In an attempt to broaden our dinner options a bit beyond my limited repertoire of grilled steaks, burgers & chicken, spaghetti and the occasional meatloaf, I've decided to start trying out some new recipes. Right now, I'm mostly getting them from myrecipes.com, which is a site from Cooking Light, Southern Cooking, etc. Tonight we tried the first one, and it was pretty good, so I figured I'd share it. It makes a ton... my guess is that you could feed about six people with it using it as a main dish, especially if you add some bread. Or you could serve small cups of it as part of an Italian meal with pasta or chicken parmigiana or something along those lines, and probably have enough for 8-12 people.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 pounds mild Italian sausages (I used sweet instead)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
7 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes
4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 pound angel hair
1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
Preparation
1. In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderate heat. Add the sausages and cook, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Remove. When cool enough to handle, cut the sausages into 1/8-inch slices.
2. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the pot over moderately low heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until golden, 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Add the broth, thyme, red-pepper flakes, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, and the salt to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes. Stir in the sausages and bring back to a boil. Add the pasta, reduce the heat, and simmer until just done, about 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons parsley and the black pepper.
For my modifications, I left out the parsley, since I assumed it was more garnish than flavor, I only used a 1/2 lb. of mushrooms (which seemed like plenty to me... your mileage may vary) and I couldn't find low sodium chicken broth, so I used regular. In retrospect, if you wind up going this route, you can probably skip adding the additional salt, although it certainly didn't kill the taste. But I think it might have been on the border of doing so for Suzanne.
Also, if you want to make the soup easier to eat, crack the angel hair in half before dropping it in. We wound up using both spoons and forks to eat the meal.
Anyway, now that I know I like the taste, it's time to figure out what I can do to cut down on prep time. I'm also thinking I might try halving the recipe next time I make it, so that we don't have quite so much left over.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Monday, October 01, 2007
Blog Update for September
This is the latest monthly update to the left column of the blog, updating my favorite comics and TV for the previous month. The listings are alphabetical, not by rank of how much I liked them in comparison. My criteria for what makes the list is when I read them, not necessarily when they were published. This is basically also my own records of what I read/liked for the inevitable "End of Year" lists I feel like making.
Another great month for comics, as the top 20 sort of made itself and left over a dozen worthy contenders out. Those included the latest issues of Annihilation: Conquest Wraith and Quasar, the second Johnny Hiro, the latest Fables, X-Men First Class, Iron Fist (and its annual), The Order, Usagi Yojimbo, Highwaymen, Green Arrow Year One and World War Hulk (all favorite series by the way), not to mention promising newcomers like the second issue of Brit and the JLA Wedding Special and Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #1. There were five strong debuts that made the top 20, though, although sadly all of them are relatively short limited series, so no breakout new ongoing hit. DC made the chart with four books... two Vertigo, and two set in the DC Universes I miss, one the late '80s (Suicide Squad) and another the late '90s (Hitman). Marvel ranked higher with six books, although it's notable that five of those are set in their current continuity (whereas I generally won't touch DC's current continuity with a 10-foot pole), although only one (Criminal) is a non-superhero book Dark Horse made a good showing with four of their own, including the best issues of Buffy and Fear Agent yet, a promising debut in Umbrella Academy and another solid issue of BPRD. Image also did well with three: True Story Swear to God, Walking Dead and Dynamo 5. IDW has 30 Days of Night: Red Snow, Boom! has Potter's Field. I don't know if the lack of any true indy/self-published books is a reflection of my taste or the brutal marginalization going on for those guys in the current market. I tend to think the latter, but then, I would, wouldn't I?
As with last month, my graphic novel reading was severely curtailed by reading actual books. I finished The Subtle Knife and started The Amber Spyglass, and still have Patriot Acts, Gates of Fire and a horror novella lent to me by my friend Nate Southard on the night table. I also diverted from my regular reading to re-read Hitman #1-60, and I can't say as I regret it. It's reminded me that the series is just as good in reality as it is in my memory. At any rate, as a result my Graphic Novels of the month are merely eight, and a couple of those (Essential Punisher, Thunderbolts) are on there because I've already read some or all of the contents, not because I've had a chance to do much more than skim the new collected versions.
Besides reading actual books and '90s comics, what have I been up to? Well, I'd been considering switching from HBO to Showtime, and when Tell Me You Love Me was dead boring, and the first episode of Dexter on DVD was jaw-dropping amazing, that pretty much did it. So I've been catching the first season of Dexter (finished the last episode on Wednesday night) in order to be ready for the season opener on the 30th. I finished up watching The 4400 (was the show always this bad? I'm interested in the plot, but the writing... wow... yikes) and Burn Notice (most fun new show in quite a while, can't wait to see it again next summer). I watched the first two episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm before dropping HBO, but I don't really think that means it can make the cut. I have put Weeds on regular rotation, though, and might do the same with both Californication and Brotherhood once I get caught up on the latter and watch the DVDs of the former. I also finally watched the DVDs of Friday Night Lights, which is every bit as good as the critics say it is. I watched one disc, put it back into the mail to Netflix and immediately bought the season on DVD so I wouldn't have to wait for the rest to arrive. Next up on DVD, season one of Brotherhood so I can see if Showtime actually has three shows on that I want to watch.
Then there were the starts of the new Fall season, which I've been blogging here. Nothing has blown me away yet, although Reaper is a hell of a lot of fun based on the pilot. Chuck is on thin ice, but I hear it gets better. Heroes is on thin ice, but it started weak last year too. How I Met Your Mother returns in fine form. I am kind of shocked that: A) NBC has such a hold on my TV viewing habits and B) Sitcoms make up almost 50% of my top 10 viewing. The Office and My Name is Earl both opened pretty strong (the former more than the latter, I could give up Earl if I needed the time but I love The Office), and I'm very much looking forward to the season openers of 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights later this week. I'm also enjoying the (finally!) returning It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, although F/X's annoying scheduling, so that it starts about 5 minutes after when it says it starts and ends about 5-7 minutes later, is really messing with my Tivo scheduling. I think conventional wisdom at the networks is that this will get people to watch the show live (with commercials) instead. In fact, it will get me to decide to wait for DVD or not hassle with the show at all.
Not as many new sites this month as last, but there are some good ones. Alan Sepinwall is currently duplicating his daily TV content on his personal blog, but just in case that doesn't continue, I've added his new TV blog from NJ.com, AllTV, to the feeds. I also added new feeds for Boing Boing Gadgets, blogs for Tom Beland and Scott Chantler and the webcomic XKCD.
Another great month for comics, as the top 20 sort of made itself and left over a dozen worthy contenders out. Those included the latest issues of Annihilation: Conquest Wraith and Quasar, the second Johnny Hiro, the latest Fables, X-Men First Class, Iron Fist (and its annual), The Order, Usagi Yojimbo, Highwaymen, Green Arrow Year One and World War Hulk (all favorite series by the way), not to mention promising newcomers like the second issue of Brit and the JLA Wedding Special and Iron Man: Enter the Mandarin #1. There were five strong debuts that made the top 20, though, although sadly all of them are relatively short limited series, so no breakout new ongoing hit. DC made the chart with four books... two Vertigo, and two set in the DC Universes I miss, one the late '80s (Suicide Squad) and another the late '90s (Hitman). Marvel ranked higher with six books, although it's notable that five of those are set in their current continuity (whereas I generally won't touch DC's current continuity with a 10-foot pole), although only one (Criminal) is a non-superhero book Dark Horse made a good showing with four of their own, including the best issues of Buffy and Fear Agent yet, a promising debut in Umbrella Academy and another solid issue of BPRD. Image also did well with three: True Story Swear to God, Walking Dead and Dynamo 5. IDW has 30 Days of Night: Red Snow, Boom! has Potter's Field. I don't know if the lack of any true indy/self-published books is a reflection of my taste or the brutal marginalization going on for those guys in the current market. I tend to think the latter, but then, I would, wouldn't I?
As with last month, my graphic novel reading was severely curtailed by reading actual books. I finished The Subtle Knife and started The Amber Spyglass, and still have Patriot Acts, Gates of Fire and a horror novella lent to me by my friend Nate Southard on the night table. I also diverted from my regular reading to re-read Hitman #1-60, and I can't say as I regret it. It's reminded me that the series is just as good in reality as it is in my memory. At any rate, as a result my Graphic Novels of the month are merely eight, and a couple of those (Essential Punisher, Thunderbolts) are on there because I've already read some or all of the contents, not because I've had a chance to do much more than skim the new collected versions.
Besides reading actual books and '90s comics, what have I been up to? Well, I'd been considering switching from HBO to Showtime, and when Tell Me You Love Me was dead boring, and the first episode of Dexter on DVD was jaw-dropping amazing, that pretty much did it. So I've been catching the first season of Dexter (finished the last episode on Wednesday night) in order to be ready for the season opener on the 30th. I finished up watching The 4400 (was the show always this bad? I'm interested in the plot, but the writing... wow... yikes) and Burn Notice (most fun new show in quite a while, can't wait to see it again next summer). I watched the first two episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm before dropping HBO, but I don't really think that means it can make the cut. I have put Weeds on regular rotation, though, and might do the same with both Californication and Brotherhood once I get caught up on the latter and watch the DVDs of the former. I also finally watched the DVDs of Friday Night Lights, which is every bit as good as the critics say it is. I watched one disc, put it back into the mail to Netflix and immediately bought the season on DVD so I wouldn't have to wait for the rest to arrive. Next up on DVD, season one of Brotherhood so I can see if Showtime actually has three shows on that I want to watch.
Then there were the starts of the new Fall season, which I've been blogging here. Nothing has blown me away yet, although Reaper is a hell of a lot of fun based on the pilot. Chuck is on thin ice, but I hear it gets better. Heroes is on thin ice, but it started weak last year too. How I Met Your Mother returns in fine form. I am kind of shocked that: A) NBC has such a hold on my TV viewing habits and B) Sitcoms make up almost 50% of my top 10 viewing. The Office and My Name is Earl both opened pretty strong (the former more than the latter, I could give up Earl if I needed the time but I love The Office), and I'm very much looking forward to the season openers of 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights later this week. I'm also enjoying the (finally!) returning It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, although F/X's annoying scheduling, so that it starts about 5 minutes after when it says it starts and ends about 5-7 minutes later, is really messing with my Tivo scheduling. I think conventional wisdom at the networks is that this will get people to watch the show live (with commercials) instead. In fact, it will get me to decide to wait for DVD or not hassle with the show at all.
Not as many new sites this month as last, but there are some good ones. Alan Sepinwall is currently duplicating his daily TV content on his personal blog, but just in case that doesn't continue, I've added his new TV blog from NJ.com, AllTV, to the feeds. I also added new feeds for Boing Boing Gadgets, blogs for Tom Beland and Scott Chantler and the webcomic XKCD.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - September 26, 2007
Running late this week, so these are based on actually reading the books, rather than advanced speculation
TOP FIVE
American Virgin #19 (Best issue of the series so far, and I love this series)
Annihilation Conquest Star Lord #3 (Best issue of *this* series so far, great action, art and some nice character reveals)
Criminal #9 (The Tracy Lawless series rockets along to its conclusion with the requisite amount of blood, secrets and danger)
Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1 (Beautiful art, fun pulp homage, every bit as good as the monthly Immortal Iron Fist, with the added bonus of Dan Brereton)
Killer Vol 1 HC (Beautifully drawn, creepy and involving story of a professional killer, in a stunningly designed hardcover... now if only we could get some more issues)
THE REST
Astounding Wolf-Man #3 (Good, but like Invincible, may read tons better in trade)
Avengers Initiative #6 (Bleh. Hate that last page reveal, which is akin to the Speedball=Penance transformation in terms of sucking the fun out of the Marvel universe, and wasn't crazy about Uy's art. I think I may be done with this book)
Brit #2 (Lots of fun, albeit not as fun as the first issue of the series. But definitely worth reading for Invincible fans)
Captain America Red White & Blue TP (Forgotten gem of Cap stories by lesser known creators and indy stars, plus some interesting behind the scenes material)
Green Arrow Year One #5 (Fantastic action comic... makes me miss the Losers a little bit less)
Immortal Iron Fist #9 (Martial arts tournament and secret knowledge, and this book continues to kick my ass each month)
Justice League Of America #13 (Pretty awful art, almost makes me long for the return of Ed Benes... story is OK, although disappointing after the great start of JLA Wedding Special... and I really didn't need the Sue Dibny reference)
Marvel Adventures Iron Man #5 (Sold out before I could read it... bummer)
Previews Vol XVII #10 (Down the Line in process)
Revere Revolution In Silver HC (Looks promising, haven't had a chance to read yet)
Spirit #10 (Can't quite make up my mind on whether it's a clever, witty send-up of pundits or an overly obvious bashing of easy targets)
The Order #3 (Weakest issue thus far, but still good, and features zombie hobos, which earns it bonus points)
Usagi Yojimbo #106 (This book has been really good lately, with demonic possessions, multiple bounty hunters and such)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #4 (Fun! Road trip with Beast and Iceman!)
TOP FIVE
American Virgin #19 (Best issue of the series so far, and I love this series)
Annihilation Conquest Star Lord #3 (Best issue of *this* series so far, great action, art and some nice character reveals)
Criminal #9 (The Tracy Lawless series rockets along to its conclusion with the requisite amount of blood, secrets and danger)
Immortal Iron Fist Annual #1 (Beautiful art, fun pulp homage, every bit as good as the monthly Immortal Iron Fist, with the added bonus of Dan Brereton)
Killer Vol 1 HC (Beautifully drawn, creepy and involving story of a professional killer, in a stunningly designed hardcover... now if only we could get some more issues)
THE REST
Astounding Wolf-Man #3 (Good, but like Invincible, may read tons better in trade)
Avengers Initiative #6 (Bleh. Hate that last page reveal, which is akin to the Speedball=Penance transformation in terms of sucking the fun out of the Marvel universe, and wasn't crazy about Uy's art. I think I may be done with this book)
Brit #2 (Lots of fun, albeit not as fun as the first issue of the series. But definitely worth reading for Invincible fans)
Captain America Red White & Blue TP (Forgotten gem of Cap stories by lesser known creators and indy stars, plus some interesting behind the scenes material)
Green Arrow Year One #5 (Fantastic action comic... makes me miss the Losers a little bit less)
Immortal Iron Fist #9 (Martial arts tournament and secret knowledge, and this book continues to kick my ass each month)
Justice League Of America #13 (Pretty awful art, almost makes me long for the return of Ed Benes... story is OK, although disappointing after the great start of JLA Wedding Special... and I really didn't need the Sue Dibny reference)
Marvel Adventures Iron Man #5 (Sold out before I could read it... bummer)
Previews Vol XVII #10 (Down the Line in process)
Revere Revolution In Silver HC (Looks promising, haven't had a chance to read yet)
Spirit #10 (Can't quite make up my mind on whether it's a clever, witty send-up of pundits or an overly obvious bashing of easy targets)
The Order #3 (Weakest issue thus far, but still good, and features zombie hobos, which earns it bonus points)
Usagi Yojimbo #106 (This book has been really good lately, with demonic possessions, multiple bounty hunters and such)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #4 (Fun! Road trip with Beast and Iceman!)
Fall Season: Reaper
Well, what everybody is saying is true. It's a lot like Chuck, but better than Chuck. It's funny and yet it's got some nice dramatic moments too. It's got likable characters (I'll take the actually funny sidekick in Reaper over the annoying sidekick on Chuck, and Missy Peregrym is terrific as the hot yet accessible love interest), a fun premise and a general tone that reminds me of everything I liked about something like Buffy without seeming like a ripoff of Buffy.
And it's got Ray Wise as the devil, which is pretty much a good enough reason to watch the show all on its own. Kevin Smith directs the hell out of the pilot, but I have to say that I'm hopeful that other directors can pull off similarly good work with the show as it goes along. The special effects weren't blow the doors off expensive looking, there weren't a ton of fancy camera tricks or editing tricks (although a good editor, and someone good at the music choices and cues, is gonna be crucial)... the heart of what makes this all work is the cast. Good cast, good writing, good premise? Few shows this season have more than one of those, so far.
Oh, and I laughed out loud several time. Not only is the show imaginative and well-acted, it's *funny*.
I haven't seen Pushing Daisies yet, but Reaper is looking like my favorite new show of the fall.
And it's got Ray Wise as the devil, which is pretty much a good enough reason to watch the show all on its own. Kevin Smith directs the hell out of the pilot, but I have to say that I'm hopeful that other directors can pull off similarly good work with the show as it goes along. The special effects weren't blow the doors off expensive looking, there weren't a ton of fancy camera tricks or editing tricks (although a good editor, and someone good at the music choices and cues, is gonna be crucial)... the heart of what makes this all work is the cast. Good cast, good writing, good premise? Few shows this season have more than one of those, so far.
Oh, and I laughed out loud several time. Not only is the show imaginative and well-acted, it's *funny*.
I haven't seen Pushing Daisies yet, but Reaper is looking like my favorite new show of the fall.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Fall Season: How I Met Your Mother, Family Guy & Heroes
How I Met Your Mother: -Dary! Great start to the episode, nice use of Mandy Moore (although I liked her better in both Scrubs and Entourage... weirdly, I'm a fan of TV cameo Mandy Moore). It wasn't a *great* episode, but it was a good one, and I got several laughs out of it. I was especially impressed by the "Slap Bet" epilogue, which was totally for the long-time fans of the show, but recalled one of my favorite moments of the entire show (the second slap in the middle of Barney's "play"), and I also enjoyed the facial hair gags and Ted's "And that's the last thing I remember" narration. Funny show, off to a good start for the season.
Family Guy: I haven't watched any of season five, but I might be on board for this new season. The Star Wars episode was a lot of fun, especially if you can catch the in-jokes for not only Family Guy but Star Wars. I died laughing when they revealed Obi Wan. The "Dirty Dancing" sequence was overlong, but sometimes Family Guy can do that milking a gag type thing well, so I can't blame them for trying it. It was a callback to the "Somewhere That's Green" extended sequence that was one of the funniest in the show's history, in my opinion. I have to admit, I didn't catch Meg's role, I need to watch it again. I was also amused to see that they actually got Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo for the voices in the brief Vacation bit.
Heroes: Disappointed. Some of the same cliched writing that plagued the original pilot, the new characters aren't terribly interesting and I don't find any of the new status quo that interesting either. Well, except Parkman, who gets to be more of a real character than he was for most of the first season. But I don't really want to see Hiro in feudal Japan (even though David Anders is great), I think re-doing the "Clare's got to pretend to be normal, and so does her dad" plot was a mistake (and seriously, why on Earth would he go to work at a Kinko's? He can't do a *little* bit better and at least find a decent middle management job?) and I don't yet care about the Honduran brother and sister. Nor do I have a ton of interest in Mohinder reprising his arc from the first season, although I will admit the last minute twist makes that more interesting. Mildly curious about seeing more of the older generation (Ma Petrelli, Hiro's dad, etc.) but I'd like it to move faster, and I wasn't pleased to see "another shadowy guy in a hoodie" as the mystery villain. Basically, it wasn't awful, but they did seem to be repeating themselves an awful lot.
Now, Heroes started off kinda mediocre last season and got better and better, and hopefully that's what will happen here. But after the way they dropped the ball on the season finale, they really needed a stronger opening to hook me back in.
In other news, I decided I don't really care about Journeyman, and didn't watch it. And I watched Chuck early, so I already talked about that one.
Family Guy: I haven't watched any of season five, but I might be on board for this new season. The Star Wars episode was a lot of fun, especially if you can catch the in-jokes for not only Family Guy but Star Wars. I died laughing when they revealed Obi Wan. The "Dirty Dancing" sequence was overlong, but sometimes Family Guy can do that milking a gag type thing well, so I can't blame them for trying it. It was a callback to the "Somewhere That's Green" extended sequence that was one of the funniest in the show's history, in my opinion. I have to admit, I didn't catch Meg's role, I need to watch it again. I was also amused to see that they actually got Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo for the voices in the brief Vacation bit.
Heroes: Disappointed. Some of the same cliched writing that plagued the original pilot, the new characters aren't terribly interesting and I don't find any of the new status quo that interesting either. Well, except Parkman, who gets to be more of a real character than he was for most of the first season. But I don't really want to see Hiro in feudal Japan (even though David Anders is great), I think re-doing the "Clare's got to pretend to be normal, and so does her dad" plot was a mistake (and seriously, why on Earth would he go to work at a Kinko's? He can't do a *little* bit better and at least find a decent middle management job?) and I don't yet care about the Honduran brother and sister. Nor do I have a ton of interest in Mohinder reprising his arc from the first season, although I will admit the last minute twist makes that more interesting. Mildly curious about seeing more of the older generation (Ma Petrelli, Hiro's dad, etc.) but I'd like it to move faster, and I wasn't pleased to see "another shadowy guy in a hoodie" as the mystery villain. Basically, it wasn't awful, but they did seem to be repeating themselves an awful lot.
Now, Heroes started off kinda mediocre last season and got better and better, and hopefully that's what will happen here. But after the way they dropped the ball on the season finale, they really needed a stronger opening to hook me back in.
In other news, I decided I don't really care about Journeyman, and didn't watch it. And I watched Chuck early, so I already talked about that one.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
President Bush Hates Children
Bush plans to veto a bipartisan (and how rarely does *that* word get attached to successful legislation today?) bill that would extend a healthcare program for children.
His basic reasoning seems to boil down to being afraid of socialized medicine, and wanting to make sure that if someone can afford to pay money to health insurance companies, they pay that money. Thanks, GW! Glad somebody is looking out for those poor health insurance companies, protecting them from all those wicked parents who might otherwise use the money to buy their kids food or toys or something!
Seriously, I think we all know that Cheney survives on a diet of live babies and Alberto Gonzales bathes in the blood of children before his congressional hearings, but is this the most evil-sounding administration we've ever had? It's like they should all have sinister mustaches that they can twirl at their media conferences, or maybe Bush could create a Cabinet level Minister of Tying Helpless Young Women to Railroad Tracks.
Yeah, I'm exaggerating a bit. I have to laugh so I don't cry at what our nation's government has been reduced to.
On the bright side, at least there's one less bridge to Nowhere, Alaska being built with taxpayer money. On the down side, Ted Stevens (who may in fact be Dana Carvey doing his "Cranky Old Man" sketch from SNL as performance art) still represents Alaska, so they seem no less stupid a state than they did when they were building a $400 million bridge for 50 people to use.
His basic reasoning seems to boil down to being afraid of socialized medicine, and wanting to make sure that if someone can afford to pay money to health insurance companies, they pay that money. Thanks, GW! Glad somebody is looking out for those poor health insurance companies, protecting them from all those wicked parents who might otherwise use the money to buy their kids food or toys or something!
Seriously, I think we all know that Cheney survives on a diet of live babies and Alberto Gonzales bathes in the blood of children before his congressional hearings, but is this the most evil-sounding administration we've ever had? It's like they should all have sinister mustaches that they can twirl at their media conferences, or maybe Bush could create a Cabinet level Minister of Tying Helpless Young Women to Railroad Tracks.
Yeah, I'm exaggerating a bit. I have to laugh so I don't cry at what our nation's government has been reduced to.
On the bright side, at least there's one less bridge to Nowhere, Alaska being built with taxpayer money. On the down side, Ted Stevens (who may in fact be Dana Carvey doing his "Cranky Old Man" sketch from SNL as performance art) still represents Alaska, so they seem no less stupid a state than they did when they were building a $400 million bridge for 50 people to use.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Fall Season: K-Ville & Chuck
Wow, is the Fall season looking bleak. There's literally nothing new I'm really looking forward to. I have Bionic Woman and Journeyman sitting on the Tivo thanks to Amazon Unbox, and nothing else to prevent me watching them, and I just can't work up the enthusiasm to watch. Even Pushing Daisies, which I expect to like, has two strikes against it: 1) I can easily see it being well-executed but not really what I'm looking for and 2) More importantly, even if it's good, it's probably going to have low ratings and get killed, as it sounds too weird to sell to the public.
I've seen two pilots thus far. I watched Chuck (thanks to Amazon Unbox) and thought it was OK. Mildly diverting. Had a couple mild chuckle-worthy moments. But the plots aren't smart enough, the action isn't compelling enough, the humor isn't sharp enough... it's solid, just this side of mediocre. And opposite How I Met Your Mother, so I doubt I'll be watching unless I start hearing a lot of rave reviews.
Tonight I watched K-Ville. I really wanted to like this one. It's got a good cast, reasonably solid direction, a *great* setting and production look... but it's some of the most cliched cop show writing I've seen. Worse, it's like they're trying to get every bit of New Orleans flavor in there in the most forced, cringe-worthy of ways. Inside of the first five minutes, I had heard just about every cop and New Orleans cliche there is. And there are two utterly pointless, utterly dull car chases. And With better writing, this show could be to New Orleans what The Shield is to L.A. But based on that pilot, I'm not holding my breath. It's not a bad show... it's just a disappointingly OK show, and up against Heroes, that isn't going to cut it. Alan Sepinwall has his review here, and he pretty much nails it.
I've seen two pilots thus far. I watched Chuck (thanks to Amazon Unbox) and thought it was OK. Mildly diverting. Had a couple mild chuckle-worthy moments. But the plots aren't smart enough, the action isn't compelling enough, the humor isn't sharp enough... it's solid, just this side of mediocre. And opposite How I Met Your Mother, so I doubt I'll be watching unless I start hearing a lot of rave reviews.
Tonight I watched K-Ville. I really wanted to like this one. It's got a good cast, reasonably solid direction, a *great* setting and production look... but it's some of the most cliched cop show writing I've seen. Worse, it's like they're trying to get every bit of New Orleans flavor in there in the most forced, cringe-worthy of ways. Inside of the first five minutes, I had heard just about every cop and New Orleans cliche there is. And there are two utterly pointless, utterly dull car chases. And With better writing, this show could be to New Orleans what The Shield is to L.A. But based on that pilot, I'm not holding my breath. It's not a bad show... it's just a disappointingly OK show, and up against Heroes, that isn't going to cut it. Alan Sepinwall has his review here, and he pretty much nails it.
Damn It!
I can't afford an XBox 360 *and* a Wii! Why must the videogame gods be so cruel as to have two awesome games, each unique* to one system?
I mean, on the one hand, we have Rock Band... which I must own. Therefore I need a 360.
On the other, Lucasfilm has *finally* announced the no-brainer lightsaber duel game for the Wii, which also has that cool control system that I'm in love with and happens to be $100 cheaper than an XBox 360. Therefore I must have a Wii.
Of course, this ignores the larger issue that I can't really afford to buy either one. But damn it, I had finally resolved to get an XBox 360 and let the Wii go, and now I'm back to being undecided again!
*Yes, I know Rock Band is on PS3 as well. But the PS3 looks pretty weak, is super-expensive and doesn't have the impressive roster of other games that the 360 does. So it doesn't count. I was never even tempted by the PS3.
I mean, on the one hand, we have Rock Band... which I must own. Therefore I need a 360.
On the other, Lucasfilm has *finally* announced the no-brainer lightsaber duel game for the Wii, which also has that cool control system that I'm in love with and happens to be $100 cheaper than an XBox 360. Therefore I must have a Wii.
Of course, this ignores the larger issue that I can't really afford to buy either one. But damn it, I had finally resolved to get an XBox 360 and let the Wii go, and now I'm back to being undecided again!
*Yes, I know Rock Band is on PS3 as well. But the PS3 looks pretty weak, is super-expensive and doesn't have the impressive roster of other games that the 360 does. So it doesn't count. I was never even tempted by the PS3.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - September 19, 2007
TOP FIVE
Captain America #30 (A kickass action story, plenty of twists and turns, *and* plausible redemption for Iron Man? Brubaker is the *man*)
Dynamo 5 #7 (The latest issue of the best new superhero book since Invincible)
JLA Hitman #1 (Hitman is my favorite Ennis work... can Ennis and McCrea capture the magic? And more importantly, will sales be good enough to finally get this series traded up?)
Johnny Hiro #2 (First issue was off the wall fun with great art, I can't wait to read the next one)
Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite #1 (Teasers of this, in the Free Comic Book Day issue and DHP MySpace, have been pretty damn good)
THE REST
30 Days Of Night Beyond Barrow #1 (Sienkiewicz doing the 30 Days riff? OK, I'll check that out)
30 Days Of Night Red Snow #2 (But I'm more excited about Ben Templesmith writing and drawing this WWII era of vampires, Russians and Nazis)
Annihilation Conquest Quasar #3 (How many comics feature a cosmic warrior riding her lesbian dragon lover into battle? Not enough, I say)
Captain America By Ed Brubaker Omnibus Vol 1 HC (I don't think I'm going to be able to resist this expensive hardcover. The Brubaker/Epting/Perkins Cap stuff has been great, and that's despite me not *wanting* to like a lot of the plot twists)
Cyblade Pilot Season #1 (Joshua Hale Fialkov writes, so I'll give this one a look)
Dr Thirteen Architecture And Morality TP (Obscure DC mystical characters in a buzzed-about story with Cliff Chiang art... I'll give it a look)
Flash #232 (Really enjoyed the first issue, looking forward to seeing where Waid goes with it)
Gods Of Asgard GN (Terrific indie graphic novel about the Asgardian gods)
Green Arrow Black Canary Wedding Special #1 (After all the build-up and two specials already, this better be pretty good... I'm expecting a bait-and-switch death that's gonna piss me off, honestly)
Highwaymen #4 (The best action comic not enough people are reading)
Marvel Adventures Avengers #16 (Hawkeye! Jeff Parker! Awesome!)
Marvel Comics Presents #1 (Still unsure about this one, but the Immonen's story looks very interesting from previews)
Terror Inc #2 (Dug the first issue, looking forward to the second)
Thunderbolts By Ellis Vol 1 Faith In Monsters HC (I'm waiting on the trade edition, but I really want to get this collected, it's one of my favorite Marvel series of the moment)
World War Hulk #4 (Looking forward to seeing more, hoping Sentry's presence won't ruin the whole thing)
Zero Killer #2 (First issue was merely OK... but I'm going to give it a second issue to hook me)
Captain America #30 (A kickass action story, plenty of twists and turns, *and* plausible redemption for Iron Man? Brubaker is the *man*)
Dynamo 5 #7 (The latest issue of the best new superhero book since Invincible)
JLA Hitman #1 (Hitman is my favorite Ennis work... can Ennis and McCrea capture the magic? And more importantly, will sales be good enough to finally get this series traded up?)
Johnny Hiro #2 (First issue was off the wall fun with great art, I can't wait to read the next one)
Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite #1 (Teasers of this, in the Free Comic Book Day issue and DHP MySpace, have been pretty damn good)
THE REST
30 Days Of Night Beyond Barrow #1 (Sienkiewicz doing the 30 Days riff? OK, I'll check that out)
30 Days Of Night Red Snow #2 (But I'm more excited about Ben Templesmith writing and drawing this WWII era of vampires, Russians and Nazis)
Annihilation Conquest Quasar #3 (How many comics feature a cosmic warrior riding her lesbian dragon lover into battle? Not enough, I say)
Captain America By Ed Brubaker Omnibus Vol 1 HC (I don't think I'm going to be able to resist this expensive hardcover. The Brubaker/Epting/Perkins Cap stuff has been great, and that's despite me not *wanting* to like a lot of the plot twists)
Cyblade Pilot Season #1 (Joshua Hale Fialkov writes, so I'll give this one a look)
Dr Thirteen Architecture And Morality TP (Obscure DC mystical characters in a buzzed-about story with Cliff Chiang art... I'll give it a look)
Flash #232 (Really enjoyed the first issue, looking forward to seeing where Waid goes with it)
Gods Of Asgard GN (Terrific indie graphic novel about the Asgardian gods)
Green Arrow Black Canary Wedding Special #1 (After all the build-up and two specials already, this better be pretty good... I'm expecting a bait-and-switch death that's gonna piss me off, honestly)
Highwaymen #4 (The best action comic not enough people are reading)
Marvel Adventures Avengers #16 (Hawkeye! Jeff Parker! Awesome!)
Marvel Comics Presents #1 (Still unsure about this one, but the Immonen's story looks very interesting from previews)
Terror Inc #2 (Dug the first issue, looking forward to the second)
Thunderbolts By Ellis Vol 1 Faith In Monsters HC (I'm waiting on the trade edition, but I really want to get this collected, it's one of my favorite Marvel series of the moment)
World War Hulk #4 (Looking forward to seeing more, hoping Sentry's presence won't ruin the whole thing)
Zero Killer #2 (First issue was merely OK... but I'm going to give it a second issue to hook me)
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - September 12, 2007
TOP FIVE
Fear Agent Last Goodbye #3 (This flashback miniseries is brutal, but it's also a remarkably fun war/sci-fi book)
JLA Wedding Special #1 (Fantastic start to McDuffie's run on the book)
Potters Field #1 (A very promising and dark crime book from Mark Waid and Paul Azaceta)
Suicide Squad #1 (The magic is back, as Ostrander returns, joined by the Manhunter artist Javier Pina, to tell a lost tale of the Squad)
Walking Dead #42 (Terrific issue, with a hell of an ending)
THE REST
The Arrival GN (Looks gorgeous, seems weirdly out of place with the rest of Graphix's imprint)
Booster Gold #2 (Just like the first issue... wordy slog of a first half, light fun in the second half)
BPRD Killing Ground #2 (Fantastic character developments, beautiful art)
Daredevil #100 (Interesting use of multiple artists, decent issue but the book is slipping a bit for me)
Essential Punisher Vol 2 TP (I fondly remember about half the stories in this book... kind of looking forward to reading the rest of them)
DMZ #23 (Standalone issue about a graffiti artist in NYC, pre- and post-war)
Drafted #1 (Disappointing first issue, but it's still a promising series)
Fables #65 (The Flycatcher story rolls on, with some great revelations and terrific moments throughout)
Hellboy Vol 7 The Troll Witch & Others TP (I'm still a trade or two behind on Hellboy... need to catch up)
Jack Of Fables #14 (I think I may have moved to reading in trade on this one)
Legend Of Grimjack Vol 8 TP (We're about to enter some of the weaker eras for Grimjack, but it's still good at the very least)
Marvel Adventures Hulk #3 (Want to read this one when I get a chance, #2 was a blast)
Nova #6 (A bit bummed by the ending, hoping it's a fakeout, but otherwise another solid issue of one of Marvel's best books)
Showcase Presents Batman And The Outsiders Vol 1 TP (Never read this book back in the day, but I'm interested in reading it now)
Star Trek Manga Vol 2 (Lots of creators I like on this one)
Star Wars Legacy #16 (Tons going on, not always in tune with it, but it has strong writing and art)
Star Wars Rebellion #10 (Either the end or nearing the end of the current crime/espionage story, which has been really good)
Thirteen Steps #1 (Weird, dark, quirky fun book about a werewolf in a monster self-help group)
Fear Agent Last Goodbye #3 (This flashback miniseries is brutal, but it's also a remarkably fun war/sci-fi book)
JLA Wedding Special #1 (Fantastic start to McDuffie's run on the book)
Potters Field #1 (A very promising and dark crime book from Mark Waid and Paul Azaceta)
Suicide Squad #1 (The magic is back, as Ostrander returns, joined by the Manhunter artist Javier Pina, to tell a lost tale of the Squad)
Walking Dead #42 (Terrific issue, with a hell of an ending)
THE REST
The Arrival GN (Looks gorgeous, seems weirdly out of place with the rest of Graphix's imprint)
Booster Gold #2 (Just like the first issue... wordy slog of a first half, light fun in the second half)
BPRD Killing Ground #2 (Fantastic character developments, beautiful art)
Daredevil #100 (Interesting use of multiple artists, decent issue but the book is slipping a bit for me)
Essential Punisher Vol 2 TP (I fondly remember about half the stories in this book... kind of looking forward to reading the rest of them)
DMZ #23 (Standalone issue about a graffiti artist in NYC, pre- and post-war)
Drafted #1 (Disappointing first issue, but it's still a promising series)
Fables #65 (The Flycatcher story rolls on, with some great revelations and terrific moments throughout)
Hellboy Vol 7 The Troll Witch & Others TP (I'm still a trade or two behind on Hellboy... need to catch up)
Jack Of Fables #14 (I think I may have moved to reading in trade on this one)
Legend Of Grimjack Vol 8 TP (We're about to enter some of the weaker eras for Grimjack, but it's still good at the very least)
Marvel Adventures Hulk #3 (Want to read this one when I get a chance, #2 was a blast)
Nova #6 (A bit bummed by the ending, hoping it's a fakeout, but otherwise another solid issue of one of Marvel's best books)
Showcase Presents Batman And The Outsiders Vol 1 TP (Never read this book back in the day, but I'm interested in reading it now)
Star Trek Manga Vol 2 (Lots of creators I like on this one)
Star Wars Legacy #16 (Tons going on, not always in tune with it, but it has strong writing and art)
Star Wars Rebellion #10 (Either the end or nearing the end of the current crime/espionage story, which has been really good)
Thirteen Steps #1 (Weird, dark, quirky fun book about a werewolf in a monster self-help group)
Monday, September 10, 2007
TV Thoughts - Midseason Post-Mortem & Fall Season Predictions
I did mention how much I hated the very idea of Kid Nation, right? I mean, I thought it wouldn't be possible for me to hate reality television more, so kudos to CBS for that one, at least, I guess.
So... midseason. Not as great as I'd hoped, but not bad. The Sopranos ending felt a little too precious and "look how clever I am" to me, and while I give David Chase full credit for guts, I also have little patience for these "it's more real" type endings, in whatever medium. Yeah, it's more real... guess what? You ain't writing reality. Fictional endings have resolutions, there's supposed to be payoff to all the build-up. Damages and Rescue Me both lost my interest well before the midway point. The 4400 is testing my patience with its comedic plotlines that we're clearly meant to take seriously (The Marked? A de-aging drink? Really?) and Big Love, though I watched it all the way through, has more or less lost me. I find almost every character (except Margene) to be completely compromised, and Bill, the lead, is a complete shitheel, which I don't think is what the producers want us to think.
Actually, HBO is dangerously close to getting canceled off my cable bill. Entourage is still (just barely) watchable, but nowhere near as engaging as it was, and I'm guessing it's going to get worse instead of better. Even if John From Cincinnati had come back for a second season, it wasn't must-see enough that I couldn't wait on DVD. Tell Me You Love Me, despite all the critical praise, bored the living hell out of me. The only thing HBO has left is Curb Your Enthusiasm, and I'm not sure that's enough for the monthly bill... I'll probably ride out the Curb season, and then if there's nothing promising on the horizon, HBO is gone.
Showtime might make a re-appearance, though. Weeds has been great thus far this season and I've heard good things about Dexter. The first episode of Californication didn't do much for me, but if Dexter wins me over, and if Showtime starts developing shows the way HBO did a few years ago, they might steal the pay TV spotlight for me. Best midseason show, though? Burn Notice, on USA, just the right side of cheesy with a terrific lead actor, just enough Bruce Campbell for flavor and plenty of clever spycraft courtesy of consulting producer Michael Wilson. Can't wait for it to come back from tennis-induced hiatus.
As for the fall season? Well, it looks kinda dire for new shows, but there are a lot of shows hitting their stride in second and third seasons, so it's not as bad as I thought. I first did this rundown based on information from the upfronts in late May, but I've seen and heard more on the shows by now, and some timeslots have changed, so here we go again.
SUNDAY
Honestly? There's nothing I watch on this night. Good thing, as it'd be up against HBO's last remaining toehold in my interest, Curb Your Enthusiasm. But I might start watching Family Guy again, if it doesn't conflict with Curb.
MONDAY
8:00 p.m. How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - I've gone from "I could take or leave this show" to loving it, mostly from re-watching summer reruns and realizing how great the cast is and how good the comedic timing is. Entertainment Weekly had a great write-up in their Fall Preview by Whitney Pastorek that further cemented my interest. (September 24)
8:00 p.m.: Chuck (NBC) - I still like the basic concept of this one, still enjoyed the teaser, and the buzz is pretty solid. Unfortunately, it's been moved up against How I Met Your Mother. Fortunately, I have two Tivos, one in the office, one in the living room. Unfortunately, stuff that gets recorded only on the office Tivo sometimes doesn't get watched. And I like to have HIMYM on both Tivos, so I can re-watch in the office while on the computer. So Chuck *might* get a spot on the office Tivo, but if it doesn't grab me immediately, it'll lose out to HIMYM reruns. (September 24)
9:00 p.m. K-Ville (FOX) - Anthony Anderson in a cop drama set in New Orleans, and I really want to like that. But I'm sort of inclined to distrust FOX on new shows, since they're likely to cancel anything that's actually good, and why get invested. Also, and more of a deal-breaker, it's on opposite Heroes. Still, this one will get the same chance Chuck did on the office Tivo, and if it's great, it'll survive. It also gets the benefit of one week without Heroes competition, which means it gets a one-week tryout on the living room Tivo. (September 17)
9:00 p.m.: Heroes (NBC) - Every little bit of info about season two, from casting to plot hints, has me excited to see it again, despite the lame season finale. (September 24)
10:00 p.m.: Journeyman (NBC) - In my initial writeup, I said that I was getting a lame vibe, and I failed to figure out where lead actor Kevin McKidd came from. Now I know that McKidd played the tortured soldier Lucius Verenus in Rome, and I've seen some of the slick promo spots NBC has put together for this time-traveling drama, and I'm definitely intrigued. It also has no timeslot competition. So it gets a shot. (September 24)
TUESDAY
9:00 p.m.: Reaper (CW) - I really wanted to abandon the CW after they abandoned Veronica Mars. But damn it, the geek buzz on this thing is huge. The pilot is directed by Kevin Smith, the production values make it look like a quirky Barry Sonnenfeld/Bryan Fuller show (although that show is actually Pushing Daisies, more on that later) and now that the timeslot competition of Chuck has been moved away, I'm definitely going to be watching. (September 25)
10:00 Cane (CBS) - I'm rooting for this to die so that Nestor Carbonell can get back to what will almost certainly be a more interesting role on Lost.
WEDNESDAY
8:00 p.m.: Pushing Daisies (ABC) - Weird, intriguing premise, pushed over the top because the guy behind it is Bryan Fuller, of Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls. Pushed even further because of Barry Sonnenfeld's involvement. I love the tone these guys bring to their work, and I like the weird premise (guy whose touch can bring someone back to life, but then he can't touch them ever again without undoing the gift, and one of the first people he brings back is his girlfriend) and the comic book promo I picked up in San Diego. It's between this and Reaper as my most anticipated new show. (October 3)
8:00 p.m.: Back to You (FOX) - It sounds like an NBC show, with Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton as co-anchors of a local news show, and it features Fred Willard, which is always a good sign. This is supposed to be a good, classic comedy, and it could win a place in my heart like How I Met Your Mother did. Since it starts a week early, on September 19, it has two weeks to earn a spot on my office Tivo before Pushing Daisies starts.
9:00 p.m.: Bionic Woman (NBC) - Buzz on this one has been disappointing, and I wasn't all that interested in the first place. It doesn't have any timeslot competition, though, so it'll get at least a couple episodes. But there's plenty to watch, and not enough time in the day, so if it isn't really good, it's gone. (September 26)
9:00 p.m.: Gossip Girl (CW) - A show about rich bitch girls and their trashy lives? Even having it narrated by Kristen Bell can't make me watch this, although if she was narrating it in character as Veronica Mars, calling these girls out for their inane lifestyles... well, that might do it. Happily, I can get my Bell fix on Heroes this season.
THURSDAY
Must-See TV is back on NBC on Thursdays, much to my surprise. I don't think there's anything (even Lost and Heroes) that could tear me away from 30 Rock, The Office and Scrubs. Fortunately, there's nothing else worth watching on Thursday nights. Except Ugly Betty, which is reportedly good but doesn't really strike me as that interesting. I'm going to watch season one on DVD, though, and if I'm wrong, I'll watch season two on DVD as well... because there's no way I'm not watching 30 Rock. Oh, and America? If you choose "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?" over Earl and 30 Rock, I'm breaking up with you.
8-8:30 p.m.: My Name Is Earl (NBC) (September 27)
8:30-9 p.m.: 30 Rock (NBC) (October 4)
9-9:30 p.m.: The Office (NBC) (September 27)
9:30-10 p.m.: Scrubs (NBC) (October 25)
FRIDAY
9:00 Friday Night Lights (NBC) - Goddamn, is this show good. I passed it up last season, just like everybody else, because I didn't have much interest in high school football. But after unanimous critical praise, putting it in the same box as "great TV nobody is watching" like Arrested Development, I gave the DVDs a shot by renting the first one from Netflix. After watching the first disc, I went out and bought the DVD set the next day, because I didn't want to wait for them to arrive in the mail. This is a fantastic show, well-written, well-acted and well-directed. This is a drama about football for people who don't care about (or even better, actually dislike) football. I'm a geek, and the jock is my natural enemy, and I'm still completely wrapped up in this drama of high school jocks, coaches and their families. Even more than Heroes, this is the drama I'm most looking forward to seeing back on the air. (October 5)
My predictions for the season, based largely on what I'm excited about?
BEST NEW HOUR-LONG: Pushing Daisies on ABC
BEST NEW SITCOM: Back To You on FOX (Admittedly, there's almost no competition for this slot)
BEST RETURNING HOUR-LONG: Friday Night Lights on NBC
BEST RETURNING SITCOM: 30 Rock (Although it's really a three-way tie with The Office and How I Met Your Mother)
So... midseason. Not as great as I'd hoped, but not bad. The Sopranos ending felt a little too precious and "look how clever I am" to me, and while I give David Chase full credit for guts, I also have little patience for these "it's more real" type endings, in whatever medium. Yeah, it's more real... guess what? You ain't writing reality. Fictional endings have resolutions, there's supposed to be payoff to all the build-up. Damages and Rescue Me both lost my interest well before the midway point. The 4400 is testing my patience with its comedic plotlines that we're clearly meant to take seriously (The Marked? A de-aging drink? Really?) and Big Love, though I watched it all the way through, has more or less lost me. I find almost every character (except Margene) to be completely compromised, and Bill, the lead, is a complete shitheel, which I don't think is what the producers want us to think.
Actually, HBO is dangerously close to getting canceled off my cable bill. Entourage is still (just barely) watchable, but nowhere near as engaging as it was, and I'm guessing it's going to get worse instead of better. Even if John From Cincinnati had come back for a second season, it wasn't must-see enough that I couldn't wait on DVD. Tell Me You Love Me, despite all the critical praise, bored the living hell out of me. The only thing HBO has left is Curb Your Enthusiasm, and I'm not sure that's enough for the monthly bill... I'll probably ride out the Curb season, and then if there's nothing promising on the horizon, HBO is gone.
Showtime might make a re-appearance, though. Weeds has been great thus far this season and I've heard good things about Dexter. The first episode of Californication didn't do much for me, but if Dexter wins me over, and if Showtime starts developing shows the way HBO did a few years ago, they might steal the pay TV spotlight for me. Best midseason show, though? Burn Notice, on USA, just the right side of cheesy with a terrific lead actor, just enough Bruce Campbell for flavor and plenty of clever spycraft courtesy of consulting producer Michael Wilson. Can't wait for it to come back from tennis-induced hiatus.
As for the fall season? Well, it looks kinda dire for new shows, but there are a lot of shows hitting their stride in second and third seasons, so it's not as bad as I thought. I first did this rundown based on information from the upfronts in late May, but I've seen and heard more on the shows by now, and some timeslots have changed, so here we go again.
SUNDAY
Honestly? There's nothing I watch on this night. Good thing, as it'd be up against HBO's last remaining toehold in my interest, Curb Your Enthusiasm. But I might start watching Family Guy again, if it doesn't conflict with Curb.
MONDAY
8:00 p.m. How I Met Your Mother (CBS) - I've gone from "I could take or leave this show" to loving it, mostly from re-watching summer reruns and realizing how great the cast is and how good the comedic timing is. Entertainment Weekly had a great write-up in their Fall Preview by Whitney Pastorek that further cemented my interest. (September 24)
8:00 p.m.: Chuck (NBC) - I still like the basic concept of this one, still enjoyed the teaser, and the buzz is pretty solid. Unfortunately, it's been moved up against How I Met Your Mother. Fortunately, I have two Tivos, one in the office, one in the living room. Unfortunately, stuff that gets recorded only on the office Tivo sometimes doesn't get watched. And I like to have HIMYM on both Tivos, so I can re-watch in the office while on the computer. So Chuck *might* get a spot on the office Tivo, but if it doesn't grab me immediately, it'll lose out to HIMYM reruns. (September 24)
9:00 p.m. K-Ville (FOX) - Anthony Anderson in a cop drama set in New Orleans, and I really want to like that. But I'm sort of inclined to distrust FOX on new shows, since they're likely to cancel anything that's actually good, and why get invested. Also, and more of a deal-breaker, it's on opposite Heroes. Still, this one will get the same chance Chuck did on the office Tivo, and if it's great, it'll survive. It also gets the benefit of one week without Heroes competition, which means it gets a one-week tryout on the living room Tivo. (September 17)
9:00 p.m.: Heroes (NBC) - Every little bit of info about season two, from casting to plot hints, has me excited to see it again, despite the lame season finale. (September 24)
10:00 p.m.: Journeyman (NBC) - In my initial writeup, I said that I was getting a lame vibe, and I failed to figure out where lead actor Kevin McKidd came from. Now I know that McKidd played the tortured soldier Lucius Verenus in Rome, and I've seen some of the slick promo spots NBC has put together for this time-traveling drama, and I'm definitely intrigued. It also has no timeslot competition. So it gets a shot. (September 24)
TUESDAY
9:00 p.m.: Reaper (CW) - I really wanted to abandon the CW after they abandoned Veronica Mars. But damn it, the geek buzz on this thing is huge. The pilot is directed by Kevin Smith, the production values make it look like a quirky Barry Sonnenfeld/Bryan Fuller show (although that show is actually Pushing Daisies, more on that later) and now that the timeslot competition of Chuck has been moved away, I'm definitely going to be watching. (September 25)
10:00 Cane (CBS) - I'm rooting for this to die so that Nestor Carbonell can get back to what will almost certainly be a more interesting role on Lost.
WEDNESDAY
8:00 p.m.: Pushing Daisies (ABC) - Weird, intriguing premise, pushed over the top because the guy behind it is Bryan Fuller, of Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls. Pushed even further because of Barry Sonnenfeld's involvement. I love the tone these guys bring to their work, and I like the weird premise (guy whose touch can bring someone back to life, but then he can't touch them ever again without undoing the gift, and one of the first people he brings back is his girlfriend) and the comic book promo I picked up in San Diego. It's between this and Reaper as my most anticipated new show. (October 3)
8:00 p.m.: Back to You (FOX) - It sounds like an NBC show, with Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton as co-anchors of a local news show, and it features Fred Willard, which is always a good sign. This is supposed to be a good, classic comedy, and it could win a place in my heart like How I Met Your Mother did. Since it starts a week early, on September 19, it has two weeks to earn a spot on my office Tivo before Pushing Daisies starts.
9:00 p.m.: Bionic Woman (NBC) - Buzz on this one has been disappointing, and I wasn't all that interested in the first place. It doesn't have any timeslot competition, though, so it'll get at least a couple episodes. But there's plenty to watch, and not enough time in the day, so if it isn't really good, it's gone. (September 26)
9:00 p.m.: Gossip Girl (CW) - A show about rich bitch girls and their trashy lives? Even having it narrated by Kristen Bell can't make me watch this, although if she was narrating it in character as Veronica Mars, calling these girls out for their inane lifestyles... well, that might do it. Happily, I can get my Bell fix on Heroes this season.
THURSDAY
Must-See TV is back on NBC on Thursdays, much to my surprise. I don't think there's anything (even Lost and Heroes) that could tear me away from 30 Rock, The Office and Scrubs. Fortunately, there's nothing else worth watching on Thursday nights. Except Ugly Betty, which is reportedly good but doesn't really strike me as that interesting. I'm going to watch season one on DVD, though, and if I'm wrong, I'll watch season two on DVD as well... because there's no way I'm not watching 30 Rock. Oh, and America? If you choose "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?" over Earl and 30 Rock, I'm breaking up with you.
8-8:30 p.m.: My Name Is Earl (NBC) (September 27)
8:30-9 p.m.: 30 Rock (NBC) (October 4)
9-9:30 p.m.: The Office (NBC) (September 27)
9:30-10 p.m.: Scrubs (NBC) (October 25)
FRIDAY
9:00 Friday Night Lights (NBC) - Goddamn, is this show good. I passed it up last season, just like everybody else, because I didn't have much interest in high school football. But after unanimous critical praise, putting it in the same box as "great TV nobody is watching" like Arrested Development, I gave the DVDs a shot by renting the first one from Netflix. After watching the first disc, I went out and bought the DVD set the next day, because I didn't want to wait for them to arrive in the mail. This is a fantastic show, well-written, well-acted and well-directed. This is a drama about football for people who don't care about (or even better, actually dislike) football. I'm a geek, and the jock is my natural enemy, and I'm still completely wrapped up in this drama of high school jocks, coaches and their families. Even more than Heroes, this is the drama I'm most looking forward to seeing back on the air. (October 5)
My predictions for the season, based largely on what I'm excited about?
BEST NEW HOUR-LONG: Pushing Daisies on ABC
BEST NEW SITCOM: Back To You on FOX (Admittedly, there's almost no competition for this slot)
BEST RETURNING HOUR-LONG: Friday Night Lights on NBC
BEST RETURNING SITCOM: 30 Rock (Although it's really a three-way tie with The Office and How I Met Your Mother)
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Kid Nation
I'm reluctant to even mention CBS's vile new reality show Kid Nation for fear of accidentally making someone aware of it who was blissfully unaware, but look over here:
This is a column by Maureen Ryan, a TV critic at The Chicago Tribune, talking about the reprehensible show. She's eloquent, focused and dead on target. Never once does she call Kid Nation a pus-soaked wart on the ass of modern society. Or point out that making this show is a good sign of just how soulless the producers and executives of Kid Nation are. Or suggest that every single parent who was stupid and cruel enough to sign their kid up for this televised Darwinian experiment should be lined up against a wall and shot and their kids given over to someone who might have an interest in raising them instead of using them to git on the teevee.
In response to this strong-worded but restrained piece, there's a discussion that ensues wherein people present all kinds of strawmen argument about Boy Scout camp and kids being coddled and how "we haven't seen the show yet." It's not uncommon when reading the Internet to want to reach in and throttle some clueless commenter, but I have rarely seen it so frequent as in that thread, where every intelligent or even just sane voice is shouted down by two or three yahoos with a half-assed stupid opinion about not coddling kids by making sure that they don't drink bleach or light themselves on fire.
The parents who put their kids up for this show failed on the most basic level they could, and should really go out and kill themselves now. Really, it's for the good of our collective intelligence.
This is a column by Maureen Ryan, a TV critic at The Chicago Tribune, talking about the reprehensible show. She's eloquent, focused and dead on target. Never once does she call Kid Nation a pus-soaked wart on the ass of modern society. Or point out that making this show is a good sign of just how soulless the producers and executives of Kid Nation are. Or suggest that every single parent who was stupid and cruel enough to sign their kid up for this televised Darwinian experiment should be lined up against a wall and shot and their kids given over to someone who might have an interest in raising them instead of using them to git on the teevee.
In response to this strong-worded but restrained piece, there's a discussion that ensues wherein people present all kinds of strawmen argument about Boy Scout camp and kids being coddled and how "we haven't seen the show yet." It's not uncommon when reading the Internet to want to reach in and throttle some clueless commenter, but I have rarely seen it so frequent as in that thread, where every intelligent or even just sane voice is shouted down by two or three yahoos with a half-assed stupid opinion about not coddling kids by making sure that they don't drink bleach or light themselves on fire.
The parents who put their kids up for this show failed on the most basic level they could, and should really go out and kill themselves now. Really, it's for the good of our collective intelligence.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
I Love The Fratellis
It's been a stressful week, and I'm in for at least a couple more stressful ones in September. Busy time of year, lots of stuff going on, etc., etc.
But on the other hand, I finally went and bought The Fratellis album and I'll be damned... every song on it is good. Most are great. I can't remember the last time I had that reaction to an album. And then there's this video, which is all kinds of awesome:
Not just because the girls are hawt, but also because I have a fondness for the '40s pinup girl style cheesecake and also, the song is great. Oh, and since my good friend Nate Southard brought it up, I also like Los Lonely Boys. Didn't know they were from Austin, though. And I've only heard one of their songs (the one they were using on promos for Jeff Goldblum's short-lived show), so it's possible the rest of it is crap.
But on the other hand, I finally went and bought The Fratellis album and I'll be damned... every song on it is good. Most are great. I can't remember the last time I had that reaction to an album. And then there's this video, which is all kinds of awesome:
Not just because the girls are hawt, but also because I have a fondness for the '40s pinup girl style cheesecake and also, the song is great. Oh, and since my good friend Nate Southard brought it up, I also like Los Lonely Boys. Didn't know they were from Austin, though. And I've only heard one of their songs (the one they were using on promos for Jeff Goldblum's short-lived show), so it's possible the rest of it is crap.
Weekly Comics to Come for 9/6/07
TOP FIVE
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #6 (Vaughan writing a story focused on Faith, one of my favorite characters in Buffy... looking forward to this)
DMZ Vol 3 Public Works TP (The best DMZ story so far... until the arc after it came up. Book keeps getting better and better)
Incredible Hulk #110 (One of the best Hulk stories I've read in the last ten years)
Lobster Johnson The Iron Prometheus #1 (The rare property where the spinoffs are actually just as good or better than the main book. Mignola keeps his hand on the reins, but brings in a terrific artist, Jason Armstrong, to handle the art on this pulp hero style book)
True Story Swear To God Image Ed #8 (Every issue is a delight)
THE REST
30 Days Of Night Red Snow #1 (Ben Templesmith writes *and* draws this tale of WWII era bloodsuckers)
Annihilation Conquest Wraith #3 (Some nice moody space action after last issue's somewhat lackluster origin/torture issue)
Black Canary Wedding Planner (Sure to be a fun, if weird, offering)
Captain America Chosen #1 (I'm expecting hand-wringing post-9-11 boring Cap, but hoping for action from the writer of First Blood)
Infinity Inc #1 (Steel and his niece. I know, I'm yawning too... but it is written by Peter Milligan)
Iron Man Enter Mandarin #1 (Fun retro Iron Man story by Joe Casey, in the vein of his Earth's Mightiest Heroes, which is both good and bad. Terrific artwork by Eric Canete)
Lucha Libre #1 (Mexican wrestlers battle crime, art looks amazing... what's not to love?)
New Warriors #4 (Really good issue deepening the mystery of Who Is Night Thrasher?)
Punisher War Journal Vol 1 Civil War TP (Now I need to give this a re-read, since I'm digging Fraction's other Marvel work so much)
Sentences The Life Of M F Grimm HC (Preview art on this book about a rapper looked phenomenal)
Shanna She-Devil Survival Of The Fittest #2 (Kind of fun adventure comic, with 20% more cheesecake than most)
Sorrow #1 (This post-nuclear ghost story looks like fun, and has gorgeous covers)
Uncanny X-Men #490 (Brubaker's conspiracy/terrorist Morlock story has been pretty solid, better than his spacefaring storyline in my opinion)
Y The Last Man #58 (Only two more issues left after this one, and it's not keeping a monthly schedule, which is just mean)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #6 (Vaughan writing a story focused on Faith, one of my favorite characters in Buffy... looking forward to this)
DMZ Vol 3 Public Works TP (The best DMZ story so far... until the arc after it came up. Book keeps getting better and better)
Incredible Hulk #110 (One of the best Hulk stories I've read in the last ten years)
Lobster Johnson The Iron Prometheus #1 (The rare property where the spinoffs are actually just as good or better than the main book. Mignola keeps his hand on the reins, but brings in a terrific artist, Jason Armstrong, to handle the art on this pulp hero style book)
True Story Swear To God Image Ed #8 (Every issue is a delight)
THE REST
30 Days Of Night Red Snow #1 (Ben Templesmith writes *and* draws this tale of WWII era bloodsuckers)
Annihilation Conquest Wraith #3 (Some nice moody space action after last issue's somewhat lackluster origin/torture issue)
Black Canary Wedding Planner (Sure to be a fun, if weird, offering)
Captain America Chosen #1 (I'm expecting hand-wringing post-9-11 boring Cap, but hoping for action from the writer of First Blood)
Infinity Inc #1 (Steel and his niece. I know, I'm yawning too... but it is written by Peter Milligan)
Iron Man Enter Mandarin #1 (Fun retro Iron Man story by Joe Casey, in the vein of his Earth's Mightiest Heroes, which is both good and bad. Terrific artwork by Eric Canete)
Lucha Libre #1 (Mexican wrestlers battle crime, art looks amazing... what's not to love?)
New Warriors #4 (Really good issue deepening the mystery of Who Is Night Thrasher?)
Punisher War Journal Vol 1 Civil War TP (Now I need to give this a re-read, since I'm digging Fraction's other Marvel work so much)
Sentences The Life Of M F Grimm HC (Preview art on this book about a rapper looked phenomenal)
Shanna She-Devil Survival Of The Fittest #2 (Kind of fun adventure comic, with 20% more cheesecake than most)
Sorrow #1 (This post-nuclear ghost story looks like fun, and has gorgeous covers)
Uncanny X-Men #490 (Brubaker's conspiracy/terrorist Morlock story has been pretty solid, better than his spacefaring storyline in my opinion)
Y The Last Man #58 (Only two more issues left after this one, and it's not keeping a monthly schedule, which is just mean)
Blog Update for August
This is the latest monthly update to the left column of the blog, updating my favorite comics and TV for the previous month. The listings are alphabetical, not by rank of how much I liked them in comparison. My criteria for what makes the list is when I read them, not necessarily when they were published. This is basically also my own records of what I read/liked for the inevitable "End of Year" lists I feel like making.
I thought July was a good month for comics, but August might have actually been better. A couple books snuck in from the last week of July (like Immortal Iron Fist #7, which was amazing, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer #5, the best issue of that series so far), but mostly, it was great books crowding out other great books. There's a pretty good spread of most publishers, with 2 indies (Mouse Guard & Toupydoops), 2 Image (Dynamo 5 and Invincible) and 3 Dark Horse (BPRD, Hellboy & Buffy). DC bumps up to 5 if you count all their imprints (a lone book from the DCU, a lone book from Wildstorm and three from Vertigo) and Marvel once again really has its hooks in me, with 8 books, almost half of my top 20 for the month. Of those 8, two feature Ed Brubaker, two feature Matt Fraction and two feature Jeff Parker. Fair to say those three guys are in my top 10 writers of the moment. Probably the top five. As for the stuff that almost made the cut? There's well over a dozen, many of which easily would have made a Top 20 in a lighter month. McDuffie and Pelletier on Fantastic Four #548-549. Kirkman and Adlard on Walking Dead #40-41. Fear Agent Last Goodbye #2 was also great post-apocalypse action and survival tales. Brubaker's got Daredevil #99 and Captain America #29. New Warriors #3 offered up great twists and turns. Local #10 featured the Austin area and one of the few bars I've been to in town, Beerland. Usagi Yojimbo #104-105 were great as always. Spirit #9 started what is probably the over-arcing tale closing out the Cooke/Bone run. Green Arrow Year One #3-4 continued a strong bi-weekly story. Annihilation Conquest Quasar #2 and Wraith #2 were pretty solid reads. And then there were the debuts, like Brit #1, Flash #231 and Terror Inc. #1, all fun stuff.
There are only a couple graphic novels that didn't make the cut this month, Shannon Wheeler's Screw Heaven, When I Die I'm Going to Mars from Dark Horse and Rose & Isabel Parts One and Two by Ted Mathot, which I finally got around to finishing. Both were very good, but didn't quite bump out any of the other good stuff I read this month. My desire to actually read books again has cut into my comics-reading (and TV-watching, and videogame-playing) time, and this month I read The Golden Compass (very good) and Kitchen Confidential (very funny and interesting, and man could I not be a chef). Next month I'll probably read the next two books in His Dark Materials trilogy, the new Greg Rucka novel Patriot Acts, and maybe start on the Alton Brown book I'm Just Here For The Food that I bought my wife for her birthday a couple years back.
In August, I started to watch Mad Men, based on a number of critics I like who loved it, but I just couldn't get into it. I really enjoyed the first episode, and the look and feel of the period is great, but I stopped and started the second episode about six times and just couldn't stay engaged. I gave up on a lot of shows this month, actually. I realized, with three episodes on the Tivo and no particular interest in watching them, that it was probably time to go ahead and give up on Rescue Me. I finished John From Cincinnati, although just barely, and I think my final estimation is that it's a mediocre show with genius in it. I invested a fair amount of time and got zero payoff. If JFC were actually the reason HBO canceled Deadwood (and it isn't), I'd have been pretty pissed. I have watched the first episode of Damages, which I'd qualify as "OK," but never got around to watching the remaining episodes on my Tivo, which means I probably never will. And Entourage is just barely hanging on, I'm watching purely on momentum now, same with Big Love (although that show is demonstrably superior, I just don't have as much intrinsic interest in the premise)... HBO better come up with something impressive in their next crop of shows, or, despite my love for HBO On Demand, I might go back to DVD spot watching those few shows they have that interest me, like Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Especially since Showtime has Weeds, which kicked off a great third season. True, Californication was weak, but I hear good things about Dexter, and two great shows could overshadow HBO at the moment. Especially since I haven't seen much The Wire, and thus I've got tons of seasons of that on DVD when I finally get time to sit down and give it the attention it deserves. I was also pleased to see Alton Brown's Feasting on Asphalt return for a second season. Burn Notice continued to grow on me, and is probably my favorite show of the moment. So of course, it's going on hiatus until tennis season (or whatever) is over, several weeks from now. I'm a little less enthused about The 4400 on USA, although as of right now I'm still watching it. And of course, I sprinkle viewings of Daily Show, Colbert Report and Countdown throughout.
I added a ton of new links to the RSS feeds this month, helped a great deal by post-San Diego linkblogging and business cards gained during the show. Added feeds for a half-dozen artists, new comic blogs from Marc-Oliver Frisch, Laura Hudson, Bahlactus, Jason Michelitch, Valerie D'Orazio and my first ever video podcast from Blair Butler. Added another TV critic from the Chicago Tribune via links from the TV critics I already read, and added feeds for CNN Politics (2008 election stuff is starting to piss me off, which means it must be time to become more avid in following it) and realized that I had somehow lost the feed for Whitney Matheson's excellent pop culture blog Pop Candy when I migrated over to Google Reader in the first place. Even better, she's got a podcast, too! Oh, and I figured out how to share my feeds from Google reader, so each category now has a link to the shared feed.
I thought July was a good month for comics, but August might have actually been better. A couple books snuck in from the last week of July (like Immortal Iron Fist #7, which was amazing, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer #5, the best issue of that series so far), but mostly, it was great books crowding out other great books. There's a pretty good spread of most publishers, with 2 indies (Mouse Guard & Toupydoops), 2 Image (Dynamo 5 and Invincible) and 3 Dark Horse (BPRD, Hellboy & Buffy). DC bumps up to 5 if you count all their imprints (a lone book from the DCU, a lone book from Wildstorm and three from Vertigo) and Marvel once again really has its hooks in me, with 8 books, almost half of my top 20 for the month. Of those 8, two feature Ed Brubaker, two feature Matt Fraction and two feature Jeff Parker. Fair to say those three guys are in my top 10 writers of the moment. Probably the top five. As for the stuff that almost made the cut? There's well over a dozen, many of which easily would have made a Top 20 in a lighter month. McDuffie and Pelletier on Fantastic Four #548-549. Kirkman and Adlard on Walking Dead #40-41. Fear Agent Last Goodbye #2 was also great post-apocalypse action and survival tales. Brubaker's got Daredevil #99 and Captain America #29. New Warriors #3 offered up great twists and turns. Local #10 featured the Austin area and one of the few bars I've been to in town, Beerland. Usagi Yojimbo #104-105 were great as always. Spirit #9 started what is probably the over-arcing tale closing out the Cooke/Bone run. Green Arrow Year One #3-4 continued a strong bi-weekly story. Annihilation Conquest Quasar #2 and Wraith #2 were pretty solid reads. And then there were the debuts, like Brit #1, Flash #231 and Terror Inc. #1, all fun stuff.
There are only a couple graphic novels that didn't make the cut this month, Shannon Wheeler's Screw Heaven, When I Die I'm Going to Mars from Dark Horse and Rose & Isabel Parts One and Two by Ted Mathot, which I finally got around to finishing. Both were very good, but didn't quite bump out any of the other good stuff I read this month. My desire to actually read books again has cut into my comics-reading (and TV-watching, and videogame-playing) time, and this month I read The Golden Compass (very good) and Kitchen Confidential (very funny and interesting, and man could I not be a chef). Next month I'll probably read the next two books in His Dark Materials trilogy, the new Greg Rucka novel Patriot Acts, and maybe start on the Alton Brown book I'm Just Here For The Food that I bought my wife for her birthday a couple years back.
In August, I started to watch Mad Men, based on a number of critics I like who loved it, but I just couldn't get into it. I really enjoyed the first episode, and the look and feel of the period is great, but I stopped and started the second episode about six times and just couldn't stay engaged. I gave up on a lot of shows this month, actually. I realized, with three episodes on the Tivo and no particular interest in watching them, that it was probably time to go ahead and give up on Rescue Me. I finished John From Cincinnati, although just barely, and I think my final estimation is that it's a mediocre show with genius in it. I invested a fair amount of time and got zero payoff. If JFC were actually the reason HBO canceled Deadwood (and it isn't), I'd have been pretty pissed. I have watched the first episode of Damages, which I'd qualify as "OK," but never got around to watching the remaining episodes on my Tivo, which means I probably never will. And Entourage is just barely hanging on, I'm watching purely on momentum now, same with Big Love (although that show is demonstrably superior, I just don't have as much intrinsic interest in the premise)... HBO better come up with something impressive in their next crop of shows, or, despite my love for HBO On Demand, I might go back to DVD spot watching those few shows they have that interest me, like Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Especially since Showtime has Weeds, which kicked off a great third season. True, Californication was weak, but I hear good things about Dexter, and two great shows could overshadow HBO at the moment. Especially since I haven't seen much The Wire, and thus I've got tons of seasons of that on DVD when I finally get time to sit down and give it the attention it deserves. I was also pleased to see Alton Brown's Feasting on Asphalt return for a second season. Burn Notice continued to grow on me, and is probably my favorite show of the moment. So of course, it's going on hiatus until tennis season (or whatever) is over, several weeks from now. I'm a little less enthused about The 4400 on USA, although as of right now I'm still watching it. And of course, I sprinkle viewings of Daily Show, Colbert Report and Countdown throughout.
I added a ton of new links to the RSS feeds this month, helped a great deal by post-San Diego linkblogging and business cards gained during the show. Added feeds for a half-dozen artists, new comic blogs from Marc-Oliver Frisch, Laura Hudson, Bahlactus, Jason Michelitch, Valerie D'Orazio and my first ever video podcast from Blair Butler. Added another TV critic from the Chicago Tribune via links from the TV critics I already read, and added feeds for CNN Politics (2008 election stuff is starting to piss me off, which means it must be time to become more avid in following it) and realized that I had somehow lost the feed for Whitney Matheson's excellent pop culture blog Pop Candy when I migrated over to Google Reader in the first place. Even better, she's got a podcast, too! Oh, and I figured out how to share my feeds from Google reader, so each category now has a link to the shared feed.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - August 29th, 2007
TOP FIVE
Brit #1 (Invincible fans should definitely pick up this return to an earlier Kirkman creation, it's a very fun first issue with strong art by Cliff Rathburn)
Fantastic Four #549 (I love seeing Black Panther and Reed Richards playing off each other, as written by McDuffie. And the rest of the book is really good too)
Hellboy Darkness Calls #5 (Stunning art by Duncan Fegredo, great monsters and action by Mignola, terrific book)
Local #10 (Finally, the Austin issue! Looking forward to Wood & Kelly's rendition of my town)
Manhunter Vol 3 Origins TP (The first volume was good, the second great, and as I recall, the third as good or better than the second. Can't wait for the relaunch)
THE REST
American Virgin #18 (I've been really enjoying this latest story, and I believe this begins a Ryan Kelly guest art stint, which is cool)
Avengers Initiative #5 (Some good stuff, some really weak stuff, good art... I want to like this book so much more than I actually do)
Fone Bone Plush Toy (These look great, saw them in San Diego)
Hack Slash Series #4 (Really fun B-movie horror/action stuff, as always)
Incredible Change Bots GN (Hilarious geek appreciation and making fun of the Transformers by Jeffrey Brown)
Previews Vol XVII #9 (Down the Line is in the works... now if only our site would come back online... stupid hosting company)
Punks The Summer Comics Special (Been anticipating this for a while, crazy experimental comic from Josh Fialkov and Kody Chamberlain)
Transformers Spotlight Optimus Prime (The big O (no, not Oprah) gets his own comic)
Usagi Yojimbo #105 (The two-part origin of Jei was creepy and great, and the book is, as always, terrific)
Walking Dead #41 (Wow, two issues in two weeks... and I'm guessing we're ramping up to some major goings-on now, with an invasion by the "evil" forces of the other town)
Wasteland #11 (I'm so behind on this story... I've read them all, but it hasn't gelled in my head... I really need a second trade to catch up)
Brit #1 (Invincible fans should definitely pick up this return to an earlier Kirkman creation, it's a very fun first issue with strong art by Cliff Rathburn)
Fantastic Four #549 (I love seeing Black Panther and Reed Richards playing off each other, as written by McDuffie. And the rest of the book is really good too)
Hellboy Darkness Calls #5 (Stunning art by Duncan Fegredo, great monsters and action by Mignola, terrific book)
Local #10 (Finally, the Austin issue! Looking forward to Wood & Kelly's rendition of my town)
Manhunter Vol 3 Origins TP (The first volume was good, the second great, and as I recall, the third as good or better than the second. Can't wait for the relaunch)
THE REST
American Virgin #18 (I've been really enjoying this latest story, and I believe this begins a Ryan Kelly guest art stint, which is cool)
Avengers Initiative #5 (Some good stuff, some really weak stuff, good art... I want to like this book so much more than I actually do)
Fone Bone Plush Toy (These look great, saw them in San Diego)
Hack Slash Series #4 (Really fun B-movie horror/action stuff, as always)
Incredible Change Bots GN (Hilarious geek appreciation and making fun of the Transformers by Jeffrey Brown)
Previews Vol XVII #9 (Down the Line is in the works... now if only our site would come back online... stupid hosting company)
Punks The Summer Comics Special (Been anticipating this for a while, crazy experimental comic from Josh Fialkov and Kody Chamberlain)
Transformers Spotlight Optimus Prime (The big O (no, not Oprah) gets his own comic)
Usagi Yojimbo #105 (The two-part origin of Jei was creepy and great, and the book is, as always, terrific)
Walking Dead #41 (Wow, two issues in two weeks... and I'm guessing we're ramping up to some major goings-on now, with an invasion by the "evil" forces of the other town)
Wasteland #11 (I'm so behind on this story... I've read them all, but it hasn't gelled in my head... I really need a second trade to catch up)
A Little Current Events Ranting
So I went to CNN to find a link about Alberto Gonzales resigning, because I wanted to post a little something. But I found another link I want to talk about more, so let me just say, the news that Alberto Gonzales is retiring could only be made better if the word "resigning" actually meant "being devoured by rabid wolverines." And that definition could be retroactively applied to Karl Rove as well.
That said... do you believe this shit? Michael Vick, scumbag football player who organized dogfights, may not do jail time. May come back to the NFL. May get off the hook because, on what amounts to the third draft of his apology after he floated out a "no comment" type thing early and then a "it was the other guys, I never made any money off it" on Friday, he says he "found Jesus" as a result of this.
Really? You found him? What did Jesus have to say about you being the organizer of a dog-fighting ring? Was it something like the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank (that last name apparently a comment on his fucking soul), who said in the article, "We cannot tell you today that Michael is cut from the team. Cutting him may feel better emotionally for us and for many of our fans, but it's not in the long-term best interests of our franchise," Blank said.
Your franchise? YOUR FRANCHISE?
Oh, heaven forbid your professional football team have an off season in any way because one of your team members actually managed to push past the acceptable doping, date-raping, violent macho bullshit they get away with every day and find something socially unacceptable.
I watched pro football for a while there, and got kinda bored with it. Now I'm glad, because it means not having to justify supporting the kind of scum that seemingly make up the ranks of pro sports more and more these days, from the dog-fight-organizing pros to the apologist "anything for a win" coaches and owners.
That said... do you believe this shit? Michael Vick, scumbag football player who organized dogfights, may not do jail time. May come back to the NFL. May get off the hook because, on what amounts to the third draft of his apology after he floated out a "no comment" type thing early and then a "it was the other guys, I never made any money off it" on Friday, he says he "found Jesus" as a result of this.
Really? You found him? What did Jesus have to say about you being the organizer of a dog-fighting ring? Was it something like the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank (that last name apparently a comment on his fucking soul), who said in the article, "We cannot tell you today that Michael is cut from the team. Cutting him may feel better emotionally for us and for many of our fans, but it's not in the long-term best interests of our franchise," Blank said.
Your franchise? YOUR FRANCHISE?
Oh, heaven forbid your professional football team have an off season in any way because one of your team members actually managed to push past the acceptable doping, date-raping, violent macho bullshit they get away with every day and find something socially unacceptable.
I watched pro football for a while there, and got kinda bored with it. Now I'm glad, because it means not having to justify supporting the kind of scum that seemingly make up the ranks of pro sports more and more these days, from the dog-fight-organizing pros to the apologist "anything for a win" coaches and owners.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
The 2008 Presidential Election is gonna suck, isn't it?
Not since the Al Gore/GW Bush election in 2000 have I had such a dire feeling of "Death or Chi-Chi?" in my political choices. Seriously, if it's Clinton vs. Romney (or pretty much any of the Republican contenders of the moment) in 2008, I don't know if I want to vote. Because I honestly don't believe either one will represent me. And I've seen how well third party voting works out in 2000.
I mean, I knew Clinton was a cynical political operator even before this:
But now there's this:
If the next President isn't looking for an exit strategy from Iraq on day one, they aren't my candidate. But depressingly, it seems like the Democratic political machine is embracing Hilary, even though Obama or Edwards is probably a lot more electable with the rest of the electorate. It's the same kind of hive-bound, internal politics thinking that has gotten them to where they are today.
I mean, I knew Clinton was a cynical political operator even before this:
But now there's this:
If the next President isn't looking for an exit strategy from Iraq on day one, they aren't my candidate. But depressingly, it seems like the Democratic political machine is embracing Hilary, even though Obama or Edwards is probably a lot more electable with the rest of the electorate. It's the same kind of hive-bound, internal politics thinking that has gotten them to where they are today.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - August 22, 2007
TOP FIVE
Immortal Iron Fist #8 (Beginning the martial arts tournament, and it's great)
Mouse Guard Winter 1152 #1 (Saw a little of this in San Diego, it looked gorgeous, looking forward to reading it)
The Order #2 (The new character focused on in this issue is terrific, and it continues to be exactly what I want out of a modern superhero team book)
Thunderbolts #116 (Starting a new story arc, and it actually gives lameass emo boy Penance cool story moments... that's gotta be worth some extra points)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #3 (Fantastic, funny and clever and beautifully drawn, with a great short illustrated by Colleen Coover at the end)
THE REST
Annihilation Conquest Star Lord #2 (Dirty dozen in space, full of action, and the first death)
Amelia Rules #18 (An issue exploring what it's like for kids whose parents are soldiers in Iraq)
Comic Foundry Magazine #1 (New comics magazine, I've read the first issue and it's very good)
Death By Chocolate Redux GN (David Yurkovich's unusual, interesting superhero tales include a man whose powers can turn anything into chocolate, and that's not even the half of it. Great, innovative stuff in a new edition)
Green Arrow Year One #4 (More Diggle/Jock action comics)
Invincible #45 (This book is in really interesting story territory right now, and after re-reading the stories in the 3rd Ultimate collection, I'm very much in the mood for more)
Marvel Adventures Avengers #15 (Jeff Parker, Leonard Kirk... the Avengers in Asgard? Hell yeah)
Naoki Urasawas Monster Vol 10 (More great suspense from Urasawa)
Repo #3 (The Spears/G future/action book rushes towards its conclusion)
Spirit #9 (Only four more Cooke/Bone Spirit issues left, meaning each one is a rare treasure)
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #19 (Solid adventure Star Wars stuff, as always)
Surreal Adventures Of Edgar Allan Poo GN (Looks like beautiful art, strange story, and I've got a fondness for Poe)
Tellos Colossal Hc (I've only read scattered bits of Tellos, but knowing that this is the last we'll see of Mike Wieringo's non-superhero stuff, I absolutely want to give it a read in this complete form)
Terminator 2 Infinity #2 (First issue was pretty decent, I'll keep reading to see where it goes)
Toupydoops #6 (Yay! Another issue of the Hollywood as comics humor comic!)
Ultimate Spider Man 100 Project TP (Art book to benefit HERO Initiative)
Walking Dead #40 (Really digging the current story on this book as well)
White Picket Fences #3 ('50s alien invasion/young adventure comic)
Immortal Iron Fist #8 (Beginning the martial arts tournament, and it's great)
Mouse Guard Winter 1152 #1 (Saw a little of this in San Diego, it looked gorgeous, looking forward to reading it)
The Order #2 (The new character focused on in this issue is terrific, and it continues to be exactly what I want out of a modern superhero team book)
Thunderbolts #116 (Starting a new story arc, and it actually gives lameass emo boy Penance cool story moments... that's gotta be worth some extra points)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #3 (Fantastic, funny and clever and beautifully drawn, with a great short illustrated by Colleen Coover at the end)
THE REST
Annihilation Conquest Star Lord #2 (Dirty dozen in space, full of action, and the first death)
Amelia Rules #18 (An issue exploring what it's like for kids whose parents are soldiers in Iraq)
Comic Foundry Magazine #1 (New comics magazine, I've read the first issue and it's very good)
Death By Chocolate Redux GN (David Yurkovich's unusual, interesting superhero tales include a man whose powers can turn anything into chocolate, and that's not even the half of it. Great, innovative stuff in a new edition)
Green Arrow Year One #4 (More Diggle/Jock action comics)
Invincible #45 (This book is in really interesting story territory right now, and after re-reading the stories in the 3rd Ultimate collection, I'm very much in the mood for more)
Marvel Adventures Avengers #15 (Jeff Parker, Leonard Kirk... the Avengers in Asgard? Hell yeah)
Naoki Urasawas Monster Vol 10 (More great suspense from Urasawa)
Repo #3 (The Spears/G future/action book rushes towards its conclusion)
Spirit #9 (Only four more Cooke/Bone Spirit issues left, meaning each one is a rare treasure)
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #19 (Solid adventure Star Wars stuff, as always)
Surreal Adventures Of Edgar Allan Poo GN (Looks like beautiful art, strange story, and I've got a fondness for Poe)
Tellos Colossal Hc (I've only read scattered bits of Tellos, but knowing that this is the last we'll see of Mike Wieringo's non-superhero stuff, I absolutely want to give it a read in this complete form)
Terminator 2 Infinity #2 (First issue was pretty decent, I'll keep reading to see where it goes)
Toupydoops #6 (Yay! Another issue of the Hollywood as comics humor comic!)
Ultimate Spider Man 100 Project TP (Art book to benefit HERO Initiative)
Walking Dead #40 (Really digging the current story on this book as well)
White Picket Fences #3 ('50s alien invasion/young adventure comic)
Monday, August 13, 2007
In Memory of Mike Wieringo
I never got to meet Mike Wieringo. But I was a fan of his work, especially his collaborations with Mark Waid on Flash and Fantastic Four. And on Spider-Boy, the Amalgam one-shot he did with Karl Kesel. Wieringo's art showed the pure joy of comics, and I was really enjoying his daily blog, where he showed new sketches and was talking about a space adventure comic he was thinking about. Now we'll never get to see it, and that's the least of the sadness about losing Wieringo at such a young age.
Below is the first ever sketch I ever got, the first page in my sketchbook, from Chicago Con 1996. The artist? Mike Wieringo.
Edited to add: Scott Kurtz posts this recollection of moments with Mike, and it's incredibly moving. It's starting to sink in just how much we lost, and I'm remembering back to the day that Mike Parobeck died. So many years later, I'm still struck on an almost daily basis of how much that sucked, and I suspect the same is going to be true of losing Mike Wieringo so suddenly and unexpectedly.
Edited to add: I realize that it sounds stupid to say that I never met Mike Wieringo, when I've got a sketch from him. What I mean is that I never had a conversation that went beyond "I really like your art," so I don't really consider that we knew each other at all.
Below is the first ever sketch I ever got, the first page in my sketchbook, from Chicago Con 1996. The artist? Mike Wieringo.
Edited to add: Scott Kurtz posts this recollection of moments with Mike, and it's incredibly moving. It's starting to sink in just how much we lost, and I'm remembering back to the day that Mike Parobeck died. So many years later, I'm still struck on an almost daily basis of how much that sucked, and I suspect the same is going to be true of losing Mike Wieringo so suddenly and unexpectedly.
Edited to add: I realize that it sounds stupid to say that I never met Mike Wieringo, when I've got a sketch from him. What I mean is that I never had a conversation that went beyond "I really like your art," so I don't really consider that we knew each other at all.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - August 15, 2007
TOP FIVE
Annihilation Conquest Quasar #2 (Solid second issue of the quest for a hero to stop the Phalanx)
Captain America #29 (Another beautifully drawn, interesting issue of the post-death Cap book)
Good As Lily GN (Word is this Minx book is a good one, and I'm very much looking forward to it)
Highwaymen #3 (I can probably call this my pick of the week already... issues #1-2 are some of my favorite comics of the year)
Narcoleptic Sunday GN (Read this on the plane back from San Diego... the artist is terrific, and writer Jeremy Haun, previously known for his art, does a great on the run/crime riff. Reminds me of Steve Rolston's One Bad Day, which I also dug)
THE REST
Booster Gold #1 (Not so much feeling the multiverse, but I really liked Booster originally, and his creator Dan Jurgens is involved, so I'll give it a shot)
Brave And The Bold #6 (Not loving it as much as I was early on, but it's still a really fun book)
Flash #231 (Waid's first full issue, curious to see where he goes with it)
Marvel Adventures Hulk #2 (First issue was quite a bit of fun)
Ripclaw Pilot Season #1 (The Top Cow pilot season one-shots have a pretty good set of creators on them)
Terror Inc #1 (Weird zombie/body-snatching merc/assassin concept re-visualized as a MAX book from David Lapham... sounds potentially interesting)
Annihilation Conquest Quasar #2 (Solid second issue of the quest for a hero to stop the Phalanx)
Captain America #29 (Another beautifully drawn, interesting issue of the post-death Cap book)
Good As Lily GN (Word is this Minx book is a good one, and I'm very much looking forward to it)
Highwaymen #3 (I can probably call this my pick of the week already... issues #1-2 are some of my favorite comics of the year)
Narcoleptic Sunday GN (Read this on the plane back from San Diego... the artist is terrific, and writer Jeremy Haun, previously known for his art, does a great on the run/crime riff. Reminds me of Steve Rolston's One Bad Day, which I also dug)
THE REST
Booster Gold #1 (Not so much feeling the multiverse, but I really liked Booster originally, and his creator Dan Jurgens is involved, so I'll give it a shot)
Brave And The Bold #6 (Not loving it as much as I was early on, but it's still a really fun book)
Flash #231 (Waid's first full issue, curious to see where he goes with it)
Marvel Adventures Hulk #2 (First issue was quite a bit of fun)
Ripclaw Pilot Season #1 (The Top Cow pilot season one-shots have a pretty good set of creators on them)
Terror Inc #1 (Weird zombie/body-snatching merc/assassin concept re-visualized as a MAX book from David Lapham... sounds potentially interesting)
Thursday, August 09, 2007
OK, this is a surprise
I knew Obama was showing some heat in the Democratic circles, but I wasn't quite sure I believed he was electable. I'd certainly vote for him, but I wasn't sure he could reach any kind of centrist or Republican-leaning base, which any candidate is going to need going into this next contentious election year.
But it turns out that he's polling third in the Iowa GOP caucuses. That's interesting, and it suggests a glimmer of hope, that maybe there are people out there who will vote for someone who shows youth and idealism, rather than just political pragmatism and the many scars of having battled their way into the political process for years and years at a time.
I don't know that Obama is my ideal candidate, but then, I don't think there is an ideal candidate for me. A recent rundown of candidate positions that was linked off Boing Boing showed me that Dennis Kucinich was the closest match, but he's definitely not a guy I see as real electable, and I've never particularly connected with him as a candidate before. But based on this, and seeing Obama face down Hilary Clinton over special interests (her defense of lobbyists turned my stomach, and pretty much put me off her completely... I'd been wary before, but that was pretty indicative of how much of a political insider she is) makes me think he's the guy I want to support in this election.
Unless MODOK runs as an independent. Because really, who doesn't want a giant telepathic head in the Oval Office?
But it turns out that he's polling third in the Iowa GOP caucuses. That's interesting, and it suggests a glimmer of hope, that maybe there are people out there who will vote for someone who shows youth and idealism, rather than just political pragmatism and the many scars of having battled their way into the political process for years and years at a time.
I don't know that Obama is my ideal candidate, but then, I don't think there is an ideal candidate for me. A recent rundown of candidate positions that was linked off Boing Boing showed me that Dennis Kucinich was the closest match, but he's definitely not a guy I see as real electable, and I've never particularly connected with him as a candidate before. But based on this, and seeing Obama face down Hilary Clinton over special interests (her defense of lobbyists turned my stomach, and pretty much put me off her completely... I'd been wary before, but that was pretty indicative of how much of a political insider she is) makes me think he's the guy I want to support in this election.
Unless MODOK runs as an independent. Because really, who doesn't want a giant telepathic head in the Oval Office?
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Can Someone Explain Health Insurance To Me?
So it turns out that, as a result of the urgent care and brief hospital stay Suzanne underwent when Aaron was born, we owe the hospital, ambulance company and lab somewhere in the neighborhood of $7000.
Now, the amount isn't that shocking. Medical care is expensive, and these folks basically saved my wife's life. OK with that. Totally.
But here's the thing... we pay around $200 a month for health insurance, and they aren't really covering any of it. Because our deductible is $10,000, not the $5,000 each that we thought it was. Again, more or less our fault, we had a high deductible, OK.
But what the hell is the point of paying for insurance if it doesn't cover health costs? I mean, I pay around $150 a month for car insurance on two cars... if I have an accident, that insurance will take care of the car. Isn't that what insurance is for? To get insurance that would actually pay for these uncommon expenses, we'd need to be paying near $1000 a month. Which I sure as hell can't afford. I imagine many can't.
I realized that the health care system and medical insurance system was broken, but I hadn't realized just how badly. The sick part is, I still have to pay over $200 a month for insurance that basically does *nothing* for me on the off chance something catastrophic happens and our bill does go over $10,000 somehow. This is not unlike paying $50 a week for "Godzilla insurance." It's not likely to happen, but if by some chance Godzilla does rampage through Austin, I'll be covered.
So I guess the budget will be a little tighter for the next year or two while we pay off the hospital in installments. Not gonna kill us, but it is frustrating that we'll be paying basically *two* medical bills each month, one for past costs and one as a mostly ineffective hedge against future ones.
Now, the amount isn't that shocking. Medical care is expensive, and these folks basically saved my wife's life. OK with that. Totally.
But here's the thing... we pay around $200 a month for health insurance, and they aren't really covering any of it. Because our deductible is $10,000, not the $5,000 each that we thought it was. Again, more or less our fault, we had a high deductible, OK.
But what the hell is the point of paying for insurance if it doesn't cover health costs? I mean, I pay around $150 a month for car insurance on two cars... if I have an accident, that insurance will take care of the car. Isn't that what insurance is for? To get insurance that would actually pay for these uncommon expenses, we'd need to be paying near $1000 a month. Which I sure as hell can't afford. I imagine many can't.
I realized that the health care system and medical insurance system was broken, but I hadn't realized just how badly. The sick part is, I still have to pay over $200 a month for insurance that basically does *nothing* for me on the off chance something catastrophic happens and our bill does go over $10,000 somehow. This is not unlike paying $50 a week for "Godzilla insurance." It's not likely to happen, but if by some chance Godzilla does rampage through Austin, I'll be covered.
So I guess the budget will be a little tighter for the next year or two while we pay off the hospital in installments. Not gonna kill us, but it is frustrating that we'll be paying basically *two* medical bills each month, one for past costs and one as a mostly ineffective hedge against future ones.
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Well, this is disappointing...
...if hardly surprising. The Democrats have rolled over and given the OK to a secret court that could determine whether or not it's OK to wiretap foreign and domestic signals. Along with this article about "the art of compromise" it seems clear that the Democrats are little to no different from the Republicans, and no matter who winds up in office after G.W. Bush, it's probably not going to do anything to fix our severely broken government.
Our system of government is just truly and permanently fucked, isn't it? Riddled with corruption, controlled more or less by corporate interests and driven by a hundred different selfish agendas that have little or nothing to do with serving the interests of people they were elected to serve. I'm really starting to think that in my lifetime there's going to be armed revolution, a fascist government or a viable third party... and the third party seems really damned unlikely.
Our system of government is just truly and permanently fucked, isn't it? Riddled with corruption, controlled more or less by corporate interests and driven by a hundred different selfish agendas that have little or nothing to do with serving the interests of people they were elected to serve. I'm really starting to think that in my lifetime there's going to be armed revolution, a fascist government or a viable third party... and the third party seems really damned unlikely.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - August 8, 2007
TOP FIVE
Bprd Killing Ground #1 (The newest BPRD story starts, and the last one was great, as always)
Criminal #8 (I'm actually loving the second arc of Criminal more than the first, and I really enjoyed the first)
Nova #5 (This may be my favorite new Marvel series... great spacefaring action, and ties into Annihilation: Conquest very well)
Invincible Vol 3 Ultimate Coll HC (Very much into Invincible right now, looking forward to re-reading these issues and seeing all the cool extras)
Last Call Vol 1 GN (Vasilis Lolos' graphic novel about a ghost train, I've read the first 1/3 or so and it's great)
THE REST
Alan Moore The Complete Wildcats TP (This was great stuff, glad to finally get it collected... even though I think I still have all the issues)
Annihilation Conquest Wraith #2 (More of the new gothic gunslinger at Marvel... who is, I am informed, *not* Rom. But is still cool)
Black Metal Vol 1 GN (Rick Spears & Chuck BB turn in a tale of heavy metal and demonic magic at Oni)
Daredevil #99 (Nice reveal, as we finally find out who the bad guy behind the Gladiator madness has been)
DMZ #22 (Concluding the "Friendly Fire" arc, which has been the best of the series thus far)
Dynamo 5 #6 (Good cliffhanger on the last issue, this and Astounding Wolf-Man are two new superhero books everybody should be checking out)
Fables #64 (More of the Flycatcher arc, which might be the best the book has been since "Homelands")
Green Arrow Year One #3 (Second issue picked up the action, and this book has been a fun surprise)
Incredible Hulk #109 (I'm actually liking this side story more than the main events of World War Hulk)
Jack Of Fables #13 (I've sort of lost the thread of the story, but I still enjoy this one when I read it)
Robot Dreams GN (Beautiful looking book from Sara Varon, indie creator of Sweaterweather)
Star Wars Legacy #15 (Way too many factions in this book, but beautiful art and some interesting ideas)
Star Wars Rebellion #9 (My favorite of the very strong Dark Horse Star Wars books, with a great crime/intrigue story going on right now)
Un-Men #1 (New Vertigo book, and I'll give it a look)
Bprd Killing Ground #1 (The newest BPRD story starts, and the last one was great, as always)
Criminal #8 (I'm actually loving the second arc of Criminal more than the first, and I really enjoyed the first)
Nova #5 (This may be my favorite new Marvel series... great spacefaring action, and ties into Annihilation: Conquest very well)
Invincible Vol 3 Ultimate Coll HC (Very much into Invincible right now, looking forward to re-reading these issues and seeing all the cool extras)
Last Call Vol 1 GN (Vasilis Lolos' graphic novel about a ghost train, I've read the first 1/3 or so and it's great)
THE REST
Alan Moore The Complete Wildcats TP (This was great stuff, glad to finally get it collected... even though I think I still have all the issues)
Annihilation Conquest Wraith #2 (More of the new gothic gunslinger at Marvel... who is, I am informed, *not* Rom. But is still cool)
Black Metal Vol 1 GN (Rick Spears & Chuck BB turn in a tale of heavy metal and demonic magic at Oni)
Daredevil #99 (Nice reveal, as we finally find out who the bad guy behind the Gladiator madness has been)
DMZ #22 (Concluding the "Friendly Fire" arc, which has been the best of the series thus far)
Dynamo 5 #6 (Good cliffhanger on the last issue, this and Astounding Wolf-Man are two new superhero books everybody should be checking out)
Fables #64 (More of the Flycatcher arc, which might be the best the book has been since "Homelands")
Green Arrow Year One #3 (Second issue picked up the action, and this book has been a fun surprise)
Incredible Hulk #109 (I'm actually liking this side story more than the main events of World War Hulk)
Jack Of Fables #13 (I've sort of lost the thread of the story, but I still enjoy this one when I read it)
Robot Dreams GN (Beautiful looking book from Sara Varon, indie creator of Sweaterweather)
Star Wars Legacy #15 (Way too many factions in this book, but beautiful art and some interesting ideas)
Star Wars Rebellion #9 (My favorite of the very strong Dark Horse Star Wars books, with a great crime/intrigue story going on right now)
Un-Men #1 (New Vertigo book, and I'll give it a look)
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - August 1, 2007
TOP FIVE:
American Virgin #17 (Loving this book as always, and the latest world travel story is the best it's been)
Annotated Northwest Passage HC (This is a gorgeous, gorgeous book collecting some of the best cartooning in the industry. Only $20, too!)
Fantastic Four #548 (Great stuff from McDuffie and Pelletier, and all of the FF come off as in-character and cool)
Godland Celestial Ed HC (Saw this in San Diego, it's every bit as gorgeous as you'd expect)
Metal Men #1 (Curious to see Duncan Rouleau's take on the unusual robot team)
THE REST:
Awakening #1 (New zombie book from Archaia Studios)
Conan & The Midnight God #5 (Concluding the really solid King Conan miniseries)
Faker #2 (First issue was intriguing and well put-together, I'll give the second issue a look)
Inannas Tears #1 (Myth and history with beautiful art, another Archaia book)
Killing Pickman #1 (And another Archaia book, this one about a monstrous serial killer and a vigilante homicide detective)
New Warriors #3 (Really good third issue continues to set up the anti-Avengers Initiative team)
Okko Cycle Of Water #4 (I think I missed issue three of this, but I dug what I've read previously)
Scalped Vol 1 Indian Country TP (OK, all the acclaim from folks I trust means I'll give this trade a shot, even though the series didn't hook me)
Scarface Scarred For Life TP (Ditto here, especially since there were satirical elements in the first issue I did really like)
Starkweather Immortal #0 (Another Archaia book, nice art, good premise about the immortal Legionnaire with the spear of destiny)
Uncanny X-Men #489 (Solid issue, although I'm still sort of bored with X-Men in general)
Wisdom Rudiments Of Wisdom TP (Paul O'Brien loved this one, so I want to give the trade a read)
World War Hulk #3 (Hulk and his aliens versus a pissed-off Thunderbolt Ross and the army? OK, that's potentially kind of awesome)
American Virgin #17 (Loving this book as always, and the latest world travel story is the best it's been)
Annotated Northwest Passage HC (This is a gorgeous, gorgeous book collecting some of the best cartooning in the industry. Only $20, too!)
Fantastic Four #548 (Great stuff from McDuffie and Pelletier, and all of the FF come off as in-character and cool)
Godland Celestial Ed HC (Saw this in San Diego, it's every bit as gorgeous as you'd expect)
Metal Men #1 (Curious to see Duncan Rouleau's take on the unusual robot team)
THE REST:
Awakening #1 (New zombie book from Archaia Studios)
Conan & The Midnight God #5 (Concluding the really solid King Conan miniseries)
Faker #2 (First issue was intriguing and well put-together, I'll give the second issue a look)
Inannas Tears #1 (Myth and history with beautiful art, another Archaia book)
Killing Pickman #1 (And another Archaia book, this one about a monstrous serial killer and a vigilante homicide detective)
New Warriors #3 (Really good third issue continues to set up the anti-Avengers Initiative team)
Okko Cycle Of Water #4 (I think I missed issue three of this, but I dug what I've read previously)
Scalped Vol 1 Indian Country TP (OK, all the acclaim from folks I trust means I'll give this trade a shot, even though the series didn't hook me)
Scarface Scarred For Life TP (Ditto here, especially since there were satirical elements in the first issue I did really like)
Starkweather Immortal #0 (Another Archaia book, nice art, good premise about the immortal Legionnaire with the spear of destiny)
Uncanny X-Men #489 (Solid issue, although I'm still sort of bored with X-Men in general)
Wisdom Rudiments Of Wisdom TP (Paul O'Brien loved this one, so I want to give the trade a read)
World War Hulk #3 (Hulk and his aliens versus a pissed-off Thunderbolt Ross and the army? OK, that's potentially kind of awesome)
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Blog Template Update for July
This is the latest monthly update to the left column of the blog, updating my favorite comics and TV for the previous month. The listings are alphabetical, not by rank of how much I liked them in comparison. My criteria for what makes the list is when I read them, not necessarily when they were published. This is basically also my own records of what I read/liked for the inevitable "End of Year" lists I feel like making.
Wow, was July a great month for comics. Huge, huge weeks every week, almost. I didn't even read everything available in the last week of July, so it's possible some of that stuff might pop up in August. With the announcement of The Spirit ending (yeah, I know it continues beyond #12, but without Darwyn Cooke, I can't imagine anyone making it work), there's not much hope for DC in my Top 20 future. Even amongst those that didn't make the cut, there's only one DC book, by Mark Waid and George Perez. However, five of them are Vertigo (well, one Wildstorm), which means DC the company still owns 25% of my Top 20. So does Marvel, actually, based on all four of the Annihilation books (I love Conquest) and the first issue of The Order. There are also five books on my "just missed it" list from Marvel. I hate to admit it, but Marvel has my attention right now. Then again, Dark Horse has 25% of the list too, with two of their four Star Wars books (and all of them are good), the always-excellent BPRD, the short but sweet Grendel Behold the Devil and a fantastic standalone Buffy the Vampire Slayer issue. The other 25%? Mostly Image, with one Oni book for flavor. Either I'm missing a lot of good indy books (and I don't think I am), or July was a month where not many indys were published. There were three books (Green Arrow Year One #1, Repo #2 and Spirit #8) that would have made the cut in almost any other month, and then there are exceptionally good books like Brave And The Bold #5, Captain America #28, Hack Slash Series #3, Invincible #44, Marvel Adventures Hulk #1, New Warriors #2, Runaways #27 (yep, back on board), X-Men First Class Vol. 2 #2 and Zero Killer #1. Postcards and Silverfish nearly made the graphic novel cut, but I didn't read many more. Must have been the gigantic Harry Potter book I read that took my time.
Or maybe it was TV. I've started to really love Burn Notice, although I'd probably love it more if it were on F/X and truer to its source material instead of all USA'ed up. Still digging John From Cincinnati, but wondering if it's going anywhere. Big Love picked up for me a bit, but still isn't good enough to keep HBO if there wasn't something else I really wanted. Which Entourage isn't either, at this point. They're sliding down to the level of "good enough," which works for regular TV but not pay cable. Fortunately, I've grown addicted to movies on demand and I really liked Bill Maher's latest stand-up special, and I still want to like shows as much as I liked Deadwood, Sopranos, early Entourage, etc. Also still watching The 4400 and Rescue Me, though I probably wouldn't be if they were competing with a wider variety of stuff to watch. And with the addition of a bigger TV to my office, I've added Countdown, Daily Show and Colbert Report back into the background TV rotation. Still catching up on the rest of Freaks and Geeks as well. Also have the first DVD of Sandbaggers and Eureka, but haven't watched either yet.
A few new feeds this month. There's the shiny new Savage Critics site (so good I'm jealous), Ben Templesmith, John Hodgman, The Newshole (Keith Olbermann's site), The Process (Joe Infurnari's webcomic), Transmission-X (a webcomics site that features a lot of really good artists). I also added a new "Top 10" blogs for the ones that I read first, every time there's a new entry in Google Reader.
Wow, was July a great month for comics. Huge, huge weeks every week, almost. I didn't even read everything available in the last week of July, so it's possible some of that stuff might pop up in August. With the announcement of The Spirit ending (yeah, I know it continues beyond #12, but without Darwyn Cooke, I can't imagine anyone making it work), there's not much hope for DC in my Top 20 future. Even amongst those that didn't make the cut, there's only one DC book, by Mark Waid and George Perez. However, five of them are Vertigo (well, one Wildstorm), which means DC the company still owns 25% of my Top 20. So does Marvel, actually, based on all four of the Annihilation books (I love Conquest) and the first issue of The Order. There are also five books on my "just missed it" list from Marvel. I hate to admit it, but Marvel has my attention right now. Then again, Dark Horse has 25% of the list too, with two of their four Star Wars books (and all of them are good), the always-excellent BPRD, the short but sweet Grendel Behold the Devil and a fantastic standalone Buffy the Vampire Slayer issue. The other 25%? Mostly Image, with one Oni book for flavor. Either I'm missing a lot of good indy books (and I don't think I am), or July was a month where not many indys were published. There were three books (Green Arrow Year One #1, Repo #2 and Spirit #8) that would have made the cut in almost any other month, and then there are exceptionally good books like Brave And The Bold #5, Captain America #28, Hack Slash Series #3, Invincible #44, Marvel Adventures Hulk #1, New Warriors #2, Runaways #27 (yep, back on board), X-Men First Class Vol. 2 #2 and Zero Killer #1. Postcards and Silverfish nearly made the graphic novel cut, but I didn't read many more. Must have been the gigantic Harry Potter book I read that took my time.
Or maybe it was TV. I've started to really love Burn Notice, although I'd probably love it more if it were on F/X and truer to its source material instead of all USA'ed up. Still digging John From Cincinnati, but wondering if it's going anywhere. Big Love picked up for me a bit, but still isn't good enough to keep HBO if there wasn't something else I really wanted. Which Entourage isn't either, at this point. They're sliding down to the level of "good enough," which works for regular TV but not pay cable. Fortunately, I've grown addicted to movies on demand and I really liked Bill Maher's latest stand-up special, and I still want to like shows as much as I liked Deadwood, Sopranos, early Entourage, etc. Also still watching The 4400 and Rescue Me, though I probably wouldn't be if they were competing with a wider variety of stuff to watch. And with the addition of a bigger TV to my office, I've added Countdown, Daily Show and Colbert Report back into the background TV rotation. Still catching up on the rest of Freaks and Geeks as well. Also have the first DVD of Sandbaggers and Eureka, but haven't watched either yet.
A few new feeds this month. There's the shiny new Savage Critics site (so good I'm jealous), Ben Templesmith, John Hodgman, The Newshole (Keith Olbermann's site), The Process (Joe Infurnari's webcomic), Transmission-X (a webcomics site that features a lot of really good artists). I also added a new "Top 10" blogs for the ones that I read first, every time there's a new entry in Google Reader.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - July 25, 2007
Kind of bummed that three of the Image hardcovers I was hoping to get before San Diego (Invincible 3, Godland 1 and Elephantmen) didn't make their (already late) ship dates, but it's still a pretty good week.
Of course, I'll be on a plane, so I probably won't read most of these this week.
TOP FIVE
American Virgin Vol 2 Going Down TP (I've become more and more pleased with this book as it keeps going, and I'm looking forward to re-reading the second arc in trade)
Annihilation Conquest Star Lord #1 (Maybe the best Conquest yet, with a "Dirty Dozen" in space feel)
Multiple Warheads #1 (Awesome, hilarious, imaginative work from Brandon Graham)
Postcards True Stories That Never Happened HC (Looking forward to this anthology, which has a great talent line-up)
Pulphope SC (I've gotten an early peek at my copy, and this thing looks amazing)
THE REST
Batman #666 (Morrison's Batman has been a bit disappointing, but anti-Christ vs. future Batman? OK, I'm there)
Black Summer #1 (Warren Ellis murders superheroes... not particularly interested, but that's what I thought about Thunderbolts too)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #5 (Standalone about a Buffy stand-in, I think this'll be a good read)
Doktor Sleepless #1 (Warren Ellis revisiting weird science/future ala Transmet? Now that I'm interested in)
Dust #1 (Nice Dave Dorman-esque art, alt-WWII/sci-fi concept from Image)
Fear Agent Last Goodbye #2 (First issue was great, a look at an alien invasion from the ground level)
Green Arrow Year One #2 (Solid first issue, hoping for more action in the second)
Grendel Behold The Devil #0 (It'll be short and cheap, but it's great to see new Matt Wagner Grendel after all these years)
Hellboy Darkness Calls #4 (Loving this series more with each issue, and Fegredo's art is stunning)
Hiding In Time #1 (Witness protection via time travel... great concept)
Immortal Iron Fist #7 (Very much onboard this book after #6, I believe this is a standalone about a female Iron Fist in 15th century China)
Incredible Hulk #108 (Actually digging Pak's Hulk more than World War Hulk itself)
Invincible #44 (Digging this book again almost at the level I was in the beginning)
Love And Capes #5 (Fun, sweet, great cartooning, looking forward to another issue... and to getting a Love and Capes Toon Tumbler!)
Previews Vol XVII #8 (Down the Line will most likely be delayed a week by San Diego)
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #18 (I'm enjoying all of the Star Wars books right now... KOTOR is my least favorite, and it's still pretty damn good)
Usagi Yojimbo #104 (Last couple issues of this have been great, even by Sakai's high standards)
Walking Dead #39 (Wow, lot of books I'd gone off for a while that have pulled me back... issue #38 was really good, and I'm interested in seeing what's next)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #2 (Loved the first issue of this... this issue is also good, if not as great as that one)
Of course, I'll be on a plane, so I probably won't read most of these this week.
TOP FIVE
American Virgin Vol 2 Going Down TP (I've become more and more pleased with this book as it keeps going, and I'm looking forward to re-reading the second arc in trade)
Annihilation Conquest Star Lord #1 (Maybe the best Conquest yet, with a "Dirty Dozen" in space feel)
Multiple Warheads #1 (Awesome, hilarious, imaginative work from Brandon Graham)
Postcards True Stories That Never Happened HC (Looking forward to this anthology, which has a great talent line-up)
Pulphope SC (I've gotten an early peek at my copy, and this thing looks amazing)
THE REST
Batman #666 (Morrison's Batman has been a bit disappointing, but anti-Christ vs. future Batman? OK, I'm there)
Black Summer #1 (Warren Ellis murders superheroes... not particularly interested, but that's what I thought about Thunderbolts too)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #5 (Standalone about a Buffy stand-in, I think this'll be a good read)
Doktor Sleepless #1 (Warren Ellis revisiting weird science/future ala Transmet? Now that I'm interested in)
Dust #1 (Nice Dave Dorman-esque art, alt-WWII/sci-fi concept from Image)
Fear Agent Last Goodbye #2 (First issue was great, a look at an alien invasion from the ground level)
Green Arrow Year One #2 (Solid first issue, hoping for more action in the second)
Grendel Behold The Devil #0 (It'll be short and cheap, but it's great to see new Matt Wagner Grendel after all these years)
Hellboy Darkness Calls #4 (Loving this series more with each issue, and Fegredo's art is stunning)
Hiding In Time #1 (Witness protection via time travel... great concept)
Immortal Iron Fist #7 (Very much onboard this book after #6, I believe this is a standalone about a female Iron Fist in 15th century China)
Incredible Hulk #108 (Actually digging Pak's Hulk more than World War Hulk itself)
Invincible #44 (Digging this book again almost at the level I was in the beginning)
Love And Capes #5 (Fun, sweet, great cartooning, looking forward to another issue... and to getting a Love and Capes Toon Tumbler!)
Previews Vol XVII #8 (Down the Line will most likely be delayed a week by San Diego)
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #18 (I'm enjoying all of the Star Wars books right now... KOTOR is my least favorite, and it's still pretty damn good)
Usagi Yojimbo #104 (Last couple issues of this have been great, even by Sakai's high standards)
Walking Dead #39 (Wow, lot of books I'd gone off for a while that have pulled me back... issue #38 was really good, and I'm interested in seeing what's next)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #2 (Loved the first issue of this... this issue is also good, if not as great as that one)
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Clueless Emmy Voters Strike Again
Honestly, I'm so worn out by the bizarre Emmy choices every year I don't even have a good rant in me about it. There were a few pleasant surprises, but far too many snubs and too many "He got nominated for 24? But all he does is squint and yell!" type moments.
For more elaboration, most of which I agree with 100%, I point you to two of my favorite TV critics, Melanie McFarland and Alan Sepinwall.
For more elaboration, most of which I agree with 100%, I point you to two of my favorite TV critics, Melanie McFarland and Alan Sepinwall.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Tagged
Nate Southard, even knowing full well that my music tastes are nowhere near as defined as my tastes in comics, movies and TV, has tagged me with this meme, wherein I list my "my top 5 side 1, track 1 songs." Since I last had vinyl when I was about 14 (I won 6 albums from a radio station, including ZZ Top's Afterburner, Tears for Fears and some other stuff, none of it great), and I am strictly digital music now, what you've got is me searching my iTunes for Track 1 songs, organizing them by my star rating, and guessing around from there. Weep in shared shame at my utter lack of music sophistication!
1. American Idiot - Green Day, American Idiot
2. Sure Shot - Beastie Boys, Ill Communication
3. Beverly Hills - Weezer, Make Believe
4. All My Life - Foo Fighters, One by One
5. The Comeback - Shout Out Louds, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
And just for fun, here's all the stuff I came up with that didn't make the Top 5:
Let's Go Crazy - Prince, Purple Rain
Helter Skelter - U2, Rattle and Hum
Beers, Steers & Queers - Revolting Cocks, Beers, Steers & Queers
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen, Greatest Hits
Mess Around - Ray Charles, Ultimate Hits Collection
Invincible - OK Go, Oh No
Lapdance - N.E.R.D., In Search Of
Loser - Beck, Mellow Gold
Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet, Jet
Stitched Up (Featuring John Mayer) - Herbie Hancock, Possibilities
Smack My Bitch Up - Prodigy, Fat of the Land
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison
Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin III
Hells Bells - AC/DC, Back in Black
Someone to Love - Fountains of Wayne, Traffic and Weather
Angry Anthem - The Forces of Evil, Friend or Foe?
I Feel You - Depeche Mode, Songs of Faith & Devotion
Satan is my Motor - Cake, Prolonging the Magic
Who Was In My Room Last Night? - Butthole Surfers, Independent Worm Saloon
Now I guess I'm supposed to tag people... people with blogs. But I don't know that many people with blogs, so I'm wussing out on that part. How about this... any of you out there who are reading and have blogs, tag yourself, email me a link and then I can later edit this and claim that I tagged you. :)
1. American Idiot - Green Day, American Idiot
2. Sure Shot - Beastie Boys, Ill Communication
3. Beverly Hills - Weezer, Make Believe
4. All My Life - Foo Fighters, One by One
5. The Comeback - Shout Out Louds, Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
And just for fun, here's all the stuff I came up with that didn't make the Top 5:
Let's Go Crazy - Prince, Purple Rain
Helter Skelter - U2, Rattle and Hum
Beers, Steers & Queers - Revolting Cocks, Beers, Steers & Queers
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen, Greatest Hits
Mess Around - Ray Charles, Ultimate Hits Collection
Invincible - OK Go, Oh No
Lapdance - N.E.R.D., In Search Of
Loser - Beck, Mellow Gold
Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet, Jet
Stitched Up (Featuring John Mayer) - Herbie Hancock, Possibilities
Smack My Bitch Up - Prodigy, Fat of the Land
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison
Immigrant Song - Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin III
Hells Bells - AC/DC, Back in Black
Someone to Love - Fountains of Wayne, Traffic and Weather
Angry Anthem - The Forces of Evil, Friend or Foe?
I Feel You - Depeche Mode, Songs of Faith & Devotion
Satan is my Motor - Cake, Prolonging the Magic
Who Was In My Room Last Night? - Butthole Surfers, Independent Worm Saloon
Now I guess I'm supposed to tag people... people with blogs. But I don't know that many people with blogs, so I'm wussing out on that part. How about this... any of you out there who are reading and have blogs, tag yourself, email me a link and then I can later edit this and claim that I tagged you. :)
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - July 18, 2007
Holy crap does this look like a good week. I could have made a Top 15 of books I'm excited to read. In fact, what the hell, it's my blog, that's what I'm doing this week. And even the stuff in "The Rest" is really good. It's gonna be a good week.
TOP FIVE
Annihilation Conquest Quasar #1 (Another strong chapter in Annihilation, as Christos Gage does a riff on the chosen one in space with the new female Quasar and Moondragon)
Hood Blood From Stones Premiere HC (Great under-the-radar mini from Brian Vaughan and Kyle Hotz collected in new hardcover)
Intersections HC (Art book from Sean Phillips & Duncan Fegredo... I'm getting the hardcover, but there's a softcover available as well)
Super Villain Team Up Modoks 11 #1 (Fred Van Lente does a supervillain heist... sounds like fun)
Zero Killer #1 (Post-apocalyptic series from Dark Horse, artwork looks gorgeous and teaser in FCBD book was good)
NEXT TOP FIVE
Bone Vol 6 Old Mans Cave Color Ed SC (Getting closer to a complete set of color Bone)
Flight Vol 4 GN (Another volume of the always-impressive and gorgeous anthology)
Highwaymen #2 (First issue was a really strong action book, looking forward to #2)
Monster Attack Network GN (Same writers as Highwaymen, giant monsters vs. military attack squads... I'm in)
Spirit #8 (Darwyn Cooke returns!)
NEXT TOP FIVE
Captain America #28 (Very good, it's amazing how good the book can be even when the title character has been dead for three issues... the credit goes to Brubaker, Perkins, Epting and the rest of the creative team)
Giant Sized Marvel Adventures Avengers #1 (Agents of Atlas by Parker & Kirk is enough... that it also features Parker's Avengers is a bonus)
Goon #19 (Yay, the Goon returns! After the hilary of Satan's Sodomy Baby, I'm regular for a regular dose of Powell's madness and beautiful art again)
Repo #2 (Another strong first issue, can't wait to see the follow-up... Rick Spears, Rob. G, hells yeah)
Terminator 2 Infinity #1 (Curious to see how Dynamite does with a property I've always liked... their Lone Ranger take bodes well)
THE REST
Avengers Initiative #4 (Decent World War Hulk tie-in... book is still in the "solid enough" camp for me, not much more, but I'll keep reading)
Brave And The Bold #5 (Last issue lost me a bit, hope this one regains my interest the way it had it in the first two or three issues)
Hack Slash Series #3 (Enjoying this on a regular basis)
Hot Mexican Love Comics 2007 (Trying this on a whim, I liked some of the creators involved if I recall correctly)
Lone Ranger #7 (Want to catch up on this one, as soon as I read the trade)
Marvel Adventures Hulk #1 (Written by my friend Paul Benjamin, and the art I've seen looks great.)
Programme #1 (Soviet super-soldiers from Peter Milligan and CP Smith)
Scarface Devil In Disguise #1 (The origin of Tony Montana... with nice looking art)
Screw Heaven When I Die Im Going To Mars Tp (Shannon Wheeler gets a new collection of cartoons)
Shazam The Monster Society Of Evil #4 (Jeff Smith finishes up his Shazam story)
Star Wars Dark Times #4 (It's late, but the art and story are always worth it)
Strange Embrace #2 (More creepy weird stuff from David Hine)
The Order #1 (Fun, if not knocked out of the park fun, first issue)
Thunderbolts Desperate Measures (Paul Jenkins, creator of Penance, writes. This makes me nervous, but it's Thunderbolts, it's art by Steve Lieber, and it features a character named Americop. I've got to at least give it a look)
Weapon #2 (First issue was kind of old school fun, flawed but entertaining)
World War Hulk #2 (Not completely onboard, but curious enough to see where it's going)
TOP FIVE
Annihilation Conquest Quasar #1 (Another strong chapter in Annihilation, as Christos Gage does a riff on the chosen one in space with the new female Quasar and Moondragon)
Hood Blood From Stones Premiere HC (Great under-the-radar mini from Brian Vaughan and Kyle Hotz collected in new hardcover)
Intersections HC (Art book from Sean Phillips & Duncan Fegredo... I'm getting the hardcover, but there's a softcover available as well)
Super Villain Team Up Modoks 11 #1 (Fred Van Lente does a supervillain heist... sounds like fun)
Zero Killer #1 (Post-apocalyptic series from Dark Horse, artwork looks gorgeous and teaser in FCBD book was good)
NEXT TOP FIVE
Bone Vol 6 Old Mans Cave Color Ed SC (Getting closer to a complete set of color Bone)
Flight Vol 4 GN (Another volume of the always-impressive and gorgeous anthology)
Highwaymen #2 (First issue was a really strong action book, looking forward to #2)
Monster Attack Network GN (Same writers as Highwaymen, giant monsters vs. military attack squads... I'm in)
Spirit #8 (Darwyn Cooke returns!)
NEXT TOP FIVE
Captain America #28 (Very good, it's amazing how good the book can be even when the title character has been dead for three issues... the credit goes to Brubaker, Perkins, Epting and the rest of the creative team)
Giant Sized Marvel Adventures Avengers #1 (Agents of Atlas by Parker & Kirk is enough... that it also features Parker's Avengers is a bonus)
Goon #19 (Yay, the Goon returns! After the hilary of Satan's Sodomy Baby, I'm regular for a regular dose of Powell's madness and beautiful art again)
Repo #2 (Another strong first issue, can't wait to see the follow-up... Rick Spears, Rob. G, hells yeah)
Terminator 2 Infinity #1 (Curious to see how Dynamite does with a property I've always liked... their Lone Ranger take bodes well)
THE REST
Avengers Initiative #4 (Decent World War Hulk tie-in... book is still in the "solid enough" camp for me, not much more, but I'll keep reading)
Brave And The Bold #5 (Last issue lost me a bit, hope this one regains my interest the way it had it in the first two or three issues)
Hack Slash Series #3 (Enjoying this on a regular basis)
Hot Mexican Love Comics 2007 (Trying this on a whim, I liked some of the creators involved if I recall correctly)
Lone Ranger #7 (Want to catch up on this one, as soon as I read the trade)
Marvel Adventures Hulk #1 (Written by my friend Paul Benjamin, and the art I've seen looks great.)
Programme #1 (Soviet super-soldiers from Peter Milligan and CP Smith)
Scarface Devil In Disguise #1 (The origin of Tony Montana... with nice looking art)
Screw Heaven When I Die Im Going To Mars Tp (Shannon Wheeler gets a new collection of cartoons)
Shazam The Monster Society Of Evil #4 (Jeff Smith finishes up his Shazam story)
Star Wars Dark Times #4 (It's late, but the art and story are always worth it)
Strange Embrace #2 (More creepy weird stuff from David Hine)
The Order #1 (Fun, if not knocked out of the park fun, first issue)
Thunderbolts Desperate Measures (Paul Jenkins, creator of Penance, writes. This makes me nervous, but it's Thunderbolts, it's art by Steve Lieber, and it features a character named Americop. I've got to at least give it a look)
Weapon #2 (First issue was kind of old school fun, flawed but entertaining)
World War Hulk #2 (Not completely onboard, but curious enough to see where it's going)
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Well, that's one way to deal with the hotel shortage...
This is gloriously insane. And I love it. Kudos, Jonah... you have raised the bar for all the other sites in terms of both impressive spectacle and imaginative logistics for the show.
I'll definitely be tuning in to those videos.
I'll definitely be tuning in to those videos.
Monday, July 09, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - July 11, 2007
TOP FIVE
Annihilation Conquest Wraith #1 (So far, Annihilation Conquest is shaping up to be *better* than the original Annihilation, which is pretty impressive... the new character in this mini is interesting, and has great visuals courtesy of Kyle Hotz)
Bprd Garden Of Souls #5 (The latest BPRD mini concludes... fantastic, as always. Guy Davis is one of my favorite artists, and he just keeps getting better)
DMZ #21 (The latest in Wood's "Rashomon" style look at a civilian massacre in occupied New York, with Burchielli taking over full art duties on this chapter)
Fables #63 (The Flycatcher arc has been the best one in quite a while, last issue was terrific)
Nova #4 (Impressive new series, and the tie-in to Annihilation Conquest is a great read with a bit of a shocking twist)
THE REST
Clubbing GN (The latest Minx offering, written by Andi Watson with art by Josh Howard)
Fallen Angel Premiere Collection HC (Oversized collection of the IDW Fallen Angel, and I'm curious to give it a shot)
Green Arrow Year One #1 (Diggle & Jock team up for what is sure to be a low spandex, high action look at Green Arrow's origin)
Guardian Alpha One Shot (It's a line of multi-cultural Christian all-ages comics, which is interesting and different enough... but one of the guys behind it is Michael Davis, of Milestone Comics, which I loved... I'll give it a look)
Naoki Urasawas Monster Vol 9 (Great suspense manga, new chapter)
Rex Libris TP (Space librarian tale from Slave Labor)
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #20 (The final McKeever issue, curious to see his ending)
Star Wars Rebellion #8 (Loving this crime/espionage take on Star Wars)
Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen #1 (At last, Colbert's goofy sci-fi parody comes to comics)
Superman Confidential #5 (Also running late, curious to see how the Cooke/Sale story wraps)
True Story Swear To God Vol 1 TP (This would rank higher, except that I've already read everything in it... but it's great)
Uncle Sam And The Freedom Fighters TP (Liked what I read of this, decided to wait for the trade to read it complete... and here it is)
Xombie #3 (Surprisingly fun zombie/adventure story based on a webcomic, from Devil's Due)
Annihilation Conquest Wraith #1 (So far, Annihilation Conquest is shaping up to be *better* than the original Annihilation, which is pretty impressive... the new character in this mini is interesting, and has great visuals courtesy of Kyle Hotz)
Bprd Garden Of Souls #5 (The latest BPRD mini concludes... fantastic, as always. Guy Davis is one of my favorite artists, and he just keeps getting better)
DMZ #21 (The latest in Wood's "Rashomon" style look at a civilian massacre in occupied New York, with Burchielli taking over full art duties on this chapter)
Fables #63 (The Flycatcher arc has been the best one in quite a while, last issue was terrific)
Nova #4 (Impressive new series, and the tie-in to Annihilation Conquest is a great read with a bit of a shocking twist)
THE REST
Clubbing GN (The latest Minx offering, written by Andi Watson with art by Josh Howard)
Fallen Angel Premiere Collection HC (Oversized collection of the IDW Fallen Angel, and I'm curious to give it a shot)
Green Arrow Year One #1 (Diggle & Jock team up for what is sure to be a low spandex, high action look at Green Arrow's origin)
Guardian Alpha One Shot (It's a line of multi-cultural Christian all-ages comics, which is interesting and different enough... but one of the guys behind it is Michael Davis, of Milestone Comics, which I loved... I'll give it a look)
Naoki Urasawas Monster Vol 9 (Great suspense manga, new chapter)
Rex Libris TP (Space librarian tale from Slave Labor)
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane #20 (The final McKeever issue, curious to see his ending)
Star Wars Rebellion #8 (Loving this crime/espionage take on Star Wars)
Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen #1 (At last, Colbert's goofy sci-fi parody comes to comics)
Superman Confidential #5 (Also running late, curious to see how the Cooke/Sale story wraps)
True Story Swear To God Vol 1 TP (This would rank higher, except that I've already read everything in it... but it's great)
Uncle Sam And The Freedom Fighters TP (Liked what I read of this, decided to wait for the trade to read it complete... and here it is)
Xombie #3 (Surprisingly fun zombie/adventure story based on a webcomic, from Devil's Due)
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
My Latest Entertainment
Over the past few days, I've watched one movie, seen one new TV show and read three big 'ol hardcovers. Two of them were things I've been anticipating that I was pretty pleased with, the other was a pleasant surprise that I picked up on thanks to good buzz.
TV:
Burn Notice (USA) - I'll be honest, despite enjoying The 4400, I don't really think of USA as a place for really great TV. So I wasn't overly hyped for Burn Notice, about a spy who gets "burned" by his agency and forced to stay in Miami, leading to him becoming something of a private detective/do-gooder with his skills.
But it turns out, the first episode was pretty damn good. Nice voiceover, some good wit, solid action, believable tradecraft and good writing and action overall. I watched it a couple days ago and I've been anxiously checking the Tivo for a new episode since, which means it's hooked me pretty good. Well worth checking out, and if you're the type of person for whom this is a plus, Bruce Campbell is in it.
Movies:
Transformers - I know, I know, shut up. But really, despite a pretty awful script and Michael Bay's ADD direction, this was pretty good at what it set out to do. I mean, I think it could have actually been a really good popcorn movie all the way through, as opposed to a weak movie that effectively pushed my giant robot/action movie fan buttons, but I can't deny that in general, the movie kept me smiling, especially when the robots were on screen. A couple really good action sequences on the road and in the air, and Peter Cullen doing the voice for Optimus Prime, helped a lot. Fun, and I can even see picking up the DVD to skip ahead and watch the action sequences from time to time. When the inevitable sequel comes out, I'll go and see it. Especially if there are different writers and a different director.
Comics:
I've been meaning to read Annihilation now that all three hardcovers are out, and finally got the chance to do so today. As it turns out, this is a pretty kickass superhero/space adventure epic. The miniseries are much stronger collected in one place, where you can see how they directly feed into the main story, and the main story has the exact scope I would hope for. Big explosive comics at their best, kicks the hell out of Infinite Crisis, Civil War and House of M combined.
TV:
Burn Notice (USA) - I'll be honest, despite enjoying The 4400, I don't really think of USA as a place for really great TV. So I wasn't overly hyped for Burn Notice, about a spy who gets "burned" by his agency and forced to stay in Miami, leading to him becoming something of a private detective/do-gooder with his skills.
But it turns out, the first episode was pretty damn good. Nice voiceover, some good wit, solid action, believable tradecraft and good writing and action overall. I watched it a couple days ago and I've been anxiously checking the Tivo for a new episode since, which means it's hooked me pretty good. Well worth checking out, and if you're the type of person for whom this is a plus, Bruce Campbell is in it.
Movies:
Transformers - I know, I know, shut up. But really, despite a pretty awful script and Michael Bay's ADD direction, this was pretty good at what it set out to do. I mean, I think it could have actually been a really good popcorn movie all the way through, as opposed to a weak movie that effectively pushed my giant robot/action movie fan buttons, but I can't deny that in general, the movie kept me smiling, especially when the robots were on screen. A couple really good action sequences on the road and in the air, and Peter Cullen doing the voice for Optimus Prime, helped a lot. Fun, and I can even see picking up the DVD to skip ahead and watch the action sequences from time to time. When the inevitable sequel comes out, I'll go and see it. Especially if there are different writers and a different director.
Comics:
I've been meaning to read Annihilation now that all three hardcovers are out, and finally got the chance to do so today. As it turns out, this is a pretty kickass superhero/space adventure epic. The miniseries are much stronger collected in one place, where you can see how they directly feed into the main story, and the main story has the exact scope I would hope for. Big explosive comics at their best, kicks the hell out of Infinite Crisis, Civil War and House of M combined.
Weekly Comics to Come - July 5, 2007
Delayed a day by Independence Day. Another large-ish week, although mostly that's because there's a ton of manga.
TOP FIVE
Astounding Wolf-Man Directors Cut #1 & #2 (Really dug this new series at Free Comic Book Day, and I've had the chance to read #2 and it's just as good)
Captain America War & Remembrance Tp (Fantastic collection of Roger Stern/John Byrne Cap... my second favorite run after Gruenwald)
True Story Swear To God Image Ed #7 (Tom reacts to online reviews of his first book, which means I get to be on a page of the story, which is kind of cool... but not the reason I'm looking forward to reading the book - I just love the book)
Usagi Yojimbo Vol 21 Mother Of Mountains TP (Always glad to see more Usagi in trade, wish the whole thing was in print more often)
Y The Last Man #57 (As the book gets closer to its end, I'm really anxious to see the conclusion)
THE REST
All Star Superman #8 (The end of the first two-parter the book has done)
American Virgin #16 (Always great, love the art especially)
Batman Ego And Other Tales HC (Collection of great Darwyn Cooke work)
Battle O/t Bands (Fun looking manga from Steve Buccellato, it's on my reading table now)
Damned Vol 1 Three Days Dead TP (Demons meet prohibition gangsters... great read, terrific art by Brian Hurtt)
Dynamo 5 #5 (Not only is it a good read, it's a new series that comes out on time, which is especially nice)
Faker #1 (Intrigued by this college/horror story from Mike Carey and Jock)
New Warriors #2 (Second issue is a pretty solid follow-up to the first)
Runaways #27 (Back onboard a little, as Whedon's take on a super-powered turn of the century L.A. is kind of fun)
Silverfish HC (Lapham's Vertigo OGN... this would make my top five, except we were allocated so I'll probably have to wait a week or two to read it)
Union Jack London Falling TP (Solid action series in the Brubaker Cap vein by Gage and Perkins)
War Angels Vol 1 (Don't remember much, but Tokyopop's giving it a big push, and the visuals looked interesting)
TOP FIVE
Astounding Wolf-Man Directors Cut #1 & #2 (Really dug this new series at Free Comic Book Day, and I've had the chance to read #2 and it's just as good)
Captain America War & Remembrance Tp (Fantastic collection of Roger Stern/John Byrne Cap... my second favorite run after Gruenwald)
True Story Swear To God Image Ed #7 (Tom reacts to online reviews of his first book, which means I get to be on a page of the story, which is kind of cool... but not the reason I'm looking forward to reading the book - I just love the book)
Usagi Yojimbo Vol 21 Mother Of Mountains TP (Always glad to see more Usagi in trade, wish the whole thing was in print more often)
Y The Last Man #57 (As the book gets closer to its end, I'm really anxious to see the conclusion)
THE REST
All Star Superman #8 (The end of the first two-parter the book has done)
American Virgin #16 (Always great, love the art especially)
Batman Ego And Other Tales HC (Collection of great Darwyn Cooke work)
Battle O/t Bands (Fun looking manga from Steve Buccellato, it's on my reading table now)
Damned Vol 1 Three Days Dead TP (Demons meet prohibition gangsters... great read, terrific art by Brian Hurtt)
Dynamo 5 #5 (Not only is it a good read, it's a new series that comes out on time, which is especially nice)
Faker #1 (Intrigued by this college/horror story from Mike Carey and Jock)
New Warriors #2 (Second issue is a pretty solid follow-up to the first)
Runaways #27 (Back onboard a little, as Whedon's take on a super-powered turn of the century L.A. is kind of fun)
Silverfish HC (Lapham's Vertigo OGN... this would make my top five, except we were allocated so I'll probably have to wait a week or two to read it)
Union Jack London Falling TP (Solid action series in the Brubaker Cap vein by Gage and Perkins)
War Angels Vol 1 (Don't remember much, but Tokyopop's giving it a big push, and the visuals looked interesting)
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
My Wife's Birthday
Today is my wife's birthday. There are a lot of things I love about my wife, but a few struck me right about the time I was going to bed, and I figured I'd put them up here on my blog, since I know she reads it.
1. She's intelligent - I love that when she writes in her blog, she'll drop words like hubris. Or that she picks up all this weird, interesting knowledge from Discovery Channel, various podcasts and reading the Internet and books.
2. She's tough - Seeing what she went through during the birth of our son just re-affirmed this, which I already knew. I was scared for her during the whole post-birth ordeal, but I watched her fight to stay awake, and worry about staying awake, even when she was in a whole lot of pain and the midst of a lot of confusion. And I know she'll fight like hell for her kids. Even in a lot of pain, on a lot of drugs, she wouldn't sign the form to admit Aaron over to the hospital. She knew she wanted to think about it. I was fully conscious, and I don't know if I would have thought about it before I just signed whatever they were putting in front of me.
3. She's understanding - While I stay up way too late every night, catching up on TV and the Internet, she doesn't gripe at me about coming to bed late. And even though she's got two kids to watch over, she lets me sleep in in the mornings, keeping my weird schedule of doing stuff at night and starting the day in the early afternoon.
4. She's principled - My wife will fight for her principles. She thinks about why she believes what she does, she'll argue those principles even with people who probably won't ever change their minds. I can sometimes have a hard time arguing with people, because I just don't care enough to change their minds, or I don't want to bother thinking about and defending my positions. I haven't ever seen Suzanne have that problem.
5. She gives me strength - Since I married Suzanne, I've had to take a leap of faith at a dream job by moving halfway across the country, I've had to suffer through some very unpleasant surgery, I've had plenty of job stress and I've worried about who knows how many small things. Knowing that she's there with me, that I've always got someone to talk to, makes it all possible.
Happy birthday, Suzanne. I love you.
1. She's intelligent - I love that when she writes in her blog, she'll drop words like hubris. Or that she picks up all this weird, interesting knowledge from Discovery Channel, various podcasts and reading the Internet and books.
2. She's tough - Seeing what she went through during the birth of our son just re-affirmed this, which I already knew. I was scared for her during the whole post-birth ordeal, but I watched her fight to stay awake, and worry about staying awake, even when she was in a whole lot of pain and the midst of a lot of confusion. And I know she'll fight like hell for her kids. Even in a lot of pain, on a lot of drugs, she wouldn't sign the form to admit Aaron over to the hospital. She knew she wanted to think about it. I was fully conscious, and I don't know if I would have thought about it before I just signed whatever they were putting in front of me.
3. She's understanding - While I stay up way too late every night, catching up on TV and the Internet, she doesn't gripe at me about coming to bed late. And even though she's got two kids to watch over, she lets me sleep in in the mornings, keeping my weird schedule of doing stuff at night and starting the day in the early afternoon.
4. She's principled - My wife will fight for her principles. She thinks about why she believes what she does, she'll argue those principles even with people who probably won't ever change their minds. I can sometimes have a hard time arguing with people, because I just don't care enough to change their minds, or I don't want to bother thinking about and defending my positions. I haven't ever seen Suzanne have that problem.
5. She gives me strength - Since I married Suzanne, I've had to take a leap of faith at a dream job by moving halfway across the country, I've had to suffer through some very unpleasant surgery, I've had plenty of job stress and I've worried about who knows how many small things. Knowing that she's there with me, that I've always got someone to talk to, makes it all possible.
Happy birthday, Suzanne. I love you.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Blog Template Update for June
This is the latest monthly update to the left column of the blog, updating my favorite comics and TV for the previous month. The listings are alphabetical, not by rank of how much I liked them in comparison. My criteria for what makes the list is when I read them, not necessarily when they were published. This is basically also my own records of what I read/liked for the inevitable "End of Year" lists I feel like making.
As with May, it was a good month for comics. There was a fair amount of stuff that would have easily made a top 10 in a different month, including Elephantmen Pilot, two issues of Jack of Fables, Marvel Adventures Iron Man #2, Spirit #7, Strange Embrace #1, Walking Dead #38 and White Picket Fences #2. I didn't read quite as many graphic novels, but pretty much everything I read was really good.
May was a really good month for TV... June was a pretty suck month. I'm more on the "naysayer" vibe on The Sopranos finale (though it wasn't unexpected that it would lack any kind of closure), Big Love is kind of boring me in its second season and Entourage, while still enjoyable, may have peaked with season two's Aquaman/Mandy Moore story. Although the season four opening episode was pretty good. Rescue Me and The 4400 are both shows I like, but don't love. Haven't watched Flight of the Conchords at HBO yet (although several critics I respect dug it, so I might have to give it a shot on HBO In-Demand), but I have been digging the hell out of John From Cincinnati. In fact, it's easily my favorite show of the moment. I still miss Deadwood and think it's unfortunate Milch and HBO couldn't give that show a season or two more to wrap on its own, but John From Cincinnati has an interesting cast, a weird vibe I like and that Milch-esque dialogue, along with HBO's stellar production values. Makes me want to check out some of Kem Nunn's novels, actually.
With TV being so lame, I've turned to DVD a bit more. I'm finally watching all of Freaks and Geeks, based on my love of Knocked Up, 40-Year-Old Virgin and Undeclared, and while I'm still not as gaga over it as many of its fans, it is a really enjoyable show. I also got the complete Kitchen Confidential, and I think Fox was too quick on the trigger on that one. Good cast, funny writing, unusual setting... it wasn't a great sitcom, but it was a solidly good one. That still only fills up 7 slots on the Top 10 TV this month, and there just aren't any more. The only other things I've watched have been stuff I've put on in the background in my office while I'm working, like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (three times so far, I love this movie), Serenity and Beverly Hills Cop I & II.
Didn't have a ton of new feeds this month, but I've gotten to the point where I've started unsubscribing from some of my feeds because I don't have time to read them all, so there probably won't be a lot added. But I was delighted to jump onto the LOLcats bandwagon by adding the "I Can Has Cheezburger?" feed, which provides a guaranteed unicorn chaser in lolcat form everyday (OK, that's about as much leet-speak as a 36-year-old man is allowed in a month, and I apologize). Also added a blogger who linked to me on Comic Pants and/or Inside Joke Theatre and then I found their stuff and liked it, Noetic Concordance and added the new RSS feed for comic artist Mike Wieringo. Also, I can't believe it took me so long to add The Savage Critic to my RSS feeds. It's one of my favorite reads each day, and I agree with about 90% of the reviews there.
As with May, it was a good month for comics. There was a fair amount of stuff that would have easily made a top 10 in a different month, including Elephantmen Pilot, two issues of Jack of Fables, Marvel Adventures Iron Man #2, Spirit #7, Strange Embrace #1, Walking Dead #38 and White Picket Fences #2. I didn't read quite as many graphic novels, but pretty much everything I read was really good.
May was a really good month for TV... June was a pretty suck month. I'm more on the "naysayer" vibe on The Sopranos finale (though it wasn't unexpected that it would lack any kind of closure), Big Love is kind of boring me in its second season and Entourage, while still enjoyable, may have peaked with season two's Aquaman/Mandy Moore story. Although the season four opening episode was pretty good. Rescue Me and The 4400 are both shows I like, but don't love. Haven't watched Flight of the Conchords at HBO yet (although several critics I respect dug it, so I might have to give it a shot on HBO In-Demand), but I have been digging the hell out of John From Cincinnati. In fact, it's easily my favorite show of the moment. I still miss Deadwood and think it's unfortunate Milch and HBO couldn't give that show a season or two more to wrap on its own, but John From Cincinnati has an interesting cast, a weird vibe I like and that Milch-esque dialogue, along with HBO's stellar production values. Makes me want to check out some of Kem Nunn's novels, actually.
With TV being so lame, I've turned to DVD a bit more. I'm finally watching all of Freaks and Geeks, based on my love of Knocked Up, 40-Year-Old Virgin and Undeclared, and while I'm still not as gaga over it as many of its fans, it is a really enjoyable show. I also got the complete Kitchen Confidential, and I think Fox was too quick on the trigger on that one. Good cast, funny writing, unusual setting... it wasn't a great sitcom, but it was a solidly good one. That still only fills up 7 slots on the Top 10 TV this month, and there just aren't any more. The only other things I've watched have been stuff I've put on in the background in my office while I'm working, like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (three times so far, I love this movie), Serenity and Beverly Hills Cop I & II.
Didn't have a ton of new feeds this month, but I've gotten to the point where I've started unsubscribing from some of my feeds because I don't have time to read them all, so there probably won't be a lot added. But I was delighted to jump onto the LOLcats bandwagon by adding the "I Can Has Cheezburger?" feed, which provides a guaranteed unicorn chaser in lolcat form everyday (OK, that's about as much leet-speak as a 36-year-old man is allowed in a month, and I apologize). Also added a blogger who linked to me on Comic Pants and/or Inside Joke Theatre and then I found their stuff and liked it, Noetic Concordance and added the new RSS feed for comic artist Mike Wieringo. Also, I can't believe it took me so long to add The Savage Critic to my RSS feeds. It's one of my favorite reads each day, and I agree with about 90% of the reviews there.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - June 27, 2007
Another huge week, June has been busy for comics
TOP FIVE
Art Of Bone HC (Dark Horse's "Art Of" volumes are always impressive, and this will be no exception)
Criminal #7 (First issue of the new arc was fantastic, maybe even better than the previous arc, can't wait to see where it goes)
Goosebumps Graphix Vol 2 Terror Trips SC (The other two volumes were very good)
Invincible #43 (All kinds of plot and character developments, great art)
Thunderbolts #115 (Best issue of the relaunch thus far, gorgeous art and a terrific superhero/supervillain fight or two)
THE REST
Annihilation Book 3 HC (Finally I can read the whole original Annihilation saga)
Collected Toupydoops TP (Really funny, smart read that is even better in collected form... review planned soon)
Daredevil #98 (Nice penultimate issue of the latest arc)
Fantastic Four #547 (McDuffie and Pelletier continue to impress)
Garth Ennis Streets Of Glory Preview (Curious to see what Ennis will do with a western and no boundaries, courtesy Avatar)
Green Lantern Sinestro Corps Special #1 (I haven't read Green Lantern in a while, but I'm curious about this new story)
Hellboy Darkness Calls #3 (Amazing art, interesting story)
Immortal Iron Fist #6 (Great conclusion to the first arc)
Jack Of Fables #12 (New story, now that Vegas and Jack Frost are wrapped... I think)
Lone Ranger Vol 1 TP (Been wanting to check back into this, gets good buzz)
Marvel Adventures Avengers #14 (Best Avengers title running)
Previews Vol XVII #7 (New Down the Line in the works)
Subculture #1 (New title from APE about geek culture, sounds fun)
Walking Dead #38 (Kirkman's Image books are always late, and then they always hit the same week... good thing I like both of them enough not to mind the weird scheduling)
White Picket Fences #2 ('50s alien invasion story continues, had a good first issue)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #1 (New ongoing, looking forward to checking it out and catching up with hardcover soon)
TOP FIVE
Art Of Bone HC (Dark Horse's "Art Of" volumes are always impressive, and this will be no exception)
Criminal #7 (First issue of the new arc was fantastic, maybe even better than the previous arc, can't wait to see where it goes)
Goosebumps Graphix Vol 2 Terror Trips SC (The other two volumes were very good)
Invincible #43 (All kinds of plot and character developments, great art)
Thunderbolts #115 (Best issue of the relaunch thus far, gorgeous art and a terrific superhero/supervillain fight or two)
THE REST
Annihilation Book 3 HC (Finally I can read the whole original Annihilation saga)
Collected Toupydoops TP (Really funny, smart read that is even better in collected form... review planned soon)
Daredevil #98 (Nice penultimate issue of the latest arc)
Fantastic Four #547 (McDuffie and Pelletier continue to impress)
Garth Ennis Streets Of Glory Preview (Curious to see what Ennis will do with a western and no boundaries, courtesy Avatar)
Green Lantern Sinestro Corps Special #1 (I haven't read Green Lantern in a while, but I'm curious about this new story)
Hellboy Darkness Calls #3 (Amazing art, interesting story)
Immortal Iron Fist #6 (Great conclusion to the first arc)
Jack Of Fables #12 (New story, now that Vegas and Jack Frost are wrapped... I think)
Lone Ranger Vol 1 TP (Been wanting to check back into this, gets good buzz)
Marvel Adventures Avengers #14 (Best Avengers title running)
Previews Vol XVII #7 (New Down the Line in the works)
Subculture #1 (New title from APE about geek culture, sounds fun)
Walking Dead #38 (Kirkman's Image books are always late, and then they always hit the same week... good thing I like both of them enough not to mind the weird scheduling)
White Picket Fences #2 ('50s alien invasion story continues, had a good first issue)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #1 (New ongoing, looking forward to checking it out and catching up with hardcover soon)
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Support the CBLDF
Y'all may have heard about the Gordon Lee case, and that the CBLDF is about to go to trial to defend a retailer from some bullshit charges. If you haven't, you can find out a lot more by visiting Kady Mae (of Sequential Tart) and reading this post, wherein she says if she gets 40 or more emails from people who have donated $25 or more to the CBLDF, she will donate a $1000 at San Diego.
I've been meaning to re-up my membership in the CBLDF for a year now, and this was as good a chance as any, so I bought a membership for the store at the Advocate level. If you buy a membership at this level, you get a membership card with custom art (I can't remember the artist on this year's card, but previous editions have included Frank Miller, Will Eisner and Peter Kuper) as well as a T-shirt with the first amendment written out in the shape of the American flag.
Or you can donate $30 (I think) to the cause and get the shirt. Or donate whatever you can afford and get the satisfaction of helping free speech and comics. I don't linkblog a lot, partly because I'm too lazy to keep up, but this seemed like a link worth spreading to whoever's reading here, and also a good chance to remind folks that the CBLDF is an important organization that does good work.
I've been meaning to re-up my membership in the CBLDF for a year now, and this was as good a chance as any, so I bought a membership for the store at the Advocate level. If you buy a membership at this level, you get a membership card with custom art (I can't remember the artist on this year's card, but previous editions have included Frank Miller, Will Eisner and Peter Kuper) as well as a T-shirt with the first amendment written out in the shape of the American flag.
Or you can donate $30 (I think) to the cause and get the shirt. Or donate whatever you can afford and get the satisfaction of helping free speech and comics. I don't linkblog a lot, partly because I'm too lazy to keep up, but this seemed like a link worth spreading to whoever's reading here, and also a good chance to remind folks that the CBLDF is an important organization that does good work.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Weekly Comics to Come - June 20, 2007
TOP FIVE
Brave And The Bold #4 (Finally, the next chapter in the Mark Waid/George Perez superhero team-up tale)
Mantlo A Life In Comics (A tribute to Bill Mantlo, which looks really cool)
Repo #1 (New Rick Spears/Rob G book, probably my most anticipated read this week)
Spirit #7 (Disappointed it's not all Darwyn Cooke, but the guest artists include Jordi Bernet and Kyle Baker, so I can't complain too much)
True Story Swear To God #2.06 (The last issue was one of my favorites, I love this book)
THE REST
Annihilation Conquest Prologue (Looking forward to reading this, but kind of wanted to read the original Annihilation hardcovers first)
Captain America #27 (Good issue, although still nowhere near what I actually wanted from Cap)
Ex Machina #29 (I'm an issue or two behind, might start reading just trades, but it's still been a really good book)
GI Joe Storm Shadow #2 (First issue was fun, if disjointed, but with great art)
Grendel Archive Edition HC (Collecting the original Grendel stuff, which I've never read)
Highwaymen #1 (Looking forward to this action miniseries from Wildstorm)
Incredible Hulk #107 (Solid issue, but I'm already losing interest in World War Hulk)
Marvel Adventures Avengers Vol 3 Digest TP (Collecting the second run by Jeff Parker, which includes several genius issues, like the Ego the Loving Planet issue)
Marvel Adventures Iron Man #2 (First issue was solid, if not up to MA Avengers levels, and Iron Man isn't a dick... bonus!)
Maxwell Strangewell GG (The Fillbach Brothers craft a strange and intriguing new graphic novel)
Tales From The Crypt #1 (Papercutz relaunches the EC classic as an all-ages book... I'm curious, at least)
Tick 20th Ann Sp Ed #1 (Celebrating 20 years of the Tick, with a lot of guest talent... now if only there were consistent, well-produced trades of the early material)
Warhammer 40K Damnation Crusade #5 (Just read the first four issues a few weeks back and enjoyed them)
Warhammer Forge Of War #1 (Boom! takes on Warhammer Fantasy, and their Warhammer 40K comics have been good)
Wasteland #10 (Best enjoyed in trades, but a good read all around)
X-men Endangered Species One-Shot (If you've seen Children of Men, you know that opening scene where everybody was moping because the youngest man on Earth had died? This is like that, if that scene had been the entire movie, and if it had sucked. Seriously, bad art, boring story, it just sucks the life right out of the room.)
X-men First Class HC (Wasn't huge on Roger Cruz's art, but kept hearing nothing but good about Jeff Parker's stories, so I'll be checking this one out)
Brave And The Bold #4 (Finally, the next chapter in the Mark Waid/George Perez superhero team-up tale)
Mantlo A Life In Comics (A tribute to Bill Mantlo, which looks really cool)
Repo #1 (New Rick Spears/Rob G book, probably my most anticipated read this week)
Spirit #7 (Disappointed it's not all Darwyn Cooke, but the guest artists include Jordi Bernet and Kyle Baker, so I can't complain too much)
True Story Swear To God #2.06 (The last issue was one of my favorites, I love this book)
THE REST
Annihilation Conquest Prologue (Looking forward to reading this, but kind of wanted to read the original Annihilation hardcovers first)
Captain America #27 (Good issue, although still nowhere near what I actually wanted from Cap)
Ex Machina #29 (I'm an issue or two behind, might start reading just trades, but it's still been a really good book)
GI Joe Storm Shadow #2 (First issue was fun, if disjointed, but with great art)
Grendel Archive Edition HC (Collecting the original Grendel stuff, which I've never read)
Highwaymen #1 (Looking forward to this action miniseries from Wildstorm)
Incredible Hulk #107 (Solid issue, but I'm already losing interest in World War Hulk)
Marvel Adventures Avengers Vol 3 Digest TP (Collecting the second run by Jeff Parker, which includes several genius issues, like the Ego the Loving Planet issue)
Marvel Adventures Iron Man #2 (First issue was solid, if not up to MA Avengers levels, and Iron Man isn't a dick... bonus!)
Maxwell Strangewell GG (The Fillbach Brothers craft a strange and intriguing new graphic novel)
Tales From The Crypt #1 (Papercutz relaunches the EC classic as an all-ages book... I'm curious, at least)
Tick 20th Ann Sp Ed #1 (Celebrating 20 years of the Tick, with a lot of guest talent... now if only there were consistent, well-produced trades of the early material)
Warhammer 40K Damnation Crusade #5 (Just read the first four issues a few weeks back and enjoyed them)
Warhammer Forge Of War #1 (Boom! takes on Warhammer Fantasy, and their Warhammer 40K comics have been good)
Wasteland #10 (Best enjoyed in trades, but a good read all around)
X-men Endangered Species One-Shot (If you've seen Children of Men, you know that opening scene where everybody was moping because the youngest man on Earth had died? This is like that, if that scene had been the entire movie, and if it had sucked. Seriously, bad art, boring story, it just sucks the life right out of the room.)
X-men First Class HC (Wasn't huge on Roger Cruz's art, but kept hearing nothing but good about Jeff Parker's stories, so I'll be checking this one out)
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