panel of the day is the X-Men panel, in which they will swear the idea of putting a five-or-so page back up story in the back of a bunch of disconnected books is a FAN-TAS-TIC idea.
My laptop ran out of batteries yesterday along with my camera (those Iron Man shots are the last ones I got), so I do have a bunch more notes on the rest of that day on that pen and paper thing I keep hearing about. Keep watching for fun things like HOLY CRAP BOB GALE IS A WRITER ON AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, my theories on such, the Warren Ellis lte night panel (oh yeah).
Snazzy Duds – Saturday at SDCC
Revealed at the Marvel Booth, the Mark I Iron Man armor designed by Stan Winston.
Slick.
OH SHI- – Friday at SDCC
Oh my GOD.
I've been seeing customers and fellow bloggers (HEY BULLY!) ... and a very important person with very important news.
I have to say something or I am going to explode with the secret, but the info won't be officially released until around 4 today.
But I need to say this: ONE OF MY PULL CUSTOMERS AT METRO IS GOING TO BE A WRITER ON AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!!!
More later when I'm done freaking out.
Take That Joss! – Friday at SDCC
'Cause it's fun to do... LIVE from Cup O' Joe!
1) Terry Moore's taking over on Runaways from Joss Whedon! Yay! It's a pretty soon announcement, maybe Joss is overworked with all his books, who knows, WHO CARES! Humberto Ramos and Terry Moore will be handling the book after the current story is over.
2) Phil Jimenez is coming over to Marvel! Hoorah.
Who’s the Man – Thursday at SDCC
We started out with the two producers, both excited and obviously nervous. I mean, really, I would be too. They pump crowd up, offer raffle for a signed copy of the doc when it comes out in December and BAM! Stan Lee comes out and is incredible. We applaud, we stand, we hoot and holler and he's hooting and hollering with us. There's almost a Jack Benny quality about the guy, self-depreciated and false modesty and lovable. "I'm really my biggest fan!," he tells us, not egotistical, but giving us something in common. Then comes a 9 minute teaser, full of stars.
From Kevin Smith, Jason Lee, Nick Cage, Tobey Maguire, Michael Chiklis to Tom DeSanto, everyone has the common belief than for Stan's Marvel, "human beings come first, heroes second". We get cool tidbits, like the fact that Stan's credited on over 2 billion comics and that his new company POW! Entertainment (the exclamation point, we hear from Mr. Lee is to distinguish it from 'Prisoners of War'.) has a first look deal with Disney. Joe Simon's interviewed about the start of it all, there's a certain amount of danger with the era of 'Seduction of the Innocent' (getting boos from the crowd like an old cheesy villain); it's all basic history. Stan apparently loves acting things out from his scripts, from Aunt May to Doctor Doom, and he most certainly loves the fans. "We're just reading magazines... with old friends." The comics as modern day mythology cliche shows up because it's true. The clip is a good balance of fun for your non-comic loving crowd trying to see what all the fuss is about and people like me who think Stan's a cool guy. Also, Paris Hilton says, "Stan is very hot." I can't make this stuff up, folks but more on that later.
The two producers are a little shaky on how to handle both the format of the panel and Stan himself (what's a ham). Marvel Comics artist Dick Ayers confirms Stan's artist direction through acting and info (given to Ayers many a time over the phone) President of DC Comics Paul Levitz and Stan himself both admit that DC has a much more business approach than Marvel did back in the day, Marvel being "a lot of fun".
Rather important guy Michael Uslan gets to tell his story about working for Indiana University who, during the 70's, could be convinced into a new college course with the proper backing of a department and a presentation on why it should be offered. Well, with the backing of the folklore dept, Michael Uslan got to be the first "Comic Book Professor" teaching a Comics as Mythology course by using the metaphor of Moses as Superman in a comparison. He got a call from Stan Lee shortly after he started teaching the classes and now considers Stan his mentor. He and also Very Important Michael DeSanto were asked about the "Rules to Making Comic Movies" and DeSanto offered his opinion by saying that it's not about following a trend, making a comic adaptation is more about following the spirit and heart of why it works to begin with. "You wind up with a Punisher movie without the Punisher uniform," he noted. This of course, leads into a story, because Stan Lee has stories at the drop of a hat.
His sort of "weirdo" expressions (Face Front and the like) started showing up in DC Comics at the time, so he decided to create a word that they couldn't spell or use (ha ha), thus Excelsior. "Excelsior is ours," Stan told the crowd and I believed him like owned the right to something. "How do you feel about the killing of a comic book character and bringing them back to life?," was an awkward question to the panel, but leave it to Stan to have an anecdote at the ready. When he would be asked "Why am I so conceited?" (another for laughs moment), Stan figured that writers are sort of like gods in a way, able to bring life and take it away at whim through their stories. "Maybe there is something godlke about us," he noted and again, I believed him.
He was also impressed with the caliber of comics these days, from the production value ("Whatever it is we're charging, they're too cheap!") and the fact that so many movie and TV writers want to come into comics. "The artists take such pride in their artwork... the kind of artwork you'd like to take it out and frame it," he crowed with pride. I boggle.
While Paul Levitz did note that the people who came into comics after Stan really built up from where he started, Stan was quick to note that he wasn't just a one man operation. "Sometimes it makes it sound as if I was doing everything, but I would come up with the original concept," he explained, noting how much Jack Kirby and other artists and writers in the Bullpen really brought it all together.
The Q&A in general was very love oriented, with a lot of praise to those on the panel and those in charge and the fans and the guys who made True Believers, etc. When he was asked "Was it all worth it?", Stan took a moment to boggle at such a question returning with "Yes, I think so. I've enjoyed my life." He does love working with people, loves fans, he's sure it was more than worth it. With jokes about an Oscar for Best Cameos and how adding Stan Lee to a film will ensure it's a hit, we get a clue about the upcoming Iron Man movie; another Stan cameo is in the works, with gorgeous blonde and exchange with Mr. Stark himself.
Believe it or not, Stan Lee and Paris Hilton are working on a"very refined, intellectual" cartoon series that Stan assures is quite good. "She can do her very well." The Simpsons are shaking in their boots.
<a href="http://truebelieverthemovie.com/" target="_blank">Stan Lee: True Believer</a> is due out in December.
My God, It’s Full of Fans! – Thursday at SDCC
Well, folks.
After boarding a Greyhound bus at 4am this morning, I am happy to report I am alive... at the San Diego Comic Con. The largest convention of it's size, shape and flavor. It's madness.
I'm coming to you LIVE from room 6CDEF (it's a big room), where in just a few minutes STAN THE MAN LEE will be not but a few yards away from me, where I'm currently sitting against a wall stealing power from a water cooler. Oh yes, we here at Snap Judgments (who'm I kidding? Me here at Snap Judgments) are a class act.
To be honest? I've only been on site for about an hour and boy, it's overwhelming. I've been to four or so of these SDCCs and it just keeps getting bigger. Entering the Exibitor's Hall is like turning on every TV at 16 Best Buys to play your favorite shows and asking you if you want more. Already starting to get that nice around the eyes Con Headache(tm).
But aside from that I can tell you it's a good media blitz; it had been a long time since I'd seen a Real Live Booth from Marvel at SDCC, so it's nice to see... what amounts to some very large silkscreens, a few placed for people to sign (I'll be on the look out for Paul Jenkins and Dan Slott, but it doesn't look like Jeff Parker or Matt Fraction are here... or at least,with Marvel for an official signing thingie), a exclusive cover to that New Avengers where Elektra's a skrull... oh. And a BIG BOX marked Stark Industries. More on the box to come.
Meanwhile, Tokyopop managed to have a better looking set up than them. Go fig.
Keep your eyes here, folks! I'm reporting live from Comic Con this whole weekend and I gotta a camera. Hijinks should ensue.
Comics = Romance
I have worked at a variety of places. From comics stores to video stores to music stores to restaurants to electronics stores.... and I can say with 100% assurity that one place that couples make out the most out of those places?
The comic shop.
Having been at two, I see couples in all the time and, on the average, 7 out of 10 are physically attached to each other in one way, shape or form. Hands around one another, holding hands to drag one another down the aisles like anxious children, sitting at their feet while the other one goes through back issues with a dogged focus, making out in one of the corners of the store, couples love to administer PDA in here. It's weird... and vaguely uncomfortable.
Are comics romantic? Does the florescent lighting set the mood? Does the smell of back issues just really do it for some people?
On one hand, I could say that the less they are in here to shop, the more affectionate they are. Sometimes I think it's a comicless girl's method of shooing the boyfriend out of the store. "Look, honey, hugs and kisses! Pay attention to me so we can leave!" Sometimes I think it's a territorial thing. "See? I'm not a nerd, I gotta girlfriend!" Most of the time I'm just confused.
A good customer pal of mine and I were talking relationships when she was picking out some trade paperback presents for a new beau and I have to agree with a point most clearly made by her: having common interests in movies or music is one thing and sometimes, general interests can be faked. But the more obscure your passion, the less popular your culture is, if there's a spark between you over potato clocks or Fraggle Rock or Mr. Spock, something one can give or take... it's a beautiful thing.
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No Service – Friday at SDCC
Quickie Update: I just asked the Joe Quesada panel if people check in regarding character continuity when people use characters from comic to comic (oh sayyyy.... Kingpin! Showing up in one book, going to Japan, used in two other books between that one published later, and on and on). I tried to phrase it well, but...
No dice. They are to understaffed to keep track of that, just enjoy the stories was the bottom line. I tried to compare it to Lucas Licensing, but since they don't have a ranch, that sort of continuity check is just out of their reach. 6 movies versus the 80-some books they publish, so many characters... just not possible, says Mr. Q.
Discuss.