If you’ve landed on this site, please head on over to our new site at http://viewfromthecheapseatsonline.com. All VFTCS business from now on will be over there. The backup site is http://cheapseats.wednesdayshaul.com.
This site will remain up for now as an archive but will probably eventually go away as well.
The RSS feed for the podcast will remain http://feeds.feedburner.com/cheapseatspodcast. texas holdem handbig game pokerregistrierungs bonus code party poker,bonus code für party poker,party poker bonusparty poker spielgeldкомпютриfurniture Bulgariapoker online spielnspiel kontodraw poker spielregelnonline poker strategiegiochi on linestrip poker game onlinepoker on line gratuitogiochi seven card stud gratisbonus senza deposito pokerfull tilt pokerstrp pokerpoker italiapoker su internetgiochi online poker gratisplay omaha poker onlinescarica pokerpoker milanopoker da scaricare gratisgiochi poker per pcscarica gioco poker gratisparadise pokerstreep poker on linedove giocare a poker,giocare a poker gratis,giocare pokercalifornia pokerbonus code party pokerpoker no on linefurniture Elhovotexas holdem italiaregole texas holdemseven card studonline poker gamepoker online gamespoker texas holdem gratis888 pokerpoker gratis multiplayergioco poker texanopoker americano gratishollywood pokerregolamento texas holdemgioco cartegioco poker scaricabilepoker gratis italianopoker regole di giocopoker gioco pctornei poker gratispoker online macstanze da poker
I’m working to resurrect VFTCS website from the ashes. If you see weird things happening here over the next few days, please feel free to ignore them.
It just occured to me that I’ve been meaning to do this post for a while now but haven’t gotten around to it. As you may have noticed around here lately, things have been kind of quiet (well, maybe you’ve noticed that.) In some ways the band has broken up but at the same time, we’re still together.
The podcast will endure, it’s just a question of when we can get together to actually record. Since I moved last year, it’s been tougher and tougher to get the time to get together and record podcasts. Our last couple of scheduled recording sessions have gotten postponed due to various things. But we should be getting together sometime this week and may actually bang an episode or (dare I dream) two out.
On the blogging side of things, we’ve all set up our own blogs and talk about our varied interests. (rss)
Wednesday’s Haul (Scott) covers comics primarily but has lately been delving into some TV and movie talk.
Boxwatcher (Ty) on the other hand primarily covers movies but lately has experimented with comic reviews. (rss)
Replay Factor (Brad) talks music. He has delved into little else. (rss)
And if you don’t want to check out three different spots to see us blather on about Bon Jovi, Transformers, Max Gail or Harry Potter (and, oh, the Harry Potter talk is coming,) you can always check our amalgamated feed here at View From The Cheap Seats (or our feedburner RSS feed). For the near future, VFTCS will exist to bring all three of us together under a nice little banner.
Ty, Scott and Brad sit around to discuss changes to our website and the creation of our individual websites. Also Scott’s Ebay woes, Ty’s chainsaw and Evil Dead - The Musical (which none of us have seen). Have a day.
Direct download: VFTCS_EP_37_-_Stories_About_Stuff.mp3
I found this site just in time for the Star Wars anniversary:
They have scans of the first 3 series of Star Wars trading cards as well as a slew of others from the 1930’s to the 1980’s. It’s a fun site, especially if you were a kid during any of that time.
Mmmmm… stale gum…
We saw Spider-Man 3 (who didn’t?) and we talked about it along with Free Comic Book Day. So sit back, relax and soak up the podcast goodness!
Well, I’ve spun Wednesday’s Haul off to it’s own website. For now, you can find it by going to www.wednesdayshaul.com/wordpress. There’s not much there now but I’ll be building on it over the next couple of weeks. It’s pretty much a solo project and mostly comic related. Please stop on by.
05-17-07_2032.jpg
Originally uploaded by scottced.
What do the movies Hot Fuzz and Year of the Dog have in common? Nothing, except I saw them both weeks ago and then got too lazy to write timely reviews. So here comes two mini-reviews for the price of one!
Hot Fuzz- This movie was advertised as an homage to action films by the guys who did Shaun of the Dead. Well, the last third is an over the top action, the first two thirds are more mystery than action film. The good news is it’s all funny. The story of Nicholas Angel(Simon Pegg), a big time London police officer who is the top cop on the London Police Force. He’s taken every training offered to him and excells at all aspects of the job. He is so good that the other cops grow tired of his making them look bad so he is transferred to the quiet village of Sandford.
A basic fish out of water story done right. The inter-play between Angel and his partner Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) is sincere and humorous. The comedy is purely character driven. You don’t need to know all the conventions of the action genre to enjoy this film. Though if you’re familar with them you’ll recognize the set-ups instantly. Not quite as heartfelt as Shaun of the Dead but just about as funny.
**** out of *****
Year of the Dog- I knew next to nothing about this film prior to it’s release. I saw the title in the theater listings and after a little research I figured I’d take a gamble. Good thing I didn’t bet the house. In a nutshell, Peggy (Molly Shannon) lives alone with Pencil her dog, works as some sort of executive assistant, and visits her brother and his family alot. She’s the kind of person that people only listen to when it is her turn to speak. They listen to what she says and then they smile or laugh and go back to talking about their own problems. One night Pencil gets out and goes missing. The next morning Peggy finds him in the neighbors yard, takes him to the vet and the poor dog dies. She is devastated but life must go on. Her neighbor Al (John C. Rielly) takes her out but they don’t really click. Soon a volunteer (Peter Sarsgaard) from an animal shelter calls and asks if she wants to adobpt a rescued dog. She agrees and soon befriends the volunteer, then tries to date him. Things get a little…strange. Much like the movie. She soon goes off the deep end as she understands that she can relate to animals better than humans.
The one thing I learned from the movie is Molly Shannon can act, very well. Scenes that should be laughably melodramatic actually work because of her. I’d like to see her do more of this type of work. The rest of the cast is pretty good but no one really stands out. The film though is something of a trainwreck. Written and directed by Mike White, his first time directing, I usually like his quirkiness but here it is a little too much as the film just rolls on at a tedious pace. Plus there is a very weird shift in tone that Peggy undergoes at the start of the third act. It does have a nice ending but the ride to get there is just too dull. Having been a pet owner most of my life I really wanted to love this movie. In the end it left me almost as cold a dead dogs corpse.
** out of *****
So, I kind of denounce one letter writing campaign and here I am supporting another.
I’ve known Marc from Pop Syndicate for a while now. He owned and operated Mediasharx for a while and is now one of the editors at PS. I guess he’s trying to get on Beauty and the Geek. Here’s Marc’s reasons why he should be on:
1) I watch 33 active TV shows right now. Not all are in season simultaneously, but a bulk of them are. That doesn’t count old TV shows that I will still catch when I can like The Wonder Years or old Star Trek.
2) I have 35 podcasts I listen to every week. I’m no Rob Walsh, but I try.
3) I’ve written movie, TV, music and comic book reviews for two pop culture websites and owned a third for the last 6 years. Plus I did all the tech stuff for the first two.
4) I currently have 2222 songs in iTunes spanning every genre.
5) I used to play Cloak and Dagger occasionally and I enjoyed it. It’s like LARPing.
6) I played trombone well. For 7 years.
7) I have two podcasts and have a hand in a third.
I have three full longboxes of bagged and boarded comics and need to purchase a fourth.
9) When I went to NYC, I cared more about getting to Midtown Comics than seeing Empire State.
10) When I go to Las Vegas, my main goal isn’t blackjack; I want to go to The Star Trek Experience.
11) Speaking of Star Trek, I’ve read the Star Trek Encyclopedia cover to cover three times.
12) I read sci-fi books during the commercials for TV shows.
13) I’ve had one girlfriend and kissed one girl. And I’m 26.
14) I’m extremely awkward and socially inept around girls I like. Somehow I always make an ass of myself.
15) I’m a programmer and have been paid to write things that people use in classic ASP, VBScript, VB.Net, C#, ASP.Net, Cobol and JCL.
16) I get mad when I see that people don’t know the spelling difference between possessive and plural.
17) I skipped school in high school three times to get tickets to the re-release of the original Star Wars trilogy in theaters, and I stood in line by myself for 10 hours to get tickets for The Phantom Menace.
18) I pay more attention to Digg.com, Arstechnica, Geek Brief TV, This Week in Tech, etc than I do regular news.
19) I collect digital pictures on my computer of the casts of shows that I love because, “Someday I’ll need them.”
20) I own a Mark Hamill cardboard stand-up.
All that and the show is saying Marc is too normal to be a geek. So he’s asking everyone to write to the CW trying to get him on. If you want to help out, here’s who you should write to:
Paul McGuire, CW Executive Vice President, Network Communications
Paul.McGuire@cwtv.comJeff Tobler, CW Publicity
Jeff.Tobler@cwtv.comCW TV Feedback
feedback@cwtv.comA nice email might read like this:
Subject: Get Marcus from Frisco, Tx on Beauty and the Geek!
Dear CW,
With the upcoming fourth season of Beauty and the Geek, I think you’ve already auditioned a great contestant in Marcus from Frisco, Texas. He may not be your stereotypical geek, but he’s a geek nonetheless.
Put him on your show!
I think I’ll be doing a lot of emailing tonight to help Marc and Comic Foundry out.
So, Diamond rejected soliciting and carrying The Comic Foundry? I’m having trouble figuring out why I should care.
I’ve seen this plastered up and down the internet today. This is the same thing that happened last year when Diamond refused to carry Rebecca Kratz’s House of Sugar from Tulip Tree Press. Publisher Hope Larson made an appeal about the book and eventually it was picked up by Diamond. But that was a comic. This is just another magazine.
It’s hard to judge the worth of what the magazine Comic Foundry is. They were previously a web site that tried to be an online magazine as opposed to just another comic website. Like everyone (Pop Syndicate included,) they had some stuff that worked well and some that didn’t.
Of course, it doesn’t help that Diamond’s main reason for rejecting them was:
I called Diamond for more clarification and spoke with Tim Huckelbery, who let me know the news in the first place. He said, among other things, “When I was looking though it and reading a magazine of that type, which is about comics, which has lots of images of comics characters, that is looking to be timely and topical, I was expecting color. That, just for me, is how my brain is wired.” So, to be a timely magazine with topical content (and feature images of comic characters) it has to be in color? I’m sorry, I’ve thought about this all afternoon, and I don’t really see how this makes sense. What about The Comics Journal or Comics Buyers Guide? Neither of those are full-color, right?
O.k. Now that just seems silly. Color doesn’t make Wizard good just like b&w doesn’t make the Comics Journal bad. It sounds like Comic Foundry was judged more on Diamond’s preconceptions of what a comic magazine should be rather than on the strengths and merits of the magazine itself. That’s just not right.
So people are encouraging letter writing campaigns to Diamond and I’m not too sure what to do. I’ll probably end up writing a letter tonight but instead of demanding that they distribute the magazine, I think Diamond needs to re-evaluate the process of how they treated Comic Foundry. Are TCJ or CBG grandfathered in? If not, it seems like there’s the precedence here for a B&W comic magazine.
What do Spider-Man and Osama Bin Laden have in common? Absolutely nothing! However, the original promotional materials for the first Spider-Man movie that featured the Twin Towers were pulled or altered after the tragedy of September 11, 2001.
Here is a link to the fantastic teaser trailer on YouTube.
It’s movies and TV for the gang as we discuss Grindhouse, Amazing Grace, TMNT, Battlestar Galactica and a fan film that has to be heard about to be believed! Throw in a Spider-Man 2.1 DVD review and some upcoming movie news and you’ve got yourselves a show. Enjoy!
Subscribe to us via iTunes or your favorite podcatcher!
It’s a rambling episode where Scott talks about what he’s read over the past two weeks, his thoughts on Spider-Man 3 and FCBD and a rundown of books coming out on Wednesday, May 9th, 2007.
Links:
Comic Podcast Network
Pop Syndicate
Review of Incredible Hulk #106
Even before the war can rightly begin, sides are already being drawn and Jennifer Walters, Bruce Banner’s cousin, needs to decide what side she’ll be on when the real fighting begins. During the recent civil war, the choice was simple for the lawyer– she needed to fight on the side of the law and with Iron Man. The only problem is that she didn’t know everything that her “allies” had done. She didn’t know what they did to her cousin. And now, she doesn’t know that the Hulk is returning, seeking only revenge. When she does find out that Iron Man, Reed Richards and the rest of the Illuminati rocketed Bruce Banner into space, she “Hulks” out, attacking Iron Man until he turns her powers off and abandons her in New Jersey.
In Jersey, Jen has two “conversations,” one with Amadeus Cho, a mysterious and powerful boy who idolizes the Hulk and knows what was done to him, and Doctor Samson who argues on behalf of Reed Richards, trying to justify the Illuminati’s actions. Jen is caught between the side, forced to decide between her family and her friends. What’s fascinating is how the two sides present their arguments. Cho sits down and discusses everything over donuts and coffee while Samson immediately goes for a physical battle, attempting to disarmed an unpowered opponent without thinking about any potential collateral damage (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?)
To read the rest of the review, click here.
Review of Elk’s Run Graphic Novel
We all want shelter. We all want protection. So it is easy to understand the comfort a town like Elk’s Ridge offers to its citizens. The people of Elk’s Ridge voluntarily isolated themselves from the world over 30 years ago. Seeing the ugliness and hatred in a post-Vietnam America, they took up an offer to settle in a mining town and almost totally cut themselves off from the rest of the world. Other than monthly supply trucks that provide the bare necessities, Elk’s Ridge shuns the outside world while protecting their own little piece of paradise. At least, that’s what they tell themselves.
The unthinkable happened when someone actually wanted to leave Elk’s Ridge. That was the beginning of the end. A wife leaves her husband, taking her children with her. When the husband tries to follow, he accidentally kills one of the town’s children, ending the remaining innocence that may still exist in Elk’s Ridge. John Kohler Jr., an Elk’s Ridge teenager, figures out that nothing is what he thought it was as he watches his father lead a lynch mob to kill Arnold Huld, the man who killed the child. When the state police come looking for Huld, reported missing by his estranged wife, the town’s delicate structure collapses as the secrets of Elk’s Ridge and John Kohler’s father are exposed.
Elk’s Run is a fantastic American gothic horror story, building on fears and insecurities that have always existed in the back of our minds. Writer Joshua Hale Fialkov creates a sincere dream (a truly old-fashioned American small town) and then proceeds to twist and butcher the idea. Elk’s Ridge offers everything you could want in a home; protection, good neighbors, a solid support structure and security. Maybe a few small personal sacrifices have to be made (such as you can never leave) but aren’t they worth it? Thirty years ago, they were to a small handful of visionaries, building a new community, but Fialkov doesn’t let them go that easily. Visionaries turn into fanatics as John’s father, one of the original citizens, fights to protect the sanctity of the town from the outside world even when it may mean killing his own son.
To read the full review, click here.
Review of DC’s World War III #s 1-4
In the grand scheme of things, One Year Later may be DC’s biggest failure ever. It derailed Infinite Crisis, showing us the world well before the conclusion of Infinite Crisis was ever published. Even if we did not know the particulars at the time, One Year Later gave broad brush stroke spoilers for the end if Infinite Crisis and lessened the impact of the mini-series’ climax. During the last year, we’ve been reading about two DC universes, the past (52) and the present (One Year Later) with little to connect the two. As we’re racing toward the end of 52 (only two weeks left,) there’s a profound sense that something is wrong; something is off in the DC universe. Both 52 and OYL have raised questions that maybe they thought the other event would answer. What’s up with giant Hawkgirl? When did Harvey Dent begin protecting Gotham City? What happened to the Teen Titans during the missing year? Those questions only begin to scratch the surface of plot points that have been introduced only to fade back into the dark corners of the collective fanboy memory.
In this week’s DC Nation column, Dan Didio basically admits that the four issue event-within-an-event is a band-aid, a way to cover up their abandoned and lost plot points. It’s easy to understand how this happened. Way back in the beginning, it may have seemed cool to bring back a number of the space heroes deformed and mutated. As 52 developed over the weeks and months, Hawkgirl’s giganticism or miniaturized Bumblebee became only sideshows for the main players like Renee Montoya, Ralph Dibny and Black Adam. With nowhere else to go with the forgotten plots, the four issue World War III was created.
Actually, counting 52 Week 50, it is a five issue event, all snuggled within the larger event of 52. And really, all we needed was 52 Week 50. In that issue, the battle is engaged, fought and eventually won. But for some reason, the war was given it’s own mini series, complete with an imperative to answer dangling questions from 52 and OYL, and given to two good writers to try and make sense out of.
To read the rest of the review, click here.
Review of Justice League of America #8
Since his run on Green Arrow, I’ve admired Brad Meltzer’s ability to mingle characters together. With his good ear for dialogue, Meltzer has consistently put characters into situations where their words are more powerful and defining than their actions. The words and moments in Identity Crisis are infinitely more interesting than any action scenes. One of my favorite scenes in Identity Crisis features Green Arrow and the Spectre, alone in a graveyard discussing the death of Sue Dibny. The scene begins with two superheroes discussing the death of one of their own but it moves into two old friends discussing the nature of life. Green Arrow and the Spectre become Oliver Queen and Hal Jordan. They become people instead of costumes.
With the team up of the Justice League and Justice Society in Justice League of America #7, Meltzer is trying to do the same thing. Whether it’s through games of Capture the Flag or chess, he’s trying to make characters like Geo Force and Mr. Terrific human instead of super-human. He’s trying to show them as people, interacting naturally with others. So if this has been his biggest strength as a writer in the past, why does it fall flat with this latest attempt?
Meltzer simply tries too hard in this issue. His effort shows through but it only magnifies the cracks and flaws in his writing. I don’t know if it’s because he and Geoff Johns (the writer on the Justice Society issues of this crossover) feel like they are having a competition or that Meltzer is just awed that he’s writing these characters (he shouldn’t. He’s written most of them before) but Melzter pushes the dialogue too hard and ends up sounding too cutesy and contrived in many scenes in this issue. Batman and Power Girl discussing old manuscripts over a cup of team make them look old and doddy.
To read the rest of the review, click here.
Review of Buffy The Vampire Slayer V2 #2
Someone needs to explain to me what happens in the middle of this comic because that’s the only thing that keeps this from being an almost perfect comics.
Last issue, we were reintroduced to Buffy, Xander and the army of slayers. Buffy mastermind Joss Whedon dived back into the world of his beloved creation and barely missed a beat. It may have been a bit slow and not quite as action packed as some would have liked but it still felt right, it felt natural. Even if the show ended a couple of years ago, it feels like Whedon’s imagination hasn’t been to far from the Buffyverse during that time.
Now with an army of slayers, the question becomes how do you train them? Buffy #2 opens with three fun sequences: Giles training a fighting mob, Buffy training fighters and Andrew training the finer points of Star Wars and headbutts. In these three brief scenes, the new regimen of the training of a slayer is shown while also depicting the distinct personalities of the trainers.
To read the complete review, click here.
Review of Justice League of America #7
The dust settles from the battle with Ivo, Amazo and Solomon Grundy and the new Justice League stands ready to… well, I guess ready to gather together. After the last six issues dealt with a number of smaller groups and characters coming together to fight the same threat from different angles, this issue has them all realizing the need and purpose for a Justice League of America. Brad Meltzer obviously has a love for 70s-era DC. Almost every story he’s written has in one way or another been a love poem to that era, invoking story elements from then and trying to place it in a modern era. His work on Justice League of America so far has been so strongly tied into the past that this issue feels comfortable but not exciting, welcoming but not exhilarating
Now before I really get too far into this review, let me just say that I do like this issue. Really, I do but I know that this is going to be one of those reviews that end up sounding really negative. That’s because Meltzer’s story here is deeply flawed and relies too heavy on his own memories of the Justice League that he read and loved. It’s a love poem to the seventies’ League, complete with a satellite headquarters and teamups with the Justice Society of America.
The first half of the book is strong as characters grow up, learn what the League means to them and even take steps to solve their own problems. It almost looks like Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman have given up a bit of control over the team and have let Green Lantern and Black Canary pick the new team. After the three spent so much of the first few issues debating the merits of prospective team members, they give a bit into fate and a bit into compromise and let others appear to be in charge. After all, Green Lantern is also a charter member of the JLA. He has as much right to the team as anyone else. But then Meltzer undermines it, by having the big three already have a new headquarters in place and all of the details worked out. Supeman hints that they’ve been building this for months (during 52 I guess but how I don’t know.) The big three haven’t given up control but only the appearance of control. I wonder how much leeway the new chairperson is going to be given?
To read the rest of the review, click here.
Review of Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America: Wolverine #1
The coordination of Marvel after the death of Captain America seems flawed. In Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America #1, Jeph Loeb and Leinil Yu essentially repeat the story from New Avengers #28, also drawn by Yu. Doctor Strange sneaks a couple of heroes, including Wolverine, aboard a SHIELD helicarrier to identify the body of Steve Rogers. In one story, it was a fake. In the other, it was the real body of the fallen hero.
Fallen Son opens with a meeting of Wolverine and the Winter Soldier in an old SHIELD barber shop (look up the old SHIELD stories if you don’t know the significance of barber shops in the Marvel Universe.) Wolverine says he doesn’t think Steve Rogers is dead. Winter Soldier says he was there and that Cap is really dead. In fact, Winter Soldier is quite emphatic about it. “Don’t you get it?” he asks Wolverine. “It was” (dramatic pause) “THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA.” Loeb’s writing does lack some subtlety and later it will even lack some basic plotting. For some reason, Wolverine is trying to convince Winter Soldier to storm a SHIELD helicarrier with him but it’s never really explained why other than it’s a dramatic way to open the story. The setting of this opening scene is great (I miss the days when a barber shop could be used by super spies) but the logic behind it is missing.
To read the rest of the review, click here.
I’m not really sure what to say about Grindhouse. I saw it, I liked it, but I realize it didn’t leave much of an impact on me. I should be nuts about this film. I love Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez films. This double feature is an homage to the movies that inspired both of these guys to become filmmakers. What’s not to love right?
The title refers to a certain category of theaters, mostly in big cities, known as Grindhouse theaters. They would play exploitation films (horror, martial arts, action, soft core porn, etc.) 24 hours a day. The films would just play in a loop and patrons would buy a ticket and join in wherever the programming was. Because of the constant play films would get scratched and sometimes reels were missing, adding to the experience.
Using this as a blueprint, Rodriguez and Tarantino each created their own movies to be shown as a double feature with fake trailers in between. First up is Planet Terror, Robert Rodriguez’s zombie flick about a small Texas town being over run with undead like creatures. Planet Terror is bloody, nasty, gory fun. Everything including a woman whose amputated leg is replaced with a machine gun. It’s a pretty cool ride all the way through. Some of the gore and violence gets a little old after awhile but each film is only 85 minutes long, so about the time you think you’re getting bored it’s over. Deathproof is Tarantino’s half, a psuedo slasher flick mixed with a car chase movie. Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russel) has a car that is “Deathproof”. A person can survive any wreck in it, provided that person is in the drivers seat. He uses the vehicle to chase down beautiful young women. Until he meets his match in a group of Hot Rod loving stunt-women. There are two major flaws in Deathproof. 1) Tarantino is in love with his dialogue a bit too much. Normally he is spot on, his characters speak the way real people talk and the conversations are laced with witty banter and obscure pop culture references. But here it’s too much, out of the entire running time the cool action sequence, an old school non-C.G. car chase, doesn’t start until about 20 minutes left in the film. It’s a slasher flick, where is the blood and guts? 2) The structure is odd. The first half of the film is spent getting familiar with a group of girls and having them killed halfway through. Then the process starts over again with a new group of girls. On it’s own it may have worked, but after sitting in the theater for over two hours it’s quite monotonous.
They have a lot of fun with putting in fake scratches on the film and using the “missing reel” gag to gloss over key plot points but these are just gimmicks. The fake trailers are cool. I loved Nazi Were-Wolf Women of the S.S. and Machete, which according to IMDB.com is scheduled as a direct to video release in 2008. But ultimately this is a three plus hour inside joke that a bit too inside. Before seeing Grindhouse you have to ask if you’re the kind of person who like the idea of a stripper with a machine gun leg. If so, this is the movie for you.
*** out of *****
If you liked Creepshow, Bullitt, or Dawn of the Dead you might like Grindhouse.
This week, there’s a movie coming out called The Grand. I can’t say I’ve heard of it before today, but in this interview with Cheryl Hines, she spills on one scene that makes me believe I need to see this movie.
What was the hardest scene to keep a straight face in?
When Werner Herzog goes crazy and starts to attack Chris Parnell, and Chris jumps up on the chair and starts squawking like a bird. Is that still in there?Yes.
Oh, good.
Maybe that’ll be Herzog’s next documentary.
Quickly scanning through Diamond’s Previews (due out next week) and July like it’s going to be a fantastic month because of the return of a number of my all-time favorite titles. Grendel, Madman and Nexus all have new issues out and Grimjack gets another collection from IDW.
Add in new Yotsuba&! and Monster volumes and I can see my orders for July being huge.
Here’s the just announced list of comic’s Eisner nominations. Where I have a prediction or even comment, I’ll include it.
Nominees, 2007,Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
Best Short Story
”The Black Knight Glorps Again,” by Don Rosa, in Uncle Scrooge #354 (Gemstone)
“Felix,” by Gabrielle Bell, in Drawn & Quarterly Showcase 4 (Drawn & Quarterly)
“A Frog’s Eye View,” by Bill Willingham and James Jean, in Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)
“Old Oak Trees,” by Tony Cliff, in Flight 3 (Ballantine)
“Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man,” by Stan Lee, Oliver Coipel, and Mark Morales, in Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man (Marvel)
“Willie: Portrait of a Groundskeeper,” by Eric Powell, in Bart Simpsons’s Treehouse of Horror #12 (Bongo)
Scott’s Prediction: I’ll go with “A Frog’s Eye View” though I’m horribly surprised that the Stan Lee wank fest called “Stan Lee Meets Spider-Man” even got nominated. Really, that’s what we considering one of the best short stories of the past year? At least it had pretty art.
Best Single Issue (or One-Shot)
Batman/The Spirit #1: “Crime Convention,” by Jeph Loeb and Darwyn Cooke (DC)
A Late Freeze, by Danica Novgorodoff (Danica Novgorodoff)
The Preposterous Adventures of Ironhide Tom, by Joel Priddy (AdHouse)
Skyscrapers of the Midwest #3, by Joshua Cotter (AdHouse)
They Found the Car, by Gipi (Fantagraphics)
Scott’s Comment: I’ve only sadly read one of these and can’t imaging that Batman/Spirit was the best book. Maybe if it had been the first issue of Spirit nominated, I would have gone with that but Batman/Spirit was a limp story.
Best Continuing Series
All Star Superman, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC)
Captain America, by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting (Marvel)
Daredevil, by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, and Stefano Gaudiano (Marvel)
Naoki Urusawa’s Monster, by Naoki Urusawa (Viz)
The Walking Dead, by Robert Kirkman and Charles Adlard (Image)
Young Avengers, by Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, and various inkers (Marvel)
Scott’s Prediction: Other than Walking Dead (which I must be one of the only people who don’t care for it,) I’ve actually read these. If the last eight issues of Daredevil were as stunning as the first 6 of Bru’s run, I would easily vote for that series. Young Avengers? Again, if it was the first six rather than the second six, I’d consider it. My vote is stuck between All Star Superman and Naoki Urasawa’s Monster. It’s almost a coin flip but I think All Star Superman narrowly deserves the win here.
Best Limited Series
Batman: Year 100, by Paul Pope (DC)
The Looking Glass Wars: Hatter M, by Frank Beddor, Liz Cavalier, and Ben Templesmith (Desperado/Image)
The Other Side, by Jason Aaron and Cameron Stewart (Vertigo/DC)
Scarlet Traces: The Great Game, by Ian Edginton and D’Israeli (Dark Horse)
Sock Monkey: The Inches Incident, by Tony Millionaire (Dark Horse)
Scott’s Comment: Bruce Rosenberger says nothing but good things about Scarlet Traces, a series I have to get at some time, as well as The Looking Glass Wars but neither book has ended up in my collection yet. Batman Year 100 was fine but uneven. Here’s another series I have to abstain from due to my lack of reading most of the nominees.
Best New Series
Criminal, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Marvel Icon)
East Coast Rising, by Becky Cloonan (Tokyopop)
Gumby, by Bob Burden and Rick Geary (Wildcard)
Jack of Fables, by Bill Willingham, Matthew Sturges, Tony Akins, and Andrew Pepoy (Vertigo/DC)
The Lone Ranger, by Brett Matthews and Sergio Cariello (Dynamite)
Scott’s Prediction: Other than Gumby, I’ve read all of these and only consider two of them to be the best new series– Criminal and East Coast Rising. Another tough one but I have to go with Criminal here.
Best Publication for a Younger Audience
Chickenhare, by Chris Grine (Dark Horse)
Drawing Comics Is Easy (Except When It’s Hard), by Alexa Kitchen (Denis Kitchen Publishing)
Gumby, by Bob Burden and Rick Geary (Wildcard)
Moomin, by Tove Jansson (Drawn & Quarterly)
To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel, by Sienna Cherson and Mark Siegel (Simon & Schuster)
Scott’s Comments: This is getting kind of sad. Moomin and To Dance are both on my list of books I need to get but I haven’t read anything in this category either. Was American Born Chinese eligible this year? That would have been a strong contender in this category.
Best Humor Publication
Flaming Carrot Comics, by Bob Burden (Desperado/Image)
Onionhead Monster Attacks, by Paul Friedrich (Hellcar)
Schizo #4, by Ivan Brunetti (Fantagraphics)
Tales Designed to Thrizzle, by Michael Kupperman (Fantagraphics)
Truth Serum, by Jon Adams (City Cyclops)
Scott’s Comments: …
Best Anthology
Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall, by Bill Willingham and various (Vertigo/DC)
Hotwire Comix and Capers #1, edited by Glenn Head (Fantagraphics)
Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators, edited by Frédéric Boilet (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Kramers Ergot 6, edited by Sammy Harkham (Buenaventura Press)
Project: Romantic, edited by Chris Pitzer (AdHouse)
Scott’s Prediction: Project: Romantic wins here with a great mix of story and artwork.
Best Digital Comic
Bee, in “Motel Art Improvement Service,” by Jason Little, http://beecomix.com
Girl Genius, by Phil Foglio, www.girlgeniusonline.com
Minus, by Ryan Armand, www.kiwisbybeat.com/minus1.html
Phables, by Brad Guigar, www.phables.com
Sam and Max, by Steve Purcell, http://telltalegames.com/community/comics/samandmax/issue-3
Shooting War, by Anthony Lappe and Dan Goldman, www.shootingwar.com
Scott’s Comments: I really need to get into webcomics.
Best Reality-Based Work
Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin)
I Love Led Zeppelin, by Ellen Forney (Fantagraphics)
Mom’s Cancer, by Brian Fies (Abrams)
Project X Challengers: Cup Noodle, by Tadashi Katoh (Digital Manga)
Stagger Lee, by Derek McCulloch and Shepherd Hendrix (Image)
Scott’s Prediction: I really liked Mom’s Cancer.
Best Graphic Album—New
American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang (First Second)
Billy Hazelnuts, by Tony Millionaire (Fantagraphics)
Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel (Houghton Mifflin)
Ninja, by Brian Chippendale (Gingko Press)
Scrublands, by Joe Daly (Fantagraphics)
The Ticking, by Renée French (Top Shelf)
Scott’s Prediction: American Born Chinese.
Best Graphic Album—Reprint
Absolute DC: The New Frontier, by Darwyn Cooke (DC)
Castle Waiting, by Linda Medley (Fantagraphics)
Mom’s Cancer, by Brian Fies (Abrams)
Shadowland, by Kim Deitch (Fantagraphics)
Truth Serum, by Jon Adams (City Cyclops)
Scott’s Prediction: Absolute DC: The New Frontier is one of the best books ever, doing a great job of showing off the creator’s personality in the extra material included with the book.
Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips
The Complete Peanuts, 1959–1960, 1961–1962, by Charles Schulz (Fantagraphics)
Mary Perkins On Stage, by Leonard Starr (Classic Comics Press)
Moomin, by Tove Jansson (Drawn & Quarterly)
Popeye: I Yam What I Yam, by E. C. Segar (Fantagraphics)
Walt & Skeezix, vol. 2, by Frank King (Drawn & Quarterly)
Scott’s Prediction: Because it’s the only one I’ve got, The Complete Peanuts wins here. Next year this should be an interesting category.
Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books
Abandon the Old In Tokyo, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (Drawn & Quarterly)
Absolute Sandman, vol. 1, by Neil Gaiman and various (Vertigo/DC)
Art Out of Time: Unknown Comics Visionaries, 1900–1969, by Dan Nadel (Abrams)
The Eternals, by Jack Kirby (Marvel)
Ode to Kirihito, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical)
Scott’s Prediction: Absolute Sandman almost purely based on the representation of The Sound of Her Wings.
Best U.S. Edition of International Material
A.L.I.E.E.E.N., by Lewis Trondheim (First Second)
De:TALES, by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá (Dark Horse)
Hwy 115, by Matthias Lehmann (Fantagraphics)
The Left Bank Gang, by Jason (Fantagraphics)
Pizzeria Kamikaze, by Etgar Keret and Asaf Hanuka (Alternative)
Scott’s Prediction: De:Tales and Pizzeria Kamikaze were both excellent but The Left Bank Gang was sublime. Jason takes the prize here.
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Japan
After School Nightmare, by Setona Mizushiro (Go! Comi)
Antique Bakery, by Fumi Yoshinaga (Digital Manga)
Naoki Urusawa’s Monster, by Naoki Urusawa (Viz)
Old Boy, by Garon Tsuchiya and Nobuaki Minegishi (Dark Horse Manga)
Walking Man, by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)
Scott’s Prediction: Got to go with Naoki Urasawa’s Monster.
Best Writer
Ed Brubaker, Captain America, Daredevil (Marvel); Criminal (Marvel Icon)
Bob Burden, Gumby (Wildcard)
Ian Edginton, Scarlet Traces: The Great Game (Dark Horse)
Grant Morrison, All Star Superman, Batman, 52, Seven Soldiers (DC)
Bill Willingham, Fables, Jack of Fables, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)
Scott’s Prediciton: It’s between Ed Brubaker and Grant Morrison, though both had their share of missteps this past year (Uncanny X-Men and 52 come to mind.) Grant Morrison gets the win here for reminding us all of the magic of Superman.
Best Writer/Artist
Allison Bechdel, Fun Home (Houghton Mifflin)
Renée French, The Ticking (Top Shelf)
Gilbert Hernandez, Love and Rockets, New Tales of Old Palomar (Fantagraphics); Sloth (Vertigo/DC)
Paul Pope, Batman: Year 100 (DC)
Joann Sfar, Klezmer, Vampire Loves (First Second)
Scott’s Prediction: Now there’s an interesting list that has me puzzled a bit. Since it’s writer/artist, I’m tossing Paul Pope out because the story of Batman: Year 100 didn’t really strike me. It’s a tie between Gilbert Hernandez and Johan Sfar here. Either one of them really deserves the prize.
Best Writer/Artist—Humor
Ivan Brunetti, Schizo (Fantagraphics)
Lilli Carré, Tales of Woodsman Pete (Top Shelf)
Michael Kupperman, Tales Designed to Thrizzle (Fantagraphics)
Tony Millionaire, Billy Hazelnuts (Fantagraphics); Sock Monkey: The Inches Incident (Dark Horse)
Lewis Trondheim, A.L.I.E.E.E.N. (First Second); Mr. I (NBM)
Scott’s Predictions: Based off of the only book here I’m familiar with, I’ll go with Lewis Trondheim and A.L.I.E.E.E.N. It was twisted and funny.
Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team
Mark Buckingham/Steve Leialoha, Fables (Vertigo/DC)
Tony Harris/Tom Feister, Ex Machina (WildStorm/DC)
Niko Henrichon, Pride of Baghdad (Vertigo/DC)
Michael Lark/Stefano Gaudiano, Daredevil (Marvel)
Sonny Liew, Wonderland (SLG)
Steven McNiven/Dexter Vines, Civil War (Marvel)
Scott’s Prediction: I learned to love Sonny Liew this last year and would almost go with him but Niko Henrichon’s work on The Pride of Baghdad made that the must-read book of the year.
Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)
Nicolas De Crecy, Glacial Period (NBM)
Melinda Gebbie, Lost Girls (Top Shelf)
Ben Templesmith, Fell (Image); The Looking Glass Wars: Hatter M (Desperado/Image); Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse (IDW)
Jill Thompson, “A Dog and His Boy” in The Dark Horse Book of Monsters; “Love Triangle” in Sexy Chix (Dark Horse); “Fair Division,” in Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)
Brett Weldele, Southland Tales: Prequel Saga (Graphitti); Silent Ghost (Markosia)
Scott’s Prediction: It’s down to the two Ashley Wood wannabes– Ben Templesmith and Brett Weldele.
Best Cover Artist
John Cassaday, Astonishing X-Men (Marvel); The Escapists (Dark Horse); The Lone Ranger (Dynamite)
Tony Harris, Conan (Dark Horse); Ex Machina (WildStorm/DC)
James Jean, Fables, Jack of Fables, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall (Vertigo/DC)
Dave Johnson, 100 Bullets (Vertigo/DC); Zombie Tales, Cthulu Tales, Black Plague (Boom!)
J. G. Jones, 52 (DC)
Scott’s Prediction: James Jean.
Best Coloring
Kristian Donaldson, Supermarket (IDW)
Hubert, The Left Bank Gang (Fantagraphics)
Lark Pien, American Born Chinese (First Second)
Dave Stewart, BPRD, Conan, The Escapists, Hellboy (Dark Horse); Action Comics, Batman/The Spirit, Superman (DC)
Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #17 (ACME Novelty)
Scott’s Prediction: Another fantastic list of color artists. I’m going to go with Kristian Donaldson because the different color scheme in Supermarket made that book stand out.
Best Lettering
Ivan Brunetti, Schizo (Fantagraphics)
Todd Klein, Fables, Jack of Fables, Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall; Pride of Baghdad, Testament (Vertigo/DC); Fantastic Four: 1602, Eternals (Marvel); Lost Girls (Top Shelf)
Clem Robins, BPRD, The Dark Horse Book of Monsters, Hellboy (Dark Horse); Loveless, 100 Bullets, Y: The Last Man (Vertigo/DC)
Richard Sala, The Grave Robber’s Daughter, Delphine (Fantagraphics)
Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library #17 (ACME Novelty)
Scott’s Prediction: Todd Klein, the master.
Special Recognition
Ross Campbell, Abandoned (Tokyopop); Wet Moon 2 (Oni)
Svetlana Chmakova, Dramacon (Tokyopop)
Hope Larson, Gray Horses (Oni)
Dash Shaw, The Mother’s Mouth (Alternative)
Kasimir Strzepek, Mourning Star (Bodega)
Scott’s Prediction: What’s this category for? How do you judge this? I’ll go with Svetlana Chmakova and Dramacon just because I can.
Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism
Alter Ego, edited by Roy Thomas (TwoMorrows)
Comic Art 8, edited by Todd Hignite (Buenaventura Press)
The Comics Journal, edited by Gary Groth, Dirk Deppey, Michael Dean, and Kristy Valenti (Fantagraphics)
The Comics Reporter, produced by Tom Spurgeon and Jordan Raphael (www.Comicsreporter.com)
¡Journalista!, produced by Dirk Deppey (Fantagraphics, www.tcj.com/journalista/)
Scott’s Prediction: I’ll go with Tom and Jordan over at the Comics Reporter.
Best Comics-Related Book
The Art of Brian Bolland, edited by Joe Pruett (Desperado/Image)
Cartoon America: Comic Art in the Library of Congress, edited by Harry Katz (Abrams)
Dear John: The Alex Toth Doodle Book, by John Hitchcock (Octopus Press)
In the Studio: Visits with Contemporary Cartoonists, by Todd Hignite (Yale University Press)
Wally’s World, by Steve Sarger and J. David Spurlock (Vanguard)
Scott’s Comments: I want all of these books and have none of them.
Best Publication Design
Absolute DC: The New Frontier, designed by Darwyn Cooke (DC)
Castle Waiting graphic novel, designed by Adam Grano (Fantagraphics)
Lost Girls, designed by Matt Kindt and Brett Warnock (Top Shelf)
Popeye: I Yam What I Yam, designed by Jacob Covey (Fantagraphics)
The Ticking, designed by Jordan Crane (Top Shelf)
Scott’s Prediction: Absolute DC: The New Frontier. What a gorgeous book.
Hall of Fame
Judges’ Choices (2): Robert Kanigher and Ogden WhitneyRoss Andru & Mike Esposito
Dick Ayers
Bernard Baily
Matt Baker
Wayne Boring
Creig Flessel
Harold Gray
Irwin Hasen
Graham Ingels
Joe Orlando
Lily Renée (Peters) Phillips
Bob Powell
Gilbert Shelton
Cliff Sterrett
Scott’s Predictions: For my own personal love of the work, Wayne Boring and Joe Orlando.
It’s the special BLANK VARIANT EDITION of Wednesday’s Haul that you can have completed by all of your favorite comic podcasters!!!
When Scott is actually podcasting, he asks for listener’s help in finding ambitious comics being published currently. This episode also contains reviews of Buffy #2 and Justice League #7, a preview of books coming out in June, 2007, as well as a look at this week’s comic books.
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It’s the special BLANK VARIANT EDITION of Wednesday’s Haul that you can have completed by all of your favorite comic podcasters!!!
When Scott is actually podcasting, he asks for listener’s help in finding ambitious comics being published currently. This episode also contains reviews of Buffy #2 and Justice League #7, a preview of books coming out in June, 2007, as well as a look at this week’s comic books.
It is not hard to imagine why Chris Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) would do it. Not that long ago he was just another high school jock with the world in front of him. Then one night the hockey star made the mistake of showing off. Something that should have been no big deal turned tragic. So tragic that it cost him everything: the lives of two friends, his relationship with his girlfriend, and due to a head injury his future as an athlete. The once great all-star is now living a life of mopping floors at a small town bank and having to write notes to remind himself of everyday things. So it’s no suprise when Gary (Mathew Goode) asks Chris to help him rob the bank that Chris would go along with it. You see, that is the beauty of this movie, The Lookout is not about the robbing of the bank, it’s about the robbers themselves.
Screenwriter Scott Frank makes his directorial debut in this film he also wrote. The Lookout mixes together the crime and thriller genres into a film that really lets us understand just who Chris Pratt is and why he would would do something that would jeopardize what little he has left. Much like in Out of Sight, a great Elmore Leonard book that Frank adapted into an oscar nominated screenplay, the actual heist itself is secondary to the character study. This film is rich with the details of recovering from head trauma. For instance, Chris forgets things so he must write down reminders in his notebook. He must practice sequencing tasks just to remember what to do first when he gets up in the morning. His blind roommate and only friend Lewis (Jeff Daniels who nearly steals the whole movie) has to leave notes on each item Chris needs to prepare dinner with instruction on when and how to cook it. He even has to remind Chris to use a can opener. By the time the robbery actually happens we understand how frustrating it is to have lost all hopes of an independent life.
The only real flaw in the movie is the thriller aspects are pretty standard. That’s not to say it should be a cookie-cutter heist film but, the robbers seem like pretty standard movie characters without much depth. The femme fatale Luvee (Isla Fisher) does have a few nice scenes but it’s not enough to flesh out the character. These aren’t bad movie villans, it just feels like we’ve seen them in other films before.
With it’s small town setting and realistic violence The Lookout is a “rural noir” film, a genre that includes films such as Fargo and A Simple Plan. Like those films The Lookout is full of betrayal, questionable morales, and the quest for a better way of life. It’s an excellent debut from a screenwriter who directs as well as he writes and it’s worth your time.
**** out of *****
If you liked Fargo, A Simple Plan, or Heat you should like The Lookout.
From a Marvel Press release posted at the Bullpen Bulletins Podcast site:
Fans will also be able to experience Civil War in a brand new way with each issue of Civil War Chronicles, which presents every issue of the Civil War event in chronological order, allowing readers to see the nuances of this epic tale in the order they occured. Featuring two Civil War tales per issue, Chronicles will show you a new side of comic books’ biggest event of the decade.
This raises a number of questions in my mind?
- How long before this version of Civil War begins running late?
- Will Millar’s story have less wholes when we see the “chronological order?”
- Does Tony Stark have a MySpace page or play fantasy baseball?
- Will they work in the line “Do you think this A stands for “anarchy?”
- Maybe Cap’s side will win this time?
- How many total issues were there to Civil War? At two issues a month, it’ll last for years at this point.
- Will the war ever truly be over? Will we ever be able to forget the horrors that we saw, like when the Punisher gunned down some guy with a pumpkin on his head?
- How long before Tom Breevort throws Mark Millar and Steve McNiven under the bus for the delays in this reprint?
- How long before this gets cancelled?
- Civil War reprints or mortgage?
- Why?
Welcome to Fantasy Island, now where’s the Herve?
Talking to my friend Tim tonight, he asked me if “Ghost Rider” was “The Blood of Heroes” bad.  At first, I wondered what he was talking about. What was this “Blood of Heroes” nonsense? Then he repeated one memorable line that’s lived in the back recesses of my mind for the past 18 or so years and I suddenly remembered the horror of this movie.
Yes, I had blocked this movie from my memory because it was that bad. I’ll never forget Batman and Robin and I’ll never forget Ghost Rider but I have lived almost half of my life without the memory of the night I watches “The Blood of Heroes” and I was a better man for it.
Now the innocence is gone and the memory of Rutger Hauger and the horrible, horrible writing is back. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep tonight.