Generation Hope, the comic that follows the exploits of Cyclops’ (The King of Mutants) adoptive granddaughter, Hope Summers. If you’ve picked up an X-Book in the past 5 years, then you know that there are less than 200 mutants left in the Marvel Universe. Thanks to a wish by the Scarlet Witch, mutants were sentenced to an EW conservation-level status. There were to be no more born, that is, until baby Hope was born. There was a war or two fought in her name, and in the end it was Cable, Cyclops’s son, who came to the rescue. Cable, being the time-traveling deus-ex that he is, took Hope to the future, where in real-life time, Hope went from being a baby to a teenager in about 3 years. Anyway, with her arrival into the present and the manifestation of her mutant powers, 5 new mutants (The Five Lights) manifested their powers… But they had no control over their power. It wasn’t until Hope was able to physically touch them, that their powers became controllable to the host. So now, that we are caught up, I can get to my point.
[Beware his gross arm.]
What the hell is Tetsuo doing on the team?
You see, the last of the Lights manifested in Tokyo, Japan. There we find a painter who suddenly loses control of his body, and he starts killing everybody. At some point, he comes across a red curtain or sheet and uses it as a cape. And most absurdly, he fires his arm out at someone, just like Tetsuo in the Akira movie/manga. And yes, his arm is all gross and stuff. Hell, the kid, Kenji Uedo, even has the same haircut. Ultimately, his powers ended up being a little different from Tetsuo, but come on. A X-Men comic was the last place I thought a Tetsuo homage would pop up in. But ultimately, I’m kinda ok with it. I’m sure it could’ve been a lot worse, and its not as if the creators were trying to pass him off as an original design. I imagine that the whole point of the Akira recap was just to get the comparisons out of the way, to get us to accept that yes, they really did just rip off a character. So, at the very least, they get points for being upfront about it.
[Beware his gross arm as well.]
But this isn’t the only time Tetsuo has popped up in things that aren’t Akira. Gaara from the Naruto (The creator of which has stated to have been influenced a bit by Akira) books got a little Tetsuo-armed from time to time, South Park featured an episode about Eric Cartman’s trapper keeper gaining sentience and eventually assimilating the things around it and Cartman to become the giant blob version of Tetsuo, (This episode also featured a theme that was very similar to the theme in the movie that played during Tetsuo’s transformation). And then there’s the character from King of Fighters 2001 & 2002 named K9999 (pronounced “Kay-Four-Nine) who is another direct copy of the Tetsuo character, even going as far as to be voiced by the very same man who was the original voice actor for Tetsuo. He also has a funky arm move. Todd Ingram, from the Scott Pilgrim series features an attack in the videogame where he has a funky Vegan-Psychic arm attack, just like Tetsuo as well. And I know that there are more Tetsuo clones out there, maybe one day, I’ll make a website that features Tetsuo copy-cats, but for now, I think I’ll go draw my own Tetsuo copy-cat character. But in fairness, all these characters, including Akira’s Tetsuo (whom which he was named for) are based off of another Tetsuo, Tetsuo the Iron Man. But whatever.
There are very few comic titles that have never disappointed me, not even once. Regular readers will no doubt guess that a certain viking comic is on that list, but at the top of it sits Sergio Aragonés’ and Mark Evanier’s Groo the Wanderer. I first encountered Groo in a second-hand copy of Destroyer Duck #1, Steve Gerber’s commando version of Howard the Duck (Gerber was waging a legal battle against Marvel at the time), which I bought for the Jack Kirby art. I was instantly smitten with the big lug, and spent the next several years following the dumb barbarian from company to company. I was zealous in my commitment to the book — I have every issue of the Epic Comics run, most of the Pacific run and I came very close to buying the rare “special” Eclipse published while the team was between publishers (stupid “no out-of-state checks” policy), as well as everything Dark Horse has published.
[DISASTER FOLLOWS HIM EVERYWHERE]
Anyway, with close to 200 issues in my hoard, I’ve never finished a new one and thought, “Eh, it’s been better.” Sergio Aragonés’ expressive and baroquely-detailed art is a huge reason for the quality, obviously; you can stare at his splash pages for ten or twenty minutes and still not spot all the details and visual gags he’s drawn — and you have 21 more pages to enjoy after this opener. Mark Evanier’s scripts are equally as rewarding. Groo’s humor is predicated on the stupidity of the title character, but the truth is every character who believes they can outsmart Groo ends up ruined in the end; Evanier’s scripts are beautiful little parables about greed, arrogance, selfishness and how destructive these characteristics are. They are modern fables, with jokes about cheese dip and mulch thrown in at no extra charge.
And so when I read this interview with Aragonés and learned that not only is the long-awaited Groo/Conan crossover probably going to be ready for this year’s Comic-Con, but that a 12-issue Groo maxi-series is also in the pipeline, I couldn’t have been happier. More Groo is better for everyone, particularly me. That maxi-series is a celebration of 30 years of Groo fraying & slaying and erring & caring, and I would expect individual issues are going to show up on future Best Things I Read This Week. I’m sorely tempted to declare that interview the best thing I’ve read since Wednesday, that’s how happy this makes me. You know what? Boom, That Interview Is the Best Thing I’ve Read Since Wednesday.
[GROO IS BELOVED BY ALL]
In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I met Sergio at the Chicago Comic-Con back in 95 (I think), and he is the nicest man in the world, so I may be favorably biased towards him and his work. The guy in front of me had brought a suitcase full of Aragonés’ work that he wanted signed, and Sergio was too nice to say no. Instead he sat there dutifully signing each piece and adding a unique spot illo to every comic and issue of Mad, all while dropping heavy hints that maybe the guy should graciously leave so someone else could get an autograph. The guy was either too stupid or too selfish to get the hint, so Sergio just kept drawing and signing and hinting. Even as quickly as Sergio works — and after watching him effortlessly draw dragons, dogs, little janitors, exotic birds and other ephemera under his signature for almost an hour, believe me, he’s faster than you can imagine — he wasn’t fast enough to satisfy this guy before time expired. When a con employee came over and announced that Sergio’s time was indeed up, Sergio looked heartbroken, and I was not too happy either, mainly because I brought a friend’s favorite issue of Groo with me to get signed. While Sergio was collecting his stuff, he leaned over the table to tell those of us who remained, “I’ll come back in an hour. Meet me over there — “ he pointed at an out-of-the-way corner — “and I’ll sign until I take care of everybody.” So I met him over there in an hour, and he signed my friend’s comic and gave me an Alfred E. Neuman badge off his shirt for “being a good friend.” I still have the badge, but honestly, having Sergio Aragonés tell me I was a good friend meant much more than the souvenir did. It’s nice knowing that someone whose work I love so much is also a generous and compassionate person — and his moustache is top-notch. I suspect Mark Evanier is equally as decent a human being, because he’s friends with Sergio and Sergio knows good friends, but I can not vouch for his moustache.
Great Kirby’s Drawing Hand, what a haul this week. Books I love (King Conan!), books I’m not on speaking terms with at the moment (FF 2!), books I bought out of a sense of obligation (The Mighty Thor 1), books that made me roll my eyes when I saw the cover (Warlord of Mars!) and many other books besides. My final count was in double digits and could have been higher. Can I possibly keep these reviews brief enough that I cover them all? Nothing in the history of ever suggests that I can, but let’s give it a shot anyway. What else was I going to do tonight?
[PREPARE TO PUNCH “T,” THEN “L,” THEN “;DR”]
See You Next Wednesday Comics Edgar J. Penniesworth: The world’s richest hobo details his origin story in this one. I admit, I almost forgot about Edgar J., but reading this reminded me that Edgar’s original appearance marked the first melancholy story Mike Harvey did for his weekly mini comic experiment. This story is also permeated with a sense of loss and sadness — maybe it’s because I’m a mopey kinda guy, but I really like when Mike goes deep like this. I think the world is big enough for all kinds of comics, but it really is amazing that SYNW tries harder than most books to be all kinds of comics. Still one of my favorite reads every week.
[THAT TURBAN’S WEARING YOU, SON]
Conan: Road of Kings 4: Roy Thomas’ return to Conan is really starting to pay dividends. He’s once again deftly blending classic REH elements (political dissident Murillo from “Rogues in the House is back with regicide on his mind) with new characters and settings to make something worthy of REH without being a pale imitation of REH. Another conspirator in the plot to kill a king is revealed, Conan undergoes some light torture, Gamesh the sword-handed assassin returns to make life difficult for Consey and there’s some other delights as well. Sadly, Mike Hawthorne’s art is not growing on me — in fact, I’m more and more against it with every issue. It’s too cartoony, too static and too bland to serve the script. The problem is exacerbated because King Conan came out this week also, and I had some great Conan images with which to compare.
[WAY TO PLANT, PELIAS]
King Conan 3: Tomas Giorello flat-out killed it in this issue. His depiction of the hell-plant, Yothga, with Pelias the Sorcerer trapped in its leafy embrace, is the stuff of nightmares — exactly as it should be. Tim Truman continues to adroitly adapt the Scarlet Citadel storyline, which requires a balance of horrible tension and secrets revealed at regular intervals to fully work, and work it does. I have the feeling a key character is being omitted from this telling, which niggles at my enjoyment a bit, but maybe she’ll show up next issue. Even without her presence in the story, this is a strong, thoroughly enjoyable adaptation. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have a Thomas/Truman writing team working with Giorello.
[APE MAIN STREET, APETOWN, USAPE]
Planet of the Apes 1: I would have thought Tim Burton’s wretched adaptation of the original film would have killed any interest in a POTA property in any medium, but I underestimated the lingering appeal of Pierre Boules’ source material. Daryl Gregory sets this tale more than a millennia before Taylor (Charlton Heston) falls back to earth, a time when humans can still speak and live side-by-side with the apes, although humanity’s supremacy is clearly on the wane. It’s kind of a pre-apocalyptic sci-fi story in that sense, although since the Lawgiver ape is assassinated by a human with a machine gun on page two, you can expect that apocalypse to hit pretty soon. I like Carlos Magno’s art, but he has a tendency to make those ape faces a little too pretty in the human sense — I’d prefer more ape-looking apes. That’s a minor quibble, and I liked the book overall.
[WOULD I KID A MAN IN A WRESTLING ONESIE, BEN?]
FF 2: Jonathan Hickman does a lot of good work here to repair my damaged relationship with this book. The Future Foundation sets out to heal Dr. Doom’s damaged brain, and this for some reason requires Doom to become a member of the team. Honestly, I don’t understand why that’s a requirement — it seems contrived. However, Hickman distracts us with some nice Sue/Ben dynamics and more great Spider-Man jokery/thinkery. Also, the payoff in this issue picks up a stitch dropped a few months ago, which is simultaneously satisfying and terrifying. I like continuity and I like surprises, and this one hits both points nicely.
[I ABSOLUTELY APPROVE OF THESE SHENANIGANS]
The problem is, Amazing Spider-Man 659 outdoes it in all areas, using the same team and a whole lot more action, adventure, Silver Age continuity, a 30 Rock joke and zombie pirates — yeah, that doesn’t make this issue sound one-tenth as entertaining as it really is. I guess since FF is now Future Force, Dan Slott decided he has free rein to write the ultimate Fantastic Four issue with Spider-Man as a guest star. Nothing wrong with that as far as I’m concerned. The major difference between this and FF proper is one of tone; Slott keeps it lighthearted and action-packed, while Hickman opts for very serious and portentous. There’s nothing inherently wrong with either approach, but I will say that ASM is the sort of book you immediately want to share with a friend so you can both enjoy it — and I don’t feel that way about FF. Maybe in a few months, but not right now.
[WHO NEEDS A BATPLANE WHEN YOU HAVE BATDRAGON?]
Superman/Batman 83 continues the Sorcerer Kings storyline that so captured my fancy last month. Cullen Bunn and Chriscross have to do some explaining in this issue as a matter of course, filling us in on how the world has changed because of its magic sun, what the Justice League has been up to, why they stole Superman from the past etc, etc. The expository issues are never my favorite ones in any arc, but Bunn uses it to explore an interesting facet of Superman’s personality, namely, his belief that he can fix anything because he’s Superman. This has always been the downfall of the character in my mind — there’s no drama in any set-up if you know there’s always someone right there to make it all better — but Bunn shows us that it can manufacture drama when someone uses that supreme confidence against him. Also, Aquaman shows up and he’s like, 300 years old — awesome. I can’t wait to read next issue, when everything gets wrapped up and Superman finally gets to swing that magic sword of his. (I really am simple, aren’t I?)
Xombi 2 is far from simple. I actually feel kinda lost, because I never read the original run of this book, so I’m still playing catch-up, trying to figure out how this universe works. Magic and religion play a huge role in this, and trying to figure out just how seriously to take these things requires more familiarity. John Rozum seems to be going for that classic Vertigo universe blend of black magic and black comedy, and I can get behind that. Despite being in over my head, I’m enjoying it. There’s something to be said for a comic that refuses to use cliché and forces you to pay attention.
[THESE COVERS ARE BECOMING FORMULAIC]
Power Man and Iron Fist 4 is a bit more cliché than Xombi, and I feel like the pacing is off — next issue wraps up the series and it’s going to have to do a lot of heavy lifting to connect all the pieces and wrap up all the loose ends. But you know what? Luke Cage, the originaland only Power Man (as far as I’m concerned) showed up and challenged Vic Alvarez to re-asses what it means to be a superhero, and that kinda saved this issue for me. I’m a sucker for Cage, and I really like seeing him as a mentor. If anybody can impart life lessons it’s Cage, and he did so with a compassion and empathy that reinforced my love for him. As much as I like Iron Fist, I think Cage is the more interesting and vital character, and it’s nice to see that’s still true, even in a three-page cameo.
[WHO’S THAT LURKING BEHIND SILVER SURFER?]
I bought The Mighty Thor 1 with great reluctance. Matt Fraction punted his run on regular ol’ Thor, marginalizing the title character in favor of a supporting cast that was boring and overly-familiar. I think this is a step back in the right direction for both Fraction and the book. Thor and Sif drop through time and space to examine the base of the World Tree (Thor intentionally split it with the Odinsword last month), Loki (who’s now a child with few memories of his true nature — how confusing is this going to be for people coming from the movie theater next month?) goes down to save them because of a dream he had and Broxton’s Pastor Mike muses on the theological implications for Christianity when a bunch of walking, talking Norse gods are your neighbors. Oh, and Silver Surfer apparently plans to drag Galactus our way for a picnic. It’s a big, bold, well-developed first issue that does much more right than it does wrong. I … I liked it. I’m hopeful for even better things in the coming months for this title.
[BOUDOIR PHOTOGRAPHY IS BIG ON MARS]
Warlord of Mars 6: Joe Jusko drops all pretense with this month’s cover and has Dejah in a classic Playboy centerfold pose, complete with it being necessary to turn the book on its side to properly view it. At least Jusko’s work is anatomically sound, but still — this is a bit much. Arvid Nelson and Lui Antonio are racing through this one in true pulp fashion, keeping John Carter leaping and fighting and running in his constant attempts to save Dejah Thoris from imminent peril, including being licked by Jabba the Hutt’s bipedal younger brother — all right, that may be an unwarranted comparison, but they seemed willing to invite it. After a decidedly sedate start to this series, it’s really going great guns at this point. Nelson has captured the tone of the original story, and Antonio’s art is exotic, dramatic and everybody is easy on the eyes. There’s definitely a cheese factor — and a cheesecake factor — at work here, but as I mentioned earlier, the world is big enough for all kinds of comics.
From a pure entertainment point of view, it’s a two horse race this week between Amazing Spider-Man and Warlord of Mars. I like ‘em both for different reasons, but they share a common commitment to telling an exciting story well. In the final analysis, I have to give the nod to Amazing Spider-Man because it made me want to share it with a friend — that really is the surest sign of a brilliant comic.
Here we are with part 12 of the series about my favorite products spun out of the world of comics. Today, I’d like to speak about a very special movie to me. You see, the primary reason I started writing about the adaptations was to eventually build up to the movie that I’m talking about today. But I felt that I should save it for my final pick, so I’d wait until 12 months had gone by until I dropped the bomb, but then, I just couldn’t keep up with the blogs. But finally, it’s here. The moment that only I have been waiting for. I present to you, one of my most favorite comic book adaptations of all time. 2008’s Speed Racer as directed by The Wachowski Brothers.
[BOOM]
Yeah, Speed Racer, the Warner Bros. Summer 2008 big tent-pole picture event that essentially tanked at the box office. That’s one of my favorites. Now, I know what a lot of you may be thinking. “You’re stupid, Fleet,” and I disagree. Let me explain why this movie worked so well. The original manga, Mach Go Go Go, was created back in 1958 as a weekly serial and was later adapted into a cartoon, which was eventually brought overseas in 1967. And let me tell you something. I don’t care what anyone says, that cartoon was soooooooooo boring. I know my mother was a fan of it during it’s original run, but when I saw them during my early-years Saturday morning cartoon sessions, I just hated it. And when I was older, I went back and watched it again. Not all of it, but a lot of key episodes. But the show was made so cheaply, which is totally how things were done back then, but I feel that this was cheaper than most imports at the time. And it certainly couldn’t hold a candle to a lot of the American cartoons that were out around that time that used similar methods to animate. I mean, I can go on and on about what I felt was wrong with the show, but post isn’t about that. It’s about how glorious the film was.
So let’s start off with the directors. The Brothers Wachowski. Whether you like The Matrix movies or not, you have to give credit to these guys for being innovative in how they film a movie. What most of us know as “Bullet Time” was not created by the brothers and existed long before 1999, however, one could argue that they were the ones who perfected it. And ever since that perfection, it’s been apart of our movie/game/television/cartoon/etc lives from then until now. I’d even argue that without The Matrix, there’d be no Inception. Or at least, not the way it was executed. So I think there’s a lot that we can thank Larry and Andy for, because if nothing else, those guys have vision. And that very same vision is brought to this film. Yes, the race sequences look like glorified Hot Wheels commercials, but how is that a bad thing? Bright lights, motion blur, absurd race tracks, funky looking cars, and explosions. All of that is awesome. And it’s a massive change in direction from the races that occurred in the comics/cartoon. In the show, it seemed like most of the races took place on flat roads that typically only ran in one straight direction. Sure, you had the cars with the goofy weapons, but what passed as action-packed back then is no longer exciting. I’ve spoken to a lot of “purists” who said that they hated the upgraded races the most, but I just don’t see how that can be. I mean, the regular races in the movie are cool by themselves, but then the special races (The illegal Casa Cristo 5000 and the movie’s finale Grand Prix) are where the sequences really shine. Essentially, the Casa Cristo 5000 is the race that plays to memories to those that have fond memories of the old cartoon. It’s the wide open race that included various homages to a lot of the series’ signature racers and their cars, as well as the anime only character of Snake Oiler. It was also the race that “allowed” the use of illegal weapons during the races. Weapons such as saw blades, tire spikes, and even a Wacky Races inspired beehive catapult. But it wasn’t all fun and games either. During a crucial point during the final day of the Casa Cristo, one special racer decides that he’s just gonna use a handgun. And then there’s the final race… But I think I’ll leave that for you to check out on your own, but if you find yourself invested in the movie, the final race may just bring a tear to your eye.
[That stupid pose that Speed is doing also made it into the movie.]
But let’s move on to the cast. And what a great cast it is. First up, you’ve got Emile Hirsch (Lords of Dogtown, Milk) as Speed Racer. He’s just a solid actor with some nice range. The few movies that I’ve seen with this guy, he’s never disappointed me. Plus, it seems like this guy is always being nominated for an acting award. Anyway, his depiction of Speed is pretty decent. He comes across as a wholesome teen/adult (It’s never made clear how old Speed is…) with a hint of darkness in his soul, that comes out from time to time. Nothing twisted or EXTREME 90s, but you just get the feeling that this guy has been through a lot… Which… I guess is true. Then you’ve got Christina Ricci (Adams Family, Black Snake Moan) as his girlfriend, Trixie, who’s role is expanded from just being the eye in the sky. She comes across as a much stronger character than the one depicted in the show, plus she exudes some sort of sexual aura when she’s around the fast cars or violence. That’s pretty cool. And there’s a reasonable explanation for that, which is given during an early movie flashback into the young lives of Speed and Trixie. Then we have Susan Sarandon and John Goodman as Mom and Pops Racer. If you’ve got something bad to say about their acting abilities, then you’re crazy. Academy Award Best Actress Susan Sarandon may have the lightest role as far as the core characters go, but when she’s on screen, there’s no doubt that she’s Mom Racer and when the movie calls for warming emotion, you can count on her to get those results. As for Goodman as Pops Racer, it’s John Goodman. What more do you want? Also, he and Christina Ricci are responsible for my absolute favorite exchange of lines in the movie. It occurs after Pops tosses a ninja out of Speed’s hotel room. I’m not going to post it or write it though. Mostly because it’s terribly cheesy and I’m trying to get more people to watch the movie. So… Yeah. Rounding out the core Racer family is Tommy Litt (He played one of the bullies in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) as Spritle, Speed’s younger brother. Spritle and the family pet chimpanzee, Chim-Chim, are mostly around to keep the younger kids in the audience emotionally invested. His bits with Chim-Chim are amusing and their wild sugar-fueled ride though Royalton Industries forced a laugh or two out of me. My only criticism with Spritle comes at the end of the movie. Again, I wont spoil it, but it totally ruins the emotional payoff that the rest of the film was building up to.
Also on the cast is Matthew Fox (Lost, Smokin’ Aces) as the mysterious Racer X. This guy’s car is modified with twin chain-guns hidden under his roof. He’s also a ninja, for lack of a better term. As in the show, he aids Speed during his races and fights to take down the corruption in the World Racing League. In this movie, Fox plays Racer X as if he were a Batman who doesn’t have a rule about not killing people. Not to say that Racer X is murdering people in the movie, but it’s made very clear that he has no qualms about it. Helping Racer X in his fight against corruption is Inspector Detector, as played by Benno Fürmann. He’s just a cool guy in this movie. I’ve got nothing more to say about him. Then there Korean Pop Star Rain as Taejo Togokahn, a driver who is mixed up with the devious crime-lord-ish Cruncher Block (John Benfield). And rounding out the cast as the villain of the movie is Roger Allam as Royal Royalton. This guy totally crushes the soul Speed during a very cleverly cut sequence that combines combines a heated argument with a race that hasn’t occurred yet in the film’s timeline. And there are plenty of other great actors and actresses in this film, but I think two paragraphs is enough. But this movie may have been the most racially diverse cast as far as speaking roles go for the year of 2008. That’s always cool.
So we’ve talked about the cast, we’ve talked about the comic/cartoon, we’ve talked about the effects… I feel like I’m forgetting something, but this thing is long enough as is. But if you scoffed at this movie and decided it wasn’t worth your time. Maybe give it a chance the next time you have nothing going on. You’re gonna need about 2 and a half hours though. It’s a long one, but it essentially covers the entire Speed Racer story in one shot. There will never be a sequel. And even if the movie did a good job at the box office, it still wouldn’t have gotten one. Which is a good thing and I’ll tell you why. When you make a comic adaptation, most thought processes are to make a movie to set up a franchise. Often times, you’ll find a big name or two attached the to the main roles that sucks up a lot of the budget that could’ve gone towards better sets, costumes, effects, or even a better writer. Or maybe the franchise is set up so that you don’t get to see the stuff you really want to see, until the 2nd or 3rd movie. I know that a lot of hopes and dreams were crushed with Dragonball: Evolution was released, primarily because no one in their right mind would ever attempt to make another Dragonball film for a good while, which means that we probably wont be seeing a Super Saiyan on the big screen for long while. The same goes foe seeing a relevant Superman villain besides Lex Luthor or some random Kryptonian (Nothing against Zod) in a Superman movie. Or on the flip side of the equation, you might find some filmmakers who try to adapt a property that is too large to be done in one. I think this is something that I neglected to speak about when I covered Akira. While the anime did an alright job of trying to contain the entirety of the manga, there was simply no way it could be done. What I fear for the new Live-Action Akira that is in the middle of the casting, is that the filmmakers are going to try to adapt the manga, then about halfway through, it’ll turn into a mash-up of the manga and the anime. Making Frankenstein adaptations is generally poor form. But in the case of Speed Racer, the movie did the right thing. It was already a gamble to begin with, so I imagine that the thought process here was, “Go big or go home.” And “Go big” they did. They got a lot of up-and-comers for the lead roles, and they filmed entirely on Green Screen which saved on location costs. They budgeted properly, and they saved nothing for a sequel. No holding back seemed to be the motto of this movie and I wouldn’t want it any other way. So check out this extended trailer, and give Speed Racer some thought, if you hadn’t before.
And in case you forgot, this is the list of adaptations that I’ve covered as well as the date the blog was posted.
1. Howard the Duck (Live Action Movie) November 25, 2009
2. Akira (Anime) December 16, 2009
3. The Maxx (Cartoon Series) January 4, 2010
4. The Guyver & Guyver: Dark Hero(Live Action Movies) February 13, 2010
5. Josie and the Pussycats (Live Action Movie) March 26, 2010
6. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Live Action Movie) April 23, 2010
7. MIB: The Men In Black (Live Action Movie) May 26, 2010
8. Judge Dredd (Live Action Movie) June 26, 2010
9. Heavy Metal (Animated Movie) July 27, 2010
10. Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (Videogame) September 1, 2010 (missed August by one day)
11. Scott Pilgrim Vs The World & Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: The Game (Live Action Movie & Videogame) December 11, 2010 (oops)
12. Speed Racer (Live Action Movie) April… Today 2011 (double oops)
After reading the first issue of Marvel’s summer crossover event ‘Fear Itself’ it’s clear writer Matt Fraction is trying to achieve two goals: repeat the success of Marvel’s 2006 blockbuster ‘Civil War’ and capitalize on the current ‘Thor’ and ‘Captain America’ film hype. ‘Fear Itself’ might be a crossover event featuring the entire cast of the Marvel universe, but it’s central characters are without a doubt Thor and Steve Rogers – Super Soldier (Sigh…you can’t just say Captain America now that Bucky is also trotting around in the stars and strips). Regardless of the soon-to-be hollywood heroes in the leading roles, comic fans can’t help but worry that ‘Fear Itself’ is going to be just another crossover in a long line of convoluted mega events. Fortunately, Fraction has five-years of event formulas to emulate and I think the series will be a success if he chooses to learn from past mistakes.
‘Fear Itself’ begins with Steve Rogers in the center of political riot over new developments on ground zero in Manhattan. Standing up against the crowd simply as Steve Rogers, the hero can do little to calm the rioters and is disillusioned by the madness he is unable to stop. Later at Avengers tower, Tony Stark suggests a reason behind the mob mentality, “People are mad right now, and broke and they’ve been lied to and ripped off.” Fraction is being very straightforward with the social commentary here and definitely reminds me of Marvel Civil War’s political subtext, which was a huge selling point. However, it was odd to hear this sentiment from billionaire Tony Stark, a character who also has been built up to be arguably one of the most unlikable heroes in the last five years. Clearly Fraction is trying to build up Stark’s popularity again as he has him go on to suggest rebuilding Asgard’s castle as a economic stimulus for the struggling country. To Thor’s dismay, Odin refuses Stark’s plan and demands that the gods return to Asgard fearing a conversation he had with the Watcher about a dark prophesy that signals the requiem of the gods. When Thor challenges his father decision he is forced to relinquish control of his hammer Mjölnir and taken against his will back to Asgard. Meanwhile, the Red Skull’s daughter Sin summons an ancient evil called the Worthy to earth and without the help of the gods it may be to much for the Avengers to stop.
I think the key for ‘Fear Itself’ to be a successful company-wide event is for Fraction not to promise long-lasting outcomes to the Marvel universe. A lot of readers, myself included, felt burned when mega events like “Civil War” and “House of M” promised long-lasting changes that were quickly erased in the course of a few years. If Marvel won’t stick to their guns with some of their bigger editorial directions then I don’t want to read them. Therefore, if Fraction chooses to keep the plot big enough to include all the Marvel superheroes, but small enough to not have the conclusion drag on over the course of a few years, he’ll hit the nail on the head. This is a lofty task nowadays but I think Fraction is up for the challenge, and he’ll have plenty of readers with Thor and Cap as the stars. Hell, if Fraction actually makes this a standalone epic the only thing comic fans will have to fear is the next crossover event.
With all the vampires saturating pop culture in Twilight, Anita Blake, 30 Days of Night, even in X-Men, Vampire fiction is grossly overexposed nowadays. Considering this bloody mess of modern vampires, I thought it might be fitting to read about a good vampire hunter and decided on the original novel of Vampire Hunter D. The first Vampire Hunter D film from 1985 was the second Japanese anime I ever saw, right behind AKIRA. I saw it roughly 10 years after its initial release on a VHS tape I rented from the Des Peres Blockbuster with my friend Robby. We watched it in Robby’s dark basement late at night while his cats walked between the panels of the ceiling. Between the mysterious noises his cats made above our heads and the dark and twisted atmosphere of the film, Vampire Hunter D absolutely scared the hell out of me. From the opening sequence where Doris’ horse is slaughtered by a demon beast to the acid-trip when D raids Count Lee’s castle, I’d never seen anything like Vampire Hunter D. What more, the film had brief animated nudity in it! For a kid who grew up on Disney it was mind-blowing to think that any animation could exist like this. Was I going to hell for watching this animated sin?
[One of the greatest opening sequences of all time]
I remained a fan of the series and saw the premiere of the sequel Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust at the Tivoli in 2001. I’ve always thought it was one of the most essential Anime of all time and was actually very surprised when quite a few of my co-workers admitted to having never seen either of the films. Before I started into the book I watched the first film again on youtube for the first time in at least 10 years. Though the animation seemed greatly dated and resembled an SNES cut scene, it was hard to not to cherish the unbelievable atmosphere the film created and how fresh it felt when I originally saw it.
The first Vampire Hunter D novel was released in 1983, the year I was born, and creates an even darker atmosphere than the film. My favorite aspect of the novel is that it combines every cool genre imaginable like horror, science fiction, western, and high occult fantasy, with a hint of romance. Can you really ask for more? Of course you can. That’s why writer Hideyuki Kikuchi made it a serialized collection of novels ending with the chapter of the next book in every novel. It is without a doubt the closest novel I’ve read to a comic book ever. It doesn’t hurt that it also has Yoshitaka Amano illustrations in every chapter of the novel. I know vampires are overdone nowadays, but I have no regrets picking up Vampire Hunter D again. It is well worth reading.
In the past decade it been argued that every summer is the year of the comic book movie, but 2011 may surpass them all. This summer we have four major superhero adaptations hitting the silver screen with Thor, X-Men: First Class, Green Lantern, and Captain America: The First Avenger. Let’s review the trailers and make predictions on who will win the war of the summer comic movies.
Thor – Opening May 6, 2011. Directed by Kenneth Bragnagh. Starring Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natile Portman as Jane Foster, and Anthoney Hopkins as Odin.
The first comic film striking lightning this summer is Thor from Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures. I have mixed feelings on how the God of Thunder will perform at the box office. Thor will either be an huge success, mimicking the high fantasy of Peter Jackson’s mammoth success with his Lord of the Rings Trilogy, or will suffer from being the most outrageous of all the comic films this summer. Can a Norse god/ superhero actually translate to box office blockbuster? By Odin’s beard, I hope so.
X-Men: First Class – Opening June 3, 2011. Directed by Matthew Vaughn. Starring James McAvoy as Professor X, January Jones as Emma Frost, and Michael Fassbender as Magneto.
Without a doubt, X-Men: First Class will be this summer’s wild card. This film is set in the 60s, but does not feature the actual first class of the X-Men according to comic continuity. There will be no Cyclops, Jean Grey or Iceman. Instead comic fans can expect Havok (without his awesome original costume), Mystique, and Darwin (created in 2006). Professor X is even going to have hair! This is a comic nerd’s nightmare. The movie will only fare well if movie fans are not sticklers for continuity, which if X-Men Origins: Wolverine is any indicator they’re not. Twentieth Century Fox might get lucky again with this one. It does have January Jones walking around as the scantily clad Emma Frost. However, of the four films released this summer I say absolutely stay away from this X-tragedy.
Green Lantern – Opening June 17, 2011. Directed by Martin Cambell. Starring Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern Hal Jordan, Blake Lively as Carol Ferris, and Mark Strong as Sinestro.
Of all the films coming out this summer Green Lantern has the most expectations riding on it. While Marvel has had little problem launching most of their roster into movie super-stardom in the last decade, DC has struggled to bring their comic universe to Hollywood, with the obvious exception of Batman. If they can score a hit with movie fans with a character like Green Lantern who isn’t immediately recognizable to non-comic readers the flood gate could get open to some of their other properties. Unfortunately, the first Green Lantern trailer didn’t seem to be the hit DC was looking for. With it’s bad CGI, overabundance of characters, and Ryan Reynolds playing an uncharacteristically goofy version of Hal Jordan, comic fans feared this was going to be the biggest bomb of the season. Thankfully, a second WonderCon exclusive trailer hit the web and a sigh of relief was heard throughout Sector 2814. Green Lantern could surprise as the biggest hit of the summer, especially with Ryan Reynolds as the lead.
Captain America: The First Avenger – Opening July 22, 2011. Directed by Joe Johnston. Starring Chris Evans as Captain America, Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull, and Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Chester Phillips.
With Rocketeer director Joe Johnston manning the Stars and Strips, Captain America: The First Avenger looks like it will be the best of the summer lot. Steve Rogers arguably has the easiest origin to understand among all the films. Plus, Marvel Studios can’t go wrong with a World War 2 flick in terms of box office revenue. The only thing I could see hurting Cap’s performance is superhero movie fatigue. I’m also a little surprised they didn’t premiere the film on fourth of July weekend for maximum patriotism. Either way my bet is on Captain America: The First Avenger to win the war of the summer comic movies.
Let’s make superhero summer fun. Here is what I’m willing to do: Vote on the Star Clipper blog (Blog Only) for one of the four films that you think will have the highest gross this summer. Name the film and what you think the opening weekend box office will gross. Opening Weekend box office counts Friday midnight screenings through Sunday sales. The person with the correct film and the closest box office guess without going over will get a $25.00 gift card for Star Clipper paid out of my own paycheck. No duplicate votes count, as in if you think Captain America will win with 60 million and someone has already posted that you can’t also vote 60 million. You would have to vote 59 or 61 Million. In the case that two of the films tie I’ll award two winners with correct votes. All votes are due May 1st. The winner will be announced after Captain America’s opening weekend.
Dilemma of the week: Should I share my secret tuna casserole recipe with my beloved readers?
Wait, wrong folder. This should be about comics, comics, comics, not tuna, Ritz crackers and gallons of brine.
I’ve said too much.
[WOULD YOU EVER GUESS THIS IS SOMETHING I'D LIKE?]
Lots of comics read this week, and there is a dilemma. I’ve been pulling both Dungeons & Dragons {6} (original flavor) and Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Sun (pizza flavor), and I think they’re great. Neither of them is actually making it to the shelf anymore, which leads me to believe that none of you care about them. Should I even bother reviewing them? It’s not like you’re going to see one or the other on the racks next Wednesday and think to yourself, “Say, I hear that’s a jim-dandy book. I shall give one/both a whirl.” So let me just say that — hold on, I want to do this properly:
[Dons horned helmet, climbs atop mountain of skulls and shouts at the lightning-marbled sky]: “By Kord, these D&D comics IDW is putting out are a rocking good time! Consider special ordering them yourself.”
[SOLDIER ZERO AND SOLDIERS 2 THROUGH 11]
Something you will see on the shelves in the future is Boom! Comics’ Soldier Zero #7, which still lists Stan Lee as “Grand Poobah” in the credits, with Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning getting the script credit and Javier Pina doing the art. I really, really liked the first couple issues of this book, mainly because it felt like a Stan Lee book. Now it feels like an Abnett/Lanning book, which is no terrible thing, but these guys already have a half-dozen or more space adventure books going with various publishers — is one more necessary? As a consumer, I don’t feel like it is. This is sort of standard-issue Abnett/Lanning stuff, with a malevolent cosmic empire waging war against its own people, a guy whose super-powers originate in a Smart Phone (he’s called “Application Nine,” get it? “Killer Apps” was too on-the-nose) and a regular Earth guy with an alien supersuit stuck in the middle. A lot of the fun and novelty seems to have drained out of this book in the past four months.
[ELEMENT LAD POPS THAT COLLAR LIKE A CHAMP]
Now, for a cosmic adventure with style and panache, consider Legion of Super-Heroes 12, by Paul Levitz and Yildiray Cinar. Lightning Lord and Saturn Queen are rounding up recruits for a new Legion of Super-Villains, the good guy Legion is still playing catch-up as to how all these bad guys escaped, small units of Legionnaires are sparring with small units of villains in far-flung localities, and Saturn Queen shows up and psychically dominates — I don’t think I should tell you who falls under her sway, but it’s kind of a big deal. The letters column even has an intelligently-written, respectful and impassioned vote of “no confidence” in Levitz’s work so far, to which Levitz replies with grace, good humor and a heartfelt thanks for caring so deeply about the characters and the title. Yeah, this Legion run is a thrill-ride, but after two issues of letters pages it’s clear that this is going to be the DC book with the most vibrant and civilized letters column — and that’s a fantastic development as far as I’m concerned. If a new TM Maple is going to appear on the scene, this is where he’ll show up.
[THEY SHOULD CHANGE THE TITLE TO PINK PEDESTRIAN]
Silver Surfer 3 features another silver-less Surfer trying to be an action hero as normal ol’ Norrin Radd. I’m not a fan of plots that strip a superhero of his powers — I have no powers, and I certainly don’t want to read a comic about my life — but Greg Pak does a pretty good job of making Norrin’s return to living flesh kinda interesting. He’s still way into feeling his heart race and smelling stuff, just like last issue, and he does some running around and jumping … I’m sorry, I drifted off there thinking about what it would be like to buy a comic called Silver Surfer that actually had him silver surfing around the galaxy doing cosmic things, or at least fighting some ultra-level baddie like Mephisto or a new and improved Super-Skrull. It was pretty rad in my head. This is just a guy who looks a lot like the Puppet Master discovering that curvy Latinas in ripped tank tops are physically attractive — and that’s something I don’t need a superhero to tell me. Common knowledge for us in the real world, actually.
[SPEAKING OF PINK]
What remains uncommon is Tiny Titans. Every month Art Baltazar and Franco take a simple premise and build a series of sight gags, jokes, deep comic references and some of the most pleasingly goofy art into a symphony of silliness. Issue 39 is no exception, as Alfred forgets basic laundry protocol and washes reds (Supergirl’s cape) with all the Batsuits, turning everything pink. All the girls are thrilled, all the boys are peeved, Batman and Superman deal with it in hilariously appropriate manners, and Plasmus is down with it. And am I misremembering things, or is the title of this month’s story a sly reference to Lois’ rooftop interview of Superman in the Richard Donner film? Any way you slice it, this book is one of the finest things going. I really, really wish Baltazar and Franco would do a monthly Captain Marvel Family book in the same fashion.
[I’VE MISSED YOU MOST OF ALL, DHP]
Dark Horse Presents 1 is the return of an old friend. I like anthology comics a great deal, and in the 90s the original DHP was one of the best — actually, it probably was the best. The range of styles and the number of idiosyncratic creators DHP featured in its prime were hard to beat. The revival is really a treat as well. If I liked nothing else in it except for the Harlan Ellison short story, I would have loved this book; Mr. Ellison is a singular talent in American letters, and if you don’t know the work of our greatest living fabulist, this is a perfect introduction. I’m thrilled that Dark Horse splurged for this prose story with single illustration, because it shows that Mike Richardson and company want this book to be different, and also high-quality. I can get behind that in a big way. Of course, there are other things in here besides the work of Harlan Ellison. Richard Corben contributes Murky World, a classic Corben tale of upended expectations in a post-apocalyptic world, Michael T. Gilbert has a Mr. Monster story in this one, Howard Chaykin debuts a modern noir story about a group of low-rent armored car robbers (it’s a lot better than his recent work for the big two, trust me) and Frank Miller offers three gorgeous pages of Xerxes, his b&w prequel to 300. I am an unrepentant fan of Miller’s comics work — I can even argue for his Dark Knight Strikes Again if I’ve had enough to drink — but discount that weakness for a moment when I tell you this: The third page of this, which shows a handful of Persian boats sculling across the waves on their way to Greece, is as gorgeous and evocative an image as you’ll see all year. Miller retains his gift for being able to capture a scene, any scene, at the precise instant of its greatest dramatic tension.
And as great as this panel is, the Harlan Ellison story alone is worth the $7.99 cover price.
So guess what? Dark Horse Presents is the best thing I read this week. Let the other companies have their multi-issue crossovers and tie-ins; the return of DHP as a bastion of quality comics made by quality creators is the most important thing to happen to comics as an art form in quite some time.
In a disclosure that should surprise no one who’s read this blog for longer than a month, I’m a fan of Wendy & Richard Pini’s ElfQuest. So when I heard there was a trailer for an ElfQuest film, I was intrigued — and also horrified. As I may have mentioned, I generally dislike comic book-to-movie adaptations. Other than motion, what do films have to offer? A Hollywood version of a story as personal and idiosyncratic as ElfQuest would be a nightmare of misinterpretation and idiotic “improvements.” Wendy Pini (look, I know Richard is also credited as writer, but I’ve always considered the story Wendy’s — arbitrary decisions about creative teams are my specialty) crafted a sweeping story about tolerance, ecological stewardship, tradition vs. innovation, biological drive vs. personal choice and the redemptive power of love — let’s just say that it’s the kind of rich story that only ever arises from a singular vision.
Anyway, this is the trailer:
It turns out it’s not for a feature film — webseries vets Paula Rhodes and Stephanie Thorpe discovered they both shared love for the series and set about making a true-to-the-comic fan film, receiving the blessing of the Pinis as well as some financial aid. It looks good — actually, it looks rather excellent — but as a fan my first thought was “Where’s Skywise? And where’s Cutter, for that matter?” Apparently they couldn’t find any diminutive male actors pretty enough to be elves, so all you get is the female cast.
My second thought was, “Jeeze, if you’re not familiar with the series, you’re never going to get that all those forceful glances at each other are actually the elves ’sending,’ or communicating telepathically.” You also may not catch the menace of those three savage-looking dudes; they’re the humans who move in on the elves territory and force them to find a new home, which in turn becomes the Wolfrider tribe’s initial quest, or “elf quest,” if you will.
Obviously, the trailer isn’t intended to approach the scope of the entire series — it’s a labor of love that seeks to capture the feeling of the book, and maybe whet your appetite for the story. As brief as this is, and as confined as it is to the very beginning of the story, and despite lacking both male elves and trolls, it does have something of the feel of the Pini’s original. I think in fact that is has more going for it than anything Hollywood can come up with. As far as appetite whetting for a movie, I’m a pessimist, so I don’t know that it could do that for me. But if you’re intrigued and you want to see more of the original comic, the Pinis are cool about having the whole series online, which you can read for free at www.elfquest.com. I don’t recommend reading it that way. The series has been printed in several formats — I have a few of the original Warp Graphics softcovers as well as the majority of Marvel’s single-issue reprints from the late-80s, and even a few of the DC b&w digests from the early aughts. These last aren’t ideal, but you can still find them in shops (last I saw, a huge number were available on Star Clipper’s discount wall. Hint, hint.).
Incidentally, while poking around online trying to discover if someone in Hollywood was trying to make a full-on ElfQuest movie, I discovered this article from late 2010 discussing the making of the trailer and the Pinis’ involvement. It mentions that the film rights belong to Warner Bros., and that the attached writer/director of the moment is Rawson Thurber — he’s the guy that wrote/directed Dodge Ball: The Movie. Hollywood, this is why I’m a pessimist…
WARNING: this blog contains spoilers for Jack of Fables #50
Being a comic book fan, it’s rare that I associate good things with the death of a character, especially with how cheap and corny death in comics has become these days, but every once in a while someone gets the axe and I find myself not minding so much. The character I’m speaking of in this instance is none other than Jack of Fables, star of the very first spin-off of Bill Willingham’s epic Vertigo series.
For anyone who knows about Willingham’s Fables series, they likely know all about Jack, also known as Jack Horner, Jack of the beanstalk, Jack-be-nimble, Jack Frost, and many other names. He is both one of the more prominent characters in Willingham’s Grimm-derived mythos as well as an irredeemable ass.
[Jack’s first encounter with Death, but definitely not his last.]
Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the quality of the series. It’s superbly written, well illustrated, and full of interesting characters. The only daunting flaw was that in order to truly love the series, you have to love Jack, and I’m just not one of those people. Watching Jack’s various adventures, I’ve always been torn between being impressed or repulsed. Jack has committed countless acts of bravery and masterful trickery, equaled only by his equally countless acts of stupidity and depravity.
Reading about Jack is kind of like watching a car wreck in slow motion. It’s cool that first half a dozen times, but after that it feels both morose and repetitive. The funny thing is that Jack never saw it that way. In spite of all of his backfires and flaws in his plans, Jack never saw a reason to change. He lived a life without shame or even morals, and he liked it that way.
However, it appears as if the era of Jack is now at an end. After fifty issues of general jack-assery (yes, I made that word up special for this occasion), Jack Horner and even his son, Jack Frost Jr., have met their demise, discontinuing the line of Jack for the foreseeable future.
Looking back, I’ll admit that this death felt a little cheap, but in a weird way it was also strangely satisfactory. Jack died the way he lived, completely ignorant of the people around him and impaled on his own sword, this time literally instead of figuratively.
The only downside to this event is that whenever I talk about this series I will effectively be speaking ill of the dead, but I guess that’s a social taboo I’ll have to live with. According to Bill Willingham, this is an end that should stick.
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. 
