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Quick Comic Rewind: Gødland: Hello Cosmic!

by on January 4, 2017 at 12:38 am
Posted In: Homepage, Scott

I’m back for another quick, dirty, and outdated review of a comic book! 2017 is the perfect time to look back at comics that are already 11 years old!

godlandGødland vol.1: Hello Cosmic! (Collecting issues 1-6)

Written by Joe Casey, art by Tom Scioli

Image Comics

January 2006

Joe Casey and Tom Scioli look back at the history of comics and say to themselves if Stan Lee and Jack Kirby are the best comic collaborating creators of all time, then why not make more comics like “The Man” and “King”?

Thus Gødland.

While I will get in to the plot a little bit later, in all honesty, the plot is secondary to the project of trying to recreate the magic of the early years of Marvel Comics, especially in the first six issues of the series. There is almost no doubt that the book was conceived for Joe Casey to use the bombastic dialogue characterized by Lee and allow Tom Scioli’s already Kirby-rific pencils to ape/honour Kirby unabashedly. There are some themes that are updated for a modern audience (A BDSM super-villainess, a high-functioning addict chasing the ultimate high), but in an odd way, the seem more like 70’s counter-culture slammed into a 60’s comic than an edgy plot for a 2006 book. It seems like it should be a hot-mess, but the creators run at full speed fueled by sheer enthusiasm, and you can’t help but be dragged along into enjoying the ride.

Adam Archer was the last surviving astronaut on a failed mission to Mars when he stumbles across an ancient artifact that reveals a universal consortium of galactic sages. They bestow upon Archer powers of near-godly scale; teleportation, flight, invulnerability, power-blasts, and so-on. He is returned to Earth to jump-start human evolution to prepare for admittance to the community of the universe and all its advanced culture, but the United States government mostly just uses him as a cross between secret agent and super hero, keeping him in a downtown compound with his three sisters. Neela was also an astronaut, but her career was nerfed with the discovery of advanced inter-stellar life. Stella is dutiful and computer and communications-savvy, and Angie is a punk-rock rebel pilot. They have interpersonal dramas as the main plots roll. Archer saves a green dog space prophet, fights the aforementioned drug-addict villain, and rescues Crashman, America’s favorite hero, from torture and death.

I have just re-read “Hello Cosmic!” for the third time, and each time reads more smoothly than the last. The dialogue is loud, the art pops and jumps and punches, and the book is homage, parody and love-letter to Stan and Jack’s Fantastic Four/Iron Man/Avengers work together. I give it four Johnny Storms.

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Quick Comic Rewind: Ghost Rider v3 #32

by on November 11, 2016 at 11:12 pm
Posted In: Homepage, Scott

I know, I don’t write enough anymore. I got a lot of stuff going on, most of it is your standard job/husband/dad stuff, but that does eat up a surprising amount of time and energy.

That being said, I do want to write for you all. So I’ll be starting a small, semi-regular series I’m calling “Quick Comic Rewind”.

The short idea is that I own a lot of comic books. Very many thousands of them. I read them all the time. New ones, yes, but also a lot of old ones. Comics from before the internet. While the newest comics are reviewed everywhere and in depth, I’m planning on writing and reviewing, quickly, books from the 70s, 80s and the dread 90s. Maybe it’s be plot and art related, but maybe I’ll get autobiographical in talking about a book, of philosophical. Who knows?

Tonight, Ghost Rider #32.

Ghost_Rider_Vol_3_32Written by Howard Mackie and drawn by Bret Blevins. Blevins is a guy I know and like from his work on New Mutants and Sleepwalker, and while I’ve heard a lot of people complain about his style, I’ve always liked it. I never knew he had worked on Ghost Rider, but this comic has been in my collection for probably at least 15 years.

Blevins drawing Ghost Rider and Doctor Strange is a hit. It’s weird, it looks dangerous, and it looks like black magic is everywhere on the page. He really kills it here.

So, about last week I pulled a run of the 90s Ghost Rider books out of a box. I did this for a few reasons; Ghost Rider is on Agents of SHIELD this season, that I like the art of Mark Texeira (who works on the issues before this one), Doctor Strange is in theaters right now, and the box with these books in them is under my desk at the moment.

The run, as a whole, is pretty much crap. The writing and pacing is terrible and it’s so very full of itself. There is no insight, theme or thought into these books, but rather they are filled with page after page of “badass-ery”. I blame Wolverine and the Punisher for this, but what can you do?

Anyways, getting into #32, Danny Ketch was nearly killed, and turned into Ghost Rider so he wouldn’t die, but they became separated because of evil magic or something. Doctor Strange is brought in to rescue Danny’s spirit, as Dr Bruckner waits for Danny to return to the real world to surgically save his life. Johnny Blaze is there too, watching over things.

A, I dunno, shady evil corporation called The Firm wants to steal Ghost Rider’s body, which is comatose during Strange’s magicial intervention, so they send a bunch of paramilitary security agents to kidnap him and kill everyone else, but Johnny Blaze shoots a few of them with his shotgun that shoots hell-fire, but other agents in The Firm go rogue, and they kill there own guys. It’s pretty dumb.

As that is happening, Strange finds Danny in a magical dimension between the real of Nightmare and death, and Danny’s all fucked up. He’s half hell-tainted, and Strange has to magic the magics to fix him. It’s weird, but the art here is worth it, as Blevins has always done this sort of messed up stuff well.

In the end, Doc Strange saves the day, Doc Bruckner works to save Danny, and the book ends letting me know that after this ordeal, that neither Danny Ketch or Ghost Rider will ever be the same again.

That’s pretty much it. Oh, and there are like 6 pages of ads for a boardgame called Dragon Quest. It’s even mentioned on the cover. The photos make this look like the most boring, D&D derivative and needlessly complicated game ever created.

So yeah, that’s a quick comic rewind Of Ghost Rider, volume 3 issue 32 from December 1992. It’s probably in quarter bins around the world, and while it’s no classic, at least it was fun.

 

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Movie Review: Suicide Squad

by on August 6, 2016 at 11:29 pm
Posted In: Homepage, Movies, Scott

ssquad

 

My lovely and beautiful wife took me out to the movies tonight! This is a pretty rare thing for us ever since the lil guy came along, and more so that we get to see the hot new movie on it’s opening weekend, so I wanted to write a little bit about it.

Suicide Squad!

This movie got ripped by the critics who saw it earlier this week, many of whom hated it outright. I saw people calling it derivative and boring.

I don’t think that was really fair. The movie was fun, pretty slick looking, and mostly made sense (in the world they had created) from start to finish. One critic said the movie was “trying to outdo Deadpool while hampered with a PG-13 rating”, and that is actually pretty fair, but all in all Suicide Squad is a popcorn summer shoot-em-up with a few shiny moments.

The trailers don’t lie, and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn is the scene-chewing best part of the movie. She’s got all the coolest lines, and is gonna make a lot of people into huge Harley fans. I’ll admit I had some reservations about what they had done to my (Batman:TAS) Harley Quinn, but Robbie won me over and is really the shining gem of this movie.

Will Smith’s Deadshot is better than I thought he’d be as well, getting to be both the moral center and bad-ass of the team. He’s a big star, and he’s given a few scene’s to act, as well.

Jared Leto’s Joker is… not bad.

He’s okay. I know there was a lot of hype there, and he doesn’t disappoint, but… I dunno, he didn’t shock and amaze like Heath Ledger did as the previous Clown Prince of Crime.

My fav member of the Squad from the comics, Captain Boomerang, didn’t get enough screen time, but when he was on, he was doing all the little things right. Good in a fight but with a healthy dose of cowardice. No real complaints there.

Yeah, so, Suicide Squad. A little bit Guardians of the Galaxy, and little bit Deadpool, a little bit of the stain of Batman v Superman to drag it down, but still it managed to make for a fun night out. And be sure to check out the mid-credits scene with Nick Fury. (You’ll get it when you see it.)

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Listen Up: 3 Podcasts

by on August 1, 2016 at 12:57 pm
Posted In: Homepage, Scott

I use public transit to get to work every day. I have a hard time shutting my thoughts down when it’s time to sleep. These two things mean, for me, that I listen to an awful lot of podcasts. In an average week, it’s not crazy for me to chew through ten hours of podcast audio.

Here are three that have been in high rotation as of late.

pirateThe Pirate History Podcast

By Matt Albers, this podcast is both ambitious and covers a huge amount of history. Matt is not content to simply reiterate anecdotes of great pirate raids, but rather he likes to dig deep into the political affairs that lead to the position piracy occurs. He goes into detail, but he moves through the facts smoothly and efficiently, and as such the story is always moving forward and it keeps my attention.

The audio quality is great, and Matt has a smooth, professorial voice that is well suited to podcasting. This does, however mean that it is also easy to fall asleep to. I usually listen to each episode twice, because if I start one while going to bed, I’ll drift off easily before finishing it. That’s not a bad thing, as that is ultimately the reason I listen at night, so don’t let that put you off.

It is a fairly new podcast, but the fifteen episodes so far have been posted with a decent regularity (in stark contrast to, say, Hardcore History, where you’re lucky to get three episodes a year) and that consistency has been a real draw for me. One thing that can really make me stop listening to a show is to constanly be updating the feed only to find out that no new episode has been added. If that happens too many times, I will usually unsubscribe and move on to something else.

Lately, this one has been my go-to, each new episode going right to the top of the queue. Pirates plus history are a good draw for me, and I am looking forward to each new show.

 

WWLogo250Wait, What?

By Graeme McMillan and Jeff Lester, Wait, What? is a comic book podcast that has pushed some of the other comic podcasts I used to listen to (Jay and Miles X-Plain the X-Men, Journey into Misery) out of rotation. Graeme and Jeff look at comics in a way that I relate to a bit more, and usually comment on the art in a book more often that other similar podcasts, and I enjoy that.

I am especially into the podcasts’ sub-category “The Baxter Building”, where they read and discuss the entire Fantastic Four comic series, right from issue #1, and go into exhaustive detail of the plot and art, and then speculate (wildly?) about the goings-on behind the scenes that led to the book’s creation. They are also not afraid to take their time to talk about the stories. If in a two hour episode, they only make it through four or five issues, well, so be it. That’s fine with me, because if they have something to say, I’m usually interested in hearing it.

It’s a fun couple of hours, and the two hosts are playfully sarcastic and willing to run with their flights of fancy before reigning it back in to highlight, yet again, that Reed Richards is such a dick. (He is such a dick. More so than you even realize or remember, and it seems to be that he’s a dick on purpose, not just through misguided scripting. I have no idea why he’s always written that way, but it’s no wonder that after so many Stan and Jack comics featuring Reed’s deep-seeded douchebaggery that it has become a key part of his character through the ages.)

 

HOF-Cover-ArtHistory on Fire

Historian Daniele Bolelli was inspired by Dan Carlin to do his own history podcast, and History on Fire was born. Long form, in depth looks at some of the greatest moments in history, and listening to it makes me feel smarter just for going along for the ride. This is a good substitute for the never updated Hardcore History, but it is also not without it’s flaws.

Many people harp on Bolelli’s accent. These people are wrong. He has an accent, it’s a bit thick, but the guy is speaking in english and it’s easy enough to understand him if you’re paying attention. However, I really do hold issue with his handling of his sponsors. I get it. You have to help out the people who help your show. I truly understand. But his presentation is arduously long and uninteresting when he’s talking about them. It blows.

That issue aside, the show is a smart ride through huge historical events, and Bolelli’s insight sand imaginings are interesting and thoughtful.

 

So, that’s what I’ve been listening to, lately. After you listen to us, what do you put in your ears?

 

Scott has his fingers in a few of the pies here at 9to5.cc; he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated) and with Jason McCullough on Templars, co-hosts The 9to5 Entertainment System and blogs here and there when the whimsy takes him.

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Montreal Roller Derby Where are they Now: Lyn-Dah Kicks

by on June 3, 2016 at 6:22 am
Posted In: Blogs, Homepage, Scott, Sports

As an announcer for Montreal Roller Derby, I was fortunate enough to meet a huge number of awesome people. As Montreal Roller Derby is celebrating their 10th anniversary, I wanted to talk to some of my favorites about what derby was to them, and what it’s like to move on from it.

Lynn “Lyn-Dah Kicks” Poulin was a member of La Racaille, the Sexpos and the New Skids on the Block, won multiple Montreal City Championships and competed in the WFTDA championship tournaments with the Montreal All-Star team, the New Skids. She is the bomb.

 

kick2

 

Tell me a little bit about your Roller Derby Career. How did you start? What are your highlights?

To be honest, since I was a little girl growing up across from Detroit Rock city I used to watch roller derby on TV. When I read up in a magazine talking about a league in Montreal starting up, it occurred to me that this was my chance to finally just go out there and do it. So I did.

The magazine mentioned they were looking for some new blood, it was some kind of recruitment except it ain’t what it is today. I had nothing to lose. The group that showed up became the third Montreal team and it later became “La Racaille” as they needed a third team in order to play bouts at home games.

As for highlights, well I think we were kinda a rookie team that no one ever expected us to do as well as we did. To have won a Beast of the East trophy was probably my biggest highlight ever, as no one expected us to do pull through and we gave it our best.

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Talkin’ Toons: Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, The X-Men Adventure

by on May 29, 2016 at 3:34 pm
Posted In: Homepage, Scott

One of the best things about having a kid is getting to share with him all the stuff that you loved as a kid.

It is the privilege of the age in which we live that we are able to seek out and find any and every thing that was ever on television, and as such, I’ve been watching “Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends” with Archer for the last week or so. And we’re coming up on “The X-Men Adventure” soon.

You should watch it now, because we’re gonna get all spoiler-y below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX23QBCl7Cc

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Free Comic Book Day review: Archie #1

by on May 11, 2016 at 10:32 pm
Posted In: Homepage, Scott

I took my son to Free Comic Book Day this year, and I wanted to drop a few quick reviews of the books I picked up. Here’s the first one.

Archie #1 by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples.

ARCHIEFCBD2016-web

 

I really liked this book.

I used to read Archie digests with my friend Paulo when I was in high-school. His older sister must have had seventy or eighty of them, and for a couple of summers I’d go over to his place and we’d each grab a couple to read in his wildly overgrown backyard, under this big maple we called “The Leaning Tree”. It is a good, fuzzy memory of my early teen years, and because of it, I’ve always been partial to Archie comics.

Waid is very good super-hero writer, with a long work history at pretty much every major comics publishing house, and he delivers something that I feel is tough to do with Archie, and makes it fresh and modern. The gang all sound familiar, but at the same time new and interesting, and that made the book fun to read.

Fiona Staples kills it on art. Her work has always been great on Saga, and in many ways it’s even better on Archie. Her characters don’t wear expressions, the emote. They pop at you from the page, and it just swells up and takes you along. It’s really wonderful stuff. Top notch.

So yeah, with equal parts fresh new look and wonderful nostalgia, the team of Waid and Staples have crafted a damned fine Archie comic and I’m pretty sure I’ll be trying to pick up this book to see where it goes.

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Old Cartoons: Spider-Woman

by on March 4, 2016 at 12:39 pm
Posted In: Homepage, Scott

All right! Time to watch some cartoons!

My son is turning three soon, and he likes to watch super-hero cartoons, but a lot of the new animation is pretty violent for him. He picks up on it easily, and then it’s nothing but punches and kicks for the rest of the day. As a response to this, I’ve taken to pulling up older cartoons from the 60’s and 70’s where the violence was more strenuously moderated,  so he and I can enjoy it without getting into a brawl at the end of every episode.

We have watched a bunch of Superfriends and Spider-Man ’67, where the bad guys get tied up rather than knocked out. But I like to keep an eye out for other stuff to watch, because we watch stuff over and over (and over) so adding something new into the mix will stop me from going bananas. That’s when I found the 1979 Spider-Woman cartoon.

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Scott Ate It: Batman v Superman Bat-Cereal

by on March 2, 2016 at 3:29 pm
Posted In: Homepage, Scott

I was in the supermarket, when I saw this:

Look at this box! It is sublime. It is textured, it’s a bit shiny, and if you close your eyes and run your finger down the front of the box, you can almost imagine that you’re Matt Damon. I cannot wait to try this stuff.

It looks alright. Little batarangs, how fun! But what’s that smell?

Did that box say chocolate strawberry flavour? Why? Why would they add strawberry? Batman doesn’t need anything more than chocolatey goodness. This “berry” flavour smells awful. Like a Flintstones vitamin. The box smelled better closed.

Tossing in some milk did not help, but it didn’t get worse.

Hrm.

It is… unlike other cereals. I really wanted it to taste like Count Chocula. It doesn’t.

Oh. Oh the chemical-berry aftertaste is really quite strong. That is not a good thing, as it pushes out all other flavours. And now it stings a little bit. This is not pleasant.

This stuff tastes like being orphaned.

So, I ate two bowls of this stuff, back to back. Do not do this. This cereal is not very good, once you open up the box. It looks great on the inside, but once you really get to it, it’s just kind of gross. I feel like Jennifer Garner.

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