Ironing out the Problem

So, the Iron Man teaser has been around for a while, but for those of you who have yet to see it, here it is:



Now, I know that, according to what I said in an earlier post, I should be responding to this trailer with "Mass excitement." And I probably would be in most circumstances. I mean, the non-Home-Improvement costume looks awesome. But for some reason that I couldn't put my finger on, something about that trailer didn't sit right with me.

Then it hit me.

Here is a trailer from Ghost Rider, a movie that I and most of the surface world thoroughly didn't enjoy.



I hope the similarities between the two trailers speak for themselves (the one main difference being that the Iron Man trailer is only a "teaser" and therefore doesn't show as much). There was another Ghost Rider trailer where protagonist Johnny Blaze is told, like with Iron Man's Tony Stark, "You should [be dead]," as well as a similar ending (a prolonged CGI shot of the hero speeding in a particular direction), but I thought the similarities were more palpable in this one.

The fact that Iron Man's trailer is even remotely comparable to Ghost Rider's is, frankly, not good. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to line up at midnight to see it on opening night, dressed appropriately, but I won't be happy about it.

...no high five?

Aaron's Pick of the Week: One Bad Mother- Shut Your Mouth!

For the week of October 10:

Punisher #51

by Ennis (w) and Parlov (a)

A lot of times, when I try to explain my love of comic books to other people, a question that I am often met with is "Comic books... aren't they just violent stories about two people beating the shit out of each other?" to which I reply that comics have been misleadingly portrayed in the mass media and that actually, comic books deal with a plethora of genres, many of which are nuanced works of profound introspection, working with an array of subtleties.

Punisher #51 is about two guys who beat the shit out of each other. And it's totally awesome.

I should start by saying that, until recently, I've never much liked Frank Castle (aka the Punisher). He always struck me as embodying the worst of your shlocky action movies, from the hypocritical moral stance to the cheesy one-liners. I never saw much entertainment in suspending my disbelief enough to accept that a single person armed with just one revolver could take out a hundred armed goons. But then I heard that Garth (Preacher) Ennis, a writer who I enjoy immensely, was on the book, so I figured "what the hell."

And what can I say? Ennis made a believer out of me. I think this is probably because of Ennis' talent to (among countless other things) breathe "cool" into anything he writes. He could write a 22 page story about an old lady crossing the street and it'd be more kick-ass than 90% of the other comics out there. Now, when the Punisher takes out hundreds of armed goons, I don't think, "oh, come on!" Instead, I think, "Fuck Yeah!"

However, this issue is unique because, rather than take on a hundred armed goons, here he goes one-on-one with the inordinately bad-ass Barracuda.

The Punisher is unique in the Marvel Universe in two ways. For starters, he doesn't have superpowers, which means he defeats his villains using a combination of cunning, his war-hardened combat skills, and a shitload of guns (I don't think Spider-man's ever even held a gun before in his life).

Second of all, the Punisher is unique because, when he defeats a villain, he doesn't send them to Ryker's Prison or The Raft. He kills them. There's no way around it; if you do something bad, the Punisher will kill you.

This presents a problem in terms of establishing arch enemies, as the average Punisher villain has a lifespan of about six issues. Still, Ennis has managed to come as close to a nemesis as possible in Barracuda, a "bad-ass motherfucker" in the truest (well, not literally) sense of the word who, in the hands of a less talented writer, would come across as a racist stereotype, inflated to a monstrous degree (well, he still sort of does, but Ennis makes it work). Barracuda managed to survive his first run-in with the Punisher (issues #31-36) by the sole virtue of being incredibly difficult to kill. He returns in this arc, shy several fingers and an eye, to make Castle's life a (short-lived) living hell.

Issue #51 makes this part two of the "Long Cold Dark" arc. Structurally, Ennis' stories have generally followed the same six-issue format, making this the part where the Punisher "barely escapes alive, realizing that he may be in for the fight of his life." Still, despite the almost formulaic plot of the comic, its delivery is anything but. Watching Barracuda torment the Punisher in the opening of this issue, I was surprised at how palpable Castle's helplessness felt.

Unlike the typical superhero brawl, the fight scene itself didn't consist of a single super-power - no eye-lasers or plasma beams. And the fight was all the more brutal for it. Instead of adamantium claws, the characters used fists, teeth, a knife, a chair, and an open window. Watching the aftermath was truly cringe-worthy.

Perhaps my favourite thing about this comic as a whole is Ennis' ability, time and time again, to give the reader a real sense of how high the stakes are. Reading this comic not only left me quite caught up in the moment, but dreading the events that will no doubt unfold in the issues to follow.

Punisher #51 is highly recommended to people who want a balls-to-the-walls action story, and think that super-heroes are too "kiddy." It is NOT recommended to people who, say, find Hot Stuff a little racy.


Not recommended:

Ghost Rider #16: Uninteresting, hard to follow, and bland. Makes me think back to the Ghost Rider movie as "the good ol' days."

Coming now, to a links list to the right of this text...

The Comic Book Syndicate was a video podcast that focused on the various aspects of comic book geekery, from reviews to debates to guides on collecting. It was funny, interesting, and, perhaps most importantly, clearly came from the purest of fanboy hearts. What's more, it was put out, according to their site, by "4 of Windsor's leading costumed champions" (this is especially true if you frequent Rogue's Gallery, as I do).

Here's an excerpt from one of their shows, where they discuss bringing characters back from the dead (NOTE: many references might go over the heads of nonthusiasts, but even if this is the case for you, there is still a lot to enjoy):




You may have noticed I used the past tense when describing the Comic Book Syndicate. That's because they're not strictly a podcast anymore.

They're now a television show.

From what I understand, they've been picked up by A-Channel Cogeco Cable 11 and will premiere on said channel TOMORROW, Friday the 5th of October, at 11pm. If you're like me and usually spend Friday nights sitting on your mattress, rocking back and forth, I suggest checking the Comic Book Syndicate out.

-A

P.S. If the link I provided gives you trouble with loading the videos, you can access shittier versions (pixelation-wise) of the show on youtube.

Set Your Watches

Every time I hear that a comic book is to be adapted into a motion picture, I go through the same routine:

1: Vague interest upon the initial announcement
2: Mass excitement after seeing the first trailer
3: Total hysteria while waiting in line hours before the movie's release
4: Slight confusion during opening credits
5: Second-hand embarrassment halfway through the movie, (often exacerbated in the event of a Stan Lee cameo)
6: Post-traumatic stress disorder when leaving the theater

With a few exceptions (Sin City, Batman Begins, and Hellboy come to mind), any widely-released adaptation of a comic book turns out to be at best, mediocre, and at worst, Daredevil. And then, when a new comic book movie is announced, I foolishly think to myself that maybe this time will be different, that maybe the director will get it right. Of course, I'm always wrong.

But maybe this time will be different.

I am referring to the upcoming adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' groundbreaking maxi-series The Watchmen. Often considered one of the best, if not the best, graphic novels of all time, The Watchmen has had a long history of bad breakups with the film industry (a 1989 version of the adapted screenplay can be found here). Only now, it's finally happening.

The movie has been announced for quite a while now, but I am writing about it now because a few days ago, according to my Wizard magazine, the first poster has been unveiled, drawn by original Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons.



I'm not sure how I feel about it in terms of it working as a movie poster, but what I do get from it is this: director Zack Snyder is telling the world that he's not fucking around. He's not making just another shitty comic book adaptation. He's making the Watchmen (this is especially evident if you are familiar with how the covers to the individual comics looked. Essentially, this poster looks like it could be a hypothetical issue 0).

For more information on the poster, read the Wizard article online here.


Also, whenever I look at the release date I think of the lyrics to "Three is a Magic Number." Whether this is intentional or not is anybody's guess.

Aaron's Pick of the Week

Pretty much every comic shop I've ever been to has a little feature known as a "pick of the week," where each employee offers their opinion on which books are not to be missed. I figure it would only be appropriate for me to do likewise.

Here's what I loved for the week of September 19:

Captain America #30

by Brubaker (w), Epting (a), and Perkins (a)


Why is it that, despite the fact that I never much cared for Captain America, despite the fact that I never much found the Red Skull to be a terrifying villain by any means, and despite the fact that the lead character's been dead since March... why is it that this book is so good?

Well, there are various reasons, not least of all the beautiful artwork, engaging dialogue, as well as surprising plot twists (at least two of which can be found in this issue). However, none of these elements, noteworthy though they may be, impress me as much as Brubaker's characters.

Where Brubaker really impresses me is in his ability to treat even the most ridiculous characters with dignity. And this applies to everyone, whether it's Captain America's best friends, formerly goofball villains such as Doctor Faustus and Armin Zola, or even (and perhaps most appreciatively on my part) Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), who since Civil War has been portrayed as the Idiot King of the marvel universe. In this issue, we see why he's Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Though I touched on this earlier, it would be a crime for me not to mention the art at least once more. While Brubaker can, as I said, make any character engaging through dialogue and actions, it would all be for naught without Epting and Perkins breathing cool into their designs. I mean, they even made this guy look cool.

In this particular issue, I was struck by Brubaker, Epting, and Perkins' ability to completely shift tones on a page-by-page basis. In the blink of an eye, the comic would quickly go from intense to sombre, from pensive to terrifying, from awesome to... well, it never stopped being awesome.

Knowing the trend in comic books, to state that Captain America's return is definite, even as soon as within the year, would be no great claim. One argument for his imminent return is the fact that there is still a Captain America series. "You can't have a Captain America series without Captain America," they'd logically argue. However, as this title proves, these people are dead wrong.


Also recommended

Groo 25th Anniversary Special: Hilarious. The only reason this one isn't my pick of the week is because it actually came out on the 12th.

World War Hulk #4 (of 5): Seriously, pick up this book. Not a fan of the Hulk? That's no excuse. Not a fan of super heroes at all? Again, not good enough. You aren't able to read? Okay, that's an adequate excuse.


Not recommended

Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus #1 (of 5): The name aside, I found this to be surprisingly lackluster, especially considering how much I love Mignola's other works (Hellboy, sure, but especially B.P.R.D.). I'm not sure exactly where the book lost me. Oh wait, it was with this line: "Germans? Jeez! I don't know much, but I read the papers. That Hitler looks like trouble, and I bet he'd love to get a hold of this suit." Hopefully the book will pick up. I, however, will not be sticking around to find out.

Shipping list for Wednesday, September 19, 2007

The following is a list of comic books slated to be released this Wednesday. It should be noted that these are the titles that were specifically ordered by Paradise Comics, so while this is an extensive list, it does not necessarily cover all titles. Bold indicates that I plan to purchase the title, while the inclusion of an asterisk(*) indicates that I recommend you do the same.

- Annihilation Conquest Quasar #3 (of 4)

- Aquaman Sword Of Atlantis #56

- Army @ Love #7

- Avengers Classic #4

- Batman Lobo Deadly Serious #2 (of 2)

- Birds Of Prey #110

- Captain America #30 CWI*

- Catwoman #71*

- Checkmate #18

- Countdown 32

- Countdown To Mystery #1 (of 8)

- Criminal Macabre My Demon Baby #1 (of 4)

- Cyblade Pilot Season #1

- Ex Machina #30*

- Flash #232

- Green Arrow Black Canary Wedding Special #1

- Hellblazer #236

- Highwaymen #4 (of 5)

- Irredeemable Ant-man #12

- JLA Hitman #1 (of 2)

- Jungle Girl Px #0

- Legion Of Super Heroes In The 31st Century #6

- Mad Magazine #482

- Madman Atomic Comics #4*

- Marvel Adventures Avengers #16

- Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four #28

- Marvel Comics Presents #1

- Marvel Illustrated Treasure Island #4 (of 6)

- New Battlestar Galactica Season Zero #1 Blank Cvr

- New X-men #42

- Penance Relentless #1 (of 5)

- Programme #3 (of 12)

- Red Sonja #25 Blank Cvr

- Robin #166

- Scooby Doo #124

- Shadowpact #17

- Sheena #3 (of 5)

- Simpsons Comics #134

- Spawn #171

- Spider-man Red Sonja #2 (of 5)

- Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #20

- Streets Of Glory #1 (of 6)

- Superman Batman #40

- Tales Of The Sinestro Corps Parallax #1

- Terror Inc #2 (of 5)

- Testament #20

- Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite #1 (of 6)

- Wasteland #12

- Wolverine Origins #17

- World War Hulk #4 (of 5) WWH*

- World War Hulk Front Line #4 (of 6)

- World War Hulk Gamma Corps #3 (of 4) WWH



actually, from the looks of things, this week will be fairly shitty.

notes: "CWI" means the title ties into Marvel's Civil War: Initiative lineup, while "WWH" indicates that the title ties into Marvel's World War Hulk series

Catwoman image from dccomics.com.
Madman image from imagecomics.com.

Ut! First post!

Welcome to my blog, concerning all things comic booky in nature. I suppose it would be apt at this point to introduce myself.

Hi, my name is Aaron F and I love comic books.

This is an introduction I have used many times in my life, although sadly it has yet to yield the desired result: to make friends. Usually it is met with a pursed-lipped nod, an awkwardly-retracted handshake, or in some cases an "oh... how... quaint."

Comic books have always been a love of my life, at least as far back as I can remember. One of my earliest memories is of me, around 2 or 3 years old, sitting on my grandmother's lap watching Batman in theatres and being traumatized by watching the Joker's mangled body on the streets of Gotham, his laughter still echoing in the distance.

Oh wait, that memory sucked.

It wasn't until I was older - old enough to know better - that my love affair with comic books became something of an obsession. Perhaps it was the completist in me, but I had to read everything. I tell you, during this period of my life (most of highschool, that is), I read a ton of crap. But I also read a ton of masterpieces.

Unfortunately, at this point my goal to become the Ultimate Comicbook Master had led me down a very solitary path. Try as I might, I was unable to effectively convey the transcendent joy comic books gave me ("I swear, comics are awesome! You should totally read this issue, it's my fav-DON'T FUCKING TOUCH IT!"). Even at the comic book store where I worked, the owner's interest in comics was no longer aesthetic (having admittedly not read one in several years).

Since moving to Windsor, however, I have found a few fellow enthusiasts. Also, I know that there are still more of you out there on the internet (for some reason the internet and geekdom go hand in hand). So hopefully the path I've been treading will reveal itself to be hardly as lonely as it originally appeared.

Oh, and for those wondering: the exclamation of "Ut!" in the title of this post is a reference to ONE of my favourite super-heroes, the Flaming Carrot (image from the official site). For those of you who enjoy surrealist humour, I can't recommend this title highly enough (The Mystery Men? Yeah, they debuted here). The fact that he never got his own cartoon series (to my knowledge) is criminal. Let's call it my pick of the week.

Anyway, enough about me. Who the hell are you?