Hey -- its those free form comments again. Say whatever you want in the comments: introduce yourself, express random "off topic" ideas, suggestions, questions, recommendations, and request to be added to the blog roll which I never update, but really should start.
Edit: Update: Newsarama is breaking news today that Whedon will be putting out an Angel Season 6 (to match his Buffy Season 8) and they reviewed Spiderman 3.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
16 comments:
Hey, blog plug: I've been popular this week, since I keep getting linked to by Journalista! and The Comics Reporter. I guess they like my writing. Anyway, I reviewed the mangas Ode to Kirihito and Drifting Classroom volume 2, American Born Chinese, Heartbreak Soup, King City, Superfuckers and Johnny Hiro, and some comics that came out last week.
Also, I was somewhat amused to find that I may have offended Doug TenNapel (creator of Earthworm Jim, Creature Tech, Tommysaurus Rex, etc.) and/or some of his fans with my comments on his upcoming book Black Cherry. You can read the reaction on his message board here, if you want.
geoff, when are we going to start our commercial posts? we say good stuff that we find to be endlessly hilarious and I think these good people need to have it inflicted upon them.
geoff has been holding off because he feels that if we can't find video footage of whatever commercial we are attacking/praising/questioning than it's not worth posting. I however feel that video footage is just gravy and if we can't find it we can summarize it well enuff. what do other people think
also, I am going to be changing my old blog and starting anew with an eye toward making it a visual journal of sorts where I just throw up cool stuff I like and don't whinge on endlessly so much.
I'll comment on the free forms section when it's up and running.
lastly: geoff, we have no food in this house. we need food. why are we so lazy???
Matt: This is more a response to what you wrote below in another thread, since that thread is getting far down the page now.
I very much sympathize with your feeling about the mainstream superhero comics. Like you, I just enjoy reading online critics -- like Geoff and Paul O -- and their take on these ridiculous stunts and events. At the same time, I'm bewildered at their ability to put up with them.
That said, some thoughts on some recent Marvel stuff:
A recommendation:
Great Lakes Avengers Misassembled Trade Paperback. This is two years old now, but I read it at the recommendation of a friend, who said it was very funny and had a lot of jokes about Milwaukee (where I live). So I read it and bought it (in that order), and it is f*cking hilarious. It's written by Dan Slott, about whom I had heard good things but never actually read. His jokes are laugh-out-loud funny, and his ability to structure a solid comedy story, with the jokes never slowing down the pace of the narrative, is really impressive.
The TPB also reprints the original first appearances of some of the characters, which is neat. So, I know it's two years old, but -- well, hey, I just read it now so maybe other people never read it either.
Adding my voice to the chorus:
Per Geoff's recommendation here and at Comic Geek Speak, I picked up one of the Spider-Man loves Mary Jane digests. Matt, I know you like this too. It is -- as advertised -- utterly charming, indeed. I plan on picking up the hardcover that reprints like 16 issues of this.
Recommended to me but I haven't read it yet:
I also plan on buying the hardcover of "Agents of Atlas" because people I know via the net have told me it's something I would like. After loving the Great Lakes Avengers book I'm anxious to check out more self-contained collections of off-the-wall characters, so I'm going to get this. I'm told this book -- like the G.L.A. one -- also reprints the characters' first appearances in the back. What a great idea!
Finally -- I am very close to embarking on my massive piece-by-piece look at Claremont's first X-Men (the '75-'91 one). When I'm underway, I shall request being added to the blog roll. But not until then.
Wow, that was long. Okay, I'm done.
Have a good weekend, everybody!
Newsarama is breaking news today that Whedon will be putting out an Angel Season 6
!@#$% Yeah!
(Haven't read Buffy Season 8 yet... am, as usual, waiting for the trade... but definitely plan on picking it up: it's been getting great reviews all around, and sounds terrific.)
But what I'd really like to see is Firefly Season Two. Here's hoping!
I've been popular this week, since I keep getting linked to by Journalista! and The Comics Reporter. I guess they like my writing
Congrats, Matt. Well deserved, says I: you've been doing some kick-ass posting lately.
A recommendation: Great Lakes Avengers Misassembled Trade Paperback ... I read it and bought it (in that order), and it is f*cking hilarious
I'd second that recommendation. I'm picky in my superhero comics -- only tend to read what gets good reviews from a lot of places. But I'm a sucker for black humor, so I bought that... and thought it was really, really funny. I actually liked it better than either of the Slott She-Hulk volumes I've read.
(It probably helps to be minimally familiar with Avengers Disassembled to read the GLA TPB. You don't have to have read Avengers Disassembled (I haven't) -- but if you've read a review of it it'll help.)
Slott did a follow-up to the GLA volume, uncollected so far as I know, called GLX (or maybe "GLX Christmas Special" or something like that), which was as good as GLA.
I am very close to embarking on my massive piece-by-piece look at Claremont's first X-Men (the '75-'91 one)
Cool. I've been really looking forward to that!
PS to previous: But you have to like black humor to like GLA. It's humor with an edge. I've seen some people say it's bleak, and, well, it sorta is (one of the gimicks was that a member of the GLA dies in every issue! (and not Mr. Immortal every time either) -- and he holds to that) -- but it's really really funny bleak.
I also read GLA, and I'll add to the recommendations. I think it also has some digs at Identity Crisis, if I remember correctly. Oh, and Spider-Man and Wolverine joining the Avengers. Stuff like that. I read it back when the issues came out, but the trade sounds cool with the original character appearances. The GLX-Mas special was also pretty funny. I'm tentatively looking forward to the upcoming Deadpool/GLI (Great Lakes Initiative) summer special. I really don't care about Deadpool, but I'm hoping Slott will make it enjoyable.
I'll also add to the recommendations of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane and Agents of Atlas. Another good one right now is Marvel Adventures: Avengers, written by Jeff Parker. It's a goofy series aimed at kids, but Parker has been coming up with some crazy stories, like having the team all turned into MODOK's or fighting off Ego the Living Planet, who has a crush on the Earth.
Oh, and I like She-Hulk too, but I don't read it regularly, and I've heard it hasn't been that good recently.
On the subject of commercials: Video is nice, but a description of the commercial would suffice, especially since I know Geoff is technophobic. ;-) I imagine most of the commercials will be known to regular TV viewers anyway, unless you're expecting to talk about obscure cable channel bumpers or something.
And finally, another blog plug: I just did a review of the series Borrowed Time.
We made a web commercial at my store for Free Comic Book Day, and it goes something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rh90iDpE7s
Yes, I play the shopkeep in all the scenarios.
Geoff:
I keep meaning to ask if you have discussed Bloom's anxiety of influence and X-Force/X-Statics (the Milligan and Allred run). A friend of mine, years ago, said that he had read an interview with Milligan where Milligan said that he was consciously writing the book with Bloom in mind. Ever since I found out about your book, I've been wondering if you've discussed this somewhere.
Personally, I haven't gotten around to reading Bloom yet (you know how you keep putting off reading books that initiate theories you hear about all the time, because you've already heard about the theory a gazillion times, like Campbell?), but I've read the comic, so I don't know if there is clear evidence one way or another.
matt: how do I get linked to by those guys?
Sara: I have too much grading to do this weekend. We need to use FreshDirect even though it is too much money. Or we could eat out every day whcih is also too much money, but in both cases I do not care about the cost because I cannot spend the time to go shopping.
JP: I need to get something by Slott -- I will check that out. Also, I am very much looking forward to your clairmont run not only because I want to read it but because I am going to read the issues as you do. I may do big comments on your blog or respond to you here and link in your comments section, we will see.
Stephen: you are in luck -- in the letters pages of Buffy season 8 #1 the editor alluded to Whedon working on exactly that -- Serenity comics.
Matt: but I did want to talk about a commercial that might not be familiar to all -- the Select Dental comercial that airs all the time late at night.
I am not technophobic by the way. phobic means fear. I do not fear technology. I HATE technology. Not the same thing. :)
Thacher: Thanks
Cthu: the last paragraph of my superhero book mentions that Bloom was mentioned by name in the Milligan X-Force. Other than that I have not talked about it. I should.
Hey Geoff--
With the sprawling madness of Spider-Man 3 pending... the budget is rumored at 500 million dollars... any thoughts on the Spider-Man movies in general? Are you hopeful? Or has the shadow of X-Men 3 (which I have heard Spider-Man 3 compared to both positively and negatively) left you frightened, cold and alone about third movies?
Mitch: i was very excited about Spiderman 3 and had a feeling it was going to be the best superhero movie ever. I was most excited about Topher Grace, who I adore, as Venom -- that seemed to me to be a good change from the comic: Venom should be a skinny guy like parker, since Venom is thematically Parker's dark side. But newsarama confirmed my one fear may be true -- too many villains, and the thing heads into Batman 4 territory, and now I am not so excited.
Wednesday is a Joss Whedon extravaganza by the way as Buffy 3 ships the same week as the next issue of Runaways and the next issue of Astonishing X-Men.
Ah, yes. Topher Grace... hero to snarky, skinny white guys the world over. He really represents our people well.
That newsarama review was pretty mean to him, too. I'm really interested in Bryce Dallas Howard, too. Isn't it funny that they cast a natural redhead as the seminal blonde and a natural blonde as the seminal redhead? Movies are so weird.
Bendis said he once had a hollywood meeting about his MTV spiderman cartoon and some exec called him in his office to "brainstorm" and said "Does it have to be a spider- character? couldn't we do some other insect?". Bendis laughed and laughed and then he realized the guy was not kidding. Hollywood is nuts. If brad had free time he would agree, but he is busy dealing with crazy hollywood.
Geoff, I just kept posting reviews and stuff and eventually got noticed (by TCR and Journalista). I suppose you could email a link to them if you wanted.
Oh, and I figured technophobic was not quite correct, but I didn't want to rack my brain trying to think of a more apt term. Maybe technologically-challenged? Or if you actively hate tech, maybe you're techist. Now I'm putting too much thought into it.
As for the commercial, I don't know if I know that one. I might recognize it by description though. I'm sure you'll figure out something whenever you get around to doing a commercial post.
Geoff -- wow, that's awesome. I never would have guessed you were planning to do that. Man, I really need to get started on this!
Post a Comment