>Probably the best Hulk story, and definitely my favorite, Planet Hulk is being adapted into a feature-length animated film. The straight to DVD and Blu-Ray movie will be released on February 2, 2010. Before that, Planet Hulk will have its first bi-costal public screening at New York Comic Com and in Los Angeles on January 14, 2010.
Planet Hulk was first a story in the Hulk comics in 2006, written by Greg Pak. The story follows Hulk after he has been exiled from earth by the Illuminati (Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Professor X, Sub-Mariner, Reed Richards, and Black Bolt) and sent to a peaceful planet of vegetation. Along the way, his ship is set off course and he crash lands on the gladiatorial planet of Saakar. Once on the planet, Hulk is enslaved and is forced to fight as a gladiator, where he quickly works his way up the ranks and is soon prophesied to be the savior of Saakar. Sounds a lot like Hulk meets Conan? Yeah, but it’s a hell of a lot better than this Red Hulk nonsense that is going on now.
>Zombies. That’s what happened. If you aren’t a fan of zombie comics, blame Robert Kirkman. It’s his fault. I personally love them though… Looking back on the past 10 years, the one thing that stands out to me in the comic world is the use of zombies. Marvel, DC, Image, IDW, Fantagraphics, Dynamite, Boom!, and so on… None could escape the menace of the comics zombie horde. So, I’ve decided to write 5 brief reviews on zombie comics in no certain order.
1. Zombies vs Robots, IDW 2007
This is the story of Robots in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by, what else but, zombies and robots. The story follows a group of robots charged with protecting the last living human, a baby, from the entire planet of starving zombies. The overall goal is to clone that child and recreate the human race. This was a pretty fun title, loaded with humor and violence, the story by Chris Ryall built an interesting world with fairly human robots. The robot personalities are worth the price of admission alone. And the art by Ashley Wood, is… well, it’s just like Ashley Wood art. Everyone isn’t a fan, but I think it worked very nicely here. If you haven’t read, go read it.
2. Marvel Zombies, Marvel 2005
The story of a Marvel Universe plagued by a zombie virus. Initially a tie-in to and Ultimate Fantastic Four story, the first series deals with the Undead Avengers tracking down the last few living survivors on Earth, as well as a very angry Magneto. What we learn here, is that Spider-Man ate his aunt and wife, and that he is sad. Although, it doesn’t take much to make Spider-Man sad. lol. But seriously, we get a tale that shows us what Marvel’s finest does in the face of being the undead, while retaining their intelligence. Is there a cure? What do other zombies taste like? And what do you do when Galactus shows up? These are questions raised by Robert Kirkman. The art by Sean Phillips was pretty sweet too. Now, this book was pretty solid, however, I cannot vouch for all of the spin-offs and follow-ups… But the first series is definitely one to check out.
3. Blackest Night, DC 2009
If you’ve stepped foot in a comic book store for the latter half of the past year, then you’ve heard of DC’s Blackest Night, the Green Lantern epic dealing with a war of lights leading to the Universe being devoured by darkness. Black rings have traveled across the Universe to resurrect the dead of DC. Heroes, Villains, loved ones, and more all rising to eat the hearts of DC’s finest. The story hasn’t been completed yet, but so far things have been pretty great all around. Geoff Johns has spent years building up to this moment, starting with the resurrection of Hal Jordan back in Green Lantern: Rebirth. If you aren’t reading this, I’m sure you have a good reason as to why. Because if you don’t? You should be reading this.
4. The Walking Dead, Image 2003
Robert Kirkman’s zombie epic. A story about a man named Rick, and his survival during a zombie apocalypse with his family, friends, and strangers. The book isn’t so much about the zombies as it is the relationships between the living characters and the new world that they are forced to live in. They’ve lived in a prison with forgotten inmates, some have been forced into torture and possible combat in a zombie gladiatorial arena, and some have even been eaten by fellow humans. The most recent story arc, dealing with just that. This black and white book has so much good in it, and if you feel that there are just too many zombie comics out there, you can blame this one. I love it.
5. Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, IDW 2006 or LOFI Magazine 2004
This one is a bit different, as there’s really only one zombie, and even then, he’s not quite a zombie. This is the story of some sort of demon maggot, that controls a corpse as a means of mobility. He, with his robot and magical stripper friend, they protect the world from bad things that go bump in the night. I guess, Wormwood, is also British… Which makes the dialogue really fun for me. The story and art is done by Ben Templesmith, which again, is very agreeable to me. The world that is built within the first book is a pretty cool one, after seeing some of the later stuff, that world just keeps on getting cooler. So yes, you’ve guess it, I’m telling you to go and check that out as well.
So in the end, I think it’s pretty swell that the one thing that really stands out to me with comics this decade is the zombies. Zombies are awesome. And I hope that they remain profitable in some shape or form, be it in comic, book, or film form. Zombies, much like busting ghosts, makes me feel good. So with that, I’m ready for 2010. See ya.
As far as special effects are concerned Avatar is a great way to end the 00s and begin the coming decade. I wasn’t alive when Star Wars originally came out in the 70s, but I would wager to bet that if I had been, my experience would be very similar to that of seeing Avatar now: utterly blown away by the expansiveness of modern filmmaking technology. Avatar spares no expense (between 250 – 300 million budget) or amount of time (10 – 15 years in the making) in producing cutting-edge CG to impress movie goers, and for me it completely pays off. I can’t say I’ve ever SEEN anything like it.
Keep in mind, the keyword here is SEEN. I haven’t seen anything like Avatar. That is not to say the film is entirely original. In fact, Avatar is essentially a combination of the plots of Dances With Wolves and Fern Gully – The Last Rainforest. Yet, it is the fact that director James Cameron made the film look like a two hour cut sequence from Final Fantasy (floating mountains) and a Roger Dean YES album cover come to life that makes the film worth seeing. What more is that Cameron is not simply being ironic or audacious here, Avatar goes for broke (it’s in 3D for christ-sakes), with a striking allegory against the Iraq war and corporate greed ,disguised as an epic science fiction fantasy.
Surprisingly, this conglomeration works, and Avatar is more than just special effects and explosions. It is an affecting film, regardless of if the lead characters look like giant aborigine Smurf cats. Sometimes it’s this type of film, not a bore like An Inconvenient Truth, that is what it takes to get the masses to pay attention to a broader social comment. Maybe Al Gore should ride a dragon…
This year I made out like a bandit for X-mas. I guess the gift I got that is most pertinent to the Star Clipper blog was New Super Mario Bros. Wii. See, because I manage Star Clipper, few friends or family members risk getting me comics or graphic novels, not chancing that I might already have them. So I can’t really write about comics I got for X-Mas, though I did get R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis which I’ve previously blogged about, and also the first BPRD trade from Star Clipper’s Aidan (though I haven’t had a chance to read it yet). However, last year I got a Nintendo Wii from Ben and AJ (thanks again) for X-mas, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a great addition to my gaming collection. Here is my quick review.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a classic 2D Mario side-scroller. The gameplay steals many of the best elements from all the iconic mario games, going all the way back to the prototype 8-bit Super Mario Bros. up to the groundbreaking 3D platform Super Mario 64. These famous repetitions of previous successes makes New Super Mario Bros. Wii familiar to veteran gamers and an instant classic to newcomers, mesmerized by the masterful gameplay incapsulating over 20 years of Mario history. Who could forget sliding down the flagpole to end a level in Super Mario Bros.? This games got it. Or, how about picking items up and carrying them in vertical platforms like in Super Mario Bros. 2.? It’s got it too. Even better, what about the first time Yoshi cracked out of an egg and you could ride the hungry dinosaur in Super Mario World. New Super Mario Bros. Wii has got Yoshi in 4 colorful varieties. All this video game history is essential to New Super Mario Bros. Wii and the game dose a fantastic job at exemplifying the best Mario moments all at once. The Wii remote is also used well and continues to be impressive and innovative, even when presented with a simply side-scroller. Yet, for all it’s strengths New Super Mario Bros. Wii is not a perfect game.
The most talked about element of New Super Mario Bros. Wii is the 4 player cooperative mode. The game allows you to play as either Mario, brother Luigi, or a blue or yellow Toad. Unfortunately, it would have been a much better choice to have the playable characters be Mario, Luigi, classic Toad, and Princess Peach like in Super Mario Bros. 2, and also have the characters have their own individual style of movement and gameplay. By no means am I a programing expert, but if they could create Mario 2 gameplay in 1988, the game designers could make the extra effort for New Super Mario Bros. Wii. This isn’t the only place the game cuts corners. For example, none of the levels are named but referred to as level 1-1 and so on. How much extra time and effort would it really take to have a writer throw out names like “Dusty Dunes” or “Hop ‘n Bop Hilltop” to give the game the extra personality it deserves. Most disappointing is that though the cooperative mode is interesting, it is not well defined (and causes arguments among friends quickly), and the game really works better as a single player quest and not what it is being toted for.
Even if New Super Mario Bros. Wii isn’t as mind-blowing as Wii’s other Mario outlet Super Mario Galaxy, it is still absolutely a must have for anyone who has a Wii. For all it’s potential though, the cut corners really stand out and make for a valid criticism. What could have been a perfect game remains on the cusp of perfection, because Nintendo knew they would make a fortune on New Super Mario Bros. Wii either way.
>So what have we learned in 2009 ? Not much I would gather. Although it wasn’t a particularly bad year, I wouldn’t say it was particularly remarkable either. In the world of comics, there weren’t too many Earth shattering events, but there were a few gems in an otherwise lackluster year.
Secret Invasion built us up really big to kind of let us down toward the end. It was a fun read, but once it was over, the end seemed a tad anti-climactic. Right on the heels of Secret Invasion came the Dark Reign which made me roll my eyes at first, but gradually I came to enjoy watching Norman Osborn hold a tenuous grasp on his sanity while presenting himself as the figurehead of American defense. The advent of Marvel titles that featured the word “Dark” before their titles made for more eye rolling, but I have to say, Dark Avengers was a big surprise as the flagship Dark Reign title. Dark Avengers featured former villains remixed into heroes under Norman Osborn who took on the identity of the Iron Patriot, co-opting the image of both Captain America and Iron Man.
Of course the biggest event of the year was over at DC with the Blackest Night raising the dead and turning them into zombie lanterns. This is an epic that will carry over into the new year and likely affect the DCU for years to come. As far as events go, this has so far proven to be one of the biggest of all time.
So yeah, 2009 was a little limited. Blame it on the recession if you like. It did make for some very good black and/or dark events though, which I suppose is just a reflection on the times. Maybe it just means that the coming new year and decade will be brighter than the one we’re leaving behind. Happy New Year folks,
>Army of Darkness. The final movie of the Evil Dead franchise. As you may or may not know, Army of Darkness is also the name of the comic book that follows Ash’s (Ash is the protagonist of the films) further adventures and dealings with the Necronomicon. The Necronomicon finds it’s literary origins with HP Lovecraft, as a book written by a man who worshiped deities known as The Old Ones. That’s the bare bones version of that story. Anyway, in Ash’s case, the Necronomicon always seems to find him and cause major problems in his life. He was deemed the “Chosen One” by the book, and it seems that he will forever be bound to the book and its games.
Some of the adventure’s that Ash has had, deal with the portals that are often created by someone speaking the magical alien words of “Klaatu Barata Nikto”… or was it “Klaatu Verata Niktu”? (Bonus Points for anyone who gets the reference) Ash’s confusion of the words seems to have confused me as well… Moving on, these portals have led ash to the Dark Ages, to the Xena: Warrior Princess universe, to the future, and even to Marvel Universe Earth-2149 (the Marvel Zombies universe). His visit to Earth-2149 was hilarious, as well as a precursor to the creation of the Marvel Apes Universe. And while I’d love to keep talking about Ash’s portal antics, I think it best to get on with his latest adventure. I present to you, Army of Darkness: Ash Saves Obama.
Yes. Ash Saves Obama. That is the title of this story. And after reading it, I must say that the title is misleading. Yes, it does feature Ash and President Obama, however, I’m pretty certain that the two never actually meet in the comic, despite some of the awesome covers to the miniseries. The story is set around a massive comic book convention, where Obama drops by to meet the people and pick up a few comics for his daughters. Meanwhile, Ash is stuck filling in for a co-worker at his department store, making deliveries to the Con. One of the comic vendors happens to have comic book versions of the Necronomicon for some strange reason and ends up giving one of them to Obama, not knowing what it was. So Obama leaves the Con and flies off the DC, and Ash is now stuck fighting Deadites (Necronomicon possessed people) at the comic convention.
So where does it go from here? A lot of wise cracks and Boomstick (Ash’s shotgun) shots later, the world is on the verge of destruction… SPOILER ALERT!
The Deadites’ plan is to possess the President and cause the destruction of the world with Obama’s power. The only thing they need to happen is for Obama read the comic. And at the revelation of this vile plan, when all seems lost. Our president, not knowing any of this is going on, tosses the Nercronomicon comic into a fire. Obama saves us all with a heavy look upon is face, almost as if he knew all along that every decision he makes can break or save the world.
END SPOILERS!
So, yeah. Way to go Ash. But in all seriousness, this was an interesting read, and if this mini is anything like the other Army of Darkness minis, be sure to expect a trade collection of is soon. But to be honest, this is really for fans of the Army of Darkness comics, the Obama angle isn’t really the selling point here. However, there is an interesting bit with a Deadite-possessed Bo Obama. That’s probably why you should pick the book up. Bo is becoming quite the comic star. First being kidnapped by Doctor Doom, and now attacking Ash of Evil Dead fame, it’s been quite a year. That little dog is gonna be huge. See ya next week.
>This will be the last of my best of the decade rankings for… well… the decade. This particular honor is not going to be ranked in a top 5 or 10 list as I reserve this honor for just one book. While considering this, there were quite a few that were deserving of this honor but the one I’ve selected is the one that I believe defines the 00’s. That Graphic novel is (drum roll) Persepolis.
This was the decade that really popularized the memoir comic with artists/writers like Jeffrey Brown, Craig Thompson and the like, but I would rank Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis as one of my favorites of the bunch. It’s heartwarming, hilarious, and poignant. It helps us understand the complicated time in history when Iran went from moderately progressive to a religious state almost overnight, a time that Satrapi experienced when she was just a child. The story follows Marjane growing up in an an ever changing environment that becomes so volatile that her family ends up sending her to Europe to escape the escalating violence and repression that happened in Iran during the late 70’s and early 80’s. Even in Europe, Marjane faces the prejudice of just being Iranian as she attempts to fit in with other non-conformist types as a teenager.
Persepolis was also made into an animated feature film that was just as great as the book itself. if you have not read or seen Persepolis, than I cannot recommend it enough, especially since I have declared it my graphic novel of the decade.
>The 2000’s were a very good decade for fresh story-telling as you will see from the list I have complied below. With this list I was going for series outside of the traditional superhero formula, and as you can see DC Vertigo was the most consistent publisher of some of my favorite books. This was a great decade for thinking outside the box, and subverting some comic book traditions. The lists I’ve been compiling so far have followed a top 5 format, but there are too many great books out there to limit to 5, therefore in this list, I’m being a little more ambitious and bringing you a well-rounded top 10 list.
10. the Walking Dead (Image)- Robert Kirkman’s hugely popular zombie epic
9. Invincible (Image)- Another Robert Kirkman best seller that shows how super-hero family’s interact.
8. the Coffin (Oni Press)- Phil Hester’s quirky tale of a scientist who is physically dead, but lives on through a specially made metal suit.
7. DMZ (Vertigo)- The tale of a journalist in the not-too-distant future reporting on the most dangerous place in the world: Manhattan.
6. Fables (Vertigo)- What happens when the characters from fairy tales and children’s stories are driven from their homeland? They start a community in New York of course.
5. Y the Last Man (Vertigo)- One of the most popular and best-selling titles at Star Clipper, Y the Last Man provides a world where all men in the world are dead and the world is populated only with women. Except for Yorick Brown and his pet monkey Ampersand.
4. Ex Machina (Wildstorm)- The world’s first and only super-hero finds himself elected mayor of New York city after engaging in heroics during 9/11. The mysteries begin to unfold from there.
3. Powers (Image/ Icon)- This is a tale that does in fact have super-heroes, but as we soon discover, not all heroes are necessarily very heroic.
2. Scalped (Vertigo)- This one is a favorite of Jon and I’s. This is the best amalgam of noir mystery and western.
1. 100 Bullets (Vertigo)- The best combination of story and art in my opinion. You get the best pulp/mystery story combined with artwork that defines modern noir.
Now I’m sure there are some titles out there that may have been overlooked due to limited exposure or printing, but as this list shows, the independent spirit is alive in comics.
For as much as I love the 90s independent black & white scene, with comics as diverse as Hate, Scud The Disposable Assassin, and Bone, I never really got into Tank Girl. The classic 90s comic argument of style vs. substance really seemed to stick out with Tank Girl. Though artist Jamie Hewlett’s hyperactive style had boundless energy and writer Alan Martin crafted constant witty banter, the story always left something to be desired. Tank Girl looked and sounded cool, but the glass was only half full, and I never got too invested in the series.
Still, every time a new Tank Girl series comes out I always try to check it out. The last Tank Girl mini-series I really liked was the Ashley Wood illustrated The Gifting from 2007. Recently, two Tank Girl projects have hit the comic shelves, the full color Tank Girl – Skidmarks and the one-shot Tank Girl – Dark Nuggets.
Titan published Skidmarks collects recent issues from the British magazine Judge Dredd Megazine, and follows Tank Girl’s wild rumpus trying to rescue her best friend Barney. The art is by Rufus Dayglo (best name in the comic biz), and he effortlessly captures Hewlett’s boisterous style. Dark Nuggets also features art by Dayglo, but this time rendered in the classic black & white of 90s Tank Girl. The Image released one-shot has three Tank Girl tall-tales. My favorite is the short story about Tank Girl’s Kangaroo boyfriend Booga going to a shrink because of his angry issues over sprinkle donuts.
Though Tank Girl was never my favorite, I appreciate the stylized influence its had on independent comics. I think these current issues stand up with the classic run from the 90s. They are equally worth checking out for new time readers and long time fans.
One of my favorite bookstores in St. Louis. Star Clipper offers not only the best selection of comic books and graphic novels in the city, but also a cornucopia of art, design and pop-culture related books and magazines. 
