Tag Archives: Comic Books

This Is All Happening So Fast…

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ArchieWedding1

Solicitation copy:

ARCHIE #601
THE ARCHIE STORY OF THE CENTURY CONTINUES AS ARCHIE MARRIES VERONICA!!!

“Archie Marries Veronica Part 2: The Wedding”: This is it – the issue where Archie fans all over the world pinch themselves to see if they only dreamt last issue’s tale about Archie proposing to Veronica! Well, all we can say is prepare to be shell-shocked, because not only did he propose, but in this issue, wedding bells are ringing! This is the unforgettable epic that hurtles readers into Archie’s future… and it’s a future where Riverdale’s favorite rich girl wins his hand in marriage! With Mr. Lodge footing the bill, it’s proving to be the most spectacular wedding ever to hit Riverdale… and perhaps the country! The guys all look spiffy in their tuxes, and the girls are gorgeous in their gowns… but just who is Betty’s date, Henry? This emotionally-charged tale will tug at your heartstrings as you witness Archie’s poignant heart-to-heart talk with Betty before the nuptials, the choked-up parents of the betrothed, and a surprise ending that will leave you speechless! Don’t miss the biggest Archie Comics story since the famous “Love Showdown,” written by acclaimed superhero movie producer Michael Uslan and rendered by legendary Archie Comics artist Stan Goldberg! You are cordially invited to witness the Archie story of the century, so RSVP by ordering your copy today!

Come on! Somebody stop this farce!

Alan Moore Makes Me Feel Bad About Myself

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From an interview in Wired Magazine:

I think that a lot of people, irrespective of whether they’d ever read a book like Watchmen, took it basically as a form of license. I think there were a surprising number of people out there who secretly longed to keep up with the adventures of Green Lantern but who felt they would have been socially ostracized if they had been seen reading a comic book in a public place. With the advent of books like Watchmen, I think these people were given license by the term graphic novel. Everybody knew that comics were for children and for intellectually subnormal people, whereas graphic novel sounds like a much more sophisticated proposition.

That sounds like the kind of thing a 30-year-old—or a 40-year-old, even—could be caught reading on the tube, upon the subway, without embarrassment. When I started work for DC Comics, I figured that my readership was probably somewhere between—they’d previously been 9 to 13 years old, and now they were around 13 to 18. The average age of the audience now for comics, and this has been the case since the late 1980s, probably is late thirties to early fifties—which tends to support the idea that these things are not being bought by children. They’re being bought in many cases by hopeless nostalgics or, putting the worst construction on it, perhaps cases of arrested development who are not prepared to let their childhoods go, no matter how trite the adventures of their various heroes and idols

The Geek Conundrum

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Last night, while I was waiting for the subway, I decided to re-read Final Crisis #7 (makes much more sense now that I sat down and really read it but that’s neither here nor there).  While I was digesting Morrison’s crazy comic, this guy came up and was like, “I saw you reading this but did you see the new Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra commercials” (Of course, I had) and we briefly talked about them. I thought this would be the end of it but I was mistaken.

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2008: 10 Favorite Comic Book Series

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These were my favorite comic book series for 2008…that I can remember.

I read at least 10-15 comic books a week so it’s hard to remember everything.

  1. All-Star Superman
  2. Amazing Spider-Man
  3. Batman
  4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight
  5. Criminal
  6. Fables
  7. The Incredible Herc
  8. Invincible Iron Man
  9. Northlanders
  10. Scalped

Best Single Issue of 2008: All-Star Superman #10

While I can’t remember every single comic I read in 2008, this one I’ll never forget.  In this issue, Superman essentially writes his last will and testament before he dies.  He sets out to take care of Earth as best as he can before the end and solve as many of the world’s problems.

While the entire series is amazing, this issue sums up everything that is great about Superman in 22 pages.  It also partially inspired this post.

100 (or so) Graphic Novels I Recommend

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Okay, this was supposed to be a straight list but then I overthought it and now you have what you see below. I tried to avoid listing any titles that are still ongoing (this list would never end). Anything with an asterisk is still going.

This list actually made me realize how many great graphic novels I haven’t read (Maus, From Hell, V For Vendetta).

Otherwise, enjoy and I hope you at least read one of these books.

Movie of the Week: The Dark Knight: The IMAX Experience

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4/5th

I guess I’ll finally get to this. I’ll try not to spend too much time on this because there’s already been a shitload of things written about it.

Is it the best comic book movie ever? Yes, sorta. I’d say it’s the best one for adults. There is something aesthetically pleasing to the kid in me about movies like Superman II, Spider-Man 2 and X2: X-Men United in that they exist in complete fantasy worlds and appeal to kid and teens. The Dark Knight was made with the conceit that “Let’s pretend that Bruce Wayne actually existed and that there was a terrorist that wore makeup.” This was like Heat with a cape. The Dark Knight is a comic book movie in the way that Road to Perdition and A History of Violence were comic book movies.

Spoilers below

What I Loved:

  • Heath Ledger as The Joker. Believe the hype. As a guy who can say he’s seen 80% of the movies Heath Ledger has been in, even I didn’t think he had this in him. To get a full range of what we lost with Ledger’s death, compare Ennis De Mar from Brokeback Mountain to The Joker.
  • Gary Oldman as James Gordon. Talk about range. It’s already been established what a great actor Gary Oldman is but it’s rare to see him do such restrained work. It’s a shame that his performance is getting lost behind all the (well-deserved) praise Ledger’s Joker is getting
  • Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. Eckhart is one of my favorite actors and he sold the transition of the “White Knight” to Two-Face. Especially the scenes in the hospital with Gordon and Joker
  • The characterization of the Joker and Two-Face. The Joker is a pull from Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s The Killing Joke where The Joker is convinced that all it would take is one bad day to make someone lose it like him (and Batman) Harvey Dent is pulled from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s The Long Halloween where the only killings Two-Face does are to the people he feels are responsible for his situation. Also that’s where the idea of Harvey Dent, Gordon and Batman working together on cases came from. Since these are two of my all-time favorite Batman stories, I was quite pleased.
  • Maggie Gyllenthal did what she could with what little she was given but she made me care about her fate. I doubt Katie Holmes could have pulled off her last scene over the phone with Harvey.
  • Batman as a detective. I’m glad they didn’t just have Batman figuring stuff out by looking at like he’s Monk.
  • The IMAX shots. Holy shit. When you see the picture fill up the entire IMAX screen for the first time, you will be taken aback.
  • I’m glad Two-Face wasn’t the main villain. The way this universe that Nolan has created works, it’s not like Harvey Dent was going to start gathering henchmen and start to rob banks.

What I Didn’t Like:

  • Bale’s Batman voice. It works when he’s only saying one or two lines but when he’s having full conversations with The Joker, Gordon or Harvey, he starts to sound ridiculous. I know everyone can’t be Kevin Conroy but if there is one thing Michael Keaton had over fellow Batmen is his voice didn’t sound silly.
  • Speeches. There were too many speeches driving home the themes of the movie

What Made Me Think: