Usually the WPL is primarily about the books I liked the most in a given week. This week, with the release of two long-awaited, “blockbuster” type books, I figured it might be more interesting to discuss them, especially since I didn’t really like either one. One of them wasn’t as bad as I was expecting it to be; the other one didn’t live up to the expectation (or the wait).
Posted under Comic Features, Comic Reviews, ComicsIt’s been a pretty rough couple of weeks over here in WPL land so I’m attempting to do one thing at a time. I’m back, Vista-free, and semi-underwhelmed after the roughly fifty bucks I dropped at the shop last week. I know my slavering hordes of fans have been hanging by a thread the past 10 days to find out what I thought of my purchases, so wait no longer. And grab a napkin or something, you’re slavering all over the place.
Posted under Comic Features, Comic Reviews, ComicsAfter re-reading the third-to-last paragraph of last week’s entry and looking at the shipping list for this week from Diamond, I was fully prepared to plant foot squarely in mouth. I didn’t really see much to get excited about and the timing couldn’t have been better to make me look like a dope. But then through some divine providence, two books that weren’t even technically on my pull list were awesome.
Posted under Comic Features, Comic Reviews, ComicsA decently-large slate of books this week saw the release of the second part of Marvel’s ‘08 “event book,” yet another Bendis/Maleev collaboration (already), Barry Kitson drawing Spidey, and even the conclusion of a Superman arc that started about a year and a half ago. Despite all the internet-cracking-in-half, my book of the week is a little less auspicious.
Posted under Comic Features, Comic Reviews, ComicsI just wanted to point out that earlier this week word hit the blogosphere that last summer, John Favreau flew Brian Bendis, Mark Millar, Joe Quesada, Tom Brevoort, and Axel Alonso out to the set of Iron Man in order to have them offer critique and input regarding the film as it was in production. Apparently the comics braintrust convinced Favreau to focus on Stane/Iron Monger as the primary villain in favor of using the Mandarin, which was the original idea. Bendis also claims he wrote the Nick Fury scene at the end (SPOILER ALERT LAWLZ).
ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION HOLLYWOOD? No wonder Iron Man was such a good blend of comics source material and popcorn movie presentation. These people are the custodians of decades-old legacies. Let them be involved in the film-making process. Imagine if Warner ever actually attempted to get Batman writers or editors to contribute to a Batman movie. Maybe one would eventually turn out actually resembling Batman in some way. Hmm.
P.S. I officially declare this the Summer of Nick Fury.
Posted under Movie Features, MoviesThe ‘08 WPL revival rolls on. This week saw yet another budget-priced “world building” exercise by DC prior to a Crisis series, Skrulls everywhere, and a big ol’ bucket of kung fu. I spent more time this week watching Iron Man than reading comics but here we go.
Posted under Comic Features, Comic Reviews, ComicsWith this weekend’s release of the big-screen adaptation of Iron Man, the summer movie season is officially upon us, which means it’s once again time for me to submit you, my IAC faithful, to my idiosyncratic take on nerd-friendly cinema. I know it’s only the first weekend of May, but Ol’ Shellhead just threw down the proverbial repulsor-equipped gauntlet.
Yeah I’m dropping the “Wednesday” from the title ’cause these things never get written on Wednesdays anyway. As usual, my timing is impeccable, because this week was honestly on the lame side. I know I haven’t written one of these in a while, but I’m still basically a Marvel fanboy, so it only seems appropriate to kick off my first blog back with two of the characters the company was built on.
Posted under Comic Features, Comic Reviews, ComicsSo I guess Superboy Prime punched another wall ’cause I’m back from the dead, even if it took a little longer than expected.
With B.A. in hand and too much WoW on my brain, I think I’m finally ready to return to this space and shit on more comics that fandom holds dear (is it any coincidence that I’m coming back right before Grant Morrison’s Final Crisis starts? Hmm). Luckily faithful WPL readers, you haven’t really missed much these last eight months, although I hope you read Messiah CompleX and have been keeping up with the lil’ Green Lantern rip-off that could, Nova.
Right now I’m planning to start reviews back up next week. If I get really inspired I may even run down some of the shit that happened since last August, but I make no promises.
Posted under UncategorizedIn a week that actually didn’t crush my wallet’s soul, there also weren’t too many books that really captured my imagination. Marvel gave us new issues of some of their most solid monthlies, and World War Hulk even showed up early, but for some reason I just wasn’t feelin’ it this week. I mean, hey, they can’t all be winners, but I don’t even feel like giving any of these books the full WPL review treatment.
Another week of summer comics, another staggering bill at the shop. This past week was apparently all about Warren Ellis, as Avatar shipped #1’s of his books Black Summer and Doktor Sleepless, as well as his new graphic novel Crecy (which I bought but didn’t read yet), and even his freakin’ novel came out. I’ll be writing about two of the above four items and I’ll also check in on our ol’ buddy Shou-Lao the Undying.
The theme of the List this week was quantity over quality. My bill absolutely kicked my ass, but honestly most of what I read didn’t leave much of an impression on me. That said, new issues of World War Hulk and Captain America still came out, so I guess it wasn’t all bad.
One of the most packed summers for comics in recent memory rolled along last week. We got our first look at the Sinestro Corps War since the one-shot, we got two entries in the Annihilation: Conquest prologue miniseries… um, series, and we also got new issues of two of my favorite team books going on right now, New Avengers and Justice Society of America. My favorite read this week wasn’t really a surprise, because I was expecting it to be awesome, but it was definitely lower profile than the above-mentioned titles. What book am I referring to? Clicky.
Alright, I didn’t go broke for a change this past week, but there were still some noteworthy books on the stands. Thor is finally back, Ant-Man is back in SHIELD custody, the Avengers are hanging out with the Autobots… and oh yeah, Captain America’s still dead. I think some other companies besides Marvel still put out comics too.
This week’s List was absolutely massive, and despite the fact that my books dropped the hammer on my wallet, this week’s List was also pretty high-quality. A couple of my favorite monthlies shipped new issues, the World War Hulk tie-in minis started shipping, and I’m seriously going broke. The best read this week though was a book I didn’t even remember whether or not I ordered. Also, if you didn’t read the Sinestro Corps special and you care what happens in it, I’d suggest you read this post after you’ve read the issue.
This past week was absolutely friggin’ huge for comics. Marvel shipped two oversized one-shots that plant the seeds for big events in two totally separate corners of the Marvel U., the Justice League of America/Justice Society of America crossover wrapped up in style, Top Cow shipped the debut issue of Paul Dini’s creator-owned book, and we even got new issues of Cap and Amazing Spidey. I don’t know what’s going to hurt worse after this week’s List, my bank account or my typing fingers.
Two ridiculously huge books showed up in the List this week, to the point where picking out stuff to review isn’t even remotely challenging. The Hulk is finally back on Earth, and he’s decided to talk out his differences with the Illuminati in a rational, civilized manner. Meanwhile, over in New Avengers, we saw the first shades of what is going to be the biggest thing in the Marvel U. in ‘08, if not in recent memory. I think it’s officially summer once books like these start coming out. Oh and I should probably mention: SPOILERS AHOY!
The second day of the only summer con I can afford to attend was long on douchebags and short on announcements, but the theme of the new stuff was apparently quality over quantity. I’m freaking exhausted and I should just go to bed immediately but here are my thoughts on Saturday.
Because I’m an absolute glutton for punishment, I’m double-blogging tonight. Today was the first day of the biggest show in Philly and one of the biggest shows on the east coast, the annual stop of the Wizard World tour. I was there from gate to gate (and beyond), braving the legions of nerds from all over the nerd spectrum and NOT standing in line for Mike Turner sigs. This is in no way intended to be a comprehensive recap of the day’s events and announcements; if you want that, read Newsarama or some other site where people actually get paid. This is simply what I thought of Day One.