Must Reading On The Writers' Strike

Brian Vaughan had a great piece up that was reprinted at the end of this CBR piece. The man walked away from a staff writer/producer job on Lost. A dream job. On principle, on supporting his fellow writers. That is what the strike is about.

But John Rogers really gets to the heart of it, and in a way that is a hilariously funny read. His corporation = tiger metaphor is one that I find heart-breakingly true and side-splittingly funny.

It's a painful, transitional time as entertainment, hell, our entire culture, goes fully from analog to digital. This is probably just one of the many important baby steps that will be taken in transforming the culture.

I said in a previous post that as an entertainment consumer, I don't have any particular emotional investment in this strike. But as someone who follows pop culture, as someone who knows and likes creative people, I am absolutely 100% behind the writers on this one.

From Uncle STAPLE!

STAPLE! Registration has begun!

Hey everybody!

STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo is back for its
fourth annual show! Come out Saturday March 1st, 2008
to a new location – the Monarch Event Center next to
Highland Mall – www.monarcheventcenter.com. This
exciting new venue occupies the site of the former
Lincoln Village Theater in the Lincoln Village
shopping center in north central Austin. It’s been
completely remodeled and refurbished into a lovely new
spot just perfect for a bigger and better STAPLE!
www.staple-austin.org

We are very pleased to announce a very special guest
for STAPLE! 2008 - BRIAN WOOD! Author of Channel Zero,
Couriers, DMZ, Demo, Local, Supermarket, and the
forthcoming Northlanders (available December 5th),
Brian has made his mark as an influential and eclectic
pioneer of independent comics creation. We are very
honored and excited to have him appear at STAPLE! For
more on Brian go to www.brianwood.com

And if you’d like to start making your own mark, you
can be an exhibitor at STAPLE! Exhibitor registration
is now open and tables are available at $65 for an
eight footer and $35 for a half – cheap! They always
sell out fast so to get yours now go to
www.staple-austin.org/register

STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo is the Southwest’s
only convention for independently produced comics,
zines, graphic arts and animation. The fourth annual
Expo is Saturday, March 1st, 2008, 11am-7pm at the
Monarch Event Center in Austin, Texas. Admission is
STILL only $5 at the door! For more info go to
www.staple-austin.org

Thanks! Hope to see you there!

Weekly Comics to Come - November 7, 2007

TOP FIVE
Annihilation Conquest #1 (Great start to the new cosmic crossover, roundtable review is up at Comic Pants)
Criminal #10 (End of the second story arc, which I've actually been enjoying more than the first one)
Dan Breretons Nocturnals Vol 1 HC (Finally! Nocturnals gets swanky oversized hardcover treatment.. and yep, I'm buying the $10 more expensive deluxe version)
Grendel Art Of Matt Wagners Grendel HC (New deluxe Dark Horse art book... yay!)
The Order #4 (Fantastic issue, possibly the best one since #1)

THE REST
Annihilation Conquest Star Lord #4 (A really good ending to what is probably my favorite of the Conquest miniseries)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #8 (Vaughan's arc has been a lot of fun thus far)
Darkness First Look (Hate the Darkness, but really enjoy Phil Hester's writing... so I'll give this a read)
Fantastic Four #551 (Looks like the wrap-up to McDuffie's run, and it starts off very strong)
Fearless #1 (Intriguing new superhero book from Image)
Hellboy Darkness Calls #6 (Wrapping up the first Fegredo drawn Hellboy, and it's been my favorite Hellboy series in years)
Immortal Iron Fist #10 (Wandering into "I'd rather read this in trade" territory, but still very good)
Lobster Johnson The Iron Prometheus #3 (Not feeling it as much as the other BPRD stuff, but great art, good pulp story)
Lower Regions GN (Alex Robinson's loving parody of D&D)
Y The Last Man #59 (The penultimate issue, and after last issue, I'm more than a little worried about where it's going)

My Thoughts on The Strike

In general? I'm with the writers. What they want is completely fair, and the studios are being ridiculously stupid in not wanting to share the money with the people who are largely responsible for them making it. Without studios, there will still be a lot of great TV and movies (witness the Internet, short films, etc.). Without writers? The studios produce reality TV and game shows.

So yeah, advantage: Writers. Like, F-15s vs. cavemen type advantage.

But the problem, and a lot of the writers know it even though they have been pushed into an unavoidable corner, is that nobody wins in this situation. The traditional TV/movie models have been slipping for a while, and the strike could cost a lot of the audience. With any luck, the writers will find new ways to make money in newer delivery systems and the studios will find that they just fucked themselves out of cash and new media importance, kind of the way the RIAA is slowly pushing itself into obsolescence. But in the real world, this is going to hurt working writers as well as studio suits.

Or, to take a page from my blog postings about a year ago:

"Dry month for TV, though, and here's the thing... I barely noticed. I still have so many DVDs to watch, videogames to play, comics and books to read, not to mention the diversion that is the Internet, that if TV magically went away tomorrow, I don't know that I'd actually miss it. And I am a diehard fan of the medium. This should scare the shit out of TV executives, who still seem intent on driving off what audience there is with hair-trigger cancellations of serial shows, constant rejiggering of schedules and some of the lowest common denominator programming I've ever seen."

Could the strike be the "TV magically went away tomorrow" I was thinking of? Nah, probably not. But honestly, despite enjoying several shows right now, from an entertainment consumer point of view, I don't really care that much about the strike. I've got *plenty* to occupy my time.

Guitar Hero III

I'm maybe 75% of the way through the game on Medium difficulty (I'm in Japan, for anyone playing the game who knows what that means), and I'm digging it. It doesn't have the pure "holy shit, this is cool!" thrill that the first one did, but it's the third sequel (counting Rock the '80s), so really, that's probably not fair to expect.

But the good news is, the loss of the original Harmonix team to Rock Band does not hurt the game. There are definite touches where you can see the changes that have been made, some good (original artists instead of covers!), some not as good (tons of product placement), and some that I both like and dislike. This includes boss battles against Tom Morello and Slash (cool to see this kind of integration with real life guitar legends, I'm not wild about the boss battle mechanic, even though it's not super-hard to figure out or anything) and slicker, more animated cut scenes (they're fun, although I miss the sort of grungy, rock art designs of the first and second games).

The song list is fantastic. I was hoping for some Green Day off American Idiot, some Beatles, and I'd love it if the next game has The Fratellis, but this was a pretty damn impressive song list with some true favorites on there. Muse's Knights of Cydonia is an awesome pick... and very hard to play, too. That one's a challenge. It is definitely a touch harder to play, but as someone who's grown in skill enough to beat Medium but not really challenge Expert, I liked that incremental bump up in difficulty.

What I'd love to see in future games is for them to ditch the "rise to fame" story that we've seen in all the Guitar Hero games thus far. I don't remember who said it, but it doesn't seem that credible that a cover band would rise to popularity like this, although honestly, it's not realistic to have you playing original songs because where's the fun in that? But if you're going for over-the-top story, why not take it a bit further? I'd love it if it was a "Conquering Hell" story along the lines of Black Metal or even a twisted romance/coming of age tale like Bryan O'Malley's singularly unique Scott Pilgrim. Or even a "music is magic" thing like Phonogram. Basically, I'd like to see something like the music-influenced stories of comics, something that's as much story as it is music.

But really, that's just window dressing. Guitar Hero III has plenty of that, too, including a ton of cool novelty guitars, outfits and characters. I've purchased Metalhead, a decommissioned '50s style Soviet robot with a laser gun guitar, as my default character. Kind of cool to think about unlocking both Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine) and Slash (of Guns 'n' Roses) and playing in dual mode with a friend, each of playing a real guitar legend.

Overall, big thumbs up. The one notable thing missing is online play, which is available for the other platforms but not PS/2. I kinda wish I'd never bought that online adapter, because I rarely ever use it. I would use it for Guitar Hero, though... shame I can't.

Oh, and I definitely recommend either getting a wireless guitar or buying the Guitar Hero III bundle that comes with the new wireless guitar. Playing wireless is just a nice little touch that makes the game more fun.

Holy... Wow.

Can we *please* have this guy as President?

He may be a naive idealist, or he may be a smooth political operator making promises he can't or won't keep. But when I read speeches like the one above, I actually see a time when I might be able to say "The President of the United States" with pride instead of wanting to cringe and wash my mouth out with soap.

I want the polls to be wrong. I want this guy to be the Democratic contender for the Presidency. And I want him to win.

I can't remember the last time I felt inspired by a candidate. Certainly there wasn't anyone close in 2004.

Damn You, TV!

I had forgiven The CW for canceling Veronica Mars, at least enough to watch Reaper, which was getting good buzz. "I didn't see the pilot for the fourth season," I thought, "Maybe it just wasn't any good. After all, season three was a bit bumpy, to say the least."

Then Jennifer Armstrong at EW found the link to the two-part Veronica Mars mini-pilot for season four. And I watched it, and was reminded that thanks to the CW, we have Kristen Bell being misused on the increasingly awful Heroes, no Enrico Colantoni, no Tina Majorino... and none of Rob Thomas and crew's sharp writing.

I've been wavering on Reaper, haven't watched the last three episodes, and this decided it for me. I'm canceling the CW for a while, because clearly their executives wouldn't know a great show if it bit them on the ass.

Dear TV Gods... Please let the strike kill this project in the womb

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

There may (and I stress may) be someone who could do an American version of the brilliantly funny British sitcom Spaced. Maybe. I doubt it.

I'm 100% certain it is not producer McG or anyone who has been involved in Will & Grace, The New Adventures of Old Christine, The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll, The O.C. or Fastlane.

The only possible saving grace is that we might finally get region 1 discs of the original Spaced series.

Bad TV! No donut for you!

Blog Update for October 2007

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, with another dozen books that didn't make the cut but easily could have, including three new launch titles from promising new company Red 5 Comics. Also included in that list were the finale of Highwaymen and Fear Agent Last Goodbye, two excellent miniseries, and the latest issues of Marvel Adventures Hulk #4, Daredevil #101, Transformers Devastation #2, Warhammer Forge Of War #4, DMZ #24, New Warriors #5 and Buffy The Vampire Slayer #7. The tally this month: 2 Vertigo, 3 DC (not one of them Countdown-related), 2 Archaia, 3 from Image (including the debut of Proof), 2 Dark Horse and 8 Marvel, including three new books in She-Hulk (Peter David's run), Marvel Zombies 2 (surprisingly fun) and Daredevil Annual (sort of a "pilot" for a Black Tarantula mini, which would be awesome). It's funny, there are a bunch of Marvel books I absolutely hate, but in terms of the big two, they're still much closer to producing what I want right now. Well, me and like 60% of the comics market at the moment.

Got a lot more graphic novels read this month, so many that Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil, Savage Brothers, Warhammer 40K: Damnation Crusade and Essential Moon Knight Vols. 1-2 didn't make the list. My novel reading slowed down, as I finished The Amber Spyglass and read a single chapter of Stephen Colbert's new book. My overall take on His Dark Materials is that Golden Compass was a really good book without a real ending, and the rest of the trilogy was kind of a slog. There are neat ideas and characters throughout, but the vibe of Golden Compass had me feeling like I wanted to see a lot more of that world, and instead the next two books were about different worlds that I didn't find as interesting. Now I've added to the reading list not only Gates of Fire, but the first book of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire and the first book of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files.

Great month for TV, as the Fall season was in full swing. Mind you, it's a disappointing Fall season, with nothing great and plenty of disappointing new seasons (Heroes is stinking up the place, Friday Night Lights is worrying me and Reaper had a great pilot and then a repetitive and increasingly dull series), but there are still plenty of shows to watch, especially if you've got Showtime. I know common wisdom is that The Office is weaker in hour episodes, but I've been really digging it, and loving 30 Rock and My Name is Earl as well. Pushing Daisies has been great, although I miss the visual spark the first two episodes had, reputedly at an amazingly gigantic budget (explaining where they went). Chuck has gotten better, and I now look forward to watching it... my theory is that if you smashed together Chuck and Reaper, you'd have one very good show, instead of one weak one and one good but not great one. That said, even though there were a dozen shows on my list this week (Scrubs and Chuck should really be on there), if there does turn out to be a writer's strike as tomorrow, I can't say it'll worry me overmuch. It'll let me get caught up on my bursting Netflix queue and a bunch of other DVDs I've bought.

Added to the ever-expanding blogroll this month: Scott Dunbier's new blog, sketchblogs from Nate Bellegarde and Cory Walker, the awesome "Team vs. Team" blog Superest, Leigh Walton's excellent comics analysis blog Picture Poetry, Alex Robinson's blog (where he's serializing some of his mini-comics, all of which are great) and Riccardo Burchielli's blog, among a few others.

Heroes: OK, Who Still Cares?

I don't know how these little recaps of mine turned into a weekly thing, or how many people are actually reading them. At this point, it's more like venting my anger at a good (and potentially great) show that has become not just weak, but actually bad. If I hadn't invested a seasons' worth of interest already, if this were a new show, I would have given up a couple of episodes ago. As is, I think I've got one, maybe two more episodes like the ones we've been given before I give up anyway.

So I won't have a lot to say this time because honestly, the show isn't really worth that much time. I'll just say this:

*Kristen Bell introduced one week, then she doesn't show up next week so we can get more time-traveling Hiro (in a predictable, and predictably weakly shot and scripted development in his painfully extended time travel detour), more Maya/Alejandro (seriously, if Sylar doesn't kill one of them soon, I'm just going to start fast forwarding through their sequences) and more Claire/West high school drama. Also missing? The only interesting story, about the murders of the supers of the past, and thus any glimpse of Parkman and Petrelli. So basically, extra doses of the three irritating new characters, no glimpse of the three most interesting characters and no check-in at all on the plot I actually care about. Bleh.

*I was out of town, so I was watching the show live, not on Tivo. I fell asleep for about 10-15 minutes there. When I woke up, I didn't feel as if I'd missed anything. Not a good sign.

*Cool to say HRG being all badass, but it's in service to a lame story about some "forgotten" paintings by Isaac, another repetitive element from last season. Also repetitive, the big reveal at the end of the episode and the promise of an "alternate future" episode next week. I'm beginning to suspect they took the scripts from last season and just gave them a touch-up, rather than creating a whole new season.

*Does anyone give a shit whether Clare is a cheerleader or not? Anyone? Just checking. Because I sure don't. They need to get her the hell away from high school and the hell away from dreamy annoying boyfriend dude.

The show is spending all its time exploring questions I don't care about the answers to, and letting the few interesting questions they've managed to accidentally raise linger and die a slow, unattended death. This show needs major surgery, and soon.

Weekly Comics to Come - October 31, 2007

TOP FIVE
Chiaroscuro HC (Fantastic little indy gem that vanished and is now back as a complete hardcover. Can't wait to read all of it, it was a strange and compelling book)
Dynamo 5 #8 (Picking up where the trade left off, and after re-reading the trade recently, I'm really ready for more)
Mouse Guard Winter 1152 #2 (First issue was great, maybe even better than the first series... looking forward to more)
Perry Bible Fellowship Trial Of Colonel Sweeto HC (Probably the funniest, weirdest comic on the Internet, and the book is reportedly very well put together)
True Story Swear To God Image Ed #9 (One of my absolute favorite series, and each issue confirms why I feel that way)

THE REST
3 Minute Sketchbook TP (Fun concept, fun sketches, I'll check this out)
American Virgin #20 (I'm so pissed this is being canceled. Not surprised, really, it's a weird book that's not for everyone, and the market just doesn't have room for those books right now. But c'mon, they couldn't have given them up to issue #25?)
Annihilation Conquest Quasar #4 (Good finale, nice reveal on the mysterious savior, weird continuity glitch with Wraith)
Biff Bam Pow #1 (Wow, you wanna talk about late. Two years or so this was announced. Still, it's Evan Dorkin and Sara Dyer, and will no doubt be entertaining. But jeez... indy people wonder where the sales went? When your timeliness makes Ultimates look punctual, you lose everyone but your hardcore readers)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Long Way Home TP (On balance, I think I decided I don't want to buy this series for re-reading... but it's a good read if you're a Buffy fan at all)
Daredevil Annual #1 (Reads like a pilot for a Black Tarantula miniseries, scripted by Ande Parks with art by Leandro Fernandez... and after reading it, I'm *totally* game for said miniseries)
DC Infinite Halloween Special #1 (Features work by Mark Waid, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Steve Seagle. Also features work by Dan Didio. Also features DnA returning to Resurrection Man. On balance, probably mostly gonna suck but will have a couple *great* stories, if I had to guess)
El Cazador Vol 1 TP (Disney reprints Crossgen's fallen pirate series... please let this be the start of a comic book continuation)
Flash Wonderland TP (The first Geoff Johns Flash... misses Kolins, but Unzueta's work is solid, and it lays down a lot of important foundation stuff. Plus it's just kinda fun)
Immortal Iron Fist Vol 1 TP (Fraction, Brubaker & Aja's kung-fu cool book comes to softcover... and now I want to hold out for a giant sized hardcover of two volumes)
Jack Of Fables #16 (Caught up on the series in the second trade, now I need to get caught back up in singles)
Primordia #1 (New fantasy book from Archaia, looks like great art)
Special Forces #1 (Kyle Baker's very late Image book about lowest common denominator soldiers. Probably very funny with great cartooning)
Tales Of The Fear Agent 12 Steps In One (Fear Agent one shot by a different creative team... I'm always digging the Fear Agent)
Wasteland #13 (I've sort of moved to reading trades on this one, honestly... but I'm anxiously awaiting the next trade)

Heroes Episode 5: Still Better, Still Not Great

This was the best episode of Heroes Season Two so far. It actually has me legitimately excited to come back next week and see what happens next. It doesn't hurt that Maya, Alejandro and stalker boyfriend West were entirely absent, that Kristen Bell was entirely present, and that the Matt Parkman/Nathan Petrelli and Monica/Micah teams are probably the most interesting ones on the show. Hell, even the Hiro subplot, while still boring and contrived (with his time travel/teleportation powers, why can't they go *past* the army, instead of through it?), was watchable. Still, here come the gripes (and a few kudos):

*When one of your producers can't spell "lightning" and instead spells it either "lightening" (that'd be making it lighter) or "lighting" (that'd be making it brighter)? Yeah, that doesn't look so good.

*Also, lightning hands? Cool power. Introducing that power by having the girl talk to herself and fire a few sparks at a nearby cargo shipping container? Laaaaammme. Jeez, reveal the power when she fries a member of the Lucky Charms gang, at least that would have been cool.

*Kristen Bell is doing good stuff with what little they've given her, though. Some of that Veronica Mars sass in the hands of a much more wicked girl. I *loved* her "Yeah, OK I killed him" conversation with "Daddy" and I'm dying to know who "Daddy" is. Easily the best new character of the season. No shock there. No pun intended.

*Second best new character, though, is definitely Monica. She and Micah have a great rapport (and the kid who plays Micah is one of the best kid actors on TV), she has a cool power and I like that they're instantly going into "What do we do now" mode rather than having her spend three episodes denying her powers.

*Unlike, say, Peter, who is still pissing about in Ireland, with the writers' mistakenly believing we give a shit if they kill any (or indeed all) of the gangster/bar owner characters they've introduced this season.

*Parkman's dad? Great stuff. I was totally buying his act until the second he was revealed, and I thought the reveal of what was going on with Matt Parkman and Nathan Petrelli and the mindgames was very well shot.

*Also digging the stuff with The Company, with Stephen Tobolowsky being great as always, and I loved Mohinder and Nikki interacting, if only briefly.

Overall, while it's worth noting (as EW did) that at this point in the last season, we got that kickass, electrifying moment in the subway between future Hiro and Peter, and thus Heroes Season Two is still too slow and disappointing, this was a promising upturn. The real grade is probably still a C or a C-, but if you grade on a curve against the rest of the season, this was a B, maybe a B+ episode. Here's hoping it continues to improve, and faster, each week.

Linkblogging

Bush wants $42.3 billion for war, says we can get the money by not giving healthcare to poor children (OK, I made that last part up, he actually just thinks war money falls from the sky. In other news, Congress, please don't fuck up again and let these guys declare war on Iran, OK?)

I'm quoted in the New York Times. Which is kinda cool. Even if they flubbed the name (and link) to the site.

Max Riffner (winner of the 2006 Isotope Mini-Comic Award) has a 24 Hour Comic. It is about a werewolf. And it is a lot of fun.

Weekly Comics to Come - October 24, 2007

TOP FIVE
Proof #1 (FBI Special Agent Bigfoot. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. A very promising, very cool new Image series)
She-Hulk 2 #22 (First issue by Peter David and Shawn Moll... and it's kind of awesome, actually)
Spirit Vol 1 HC (First six issues of Eisner's Spirit in hardcover... hoping for cool extras)
Thunderbolts #117 (Still really cool, great use of Doc Samson)
X-men First Class Vol 2 #5 (X-Men vs. the Hulk, Roger Cruz's best art yet, Parker in fine form as always)

THE REST
Annihilation Conquest Wraith #4 (Good finale, can't wait for Annihilation Conquest)
Avengers Assemble Vol 5 HC (Concluding the Busiek Avengers run)
Crawl Space Xxxombies #1 ('70s porno zombies by Rick Remender and Kieron Dwyer)
Daredevil #101 (Great issue, but I'm disliking the direction Milla's story is going in, and I *hate* that the character on the last page is in this book)
Fear Agent Last Goodbye #4 (Last issue of the best Fear Agent so far)
Flash #233 (Second issue was kinda weak, but Waid's kicking a lot of ass on Brave & The Bold and I really want to like this book)
Foolkiller #1 (Not expecting a lot, but I like the character)
Green Arrow Year One #6 (Finale of the action-packed Diggle/Jock book)
Hack Slash Series #5 (The latest in Tim Seeley's fun horror/action book)
Jack Of Fables Vol 2 Jack Of Hearts TP (Yay! Second trade! Spinoff as good as the main book)
Killer #5-6 (From a retail point of view, super-late + double shipping is highly annoying. As a reader of The Killer, though? I'm OK with it)
Marvel Adventures Iron Man #6 (Space armor... rock)
Marvel Zombies Covers HC (After Marvel Zombies 2 and 52 Covers last week, I'm pretty much right in the mood for this)
Neozoic #1 (Alternate universe where humans live alongside dinosaurs, with great art)
Potters Field #2 (Second issue of Waid's modern day pulp hero... I'm already wishing it was an ongoing series)
Previews Vol XVII #11 (Down the Line is in the works)
Star Wars Dark Times #6 (New story arc, new art by Luke Ross, probably still the same great comic)
Transformers Devastation #2 (Big things happening in IDW's Transformers line)
Walking Dead #43 (After that cliffhanger last time? Can't wait)
Warhammer 40k Blood & Thunder #1 (Orks talk funny and blow shit up)
Warhammer Forge Of War #4 (Caught up on Boom!'s fantasy comic recently, and now I'm really digging the stories of all the soldiers and mages who lost a really big battle and what happened after)

Being Unsurprised Doesn't Equal Not Being Pissed Off

So the House failed to override Bush's veto of the childcare health program.

It's been clear that this was the way the wind was blowing for a while, but I'm still pissed to see it actually confirmed. Despite polls showing that 60% of Americans favored the increase (and we should be ashamed as a country that the number isn't higher), Bush and his cronies stood up and knocked back a chance to increase funding for childrens' health insurance by $35 million. Bush, in what can only be considered a condescending tone, offers up $5 million as his ceiling. Considerably less than we're spending on his war.

Silver lining, this is probably going to screw pretty heavily with Republicans running for election or re-election. Downside of course being that the Democrats aren't much better, and I'm a regime change in 2008 isn't going to help the families who are going to have to struggle with their kid's healthcare costs because Bush and those who voted with him are somehow terrified that socialized medicine will destroy America.

Seriously?

Seems to me it's been a pretty good year for Marvel. If you just ignore all the stupidity and misogyny going on in the Bendis corner of the universe (and I've surgically removed my Avengers love until somebody else is running that show), there's been World War Hulk and Incredible Hulk, a perfect mix of modern pop thrills and actual appreciation for the characters and history, hipster superheroes from Brubaker, Fraction and Ellis, the kickass cosmic epic Annihilation: Conquest and just solid post-Civil War superheroes in books like New Warriors. Sure, the X-Men are basically dull and lifeless, but really, Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely and company might have been the last hurrah for those characters. When even Ed Brubaker and Joss Whedon can't make 'em interesting to me, there's something wrong with that subset of the universe or with me. Allowing that it might be me, and I might just be tired of the X-Men, there's still a whole lot of readable (and strong selling) books at Marvel.

They've made best sellers out of the Hulk, Moon Knight and Iron Fist. I've loved these characters for a long time, but I didn't think anyone else would.

So what's the first thing they do, when they've got a good buzz going, Hulk is a cool character again, and folks want to read about him? They hand him over to Jeph Loeb, whose Wolverine arc was... well, calling it a trainwreck is being kind. Here's Paul O'Brien to explain.

And what does Loeb do? Well, in a move that seems more in line with DC than Marvel, he's starting off with a murder mystery involving "one of Hulk's oldest cast members." Hands up, anyone guessing it'll be a perfectly good female character. If your hand isn't up, you probably haven't been reading superhero comics lately. Maybe I'm wrong, though, and they'll just off Rick Jones or someone else who no doubt has more potential in him/her than this lame duck of a story.

Oh, and the Hulk? He's big, and red, and puffy, and looks like something you'd see watching Adult Swim while tripping on acid. And there's a mystery about who the character is. Because having just established Hulk in his classic look, with a new and badass personality and motivation, and a movie on the way starring Ed Freakin' Norton, the first thing you want to do is change *everything* about the character. After all, it worked out so well for Wolverine.

But maybe I should give Loeb the benefit of the doubt. After all, remember his Superman/Batman? And how it made absolutely no sense? Hmm. Well, what about his work with Rob Liefeld? Oof. OK, but what about his work on Wolverine?

If Tim Sale were involved, I'd have reason to be at least a little bit hopeful, as Loeb/Sale bring out the best in one another, and their collaborations always raise Loeb's game, occasionally (as with his Daredevil: Yellow) to an A-level. But this looks just awful.

And worse, 2007 has seen a Marvel Universe with no Mark Millar, and Millar is gleefully announcing he's going to save the company (presumably from making sense and having characters instead of indistinguishable action puppets) by having five books at Marvel next year. Yikes.

With these developments looming and the ugly-ass gun-toting new Cap, I'm starting to get a bad feeling about Marvel '08, at least in terms of my own interest. And DC is showing no signs of getting my interest back anytime soon. I'm sure I'll get my superhero fix somewhere, though, at Image and Dark Horse if nothing else. And if the last few years are any indication, even if DC/Marvel aren't firing for me in general, the small press and self-publishers will be producing plenty of good material.

Mountain Dew Game Fuel

So while at the grocery store today with both kids (and there's a fun adventure), I was picking up some soda and I saw Mountain Dew Game Fuel, the limited edition Mountain Dew flavor tied into HALO 3.

Now, while I don't drink it a lot, I always kind of liked Mountain Dew in college. And I've had a bit of a fondness for the variant Mountain Dew flavors like Code Red (still a favorite) and Live Wire (the orange soda, and I miss it) and have even liked the somewhat chalky, grape-influenced Pitch Black (although I still have 8 cans of Pitch Black II in my fridge, so I'm not so much a big fan now). So what the hell... I figure I'll give this soda with a "blast of invigorating citrus cherry flavor" a try.

I popped open the first can about a half hour ago. And this stuff tastes pretty much like drinkable Bayer Aspirin with carbonation. Which is to say, it's kinda nasty. Maybe it'll grow on me... I have 11 more cans to down to see if it does.

The question of course, is, "Randy, why on Earth would you buy HALO 3 soda when you don't play HALO and you know that the odds are good it's going to taste terrible?" The answer? I've liked 3 out of the 4 Mountain Dew flavors I've tried in the past, and I liked those odds. The other answer? I'm just as susceptible to marketing stupidity as everybody else.

Perhaps the best response to this drink can be found here.

Heroes: Better, But...

The fourth episode of Heroes was the strongest one this season. A big part of that is that two of the stupidest, least interesting plotlines (Hiro in Feudal Japan and Peter in Ireland) were entirely absent. Another part was that they finally, *finally* introduced a new character I didn't immediately want to throttle. And another part is that they seem to have hit upon a main story that actually seems potentially as interesting as the Sylar/Lenderman mysteries of season one. Now if only they can focus in on that and ditch all the extraneous garbage.

The new character and her family are cliched in the extreme, with a cringe-worthy inclusion of a "topical" Hurricane Katrina story. However, the new actress (Dana Davis) is quite good in a cliched role, and her powers (Taskmaster-esque photographic reflexes) are pretty cool, and well done. I'm finding it really, really hard to believe Tim Kring's assertion that he doesn't read comics... if that's the case, he has the super-power of accidentally ripping them off in every episode. Which is fine, just... acknowledge your influences, don't try to pretend you're one of the cool kids who doesn't read superhero comics when you're trading on the cool factor of the genre to shore up your B-list writing.

Was that harsh? No harsher than the feelings I continue to have for Maya, Alejandro and West, the three new characters whom I would like to see die in a huge fireball. Or a quiet gas leak. Really, whatever gets rid of them the fastest. I was actually stunned by the stupidity of coincidence that Sylar stumbled into the path of Maya and Alejandro, but that whole story gained a 50% boost in charisma with Zachary Quinto's arrival, and even better, maybe it means Sylar will kill Maya and Alejandro and we can be done with the whole stupid subplot. I confess, I didn't think bringing back Sylar was a great idea, but I don't really know exactly what his motivations/goals are at this point, nor do I know what's up with the cockroaches left at the scene of the crime, and I'm actually interested in both those mysteries.

The main mystery, which is actually interesting, is about "The Company" and how it relates to the original band of not-so-heroes. Sure, Parkman and Suresh are in a hilarious superhero version of My Two Gay Dads (surely the writers see this, right?), but I like where they've taken the characters, and I liked Parkman interacting with Petrelli. In fact, seeing some of these characters cross paths reminded me of the biggest misstep the show made in season two, which is splitting them all up again, when just building on the relationships and going forward would have been *so* much more interesting. Hopefully the connections will come faster from here on in, and we won't have to wait until midseason (or longer) before the various plots are connecting and I don't find myself wanting to fast forward through large chunks of the story.

Seriously, every time West is on screen, I keep hoping for him to either spontaneously combust or be revealed as a devious bad guy who's manipulating Claire. Because if this great boyfriend act is meant to be sincere, it's a little too saccharine for me.

At any rate, seeing Kristen Bell in the teasers gave me hope, as she shines in just the few seconds of screen time there, and if she can bring Peter back from his stupid, contrived Irish mis-adventure, so much the better.

Even though the show was better tonight, it was still weaker than pretty much any of the episodes from last season. And there were some weak, weak episodes last season. I'm still watching, but my finger's on the "Cancel Season Pass" button, and I won't be recommending to my two friends who've given up that they come back at this point.

How Much Do I Love Heidi MacDonald right now?

If you're at all a fan of the comic book medium, you should go read this. Then go to the comments and watch the fireworks.

Weekly Comics to Come - October 17, 2007

TOP FIVE
Battle Royale Ultimate Ed Vol 1 HC (I'm really looking forward to re-reading this story, and seeing how the Tokyopop deluxe format is)
Captain America #31 (Another great issue from Brubaker and company... bring on Omnibus #2 next year!)
DMZ #24 (Another self-contained issue, with a look back at Amina from "Public Works")
Marvel Zombies 2 #1 (Shocked at how much I enjoyed this first issue... I thought the joke would get old, but this was so funny it has me once again considering picking up the hardcover)
Umbrella Academy Apocalypse Suite #2 (First issue was great, can't wait to see more)

THE REST
52 The Covers HC (A process book on the covers, plus all the gorgeous JG Jones art? Sold! And I'm not even buying the 52 series!)
Abyss #1 (New son of supervillain comedy book by the guys who did Star Wars: Tag & Bink Are Dead. I've read it, it's quite good)
Awesome Indie Spinner Rack Anthology Vol 1 TP (Some good indie names in here, and hopefully some new talent to discover as well)
Brave And The Bold #7 (First arc concluded on a high note, new arc starts here, I'm excited to see it)
Cory Doctorows Futuristic Tales Here And Now #1 (I've never read Doctorow's fiction, only his Boing-Boing posts, but this is a good excuse to check out his sci-fi)
Fables #66 (The Flycatcher story is running long - and maybe late? - but it's still one of my favorite stories of the run so far)
Highwaymen #5 (The highly under-rated action/adventure miniseries reaches its conclusion)
Marvel Adventures Avengers #17 (Parker's gone, but Ty Templeton's a good writer... I'll give his first issue a shot)
Naoki Urasawas Monster Vol 11 (More of the best suspense manga I've ever read)
Ray Harryhausen Presents Sinbad Rogue Of Mars #1 (Beautiful art, writing by the creator of Hero Camp, great concept)
Savage Brothers Vol 1 TP (Rednecks hunt zombies in the post-apocalypse. Boom!)
Shazam Monster Society Of Evil Deluxe HC (I'd almost buy this for the beautiful art alone, even though the story let me down. I probably will, if the hardcover is as impressive as I'm hearing)
Sword #1 (New fantasy book by The Luna Brothers... dug Ultra, got bored of Girls... curious to see whether they can deliver on this one)
Uzumaki Vol 1 (My favorite horror manga of all-time, finally re-released by Viz)