Friendly Fire Episode 18

OCW - Merv Pumpkinhead from the Dreaming

 

In honor of the being Halloween week, the OCW is Merv Pumpkinhead from the world of Sandman's Dreaming. Basically a janitor in the world of Dreams who is a jerk! I loved any story that contained this OCW. If you'd like to learn more, check out this link.

Tracie's Pull List - Week of October 26, 2011

'SUP, NERDS.

Captain America is on blu-ray today!

But more importantly: JURASSIC PARK ULTIMATE TRILOGY!!!!

(your mileage may vary)

FUNNY ENOUGH, your/our least favorite Jurassic Park film was directed by Captain America's Joe Johnston. So happy day for you, Joe! I'm going to watch the heck out of your great Cap and Spielberg's great Park films. And then JP3 for Sam Neil and William H. Macy, I guess.

The Cap blu-ray should have more Avengers preview material but if they REALLY want to impress me, they'll have hidden a preview of Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing.

AND NOW COMICS...

OCW - Obscure Character this week is...

Creepy and a mutant? X-men's Beak leads the way as bizarre as any character from Grant Morrison's run on X-men. (Which makes me wonder and raises the question, since Tracie has soften her opinion on Morrison, will she read his run on X-men?) Anyway would you like to learn more? Check out this site.

Dr. Who as Muppets! Awesome!

Comic Alliance had this post today... love it! Check out the site here.

Editorial Issues I'm starting to have with the NEW 52

I think enough time has gone by and I've read all the new 52 and have a fair idea of what DC is calling their new universe. I couldn't really put a finger on what was wrong with this reboot. Yes we all have nit-picking things. But I couldn't figure out a way to put into words my biggest problem with this "relaunch". But I just saw an ad for the Omnibus Collection of Geoff Johns' run on Hawkman. And I thought about all the hard work and great story telling that went into his issues... and it clicked with me. DC is doing to the DC Universe what they did to Hawkman. In short... really F' it up.

Now I'm not going to go through all of Hawkman's history. I don't have the patience or time to document each incarnation. Here is a wiki link that show some of it. It lists some of the history revisions, but I doubt you could argue that any character has had as many corrections and changes as Ol'Hawkie. So whats the issue? Find me one person who knows what the hell is going on with Hawkman. I don't mean just now. I mean ever. Is he the Alien from Thanagar? The archeologist? The hawk God? The Wind Element? The Son of another Hawk person? I have no clue. Which in small doses seems fine. If this was one many reboots... sure. But its not. This is who Hawkman has been since the 1985 Crisis. The man is all over the place. Geoff Johns did the best condensing and fixing ever on Hawkman. And I'd highly recommend this Omnibus. But even Johns messed things up for Hawkman in Brightest Day, by resurrecting them... turning them into Air elements, and then killing Hawk woman. (Don't get me started on Hawkwoman)  Then to re-re introduce Hawkman in the NEW 52. Confused? ME TOO.

Ok, DC is in fact doing this to everyone of its characters with this latest reboot. When I feel like it should have wiped the slate clean. Why, WHY WHY... keep a few things and not others? Why fix characters like Firestorm, Blue Beetle, Oracle, and Supergirl... when there was nothing wrong with them? Yet keep something like Batman Inc? Superman died and but there was never a Justice League International, All the Batman Inc off shoot characters like Bat-wing and Australia Dingo-batman get financial support from Bruce... BUT BARBARA can't afford rent? I feel like we have 3-4 different Supermans. One in Action... is amateur and cool and unsure and new, One in Superman that is cold and brooding and quiet, one in Justice League that is fun and zippy and a bit of a bragging showoff, and finally the compassionate one in Supergirl. Which one is right? I understand they may be different timelines... BUT COME ON. This was a unified launch and a change to sync continuity... and you blew it!

Ok, some books, (even the ones that didn't need to be re-introduced) were great. Some stunk. Some are ok. But I'm missing the point of the relaunch... other than to make a quick buck and confused the hell out of all your readers. Really, can you argue that this new universe is somehow less confusing. Cause, its WAY more confusing. I'm annoyed DC. I'll lay odds on a re-reboot within the next 5 years. Where we can get the next version of Hawkman.

Green Lantern Extended Cut

All kidding aside... this was totally worth the buy!

Tracie's Pull List - Week of October 19, 2011

The Batman: Year One animated film drops today and I plan to scoot to Best Buy over lunch to get my exclusion Catwoman figurine. It doesn't look like it comes with a stripper pole accessory/playset. I can probably just use the pens at my desk.

Batman: Year One is my favorite Batman so I'm very excited for this. And also to hear Heisenberg play Commissioner Gordon.

Also, for those curious, the Green Lantern: Extended Edition is, in fact, an improvement on the theatrical version. Though Robb and I may be of differing opinions on how much of an improvement, it makes for a great blu-ray and has some wonderful special features, including a couple deleted scenes that would've actually gone a long way to correcting the problems I had with the film. Tsk, tsk, editors/producers/whoever.

Next week, the Captain America blu-ray!!!

And now-- COMICS!

Issue 32: Comicbook Summit

Thanks everyone who came and talked up some comics. We had an awesome time and hope to do it again. Please let us know your thoughts and watch for both the Video and Audio podcast coming soon!

DO YOU LIKE ADORABLE BABIES?

This is a comics blog so it's entirely possible adorable babies aren't your thing. Perhaps you prefer babies who have been infected by a techno-organic virus and are then sent into the future to be raised by nuns, only to grow up and travel back into the past to fight alongside the father who gave you up but who secretly got to raise you during his honeymoon with the woman whose clone was your birth mother.

Or maybe you just like when they explode. Right, Demon Knights fans?

Well, if you care to have a look at non-techno, non-explodey babies, BATMAN/SWAMP THING/AMERICAN VAMPIRE writer Scott Snyder tweeted this video of he and his sons dancing to the opening of "The Batman."



Alright, it's no Avengers trailer, but it's nice to see comic creators spreading the love with their family.

Tracie's Pull List - Week of October 12, 2011

OHMIGOD YOU GUYS, THE AVENGERS TRAILER DROPPED TODAY AND IT'S INCREDIBLE AND ENDS ON SUCH A WHEDONY NOTE AND WHY, IN ODIN'S NAME, IS IT NOT MAY 2012 RIGHT NOW???????? FFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Huff.

Pant.

Okay. I'll be alright. It's going to be fine. Tomorrow I have more MILES MORALES SPIDER-MAN to soothe my soul and the Whedons even have a couple books on the shelf so let's get into that before I go into convulsions...

Scorch is the OCW this week. The Martian Manhunter's girlfriend for a short time. Ever dated a woman that was truly your Kryptonite? No comment? Well if you'd like to learn more about Scorch, check her out here.

Cover of the Month - September

This month has been the hardest month ever. Each book had top talent putting out awesome covers! But Wonder Woman's cover took the cake! She is a bad ass and arrows can't phase her! And Mahnke's GL Corps cover is damn near perfect!

Robb's Grade Card for the New DC 52

As many of you know, I am a huge DC fan. When the relaunch - reboot was announced. I was very hesitant, but open minded. I decided to read each number one and give an open and honest grade for their new introduction to me and the comic reading community. After the jump check out my letter grade for each of the 52.

Friendly Fire _ Audio Podcast - Episode 17

Restaurant flavored Comic Talk. Tracie, Sean, Monty, and Robb discuss some DC 52, but mainly X-men Schism and Fear Itself!

Russell Crowe as Jor-El... Not Bad!

When I learned that Russell Crowe was going to play the part of Superman's father, Jor-El, I was impressed. I thought this was an excellent move. Now seeing him in costume... I'm positive. I love this. This looks great. I'm getting there... I need this Superman movie to SHUT MONTY UP! I mean... I'd love a good Superman movie.

Learn more.

CBXF Comic Book Fantasy League

Ok, Marvel seems to be coming out more than once a month... We have 2 FF books, 2 Avengers, 2 New Avengers, and 2 X-men books. But only the one DC book. Check out the results so far, as Tracie kicks ass.

To learn more about the fantasy league, check out the rules here.

Tracie's Pull List - Week of October 5, 2011

I'd say this was a suspiciously small week for me, especially for the first Wednesday of the month, but there are two trades out that I'd love to get my hands on so that more than makes up for it.

The Hooded Woman...

She was spotted at the Comic Book Crossfire studios. Who is she? Who is DC's mysterious woman? Check out this link: HERE.

Its OCW time... And I'm a week behind. So what? Here's the Tinkerer! He's cool, check him out here.

DCnU: It Still Kind of Worked Maybe

Back in June, I wrote a story wherein I broke down and analyzed just how much DC's New 52 initiative actually "worked" on me, as a consumer.

Pre-New 52 I was buying 17 DC monthlies, not counting minis or imprint books under Johnny DC and Vertigo. I determined that, of the New 52, 21 of those titles would be making the cut for me. That actually ended up being 25. As the previews started rolling in and I was able to get a better grasp on some of these new titles, I swapped some I became disinterested in for others that suddenly grabbed my attention.

So all-in-all, I tried out 25 of the New 52. I'll bump that number to 26 if I can get my hands on a copy of Demon Knights which I suddenly find intriguing after listening to Monty and other reviews. 27, if you want to count this copy of Superman I borrowed from Robb, though I'm only reading it out of morbid curiosity and expect the worst.

But, having actually read these 25, I'm dropping 3 of them. Which, all-and-all isn't that dramatic. (though the reasons for dropping them might be)

That puts me at 22, which is a 5 book gain for me from what I was previously reading. (as though you couldn't do the math yourself)

Not a HUGE gain, but a gain. Softened, though, when you consider that I'm already predisposed to buying and reading a LOT of comics. (and 4 of those 5 are essentially Vertigo books turned PG-13) I'm not who this initiative is for and I've been very judgemental about it and just because these 22 books will be getting a 2nd issue pass from me doesn't mean they'll all make it to the 3rd. I'm still looking at these books with an extra critical eye and that's probably only amplified now that I actually know just what my problems are with these New 52 books. You wanna make this much noise about your comics, you put yourself under the microscope. That's just how it goes.

I'll likely revisit this subject a month from now and see just where I am again after New 52 Month 2.

I'm very interested to hear other people's perspectives on this very thing and that's hopefully something I'll be able to bring up and gauge when we have our premiere Comic Book Summit next week.

Reminder...