Waiting on Thursday - 7/5/07

I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday. I don't know about anyone else, but here in Colorado, the weather was absolutely perfect. And to make things even better, we have a pretty good group of comics coming to your store tomorrow.


Marvel

• The only World War Hulk tie in this week looks to be a fun one in Irredeemable Ant-Man #10. I have never read this title before, so I don't really know what to say about it. The only thing that really comes to mind is that the Hulk had better be in this one, not like Ghost Rider or Heroes for Hire with their tie-ins. If they pull the same crap they did with those two, I will personally write Joe Quesada letters until he responds with a suitable answer as to why he makes me buy crap that is misrepresented on the cover.


• Lots of Captain America this week as the Captain America #25 Director's Cut is released for anyone who hasn't gotten enough of the media coverage of his death yet. It is a 64 pg. issue with the complete Ed Brubaker script, plus lots of extras concerning the reaction to it. Personally, this seems a little excessive and a bit like a money grab, but it still interests me as to what else they are going to add that we haven't seen already.
  
  
  
  
  
  Also this week, Fallen Son: Iron Man comes out as the final issue in the five-part series dealing with the different stages of grief over the death of Captain America. This issue involves the funeral for Cap, and as expected, he will get a proper soldier's burial in Arlington National Cemetery. This has been touted as a spoiler, but anything less would have been outrageous, so to me it is a logical conclusion instead of a spoiler.


• Thor #1, the relaunch by J. Michael Straczynski, hits the stores and according to Marvel, this is the real deal. No robots, no clones, just the God of Thunder himself. Don't forget that a Thor robot, or some weird shit like that, was responsible for the death of Goliath in Civil War, and to date we haven't really seen that dealt with. So depending on where he fits in the current timeline, Thor may just have some backlash coming his way for that. I am not sure I am actually buying this one, but it was important enough for me to mention it, so if someone does buy it and wants to email me a review, I'll post it on Friday or Saturday and give you credit.


• And almost always last because the alphabet is a bitch to them, Uncanny X-Men #488 brings us not only more Morlock love, but also Chapter 2 in the Endangered Species storyline. Queen Ororo of Wakanda, better known as Storm, teams up with her old X-mates to enter the Morlock tunnels once again in search of answers. A bit of a yawn this month, but the issue is worth it for the ES story in the back.
  
  In the ES story, we should get to see which of the bad guys at the end of the first chapter takes Hank McCoy up on his offer to help the mutants out in finding a way to reverse the reality altering effect of the Scarlet Witch. My best guess: Mr. Sinister. He's an asshole and a megalomaniac, but he's also one of the greatest geneticists in the Marvel Universe, and would love nothing more than to have that to hang over the X-Men's heads forever.

DC Comics

There are lots of titles releasing this week for DC, however, they just aren't ones I normally buy. So instead of highlighting ones I am not really familiar with for no reason other than to fill space, I am just going to list links to them here really quick.

• The All-New Atom #13
• Hawkgirl #66
  
• Jonah Hex #21 I have heard a lot of good things about this recently, a few more bucks in my budget and I buy it.
  
• Supergirl #19 I get enough of her in the Legion, but if that doesn't get better I may drop it for this, since I like her character but the rest of the Legion is going downhill quick for me.
• Detective #834 and Action #851 If you read these, you don't need me to tell you about them.

And now for the rest of them, that I will be likely buying.

• I don't usually talk about trade paperbacks here, but I have to mention The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy frickin Olsen. For anyone who is reading Countdown and unfamiliar with what the hell is going on with Jimmy Olsen, this is the TPB for you. Another money grab, I know, but a fairly relevant one that will help a lot of younger/newer readers catch up on stories that have been out of print for a long time. Not sure if am going to plunk down 15 bucks for this, but it is 192 pgs and in color, and from what I remember of reading many of these stories when I was a kid, I always enjoyed them. So we'll have to see, if I do, expect a full story just on Jimmy frickin Olsen soon, including a review.


• Countdown #43 drops tomorrow and to be honest, I don't evn know what to say about it. This series has been frustrating as I have said before, but with the teaser images they have released, I will be buying it every week regardless. That's the sickness that is fanboydom speaking by the way. Couple that with the Jimmy Olsen TPB, the cover tie in to the death of Bart Allen and my desire to see DC pull this one off, I am actually looking forward to this for once. Yes, I know I will just be disappointed in the lack of depth because of the limitations of telling 6 or 7 stories at once, but I guess I will just suck it up.


• DC is going to milk the proposal of Green Arrow to Black Canary and it begins with a 4-part miniseries starring the reason for my fetish with fishnets. Dinah has a run-in with the League of Assassins concerning a young girl called Sin. She is in Dinah's care, but the League believes she is the next great assassin, so they come calling. As a backstory, they will go into the relationship between her and Ollie Queen, and by the final issue the decision should be made.
  

That's all for this weeks releases, I am going to be working on my Release Reviews as soon as possible since the wekend is creeping up quicker than normal. If anyone is interested in sending me a review of a comic you have read, I will post it with full credit to you and a link to your own blog if you have one. Send it to thecomicrack @ yahoo.com by tomorrow evening sometime for it to appear on Saturday morning.

CG

Happy Fourth

There are hot dogs on the grill, fried chicken in the deep fryer and adult beverages all around. In other words, have a Happy Fourth of July!

Here's a funny clip for you all, please excuse the goofy voice at the beginning, if you have ever watched America's Funniest Home Videos, you'll recognize it. Also of note is the new Blogger Beta Video Player, so if this thing craps out on you, that's why, it is still being worked on.



I'll be back tonight with "Waiting for Thursday" sometime around dinner. Until then, have fun and be safe if you are driving today.

CG

On The Rack - 7/3/07

I'm having a hard time getting Transformers off my mind, it was that good. So my creativity quotient is all screwed up. So in exchange, you all are getting some refried news from around the comic world.

• Mike Sterling from Progressive Ruin has an interesting look at the effect that the new Flash series is having on the local comic book shops.
  

  Now that the Bart series is a self-contained one-off mini, with that version of the Flash not being seen again at least for the near future, and which has been supplanted with the revived numbering of the previous Flash series and once again starring Wally West...well, one of the motivators for folks to buy those back issues has been removed. Now it's a canceled, soon to be forgotten oddity, for Flash fans and completists only, with no back issue sales to casual comic fans driven by new issues of that series on the rack.

• Comics Should Be Good had a post last week about the Top Five Worst Superhero Marriages and now today they follow it up with the Top Five Best Superhero Marriages. I guess it says something that the best marriages written about in comics are generally from Golden Age heroes, while the worst are more recent. Of course, back in the day, the writers probably had better marriages to base it off of, whereas our current society is much more familiar with divorce. Maybe the next Top Five should be "Top Five Best Single Superhero Parents".
• We have all seen the teaser image that was released for DC's Countdown showing all the heroes, an some of them in interesting poses and costumes (among others Mary Marvel in white and a non-Parallax Kyle Rayner):
  
  
  
  On Friday Newsarama had an interview with Dan Didio concerning all the imagery about the hero teaser which just left more questions than answers. And now they have released a Villian version, again with some rather interesting and no doubt cryptic images:
  
  
  
  Go to the Newsarama thread here if you have a question for Didio, and they are going to forward some of the best for him to answer in a future article. After staring at them both for the last 30-40 minutes, all my bluster about Countdown previously means nothing. I am going to buy this series to the bitter end. And I mean bitter if it doesn't get better soon.

That's about it for today. Waiting on Wednesdays is actually going to be Waiting on Thursday this week because of the holiday, so see me here tomorrow for that.

CG

More Than Meets the Eye!

So I went to see Transformers with my wife last night, and I'll start with her reaction. But first, you have to understand, my wife knew absolutely nothing about Transformers going into it, and was less than thrilled to be there. In fact, she was a last minute addition when one of my friends punked out (you know who you are). She is also the type, no matter what movie it is, to get up to go to the bathroom at least 3 times during the movie.

For Transformers, however, she never once got up to go, and was literally on the edge of her seat for the entire last half. Her knowledge of the Transformers immediately after the movie, while not deep, was more than enough to enjoy the movie, which is good. It means kids and people unfamiliar with the mythos can jump right in. That's pretty hard to do.

Once it was over, I told her I was going to go see it again, and she told me I was only allowed to if she could go too. This was huge. I knew how I had seen the movie and how much I enjoyed it, but to be able to see it through a pair of eyes that were fresh and had absolutely no expectations was amazing. This movie has even pushed her over the edge for buying a flat-panel HDTV for our house, because as she said "We can't watch that on our 27" piece of crap, that can only be watched on a big screen."

As for me....

This movie was more than I could have ever imagined. It was like all my Saturday mornings watching the cartoon then playing with my Transformers toys brought to life. It was simply the coolest thing I have ever seen on a movie screen. That's easy to say about the "summer blockbuster" but I am a harsh movie critic. I am the type to get up and walk out after 20 minutes of crap. I am the type to nitpick a movie to death in my eyes. But not Transformers.

From start to finish, they keep the movie moving along and have you fairly well interested in the action. The side story about the All-Spark and why they had come from Cybertron was explained well and then kinda left alone until it was needed for the movie. This was nice because this is where long movies can get bogged down, is in storytelling that isn't necessary. Here they did just enough and then got back to the giant robots, which is why everyone is really there.

And probably the most amazing thing about the whole movie? The fact that Megan Fox is standing there on screen and I can keep my eyes off her because everything else going on is just so much cooler. Standing next to Optimus Prime she just kinda fades into the scene. She looks really good in the movie, but just doesn't hold a candle to a 30 foot realization of my boyhood imagination.

For the people who say it is just another action movie with shit blowing up and special effects, and little to no acting, I say they are terribly wrong and are either too high strung, unwilling to suspend disbelief, or just plain bad critics. Military scenes are always tough on a non-military action movie. Soldiers act funny compared to everyone else, but here they are portrayed pretty well. Shia LeBouef, who plays Sam Witwicky, is the heart and soul of this movie, and if played by someone else, it might not have been such a good movie. He is funny, but not stupid. He is sincere, but not sappy. And the interaction between him and Fox comes off very nicely, you can actually imagine the hot chick at school falling for a doofus like Sam.

And finally, though not true acting, the performances put on by the voice actors and the CGI guys to make the robots seem so lifelike was awesome. The Decepticons were as evil as you could expect them to be, and the Autobots were wholesome and good-hearted like they should be. But it was the little things, the funny sayings, Megatron flicking a human with his finger and sending him flying, things like that that made it come to life. I guess the best way to say it is they didn't act like the robots that they are.

I am not going to post any spoilers, as there aren't really any big ones, and I am not going to talk about the next movie and where they left this one so that is possible. All I am going to say is go see this. If you are having any doubts whether it can live up to your expectations, go see it. It will far surpass any expectation you might have.

P.S. Instead of all the normal pictures I would post, each image on here is a link to a wallpaper, if you are into that kinda thing. Click on the image to enlarge, then right-click and Set as Desktop Background...

CG




Update: I forgot to give credit to Transformers World for all the wallpapers. There is a lot of cool stuff there especially for Transformers cartoon lovers.

HvB #6: Trading Lairs

Issue #6 of the 50 Foot Robot Studios webcomic Hulk vs. Bizzaro is here, and this week we see true evil... M.O.D.O.H. (Mental Organism Designed Only for Hosting).

The Transformers post to end all Transformers posts

I am going to see this movie tomorrow night at 8pm, so after that, I will likely be all Transformered out. So unless something from the move really blows my mind, I will be moving and bringing you trailers from other movies for once. However, Shia LeBouef was on the Tonight Show and had this clip to show, which for the first time, lets us her Megatron speak. It also shows the sheer scale of the Transformers, as Megatron is standing next to a skyscraper.



One thing about the Transformers movie I will not stop posting, however, is pictures of the gorgeous, stunning, too good for most of these adjectives Megan Fox. Unless she drops off the face of the earth, there will be plenty for me to post, as she is set to replace Angelina Jolie and a host of other actresses as everyone's favorite. She is in a class with only Jessica Alba and Jessica Biel currently, and this movie could easily put her far above both of them, too.



Wait a second... What the fuck is that thing on her shoulder? Is that a peacock?



Oooh those are hot pictures...



Hmmm, it seems we have seen these before....



Yes folks, the night before I go to see the movie, I finally hit Megan Fox overload when I realized she poses exactly the same every goddamned time! Don't even get me started on her "come hither" look...

OK, here's the deal. I think she is hot, but I mislead you a little on the opening for these pictures. If she pulls the same "looking sexy over my shoulder" crap, she will be far off my radar pretty quick.

I want to see this:



Not this:



More of this (I think the hair swiping thing women do unconsciously is smokin!):



Less of this:



I think you all get my point. I want to see something fresh, and short of movie stills, unfortunately I don't think we are going to get it for a long time. She is incredibly popular right now, and no one is going to tell her what to do or how to look when it is working so well. So I am going to go see the movie tomorrow night and enjoy it, and I'll worry about her later. But be warned, these may be the last Megan Fox pictures for awhile.

CG

Linkblogging is bad for your health....

Between it being a beautiful weekend and the fact that not a lot of things are happening in the comic book world this weekend, it has been pretty slow post-wise. However, there are a few things to talk about, so I've put them all here.


Captain America

Jeph Loeb spilled the beans, and I don't think a lot of people have picked up on this. Or to be more accurate, most of the larger comic book sites are in Marvel's pocket, so they simply won't pick up on this.

Yahoo has a story about Captain America's death today on their main page, which looks at his funeral and the five stages of grief associated with the Fallen Son series. The fifth and final one is released Thursday and shows his funeral, which will be attended by both sides of the Registration Act fight.

At the very end of it, they talk about whether he is going to return or not, and Jeph Loeb did everything but say "Yes he is returning and this is when we are going to do it."

Marvel says you never know what will happen. He may make it back from the dead after all, although Loeb says that question isn't really important right now.

"The question is, how does the world continue without this hero?" he said. "If that story of his return gets told further down the line, great. But everyone's still been dealing with his loss.

"They aren't going to wake up and it's a dream, like it's some episode of 'Dallas.'"

Call me cynical, but that is the most committed non-committal I have ever heard. I was holding out hope that they would keep him dead. At the very least, I was hoping that they would have no plans on his return and let some Editor-in-Chief years down the road betray the fanbase. Oh well...


Justice League

Newsarama has the cover for Justice League #11, and it looks good. What doesn't look good though is the story. Vixen and the Red Arrow are... buried alive!! Oh no! How about Vixen channels a fucking mole and digs their way out.

But instead of that, we are going to have 22 or so pages of mediocre dialogue, with Arrow undoubtedly hitting on Vixen, and one or the other of them telling some deep secret they have. Again with the cynicism for me, I guess I am on a roll this morning. But how can this storytelling vehicle serve any other purpose? I just don't see how we can benefit or be entertained by two C-List heroes being trapped underground.

One good thing did come out of this though. I found one of the coolest looking creator sites I have ever seen. Despite being artistic people by nature, comic book creator websites generally look like junk. However, GeneHa.com is pretty slick. Who is Gene Ha, you say? Well he is going to be the guest artist on JLA #11, and other than that... I have no clue. He does some Eisner award winning comic or something. Seriously though, I wouldn't give you the link if I was just going to tell you everything about the guy.

This issue comes out July 18, and I am not sure I am going to buy it this month. If I don't, it'll be the first JLA I haven't bought in years. I am admittedly a huge fanboy for this team, but this is a low point for me and the comic. I just hope Brad Meltzer surprises me and pulls a proverbial rabbit out of his hat. I have no reason to think he will, though.


Countdown #44 follow-up

The folks over at CBR have been kind enough to fill us in on who this Monarch guy is from Countdown #44. Needless to say, I didn't remember him, and since it has been 16 years since he first appeared and 13 since the last time he appeared, can you blame me? Judging by this guy's history, I am no longer excited about him.

The cover this week says it all: Monarch! But, who is this guy? Monarch first appeared in "Armageddon 2001" #2 (October 1991) as the principal villain of the piece. Monarch was an evil dictator from a dystopian future of the DCU. Monarch picked Matthew Ryder to take place in a time travel experiment. Matthew, during his trip, became Waverider and, arriving in 1991, attempted to prevent Monarch's rise to power. Waverider attempted to find out who Monarch was and at first it appeared to be Captain Atom. Later, in one of the most anti-climactic swerves in comics history, it turned out to be Hank "Hawk" Hall of Hawk and Dove. Yes, we were all underwhelmed.

The Hank Hall version of Monrach returned during "Zero Hour" in 1994, changing his look and name to Extant who was killed facing Atom Smasher. In the Justice League series, "Extreme Justice," Monarch reappeared with the identity of Nathaniel Adam an identity shared with the superhero Captain Atom. He revealed, in a painful piece of retcon, that Captain Atom was merely a side-effect of Monarch's creation and that Monarch was the true Nathaniel Adam.

Ugh...


Well, that's all for now, like I said a slow weekend so I am going back outside, it's about time to fire up the BBQ anyhow. There is another Transformers clip I'll post in awhile, likely my last one, and I'll have to find some more Megan Fox pictures to post. I am going to see the movie tomorrow night at 8pm, so after that, I'll likely be transformered out.

CG