Just so I'm not Debbie Downer tonight, here's the Thor trailer.  Wait, did you think I was posting this for you?  By the time you read this, I'm sure anyone who would visit this site has already seen it thanks to a major news organization like Comic Book Resources (cheap pop).

No, no, no, this is for me.  When I'm having a bad retail day.  When I need a little hope that comics are awesome no matter what bad parents or bored indie kids come in.

Oh man, it's so pretty.

Enough about me.

So, on set, one of the extras next to me is this absolutely fascinating guy I can't remember the name of.  What he does and did is far more important.  He trains military soldiers to go to Iraq and protect themselves and others in a hostile urban environment.  Everything from procedures on how to handle a suicide bomber, how to clear a road efficiently and quickly as possible, enduring interrogations from the enemy, even how to survive in the sweltering desert and get to safety.  He told it all casually, as if his preparation wasn't saving lives and making stronger people.  His shoulders were huge, his jaw square and he was funny as hell.

And he wanted to be a Green Lantern.

The moment comics came up in casual conversation, he just lit up like he recited the Oath.  He'd been reading Green Lantern comics since he was a kid and adored John Stewart.  He could tell you anything about the character and we talked over recent story lines with great enthusiasm.  At that time, he talked about the movie possibility and while he didn't know the particulars, he knew he'd be first in the casting call line the moment he got word one.  You know, if he wasn't off training in the middle of the desert.

Comics are great, people.  Anyone and everyone can be a fan of smoe odd facet or another for a million and one reasons.  The guy on set was amazing, in both his acting career and in his day job and when I heard news that the Green Lantern movie seems to be set to film next Spring, I thought back to that guy.  Sure, hal Jordan seems to be the main named dropped, but if there's room for a John Stewart, you'll have a very brave and awesome guy front and center.

"We can't always bat a thousand," noted Quesada, mentioning that If you look at track trecord, they're good at publishing the book in question.  Dan Buckley jumped in to note  that creatively, they hit their stride with Iron Man and didn't need to change a lot to make Iron Man fit the tone of the movie.  matt Fraction was noted for his communication with the writers on Iron Man: Director of SHIELD and matched everything very well between current continuity and movie tone.  Hulk, on the other hand, is a bigger challenge because creators have to be able to 'stretch their legs' and do what they want without a corproate influence, suggesting to me that I load up customers on trade paperbacks ($12.99 and up) instead of new comics (as low as $2.99) for new readers.  Last Year, Buckley noted, they pushed the character with events like  Planet Hulk and World War Hulk and, while they had nothing to do with the movie, they it put the character out in the public eye.

Kevin Feige (president, Marvel Studios), in an Incredible Hulk hat, noted that they used a lot of the trades as influences on the movie, citing Hulk: Gray and Bruce Jones' first run.

And yet... I don't really feel my question was answered.  Why did Marvel not put out a comic that fit the theme of a very popular and well made movie?  Why do I have to recommend stories from years ago in order to keep customer interest?  Why can't the Bruce-Banner-man-vs.-inner-monster story be told in the modern age?

And what in God's good name is going on in Loeb's book!??

Ah, wel.  At least joe Quesada didn't tell me to sit down and enjoy the stories this time.

... that really makes me want to run some sort of captioning contest or something.

... which makes it to the front page.  Go fig.

SORRY!  Wrong link, though I admire Lydia's candor and wasn't so much of a cheerleading shill to say the same myself.  Nope!  Here's Yours Truly with the rah-rah for the store, Iron Man and anything else you pu in front of me.

Please note:  It's me, a dog who sadly died and new Child Pornography laws.  It really was a slow news day.  But I said my best, got misquoted and spoke positively about comics in the media and how business changed what was once a child's medium.  Sounds good, right?

It even got us a bit of business.  So that's good there.

This afternoon, when I came into work, I created this sign out of a used back board:

I created this sign because I could pretty much call how my day was going to go:

Customer: Have you seen Iron Man yet?
Me: Yes!
Customer: Is... is it any good?

I've had to go through this with every single comic movie that's hit the screen, throwing in Star Wars prequels to boot. That hesitant fear of a bad movie of four-color caliber causes customers to cower at the counter and now I'm just alliterating for the heck of it. But no, this is serious, as serious as I have had to answer the question before people even saw the sign.

This fear is not unfounded. We remember the Schumaker Batman flicks with guilt and remorse. The Hulk movie had me in denial for years until an intervention was staged to show me the truth, that the movie is darned well near unwatchable. So looking to others to see if it's safe is a perfectly rational reaction, especially for Metro considering the store manager is a film studies major.

I also think we look to sources of authority to ensure that the film is true, people who know comics who can call a spade a spade, if you will. If the comic fans don't like it, well then. Tear up your tickets! This morning on the radio the three disc jockies, self-admittedly out of the loop when it comes to the funnybooks, had to ask their regular movie reviewer if the 'nerds' would approve of how close Iron Man stuck to the source material. Even non-comic fans know our word is law on these kinds of things.

So I understand your reticence. I understand the fears and anxieties. But for the love of new super-computer Jarvis:

Please stop asking me.

Conquer your fears. See the movie for yourself and ride the rollercoaster of comic movie acceptance.

For the record? The Iron Man movie just so happens to be THE best comic movie I have had the pleasure of seeing. Mind you, I'm saying this still riding the incredible high of seeing it for the first time, so my snap judgment is just that: WHEE! Tonight, I see it again (this time getting the full effect as I had to cut out before the end (AND YES I KNOW ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END OF THE CREDITS!) to go hand out flyers for Free Comic Book Day at Metro, so we'll see what viewing #2 does to the ol' brain pan.

Maybe I'll be more objective. Maybe I'll still want to declare it a modern masterpiece that thrills me to no end that Marvel has their own studios now. We shall see.

And so should you.

It's the only goddamned Marvel panel at WonderCon this year and by hell or high water, I was going to be there.

Well, after both hell and high water I found myself a little on the late side in a gigantic auditorium with Jon Favreau and about 300 other people. A lot of the questions were movie based (what inspires you, how was it to work with Stan Winston, etc) and for his part, these didn't seem like technical rote answers. He was just as excited to tell you about going to Skywalker Ranch this weekend to do some mixing as he was to tell you about Rhodey and War Machine in the new movie (probably no War Machine, per se, but the origin of the character will remain true). There was enthusiasm through a second party as Favreau felt that Marvel Studios was very encouraging to get as imaginative and creative as possible with the movie; one, because the more locations, the more armors and the more honest-to-God 'stuff' is in the movie, the more they can make of merchandising. Simple fact that in the case of Iron Man happens to work well; man makes a lot of stuff that would be incredibly cool in 6" plastic.

Two to this is the fact that this is Marvel's first production out of the thumb of any major studio influence but their own. This gives them a lot of freedom to use source material to its fullest and with as much enthusiasm as possible. I like the sound of that, Marvel Zombie that I am, and it gives me hope that not only are they willing to throw the Armory at us, but in Favreau's opinion, create a whole universe that's consistent within their movies (now at least). This level of consistency to both within the movies and to the original stories can lead them t do things like an Avengers movie, which Favreau would like to be a part of. Now, if only we can get that kind of consistency in the comics....

Obviously, there wasn't a lot that could be said about the movie itself, details, specifics, all the nitty gritty you're waiting for. Favreau likened it to being a burglar in a house with a pit bull. You can bring a bag of steaks to sate the pit bull while you're robbing the place, but eventually... you'll run out of steaks. Preferring to work under the white noise of uncertainty, he declined comments on online rumors and dodged and weaved with the best of them.

Well, it wouldn't be a panel without a teaser and he apologized that the 90 second preview attached to Lost wasn't actually this week, but next week (check your local listings). He didn't even have that 90 second preview with him... but he did have the 2 1/2 minute trailer.
Oh man.

A lot of it we've already seen, but there's a lot more of Tony in it, his arrogance, his cocky nature and you're starting to get a feel for the man more than the suit. There's a cute test flight at night that crashes through his garage (Tony's pad being a rather swanky high tech apartment that will delight the nerdy senses), there's a press conference about how there's rumors of him building a hero (maybe becoming a superhero, it was hard to hear) and that he wasn't the 'hero type' interspersed with shots of him kicking ass and blowing shit up like an Iron Man should. One line that caught my attention specifically was "I want to protect the people I put in harm's way" which is a genius motivation and rarely seen in the heroic story of comics. Someone who wants to not put back the genie in the bottle, but survive what came out and help the innocent who never brought this on themselves.

The movie is going to be fantastic; with the enthusiasm from both directions, both corporate and fan, it would take a catastrophe to ruin something this well made. Again.... if we could just get this level of attention on the comics.

Okay, I'm really sold on Robert Downey Jr. I'm really sold on the Adi Granov designs. This movie is getting ready to look SO GOOD.

Which makes me ask one, tiny question: Where's the publicity for the Incredible Hulk?

It's dry as a bone out there for awesome new news of the second try at a Hulk movie that's watchable over 15%.  Sure, Iron Man's coming out first and I'm sure they want to get the word out on the movie with all the hip stars, but ... not a peep? Not a desktop or a concept sketch or an interview or eight or ... something? The website is dreadfully empty, the pics we have are not exactly telling... I don't know. Not exactly inspiring the same selling points as Mr. Flashy Iron Man over here.

Give Norton some love, people.