Back in February, there were two major releases that dealt with the topic of Blaxploitation as the primary theme. One was a collection of mini-comics about a man who just cant be stopped from loving the ladies and taking villains out like trash , the other was a film about a man who just can’t be stopped from loving the ladies and taking villains out like trash. Two different groups put out two great products about the same thing, and yet they were great in their own separate ways. Of course, I’m talking about Afrodisiac and Black Dynamite.
First off, we have Afrodisiac, the creation of Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca (Both are responsible for Street Angel), following the adventures of a Blaxploiation-type hero from his “first issue” to his “final issue”. You see, Afrodisiac found a start in various indie mags and anthologies throughout the years, and this book is the ultimate collection of those various appearances. As for the content of the book, I’ve gotta say, the approach to telling this story was pretty cool. Featuring a collection of issue covers, small stories, snippets of larger stories, and “scans” of key issues; we are given a look at a character whose “run” in comics includes dealings in romance, action, the supernatural, wrestling, sci-fi, and mythology… Sorta like the comic has been around since the 70s and has transformed over the years with the times. But unlike Blaxploitation, Afrodisiac (the character) is more of a symbolic character than say a Shaft or Dolemite. One could compare Afrodisiac to Batman and wouldn’t be too far off the mark. Much like how Batman has changed over the years in both presentation and status, so has the implied history of the Afrodisiac. From serious-to-campy-to-absurd-to-serious, these stories are like a peak into the history of a long forgotten character. So, whether Afrodisiac is fighting Hercules, foiling Richard Nixon, sleeping with the female incarnate of Death, playing chess with God, or facing off with his arch-nemesis (Megapute – a sentient computer), this makes for a fun read, and great conversation piece. Leave it on the table when guests come over… One look at the cover, and they’re going to want to take a peak inside. But ultimately, this feels like a send-up of how Marvel used to produce street-action comics back in the 70s.
And for the second feature, I present; Black Dynamite. Yes, Black Dynamite, written by and starring Micheal Jai White (Spawn, The Dark Knight), is the tale of a former CIA agent who tasks himself with avenging the death of his brother and shutting down the organization responsible. This film is a spoof on Blaxpliotation, often making fun of the poor production values of those films of the 70s. Poor editing, curious dialogue, recycled stock footage for explosions, and an absurd plot make up the greatness of this film. But why is it great? For starters, the trailers for this movie are hilarious, and when you consider that the trailer isn’t just a collection of all the big laughs (Some of the best parts of the movie are nowhere to be found in the trailers), that makes it worth the admission to see what you’re missing. Add in an awesome cast of actors who have clearly taken pay cuts to see the movie to completion, an awesome “spoken” soundtrack, and a healthy amount of action and nudity… You’ve got yourself a winner. But seriously, the action is top notch. Micheal Jai White holds black belts in seven different martial arts which really shows in the hand-to-hand action of the movie. And just wait until you see the final showdown of the movie… The way that turns out, is probably the only thing that isn’t an homage/spoof of the genre. Well, the content is, not the action. The action would have you think you were watching something from the late 90s. Which is also a good thing.
This, I think was the only trailer I could find during a reasonable search that had been approved for all audiences. Please, if you’re interested in the movie, check out another one to get a better feel for the movie. Not that this is a bad trailer, it just happens to be the most tame.
Anyway, that completes that. Afrodisiac and Black Dynamite. Both of these are great exercises in fun, and I hope that at the very least, you can find it in yourself to check out one of them. Both of these are a lot of fun, and Afrodisiac continues to sell out in our store. It’s a hot item that is a lot of fun for a decent price. See ya next time.
Karen Page (aka Power Girl) is a character I used to care very little for, other than her sexy outfit. As I began reading Infinite Crisis and JSA I realized like her cousin she is awesome. The cousin I am speaking about is Superman, Kal-L not Kal-El from Earth-1 but from Earth-2.
Much like Kal-El before the return of Supergirl, Power Girl was all alone in the universe that she wasn’t even from. Power Girl’s origin was always a mystery, was she from Krypton, were her powers magic, or was she from the future? After reading JSA Classified 1-4 and Infinite Crisis you find out that she is from Earth-2 and is Kryptonian, just not same as Supergirl and Superman of Earth-1, the multi-verse is a confusing place lol. It was awesome that Karen was finally reunited with her cousin and her Lois, but only to be taken away by super crybaby Superboy Prime (not cool Conner who died in the same crisis but is back).
Despite the loss, Power Girl is and always head strong and tough and doesn’t take crap from the other super guys and gals. She is important part of Superman family and in my opinion a vital character of the DC Universe. She is the leader of the Justice Society of America and now has her own solo series, so she is coming up in the world of comics. I actually find her more interesting than Supergirl, because despite the name Karen is a grown woman not a girl, ready to handle whatever challenges confront her.
I’m not really a variant cover kind of guy, but this week I faced the temptation to get the variant edition of Uncanny X-Men #522 featuring Kitty Pryde riding a bullet. This image is undoubtedly an often imitated homage to the classic film Doctor Strangelove in which one of the main characters rides an atomic bomb like a bucking bronco. The only thing missing from the cover to Uncanny is Kitty waving a cowboy hat around.
Aside from the awesome variant cover, the issue itself is a real nail-biter since you know that Kitty’s returning, but the buildup is pretty intense. In the last issue, we witnessed Magneto meditating with a severe nose-bleed and eventually discovered that all this time he was attempting to reverse the course of the giant space bullet Kitty has been trapped in since the conclusion to Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men run. That was an ending that will make you a little weepy eyed now that Kitty is a genuinely likable character thanks to Whedon’s characterization. I can appreciate that instead of merely killing her off, which would lead to an inevitable resurrection, we got an open ended conclusion with the character pitted in a personal Hell so that when she did return it wouldn’t be such an eye rolling affair as some character returns have been (I’m looking at you Steve Rogers and Bruce Wayne.) Of course, Kitty’s return comes with a twist which I won’t spoil for you but it’s something that has happened to her before.
All in all, Matt Fractions run on Uncanny has been something I can’t help but follow, and it’s really the only X-book I follow with any real consistency. I loved the idea of Magneto meditating like a zen Buddhist in an act of pure altruism. And yeah, maybe I do have a little bit of a Kitty Pryde crush, so I’m glad she’s back. I just hope that future writers can continue to make her as interesting and multi-dimensional a character as Whedon made her. Keep up the good work Fraction.
I always hear the same complaints about The Man of Steel;” he is too powerful”, “out of date” or “too perfect”, I used to think that as well, but Superman is none of those things. Sure back in the golden era of comics Superman had some crazy powers, I mean in one book he blew out a star, but ever since his revamp in the 80s Superman is no more powerful than Hulk, Sentry (Marvel’s answer to Superman) or Thor. Superman got his butt kicked by Batman in the Dark Knight Returns so I don’t want to hear that crap.
Is Superman too perfect or too much of boy scout (as if being boy scout is bad)? I don’t think he is perfect but isn’t that what we should inspire to be like, Superman to me represents the best qualities in humanity. I guess today people want their heroes to be dark and kill and be gritty or weird, which makes for great reading but whats wrong with a hero who is always trying to be the the best and has a strong sense of morals? I guess that it’s just too boring for some.
Superman is idealistic and a light character but he has made mistakes. Superman has problems he has to work out, there times when he even doubts himself or wonders if he is doing enough with his power. For me the thing that makes Superman great is that he has faith in humanity and doesn’t use his powers to make everything perfect but to help and inspire humanity. Superman, for an alien being from Krypton, is more in touch with his humanity than his Krypton origin, which makes him unique than other superheroes like Thor, Captain Marvel, or Batman for that matter. For Superman/Clark Kent it’s his Smallville upbringing that makes him the person he is. Sure on occasion Superman has to remember that he is the Last Son Of Krypton and he has to be more than Clark Kent raised on a farm. It’s that duality is what makes him very interesting like Spider-Man, for example.
Superman is inspiring and to me that is what makes a hero great, not saying he is the only inspiring comic book hero but he is the most inspiring one. Hey I love how cool Batman is, how easy you can relate to Spider-Man, how bad ass Wolverine is, and how disturbing and gritty Preacher, Scalped, and most Vertigo stuff is, but Superman is the superhero I would try to be if I was a superhero, actually he is the kind human being we all should inspire to. For fictional character who wears red and blue tights that says a lot.
Some recommended Superman material..
Superman For Tomorrow
The Death of Superman
Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow
Infinite Crisis
Last Son
Superman Braniac
Superman The Movie 1 and 2
Justice League animated series
Superman Red Son
All Star Superman
Yep. You saw that right. Josie and the Pussycats. The rockin’ band from Archie’s hometown of Riverdale find themselves adapted into a major motion picture. This movie landed during the peak of the boyband/girlband explosion during the late 90s and early 00s and made a pretty funny commentary on the nature of that business and the fans that fueled it. The premise of the movie finds our favorite Cats trying to find an audience at a bowling alley at the start of their career… The only problem is, nobody cares. It’s a bit disheartening for the girls, but luckily, a major record executive lands from an exploding plane near Riverdale and sees the girls as a potential new face of his label. From there, the girls find themselves having the experience of a lifetime as they finally find exposure to the masses and become household names. But, alas, the fun has to stop eventually, and it does when a rift is formed between Josie and Valerie… But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Why am I talking to you about Josie and the Pussycats? It’s just so out of character, right? But the thing is, it really boils down to Rachael Leigh Cook and Rosario Dawson. Can you really blame me? Those two actresses are what drew me towards the movie, but after viewing it, there was so much more to the movie. For starters, this movie was a strong PG-13 outing… There were a nice assortment of crude jokes and inappropriate behaviour going on in the movie as well as a mostly nude Tara Reid at the beginning of the movie. And then there’s Alan Cummings and Parkey Posey… As far as I’m concerned, those two bring a wave of legitimacy to the project that other comic adaptations could only hope for. The songs in the movie weren’t half-bad either, which being a movie about a rock band, I’m glad they took the time to write some actual songs and not jingles. Another great thing about this movie is it’s similarity to the John Carpenter classic, “They Live”, but I wont go into detail about what that similarity actually is. But… How does the movie stack up against the source material?
Well, we’ve got a blond, brunette, and a redhead in a band. That’s about all you need. The characters act like their comic counterparts; Josie is the mostly stable leader, Melody is the ditzy, but sexy blond, and Valerie is the strong and clear minded brunette. But, the filmmakers took it further and added the other core characters of the book as well. The snobby rich twins and Josie’s boyfriend are also featured in the movie. One of the characters even goes as far as to justify her presence in the movie by literally stating that she was in the comic. Speaking of which, there’s a nice bit of fourth-wall breaking that occurs in the movie and it never seems tacky when it happens. It’s genuinely funny. That aside, there isn’t really much else to say about the transition from the page to the silver screen. The film drops the timeless era attitude of the Archie comics for a more modern view of things and movie uses the more well-known lineup of the Pussycats. That’s right, this isn’t a commonly known fact. Originally, the band lineup had a different character in place of Valerie. There used to be a character, named Pepper, who used to be the groups resident brunette. Then one day, she was gone, along with another character, with no real explanation. The new brunette was the African-American character, Valerie.
So, that’s it. A movie about Josie (the redhead), Melody (the blond), and Valerie (the brunette) is one of my favorite comic adaptations. Roger Ebert gave the film half of a star (out of 4) and had this to say, “Josie and the Pussycats are not dumber than the Spice Girls, but they’re as dumb as the Spice Girls, which is dumb enough.” Whatever. Ebert didn’t like Howard the Duck either. The man has no taste. See ya next time.
Sometimes, no matter how well informed you try to be, great comic series slip past your attention until they’re a few volumes into their publication. I’ve repeated on the blog many times how this happen to me with the manga Death Note. Since reading that series, I’ve been looking for the “next” Death Note, and I think I’ve found it with another series that nearly slipped through my fingers called Ikigami – The Ultimate Limit.
The series Ikigami, created by Motoro Mase, explores a government-instated policy in Japan to kill one random young adult citizen each day to increase the nation’s prosperity. All Japanese newborns are injected at birth. The lucky ones get a placebo. The unlucky ones, every 1 in 1000, get injected with a capsule that slowly makes it way to their heart. Eventually, the capsule explodes on a designated date, instantly killing the subject from a heart attack. The programs mission is: with the treat of random death, all citizens will live life to the fullest and potentially, society as a whole will benefit. The series follows the Ikigami (Death Notice) deliverer who informs the subjects they have 24 hours left to live, and the subsequent story of their last day before death.
The first volume has two chapters. The first chapter examines a young man whose been bullied his whole life and his violent decisions after he receives his Ikigami. Faced with impending death, the tortured soul chooses to seek vengeance on the high school students who bullied him. By the end of the first chapter, the Ikigami deliverer begins to questions the programs affect on society. The second chapter focuses on a street-performing music duo, and the Ikigami the more popular singer of the duo receives. Though in his life the musician struggles to find fame, through his untimely death his career becomes iconic. The government department makes their case for the value of the Ikigami program, yet the reader is left wondering if it is the man’s talent or death that made him famous.
Mase finds a unique balance in his story between Death Note’s examination of capital punishment and Battle Royale’s rail against totalitarian society. His art style also resembles a subtler version of the art by Death Note’s Takeshi Obata. More so, Ikagimi’s dark vision analyzes the realities of a true-life modern Japanese culture, hell-bent on succeeding even at the cost of death. Though this extreme has not actually been implemented, Ikigami really puts the value of life in an entirely new perceptive.
The series has also been adapted into a film. I haven’t actually seen the film, but the trailer gives the story more of a dramatic feel.
Ikigami is highly recommended for fans of Death Note and Battle Royale.
Many of our regular customers might have noticed I was absent a few days last week. Unfortunately, my grandmother Gwen Scorfina passed away and I took some time to be with my family. She was 84.
In reflecting on her death, I thought I would share with you one of the memories I have of reading comics at her house when I was a kid. Without trying to be ironic, the one comic I specifically remember reading at my grandparents’ house was the landmark “Death of Superman” issue. My dad collected the whole series for me, and on the weekend of the release of Superman #75 in November of 1992 we picked up two copies of the polybagged memorial issue from the old St. Charles Fantasy Shop on Main Street. To this day, I still have one copy opened to read, and one sealed in the memorial black bag.
After picking up the comics, we returned to my grandparents’ house in a well-to-do neighborhood in St. Peters called the bluffs. My dad read the issue with me in the guest bedroom, which doubled as my Uncle Christopher’s room when he was in town from San Francisco. Regardless how I feel about the issue and series now, the final panels of Superman dying in Lois Lane’s arms were commanding images that stick in my memory.
After reading the issue, I put on a coat and went outside in the cold weather to my grandmother’s stone fountain, where I submerged a Ninja Turtle action figure in the water and watched it begin to freeze over the plastic toy. I chipped it out of the ice before I left their house at the end of the weekend. When I returned to my 5th grade class that Monday morning I brought the black Superman armband with me and talked about the comic on the playground before school.
I still don’t think the Doomsday story was very good, but it’s undeniable a major part of comic history. Even non-comic readers can reflect and think, “Where was I win Superman died?” That’s one of the magical aspects of reading comics, or any print medium for that matter, the tactile sensation that triggers memories of where we’ve been when we read certain things. I was at my grandmothers when I read the “Death of Superman,” and it is a pleasant memory.
Readers may think I’m crazy, but the other important female character I’m going to write about this week is Buddy’s manic, crazy-as-a-loon, on-again off-again girlfriend Lisa Leavenworth from Peter Bagge’s Hate. Lisa might be a character in need of serious therapy, but I still think she does a wonderful job depicting the struggles of growing up as a modern American woman. She has major confidence and body issues. She latches on to Buddy Bradley (or any male character for that matter) more to define her personal identity than to commit to a loving relationship. Her weight and fashion style fluctuates throughout the series, even given way to a regrettable shaved-head Marilyn Manson Goth phase. Yet, she is more true to life than any female character in the big breasted, male fantasy superhero worlds, and as the series progress you watch her become a more defined woman… though she still has a lot of real life problems.
From the beginning of Hate, Buddy and Lisa’s relationship is rocky. They start dating again in issue 10 in the aptly titled story called “The Nut,” where Lisa follows Buddy home wearing only a potato-sake and begs to move in with him. Buddy had previously dated Lisa’s more desirable roommate Val, but had that relationship fall apart when he pays more attention to managing his best friend Stinky’s band than their romance. The early issues of Hate really do a good job of depicting young lust, and dating in small social circles where everyone knows and awkwardly dates each other.
Buddy and Lisa stick together and eventually move across the country to live with Buddy’s parents in New Jersey. Of course, Lisa doesn’t know anyone in Jersey and spends more time nursing Buddy’s sick father to occupy her time than being an average twenty-something. This new isolation only makes Lisa more crazy and hard to live with, and Bagge depicts this by her sleeping all day and throwing Spaghetti-Os on the wall to Buddy’s dismay. After a few years of outrageous yelling matches, she eventually leaves Buddy without even a note as to why. When he confronts her about this a few issues later she tells him she was saving him from her. Nowadays young people, especially women, have to find themselves before they can commit to others, and Lisa Leavenworth is the perfect comic example of this.
She may not be a super-heroine, but I sure like reading the crazy misadventures of Lisa Leavenworth just as much as I like reading about Buddy.
Bruce Wayne is coming back after being absent for roughly a year which to me is a shame since I really enjoy Dick Grayson in the role of the Caped Crusader. I think it was inevitable that Brucie would return to reclaim his mantle after having been “dead” for the past year. But wait, he didn’t actually “die” he was just sent back in time thanks to Darkseid during the course of Final Crisis, which was a fun read but left me scratching my head at times figuring out what was going on. This whole time Bruce Wayne has been hanging out in caveman days as illustrated by the last page in Final Crisis.
I suppose we get to see what Bruce has been up to during his adventures fighting other cave people and eluding sabre-tooth tigers and woolly mammoths. Jon and I were joking about how the dark knight has always been able to outsmart Gotham’s most diabolical villains, but is he ready to match wits with…a caveman!?! Well, if the cover art for the upcoming Return of Bruce is any indication of what we’re in for, then get ready for some prehistoric Batman tomahawk swinging action. The art by Andy Kubert looks like a cross between Man-Bat and Conan the Barbarian complete with what I can only assume is an actual dead bat on his chest in place of his usual emblem. Way to go native Bruce! I guess even Neanderthal man had it’s criminal element, and Batman is just the guy to strike terror into the hearts of a group that was truly cowardly, and very superstitious.
The Return of Bruce Wayne is just one of many big events DC has lined up for us throughout the course of the coming spring and summer. Superman’s coming back to all of his comics in War of the Supermen, and now that the Blackest Night is coming to a close, the Brightest Day is dawning upon us. In the meantime, I’m eagerly anticipating the exciting adventures of Caveman-Batman as he battles criminals that are afraid of fire. Let the Unfrozen Caveman Vigilante jokes begin!
**Warning** Foul Language Posted Within **Warning**
This week we’re discussing the women in comics who defy the stereotype of being a peripheral background character, and at this point we’ve got the ladies of the super-hero set covered so it’s time to move on to the one woman I consider to be my favorite lady in all of comics. I speak of course of Tulip O’Hare from one of my all time favorite series Preacher.
Tulip is primarily known for being a main characters girlfriend, but beyond that, the series just wouldn’t work without the dynamic that she brings to the story. More often than not, Tulip is the damsel that rescues the man in distress throughout the series with guns blazing. Despite the fact Jesse is well aware hat Tulip can hold her own in a conflict, he can’t bear the thought of something happening to her, thus constantly running off while she’s sleeping in the night. This of course always infuriates Ms. O’Hare. At one point of the story, Tulip believes that Jesse is dead and spends most of the time allowing herself to be in a persistant state of sedation through drink and pills. Eventually she sees clearly through the haze, and when she makes up her mind to not allow herself to be held captive any longer, her captor has to deal with a force to be reckoned with.
When it comes to strong women in comics, none are tougher, but reasonably characterized better than Tulip O’Hare. I would like to throw out an honorable mention to Buffy Summers who missed the cut since she started her ass-kicking in the world of film and television. Also Dizzy Cordova from 100 Bullets who breaks a glass ceiling by earning membership into the Minutemen, an elite group of assassins in 100 Bullets. But all, in all, Tulip gets the prize.
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. 
