Comics on a Cosmic Scale

It's funny that writer Brian Michael Bendis first became known for his smaller, character driven crime pieces, because recently, he has been writing some of the most epic, cosmic storylines this side of Jim Starlin.

The Illuminati, a five issue limited series penned by Bendis, is the best example of this concept. As of this writing, 3 issues have come out, and each book has topped the previous one in it's ability to blow my tiny mind. The basic gist of The Illuminati is that a small team of the most powerful heroes in the Marvel canon, The Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, Professor Xavier, Black Bolt, Mr. Fantastic and Doctor Strange, gather at times of great crisis to handle threats too big to be taken care of by conventional means. So far, we've seen them act on past events, usually cleaning up the messes left after the threat has already passed. In the first issue, they ensured that Earth would be spared any more harm in the wake of the Kree/Skrull war. In issue two, they decided the fate of the Infinity Gauntlet. The most recent issue (and best issue so far) deals with The Beyonder. Now, part of the enjoyment from these stories comes from simply revisiting these classic Marvel moments, but the spin that Bendis puts on these stories make them feel new and fresh. (At this point, I should probably mention co-writer Brian Reed, with spectacular art by Jim Cheung...they have a lot to do with the success of this book, I imagine.)

While the collection of heroes at first seemed a little odd (these are the most powerful? What about Thor? Why isn't Captain America included?), the personalities clash and blend in such wonderful ways. Add to that the fact that each issue puts these characters in the most dangerous situations imaginable (both the Infinity Gauntlet and The Beyonder have the power to wipe people from existence by simply wanting it) and you get some tense, sometimes dark books. However, it is Bendis, so you can be assured of some genuinely funny moments in the course of the stories.

The only warning I can think of in terms of this book is that if you aren't steeped in Marvel culture and history, you may not fully appreciate them. While I enjoyed the issue dealing with the Kree-Skull war, I had never read those issues of the Avengers, and it has been my least favorite of the series. I can imagine similar reactions to non-comic readers towards the stories about the Beyonder and the Infinity Gauntlet. Without knowing the history of these storylines, the danger (and, admittedly, nostalgia) would be mostly lost.

That having been said, I simply can't say enough about this title so far, and I recommend it to anyone who loves Marvel comics. Do yourself a favor, and pick them up!

15 (Painfully) Unforgettable Cartoon Theme Songs

I shouldn't be posting. I really shouldn't. It's late, and I've got TONS to do this weekend.

Instead, I made the mistake of checking Drawn!, and found this gem...15 (Painfully) Unforgettable Cartoon Theme Songs.

It was obviously created by someone a bit younger than me, who has fond memories of cartoons like "Mighty Max" and "Pro Stars" (what the heck?) But after having listened to every entry on the list, I'm now humming the "Animaniacs" theme to myself, and desperately wanting to watch an episode of "Batman the Animated Series". (And where is my "Pinky and the Brain" entry!?..."They're Pinky and the Brain! Pinky and the Brain! One is a genius, the other insane. They're labrotory mice. Their genes have been spliced! They're Pinky, Pinky and the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Braaaaaaaaain!" - Pure Genius!)

Google Calendar on your Phone!

So, my two years is up on my piece of crap flip phone at last. May 31, I can throw this thing with all my might across some vacant parking lot and watch it explode into teeny-tiny little pieces, as I've dreamed of doing for, oh, 1 year, 11 months and 364 days now...

(Flip phones. Why the fascination, Verizon? Why?)

So, for months, I've been dreaming of the normal, candy-bar, no frills, no web access, no mp3 player, no nothin' fancy phone I was going to buy. A phone that takes phone calls. That's all.

And then my work blocked Google Calendar.

I had no idea how much I relied on Google Calendar until the day I pulled up the site and was met with the message "Computing/Internet;Interactive Web Applications" content is forbidden.... At first, I cursed my employer (again), shrugged, and went about my business. But it slowly dawned on me that this was not a shrugging situation. This was a sit on the floor and weep situation. People kept asking me if I could join them for things that weekend (I don't KNOW!) if I had remembered the concert that took place last night (no! I wasn't on the computer at home, and I can't check my calendar from work to remind myself of ANYTHING!)

So now, I need web access. Access that can get around work firewalls, while I'm at work. And Google just made their calendar accessible to cell phones.

Helllloooo smartphone!

Animation Mother-Lode!

It seems like more and more great animation is hitting the net. What would these guys have done if the net wasn't here? Has there always been this much great stuff out there, just waiting for some film festival to pick it up!?

Let's Start the Show with Don Hertzfeldt! - Dan Hertzfeldt creates some of the funniest cartoons on the planet.

Off The Wall Episode 1: "Lady Troubles" - Wallby tries to pick up chicks. How creative and fun! I totally want an entire series featuring Wallby!

Christy Karacas - Space War and Bar Fight - Animated surreal violence. Christy Karacas is the MAN!

My Supergirl...

So, there have been all these drawing memes recently, that I really wanted to get in on, but when I saw the talent posting there, I could never squeeze one out in time.

So, this week, I finally got around to just playing with a Supergirl re-design, and came up with something kind of fun. (Click the image for a little bit larger view)

The idea stemmed from this: "Who the hell is going to go out and buy / make a costume?! Even for aliens from another world, one would think that crimefighting gear should be comfortable. Like clothes you wear to work out in." So, I thought about what people wear to the gym, threw on some Chuck Taylor's for good measure, because they are always cool, and there you go. Supergirl.

Ich betäube mich!

Found on the too-cool-for-words Giantmonster! blog, this German techno video, one part infomercial, one part "What the hell?" immediately captured my attention and made me add Giantmonster to my Google Reader list so I would make sure not to miss any more such madness! Fun!

You're doing great!

A Quick Spider-Man 3 Review!

So, I'm just back from the film. I'm still trying to digest it all...it seems like there was a LOT of movie.

I liked it. I enjoyed the entire thing, and I'm sure I'll watch it again, but I don't think I liked it as much as Spider-Man 2. I can't tell you why, though. It just didn't leave me quite as satisfied as that film did. Here is a quick synopsis (I'll keep the spoilers to a minimum!)

The Good
The Villains! - Christ, you can really see where the money went in this movie. Venom and Sandman look amazing. I couldn't believe some of the Sandman scenes. To be honest, if there is one reason to see this film, it is Sandman. Not only because he looks fantastic, but because Thomas Haden Church did an amazing job of fleshing out his character in the few moments of character development he was given in this film. There is a pretty quick scene in the very beginning of this film that tells us pretty much all we really need to know to enjoy Flint Marco.

Black Spider-Man! - Spider-Man in the black costume looks really, really good. I've always thought they did a pretty good job of making me buy the classic red and blue costume, but the black costume? Freakin' awesome!

Mary Jane! - OK, I still have a hard time buying the Peter / MJ romance. They don't have a lot of chemistry together on screen. But wow, do I enjoy looking at Kirsten Dunst. At least in the Spider-Man films.

The Bad-ish
There was very little that was really bad about the film, but there were a few things that made me cringe.

The Cheese - OK, I love the fact that Sam Raimi isn't afraid to get corny. Hell, he built and entire career off of it! And Spider-Man is by NO means some dark and gritty hero a-la Batman. But Peter dancing down the road, pointing to every hot chick that passes by? Even the great Bruce Campbell would have trouble pulling that off (by the way...the Bruce Campbell cameo in this ROCKED!)

Gwen Stacy - I don't think I can really blame Bryce Dallas Howard for this. She wasn't given a lot to do here, except show up and be pretty. I would have liked more of this story, and a little more character development. Maybe that would have saved her?

Three Villains - The villains may have been the best thing about this movie, but having three of them hurt it, as well. I bought the reasons they were all there, and the film did a good job of making the whole thing feel organic, but as I said earlier, there was a LOT of movie going on, and I think they could have narrowed the focus a bit more and had a tighter plot. The Hobgoblin material could easily have carried a shorter, tighter movie.

Overall, I'm hardly disappointed. This is a great summer popcorn movie. I just wish it could have been a great movie. Period.

Spider-Man 3 Sneak Peek Tonight!

I'm absolutely thrilled that I have the opportunity to see a Sneak Preview of Spider-Man 3 tonight! And I've only seen about 1,525 spoilers in all the ads!

All kidding aside, I'm a bit disappointed that they have shown so much of what this movie is going to contain. I go to great lengths to NOT read spoilers for movies that really interest me. I avoid AICN and it's ilk like the plague, simply because I still enjoy being surprised when I go to a film. I mean, we all knew Harry Osborne was going to come back as the Hobgoblin at some point, but did they really have to show that in the commercials? Couldn't they give me that one moment of "Wha-? Who the heck is that?" At least I have yet to get a really good look at Venom. Really curious how they're going to treat him in this film.

So anyway, bleh. Enough bitching. I'll let you all know what the film is like tomorrow! (Yay Spider-man!)

We're up to Episode 6 - The Pack!

We have just posted episode 6 for The Watchercast. For those who don't know yet, the Watchercast is an episode by episode analysis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon's masterwork.

Check it out, if you get the chance. I think we're pretty good!

D-List, baby!

Oh yeah! I'm somebody!



Wait, what?...that's the lowest rank?

...

Nuts.