Now I feel like a grade A dork when I say this, but for a fictional character, Hal Jordan is fucking hot. Plus he gets all kinds of space-ass. He’s the James T. Kirk of the D.C universe.
Speaking of good-looking comic book characters, Tony Stark is also pretty hot. Plus, when you have a fine ass motherfucker named Robert Downey JR. playing him, it adds to the sex appeal. Seriously, I think Marvel and DC need to play up how hot some of their characters are. The women are all kinds of crazy good-looking, made to clearly be fan boy fodder, but what about those of us who like men? I’m not saying looking at Supergirl isn’t terrible, but it does nothing for me.
However as hot as they are, I have no desire to see fan art of said characters in raunchy poses. I still like my porn with real people (and I also like it free).
A topic recently came up on a message board I visit. It was asking if people got excited over new comics they won from Heritage, Comic Link, ect. I thought about this long and hard, since I do love comics, but I came to a somewhat startling discovery. There has only been one book I’ve ever been honest to God excited about winning, and then getting. I won’t tell you what book it is (some of you may know, but it’s really none of your fucking business), but it was a life long goal of mine to get it. I know I’m only 23, but I had dreams of owning said book since I was 8. I was an awesome 8 year old. The day it came I delicately took it out of the box and cradled it like a newborn baby. If God were a comic, it would be that one.
The truth is I have a lot of nice comics, but none of them I’m been that over the moon about. Frankly I let most comics just sit in the box for weeks on end until I get tired of looking at a brown box. I love them, to be sure, but for all I know they could all disappear tomorrow. It would be terrible, but I wouldn’t feel as bad since I tend to not get emotionally or even materialistically attached to them. It’s still, just a comic. Even though I buy expensive books, I still think it’s silly.
So lets say you have a kid who doesn’t like to read. Maybe they’ve read Diary of A Wimpy Kid and liked that a lot. Why not try The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau! It’s a four book series, without pictures. While it might seem daunting to most kids at first, it’s a very easy to read book, with a well written plot and two amazing protagonists, Lina and Doon. Lina and her sister live with their grandmother (who soon dies in the first book), while Doon lives with his Dad. The two were once friends when they were younger, but are merely civil to each other at first.
They live in an underground city that’s about to “die”. 200 Years before Lina and Doon, humans fled to the underground city after a terrible war. A generator was built to last only 200 years, plenty of time for humans to find their way back up to the surface. This doesn’t happen, and as such, the generator is falling apart. Lina believes there is a way she can save everyone, and Doon soon believes her as well. I won’t give much else away, but believe me, it’s good.
The only book I didn’t like of this series is the third book, a prequel. It was boring, and frankly I wasn’t invested in the main character like I was Lina and Doon. It was frankly boring. The movie, which was released in 2008, it what drew me into the books. I got the movie by accident from Netflix, and I frankly enjoyed it. However, this would be an excellent way to get children interested in the series. Seek out the movie at Best Buy or Netflix, and have your kid(s) watch it. If they want to know what happens, get them the book. It’s a pretty flawless plan, if you ask me.
As a fellow nerd, I have no problems telling you guys to shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down on certain topics. Topics such as PGX grading, and comic book based movies, seem to really heat people up on various comic book forums I visit.
On PGX:
I know, I know. According to you, everyone should just ignore PGX because it’s “a company run from a basement” or something. I honestly have nothing against PGX. I buy PGX graded books for dirt cheap because many, many fans simply don’t trust them. Maybe the grading is off, I don’t know. I have cracked some PGX books out of a slab and sent them to CGC, and the grading has been close. Frankly, I think people need to just get over it. Having competition is healthy in the long run, and every company has to start somewhere. I’m sure all of you who are against PGX were wary of CGC as well. Now, I’m also not telling you to try PGX out, but you should lighten the fuck up. It’s not that big of a deal.
Comic book movies:
Everytime a studio announces they will be releasing a movie of some random comic book character, the nerds come out of the wood-work protesting casting choices, directors, story lines, whatever. BEFORE THE MOVIE IS OUT. Sometimes you can smell a piece of shit before it ever leaves the ass, but sometimes you might be shitting out a fucking golden rose and don’t even know it. The Green Lantern movie is a thing of worry at the moment, since some girl from some popular show is in it. I don’t know who the fuck she is and I don’t care either. She may just be a good actress, and Ryan Reynolds isn’t the worst actor in Hollywood. There isn’t even a trailer out yet and already nerds are flying off the handle because of it.
Sit the fuck down. Take a deep breath. These movies are made for the public. If they made a movie for the fans, by the fans, or whatever the fuck have you, the movie would most likely flop because average Ken and Barbie wouldn’t get all the “in” jokes and probably wouldn’t like it. Majority of my non-comic book friends don’t like comic books, but they like the movies because they are easy to follow (except for that shit fest Watchmen). If movie adaptations make your blood pressure soar, don’t see them. Don’t seek out articles or pictures on them. Just sit the fuck down, grab a cheeseburger, and continue reading your graphic novel. I simply don’t get why you guys and gals get so heated over something so dumb. If you want something to get pissed about that has an impact, get involved in politics.
Hope you guys don’t mind. I’m an NFL lover, especially for the Ravens. However, tonight the Saints won the NFC title. That city deserves it so, so much. I really hope they go all the way in this years Super Bowl. I do like the Colts as well, but I feel the Saints deserve this win more than any team in the NFL. GO SAINTS!!
Also, stolen from Twitter…”Brett Favre’s so upset following that loss that he can’t even muster the strength to pretend to retire.”
For those of you who don’t know, there was a show in the 70’s called The Electric Company. In this show was a Spider-Man short, which was clearly made by drugs. Clearly dated, but clearly fucking hysterical, let’s have a look at a few of these clips:
EXCUSE ME MORGAN FREEMAN DOES BATMAN KNOW YOU ONCE HAD AN AFFAIR WITH SPIDER-MAN!?
DUDE YOU’RE A WALL. GO STAND IN THE WOMEN’S LOCKER ROOM OR SOMETHING.
So as many of you may have heard, the guy who directed 500 Days Of Summer will be doing the next Spider-Man movie, which will be a reboot of the (rather successful) franchise. Spider-Man 1 isn’t even 10 years old yet, and already Marvel wants to re-start the franchise. While they can really do whatever the hell they want with their property, it puzzles me greatly. Tobey Maguire is still widely known as the famous NYC web slinger to the general, non comic book reading public. While I’m not saying this will cause an uproar with the general movie going public, it may confuse them, and it may hurt the next movie’s financial success.
Of course I could be wrong and the next movie could be the best thing since The Dark Knight. I also said that about Watchmen and wanted to stab my eyes out with Silk Specter action figures over how bad the movie was. Of course, when I re-watched the Spider-Man movies late last year, I found that they are pretty dated, and CGI has come a long, LONG way since then. Watching Spidey fly through the air really just makes me cringe over how stupid it looks. However Spidey’s poor CGI is nothing compared to the shit fest that was Spider-Man 3. While not the worst thing I’ve ever seen grace a movie screen, it’s really fucking horrible.
The worst part about the third movie? I went to buy my boyfriend the three Spider-Man movies on Blu Ray a while back. Only 3 is sold separately. If you want the first two, you have to buy them in a pack of three, so your guarantee’s to get that fucking third movie. There is no middle ground. You’re stuck with that crap fest. Of course the first two may be bought individually at one point, but at Christmas 09 that was unheard of.
But I digress! I’m hesitant about the new Spidey mostly because I feel it’s too soon. If you may recall, people felt this way when Batman Begins came out. We still had the stale taste of Bat-Nipples in our mouths, and if I remember Batman Begins didn’t do super awesome in theaters. However, when it was released on DVD/cable people saw how fucking amazing it was, which led to the Dark Knights fucking KILLER box office hit. Jesus fuck that was a good movie.
Whatever it may be, I’ll still see it in theaters.
Baltimore Comic Con. What can I say? It’s my favorite comic book con ever. Aside from that it’s in my backyard and kind of small compared to say, New York Comic Con, it’s still one of the best cons. Ever. I’m not the type of con goer who does panels or tries to meet guests. Instead I just like to wander around and find good books at good prices, and there was plenty of that to be had at Baltimore Comic Con 09. I’ll stop gushing now, so please enjoy the photo’s by Patty Boh, and myself!
Franco Aureliani is a really nice guy, and does sketches for $1. I love me some Tiny Titans!
As some of you may know, I have a big spot in my heart for Archie comics. As a kid they were a valuable source of entertainment, and as an adult they are a valuable source of nostalgia, and something I now collect actively. Growing up though I never fancied Betty nor Veronica, though as I’ve gotten older I can say I prefer Veronica of the two. I’ve always liked the other girls of the Archie universe; Cheryl Blossom, and especially Katy Keene. I also like Suzie and Ginger, however both characters are pretty much forgotten by fans who don’t actively collect golden age comics. There is a new character named Ginger whom Betty and Veronica hang out with, but it’s not the same girl.
Archie himself is the most one-dimensional character I’ve ever read, but thats not a bad thing. He’s girl crazy, clumsy, but a typical nice, all American type guy. Betty is your typical girl next door, and Veronica is that rich bitch you all loved to hate and hated to love in high school. Their personalities are like night and day, but they’re honestly the same girl. All girls are capable of being nice and sweet, and haughty and rude. Hell, aside from the different color hair they look exactly the same. However, it’s a dynamic that has worked for well over 60 years, so who gives a shit.
My favorite character however, is Jughead Jones. In my opinion he seem’s to be the most complex character; woman-hater (yet has had a few girlfriends in the past), aloof, a pig, but means well. He’s usually Archie’s go to guy for advice, and Jughead gives pretty good advice (even if it’s usually “Go with Betty she’s sane”). Jughead has even shown his softer side for Betty, commenting that if he weren’t a woman-hater, he would date her. He’s had many girlfriends in past issues, and frankly he is a charmer. He obviously likes women, but doesn’t want to end up like his best friend Archie, meaning he doesn’t want to be an asshat.
The rest of the cast is just as fun. Dilton, the smart nerdy guy is as sweet as pie, while Reggie is an asshole who deserves to get hit by a car. Either way, this series deserves, and will be here, for another 60 years.
Also if anyone has an Archie #2 for sale I’m very willing to buy it.
I love Sailor Moon. As a child my Dad diligently recorded it on TV for me off of both the USA Network, as well as UPN. I had all the toys I could get my little hands on. At the same time I was watching Sailor Moon (at around 8 years of age), I was already reading Batman and Wonder Woman comics, so I was very familiar with my local comic shop. They also carried standard American type manga for Ranma 1/2, Oh! My Goddess, and Spirit of Wonder. However, this isn’t about how Sailor Moon was my gateway drug into the world of anime and manga.
When I started to watch SM, I always read the credits. I don’t know why, but I figured out the show wasn’t from America real fast. My Dad took me to Toys R Us around that time, and I went on a pretty silly search for Sailor Moon comics (hey, the credits said it was based on a comic series). Of course at the time, no one had translated the comic. I had seen, and bought, various Japanese edition’s for Sailor Moon, as well as Sailor V. The art frankly terrified me, since it was not what I was used too, and oh yea the shit’s in black and white. I was just learning how to read Japanese at the time, so it worked out in my favor, I guess.
Then I went into middle school. Around late 2000, a new publishing company called MixxZine announced they were translating Sailor Moon! This was pretty huge news for me, since for the past 3 years I’ve read and barely understanding the Japanese versions. It was also at this time that I met Julie, who also loved manga like I did. Middle school was a magical time for me. I loved it.
Then, MixxZine did release Sailor Moon. At first they had the right idea, but then some asshat possibly named Stu went and decided to release the series out of sequence. Sailor Moon left Mixx Magazine, and started her own 32 page series (begining with Sailor Moon R), BUT at the same time, Smile Magazine (a magazine for teenage girls) was printing Sailor Moon Super S. If you don’t know shit about Sailor Moon, there’s 5 seasons:
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon R
Sailor Moon S
Sailor Moon Super S
Sailor Moon Sailor Stars
So basically Mixx skipped over the ‘S’ season for some fucking dumb reason, and decided to just fuck up the continuity, which obviously didn’t mean fucking didly to them. Plus, if you’re starting to read Sailor Moon from he Super S era, you’re going to be lost. You probably won’t understand why these big eyes long legged black and white hussies can transform into short skirted big boobied soldiers when they shout a planets name. It’s hard to follow, I know.
Thankfully the graphic novels eventually came out, and all was well in the world. Without going too much more into the history, most of the series and movies were translated, save for the last season. Shame too, because the last season had one of the best villains, story lines, and had very consistent animation. If you don’t believe me, go watch the first season of Sailor Moon. It’s a new animator doing it every day and you can fucking tell.
Long story short, I can’t watch Sailor Moon anymore, because it’s fucking dumb. However, I will always love it for what I ment to me as a child, and I could never bring myself to get rid of any of my Sailor Moon stuff.
Franco Aureliani is a really nice guy, and does sketches for $1. I love me some Tiny Titans!
Our own Han and Supergirl!
Girls With Comics 