The thing about it is this; it’s pretty damn good. It’s good in regards to performance both by Affleck and his supporting cast. It’s well conceived, shot, and after almost two hours you’re every bit as interested in the characters and the outcome as when it started. It’s only too bad that “Heat” is still a better movie.

This is a straight up heist movie. No frills or gimmicks. Truthfully, even those of us who love Heat could use a little more of the genre in our collections. So let’s see… It breaks down like this; Affleck is the head of a crew of bank robbers who are terribly professional and ruthless. Affleck wants to get out of the life. He sees his father in jail and he knows he’ll end up in the next cell if he doesn’t get out soon. He meets a nice girl who doesn’t know what he does for a living and pins his hopes of a new life on leaving with her. Unfortunately, there are Feds looking for his crew and sooner or later they’re going to catch up with him, (most likely in the street with automatic weapons firing) and then he’ll never get that fresh start he was looking for.

Still totally worth watching and fully enjoyable, only small qualms present themselves for discovery. There isn’t as much of the technical ‘how did they pull this off’ as you’d like. Instead, we get told that there will be a heist and then Affleck and his crew have police uniforms, utility vehicles and intricate knowledge of every detail of the heist, but without any set up showing how they had prepped. This is a character piece that should really focus on the human relationships of the characters, except these themes are better explored by Michael Mann who also knew how to end his film properly.

Valiant 2012 Publisher: Valiant

Synopsis: This is a collection of samples from upcoming Valiant relaunch: XO Manowar, Harbinger, Bloodshot, as well as interviews with four of the creators of these books.

Review: Valiant coming back is cool. To see their titles updated like this is even more cool, but the samples we’re given are so short, it was almost pointless to read! I suppose the point was to whet your appetite for more and while it certainly does that, the creator interviews were far more interesting. The samples gave you an idea of the high caliber of the artwork. The interviews made you feel like these titles were in safe hands. Not much of a comic, more a neat promotional flyer worth checking out.

Mouse Guard, Labyrinth and Other Stories Publisher: Archaia

Synopsis: Archaia offers up a hardcover anthology of appetizers, short stories from the worlds of David Petersen’s Mouse Guard and Jim Henson’s classic Labyrinth universe, among others.

Review: A nice little collection of stories, the strongest of which has to be Royden Lepp’s Rust, followed closely by Cow Boy. Not too sure about Dapper Men, very surreal, almost too much so. Though its strangeness might be more a result of the short format. Some warm-fuzzy childhood memories came flooding back with the Labyrinth story. Great to see those characters again, particularly the Worm. Solid writing across the board, though the art tends to vary (wasn’t sold on Pirate Girl’s b&w, cluttered look).

Voltron Force Publisher: Viz Media

Synopsis: The premise for the cartoon this ties into, is that Voltron has disappeared years ago and has now returned with a cast of kids who pilot the robotic lions. The FCBD book has them training in space against mock-ups of their past foes and teases us with the next big threat they’ll be facing.

Review: This book is in digest format and is a full story. Unfortunately, it’s a perfect companion to the current animated series, which is disappointing when compared to other new shows like Transformers Prime or Young Justice. This book reads like a Disney Adventures insert and is best left to kids.

Avengers: Age of Ultron #0.1 Publisher: Marvel Ent.

Synopsis: Sent on a mission for S.W.O.R.D. (it’s like S.H.I.E.L.D. but for space), Spider-Woman goes missing, and now it’s up to The Avengers to find her. Cap assembles Iron Man, Wolvie, Beast, Moon Knight and a bunch of others to track her down and when they do, they find Ultron!

Review: There wasn’t much mystery to the book since Ultron’s name was in the title, but it was still a lot of fun. You go to events like FCBD to pick up free Bendis comics! Free Bryan Hitch artwork! Great dialogue, good artwork, big fights and an accessible jumping on point for new readers, and a cool teaser for current readers looking ahead! Possibly a pitch perfect offering for FCBD!

The Transformers #80.5 Publisher: IDW Publishing

Synopsis: An issue that picks up after #80…which was released in 1991!

Review: Quintessential Transformers comics writer Simon Furman has been penning “more than meets the eye” stories for every publisher that manages to get their grubby little mitts on the Transformers license (that includes Marvel, Dreamwave, and current home IDW) but G1 continuity is his baby. Want to know what happened after the re-population of Cybertron? Want a briefing on what led to it being depopulated? Well, #80.5 doesn’t have a ton of new story but it is a good catch-up and set-up.

Green Lantern / Young Justice Super Sampler Publisher: DC Comics

Synopsis: This book showcases comic spin-offs of DC’s two current hit animated shows. The flip side of the book contains a Superman Family Adventures story.

Review: The best of these three is GL, simply for having a complete story and a really odd choice of retro villain. The Superman side is cute like an Archie comic, complete with lame jokes. Young Justice is the only incomplete “teaser” comic and it falls short on generating any real interest.

The New 52 Publisher: DC Comics

Synopsis: A sampler to peak readers’ curiosity as to where DC is going in 2012. Featuring snippets of G.I. Combat, Dial H, Earth 2, Batman Incorporated, World’s Finest, Ravagers and a look at next year’s big event, Trinity War.

Review: Sadly, what this book does not do is peak any interest. There’s a lot of talent in the book as listed on the cover: Jim Lee, Gene Ha, Kenneth Rocafort, Ivan Reis, Geoff Johns, and more, but with only a page or two for most of the titles, there’s hardly enough material to form any kind of opinion.

Star Wars / Serenity Publisher: Dark Horse

Synopsis: A split Star Wars and Serenity comic with a two-page Alabaster story in the middle.

Review: I hate to say it, but it feels like Dark Horse would have loved for Joss Whedon to write a Serenity story to capitalize off The Avengers buzz, but buzz also means being busy, so they got the next best thing, his brother Zack. Not only does Zack write the Serenity story here (which he has done on more than one occasion), but he also writes the Star Wars tale. The best part of both is that they focus on their oddly similar “rough around the edges” captains and their attachment to their respective ships. He even has Han and Mal utter a couple of the same lines of dialogue to make the point. The better of the two is the Serenity half simply because it is drawn by Fabio Moon. Not that Davide Fabbri does do a good job on the Star Wars portion (he does), but Moon is the straight goods.

Bongo Comics Free For All Publisher: Bongo Comics

Synopsis: This is a Simpsons flipbook with Spongebob on the other side, and a Sergio Argones quickie thrown in between.

Review: Fans of Sergio Argones will likely consider this book a must-have based solely on his contribution, but strangely enough the Spongebob Squarepants story was the most entertaining. The Simpsons comic was about as funny as a recent episode and the best part of this entire comic has to be The Simpsons cover that features the Comic Guy dressed in over twenty classic cosplay outfits. At least one of them will make you smile!

Megaman Publisher: Archie Comics

Synopsis: The basic origin story of Megaman, pretty self-contained.

Review: This is a kiddy book for sure, but the artwork is pretty tight and clean for an Archie Comics title. Expectations should be kept low, but it’s surprising how entertaining this book is.

Buffy / The Guild Publisher: Dark Horse

Synopsis: One side is a Buffy story and the other is The Guild.

Review: I had to look very hard to see the positive in this book. The Buffy comic was just straight bizarre – she’s in space and fighting an Alien. I capitalized the “a” because, yes, I meant that very specific alien from that franchise that has nothing in common with Buffy. I don’t know whether it was supposed to be funny or if you really need to be reading Buffy currently to understand what was going on, but I was lost. Now, The Guild may appeal to RPG fans and WOW players, but to everyone else, it isn’t going to fly. So, where is the gold, you ask? In the very centre of the book is a one-page write-up by DMZ writer Brian Wood giving us a written description of his new series The Massive, which sounds very cool.

Witchblade: Unbalanced Pieces Publisher: Top Cow

Synopsis: The Top Cow Universe is being rebooted (a la The New 52) under the umbrella Top Cow Rebirth and this is your jumping on point.

Review: Top Cow is built on popular characters The Darkness and Witchblade, but their luster has dulled considerably in the last half decade. So, a refreshing of this continuity that had become quite convoluted (13 Artifacts anyone?) and redundant seems like a good idea. Problem is if this FCBD offering is any indication, they don’t have a new look for the characters or much change in the way of the overall storyline.

Asylum Press Sampler Publisher: Asylum Press

Synopsis: Indie publisher gives us a taste of four of their horror titles: Shotguns, Cigarettes & Trench Coats, Farmhouse, Chopper, and Black Powder.

Review: I’m not hugely into horror comics. Basically, my interest and knowledge starts and ends with Robert Kirkman, Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson, and Ben Templesmith. But we wanted to include a horror comic here to balance out the kiddy fare. Out of the selections we’re given, Farmhouse and Chopper seem to hold the most promise. Farmhouse is about a mental asylum with an old farmhouse re-purposed as an art studio. Sounds innocent enough but you can tell within a couple pages that shit is going to hit the fan. In Chopper we follow a couple young girls to a biker bar for a metal concert and we are introduced to a new drug called Stairway To Heaven. However, we don’t get to see what the drug does or how it will bring the horror on. Fans of the macabre should definitely take note of Asylum.

I can tell you that Garth Ennis is a consistently good writer or that this book has promise, but unfortunately there isn’t much in this first issue to judge in terms of its future. If you know anything about the Shadow, you already know he’s the pulp precursor to Batman. You know his alter ego; playboy Lamont Cranston has the power to cloud men’s minds and “know what evil lurks in the hearts of men”. Beyond that and his trademark fedora and chrome pistols, Ennis hasn’t given us much to discuss. Each issue boasts a bevy of beautiful alternate covers by some of the industry’s best; Jae Lee, Alex Ross and John Cassaday and the interior art by Aaron Campbell suits the book pretty well. So far they has it all the right pieces in play, they have the right tone and have set the right mood, but with a likely five more issues to go for this first story arc, it’s still anyone’s guess whether it’ll be genius or bitter fruit bore by the crime of poorly delivered pulp. Only Ennis knows!

First thing’s first; what you saw in the trailer is exactly what you get. No more, no less. It’s literally like watching an hour and a half of WWE if the wrestlers were monsters. There are little intros for each of them, with some background info, stats and then smack talk before they fight. The budget is quite small, so adjust expectations on quality and performances accordingly. David Foley and a few wrestling cameos like Kevin Nash and Jimmy Hart are thrown in for the fans and that is pretty much that. The writing is pretty paint by numbers with very few surprises or twists to thrill and the constant battles without any kind of plot make for a pretty boring watch.

However, one can not watch the film without noticing that this was clearly made with real love and fan appreciation for pro wrestling. The film makers clearly squeezed every dollar out of their budget to put this together as best they could and let’s face facts; if you’re a fan of wrestling in general, chances are you weren’t looking for a plot or character development in the first place. You just want monsters fighting in the ring? You got it! You want off color commentary on a fight between a mummy and a vampire? Done! Just keep those expectations low and turn your brain off.

Did I like anything about the movie? Sure! The concept had never been done before, the production was Canadian and Lance Henrikson does the narration. More important than what I thought about this film is what you want out of this film. That’s going to determine whether or not you should see it. And unlike so many other films, watching the trailer will let you know right away whether you should see this movie. If you catch yourself rolling your eyes it’s probably best to skip it. Trust me, you’ll know.

Maybe it’s his history of subversive independent titles like the Nightly News and Pax Romana that make Hickman such an unexpected choice for the new architect of current goings on in the Baxter Building. Maybe it’s exactly the creative and unpredictable nature of these books that makes him the perfect choice! Either way, his four previous volumes of Fantastic Four all build up to this new evolution and culminate in the death of Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. Filling in the Torch’s spot is Spiderman and both his wise cracking jokes and scientific mind make him as perfect a choice for the team as Hickman is for the book.

So what’s going on in this book? Well it’s nothing short of the most colossal and massive event ever to threaten Earth! A secret society of Reed Richards from parallel realities have escaped to our plane of existence with one goal; to save the entire universe! The only only problem is they don’t care if they have to destroy our planet in the process. After all, what’s the destruction of one Earth when you’re saving a multiverse? And so the question becomes; how do you stop Reed Richards? Putting together a think tank of the Four’s greatest villains which include Diablo, the Mad Thinker, Wizard, Bentley 23, the High Evolutionary and headed by Victor Von Doom, that’s how! I mean, this is only volume one people! Will the new team survive long enough to save this and countless other Earths from the mad destruction at hand? Only Jonathan Hickman knows. End of line.

Facing immenent death, Doc Ock holds his finger on the trigger of a bomb that would kill millions unless Tony Stark can find a cure to Ock’s terminal illness. Of course, he’s unfixable. So what does he really want? How about having the overconfident and egotistical Stark humble himself before Doc and admit he can’t do it? The story doesn’t shatter the globe or change the world or reinvent the characters or genre. It doesn’t involve super smash-ups between capes, but it does give you great characters that you never see together in the same book, hashing out issues you never knew they had and Matt Fraction makes it a pleasure to read cover to cover. Take a breather from the parallel worlds and the alien invasions and try reading a more grounded story and a good jumping on point for Iron Man. When most comics grasp at broad epics in today’s market, Fraction’s focus on character and nuance is the perfect alternative.

Reviewed by: Jordan C.

Yes, this is a comparative review between the finale to Mark Millar’s most popular creator-owned title and the latest installment of his magazine. Why compare them? Well, really to highlight how dope CLiNT is. The magazine is a mix of oversized printings of his creator-owned comics and great interviews for about $7 (depending where in the world you are). You get three comics for the price of two, plus they are printed Euro size! The only thing that makes the regular comics still possibly worth buying is the covers and they come out about a month earlier.

If Alan Moore is on one end of the comic book writer spectrum wanting nothing to do with Hollywood or cash-grabs of any kind, Mark Millar is on the opposite side, ready to pimp his comics and ideas at the drop of a dime (or less). But that does not make him a bad writer…far from it. He seems at the top of his game lately as he throws out random new comic series ideas every other month. A couple months ago we heard about Supercrooks and The Secret Service, last month it was Jupiter’s Children and a Hit-Girl mini. And they are all with dope artists! Supercrooks with Lenil Yu, Secret Service with Dave Gibbons, Jupiter’s Children with Frank Quietly, and Hit-Girl once again with JR Jr!! The only name I don’t see there I might expect is Bryan Hitch. I would love to see Millar do an original title with Hitch after their time together on The Ultimates and Ultimate Fantastic Four.

Now, that I have elaborated on Millar’s integrity and output, let me say that if you want to get a taste of everything he’s working on (even as a means to decide which comics to actually collect), pick up the next issue of CLiNT.

Reviewed by: Joe Mossman

Wolves aren’t scary, right? They’re just big dogs, really, and they’re usually more frightened of us than we are of them. Just make some noise and they’ll run away, sure they will. Fire a gun into the air, rev your SUV’s engine, shine some spotlights on ‘em, and you’ll be fine.

Of course, if you’re a sheep herder living in the Middle Ages, with no electric lights or perimeter fencing and only axes to defend yourself and your family, you might have a bit of a problem. And if there’s a Wolf Spirit who’s been waiting for the stars to align so she can take revenge on Man for killing her children, you might just be doomed.

Night of a 1000 Wolves begins in the Scandinavian countryside, with Harrick Benjyon and his family herding their sheep and making a hard, but more or less, contented life for themselves. With them is Benjyon’s father-in-law Jonus Tine, your typical crazy old coot with wild white hair, who looks at the sky one morning and begins raving about sacrifices to “appease Nagbre,” the Wolf-Mother. Harrick thinks nothing of it, even when the wolves start to appear, bold and aggressive. It’s only when a terrible tragedy befalls the family that Harrick begins to realize Tine may be right…and by then it might be too late.

Writer Bobby Curnow claims he was inspired to write Wolves by his own paternal fears, the nightmare of a man who suddenly has to defend his wife and children against some outside attack. And a nightmare it is. There is a gradual, escalating sense of dread, of things just getting worse instead of better, of each new horror eclipsing the last. The Benjyon family is alone, seemingly in the middle of nowhere and ill-equipped to deal with the crisis as it escalates from one nasty encounter into an onslaught. Curnow also touches on the often bizarre tendency of families to keep secrets from one another with (literally) suicidal zeal, particularly between generations (Tine dislikes his son-in-law so much, he refuses to tell him what he needs to know to stop the wolves).

This is not really about character development, though. At its heart, Night of 1000 Wolves is pure survival horror, the setting and theme refreshingly original. A welcome change from the usual modern-day zombie apocalypses. Dave Wachter’s art is absolutely stunning in the green, rolling hills of the Benjyon Family’s home as well as in the ugly, rabid viciousness of the wolves and the violence they inflict. And there is violence; the tragedy the family endures is shown in brutal, unflinching detail. It’s meant to pull at your instincts, to evoke a visceral, emotional reaction, and it succeeds beautifully.

I was checking out the website for the RIO THEATRE, wanting to see if I missed the Adam West/Michael Keaton Batman double bill (I did). I then came across this:

“The RIO THEATRE presents the 2ND Annual DEAD ON FILM Zombie Short Film & Video Competition!!!

We’re looking for YOUR 5 minute Zombie Short Film or Video!!!

The TOP 10 shorts will be screened on Friday Aug 19th – the winner will be decided by audience vote & will receive the coveted ZOSCAR Trophy, a CASH PRIZE of $1,000 and other unspeakable delights!!!”

The submission deadline is July 31st. That couldn’t possibly be enough time to write, cast, shoot, edit, etc. and have it look decent enough to be a contender. So how could I make it stand out from the other entries? I’d be up against people who’ve had a ridiculous head start on me. So no, it wasn’t anything I intended on doing.

Then I started talking about it with a friend of mine while we were going through the birthing process of a Build-a-Bear in Metrotown. In that conversation we talked about low-budget film-making, zombie films that we love, and the fact that I have no job. So now would be the PERFECT time to make a short film! I have my own camera and I know a few local actors. I figure I could bang out a script and shoot it the next weekend.  We even came up with this “brilliant” idea to shoot it “POV” style because that wouldn’t cost much.

It wasn’t until I got home that a few things popped in my mind. First off, a POV zombie movie is extremely unoriginal. Second, I should think of a way to write this that would set my zombie movie apart from the rest, while finding a way to keep the (non-existent) budget down. Blood, make-up, props, zombies? All cost money! So I figure I should write a script that uses ALL of those key elements that make a zombie movie to an absolute minimum.

At this point I decide that this will be an exercise in no-budget film-making. I want to prove to myself that it could be done with no time and no money. Could I make it decent enough to even compete? I hope so. Would I make an ass of myself more than I already do?  Yeah, probably. Watch me fail, or watch me surround myself with professionals so good at their jobs that they make it look like even I know what I’m doing!

The following is the process:

Tuesday July 05

It started with the treatment I scribbled out on a page and a half. No dialogue. It was Tuesday and all I had was this:

Wednesday July 6

I pitch the treatment idea to a couple of friends including a local actor. He agrees to act in it based on the treatment alone. I make him co-producer. We put the call out for other actors and crew.

I now have to turn the treatment into this:

Which is really just more scribbling legible to only me. I always hand-write first. Scribbling in a yellow notepad is the way to go.

Thursday July, 7

At this point, we have all but one role cast! That of a 1950′s high school gal, bobby socks and all! Some great prospects, but scheduling conflicts get in the way. So we continue to search.

We also found a documentary filmmaker who is extremely OVER-QUALIFIED to hang out with such litte people like me. He’s agreed to help out though, provide equipment, even a crew! Officially he’s the DP/camera operator and hopefully my co-editor. Now it’s within my best interest to work extra HARD on this project because not only have I surrounded myself with REAL professionals, but I got myself SO deep in the pre-production phase that I simply HAVE to see this through to the bitter end!

I send out emails to cast and crew welcoming them aboard and thanking them for agreeing to come and play in my little sandbox. Also this note:

As it’s a no-budget production, you’ll be working for credit and I’ll definitely have food on set. However, if our humble little production actually wins this contest, then I will be splitting the $1000 cash prize between everyone! All I want is the “Zoscar” trophy.

Friday, July 8

We still need one more young actress to fill a “Lorraine Baines” type. I would like to get ALL of the actors together for introductions and a table read of the script by the weekend. It’s at this point I realized that I’ve never worked with ANY of these people before! Crazy.

I now have a young musician on board to compose original music! For free. Wow.

I still have to set up a meeting with the DP so I can go over the shooting schedule including a shot list, which I can’t provide until the script is done. So Friday night I type until 3am before I’m done.

Now that I can send the actors the script, I have to GO BACK to it and compile a shot list. I might even storyboard a few scenes! I suck at drawing. Could be funny.

Saturday, July 9

We need to lock the final actress down before tomorrow as we are shooting next weekend. There are a few different actresses being considered so we’re just trying to figure out scheduling. As most people have real jobs, I can only expect that people are available on weekends. Even then, people still have weekend jobs so we have to schedule around that.

So I have actors coming over tomorrow for the first table read. Next weekend we shoot. Then it’s pick-ups and editing by the weekend after. I’m excited but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I’ll be back here next week to let you know how that’s going. Wish me luck!

I know I haven’t mentioned who’s involved and what this movie is even about yet, so stay tuned. I will say that it involves fellatio!

Ro.

The new Heroes in a Half-Shell!

About two years ago, Nickelodeon purchased the rights to the Turtles from Mirage Comics and 4Kids entertainment, and us TMNT fans have been awaiting any news about the new show, which has been in development for quite a while. Well, at long last, it seems we have something to talk about! This image has been released of what the new Turtles will look like.

I think they look great. Classic, but also new and a bit fresh. For a series that’s been through several incarnations in it’s 25 plus years, it’s always interesting to see what changes a new team brings to the characters. At the moment, not much else is known about the show. Only that it will be premiering some time in 2012 (most likely the fall) on Nickelodeon. So what do you think of the new Turtles? Let us know in the comments below!

If you hadn’t heard, this Batwoman is a fiery redhead that dated detective Renee Montoya (formerly of GCPD, currently bares the mantle of The Question). Her storyline is closely tied to the Religion of Crime and the Book of Crime (aka Crime Bible), so in this issue Batman follows her on a mission to take down R.O.C. thugs transporting a sarcophagus. We also get a parallel story that gives us some background on her upbringing and what lead her to take up arms against tyranny as Batwoman. What is interesting is that while J.H. Williams (Promethea, Desolation Jones) handles art duties and writes the story taking place at present, Amy Reeder handles the pencils on the flashback sequences that are running concurrent to that story. In other words, there are actually these two different art styles contrasted on almost every page. Cool stuff. My only complaint, it’s short.

I like how DC does #0 issues because it is a good way to get some origin story out of the way before the real fun. There’s probably another issue or two out by now but some comic stores might still have a copy of #0 for you.

By the eighties, Doctor Who’s ratings had gone down, the budgets were getting smaller and smaller. This episode is near the end of it’s long run and celebrates the Doctor’s twenty-fifth anniversary. How many television shows can boast a twenty fifth anniversary? In keeping with the anniversary motif, the story utilized the Cybermen and changed the title to Silver Nemesis to underscore this “silver” anniversary. The disc is outfitted with all the prerequisite BBC goodies including commentary by cast and crew and featurettes, etc.

Amazing seems like a pretty fitting title now, doesn't it?

I won’t be the last to admit that this pic has got me psyched beyond any previous expectation. I guess the judgements being cast from all those behind the scene pics was a little premature, eh? Can’t wait to see the suit in action! Let us know what you think in the comments below.

#1. Cowboys & Aliens

#2. Thor

#3. Captain America

#4. Battle: Los Angeles

#5. Pirates of the Caribbean

#6. Transformers: Dark of the Moon

#7. Kung Fu Panda 2

#8. Super 8

#9. Adjustment Bureau

#10. Fast Five

Since it’s premiere in September at the Venice Film Festival, Darren Aronofsky‘s Black Swan has been generating a kind of familiar buzz reminiscent of his previous effort, The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke. Touted as being companion films to each other, both movies feature protagonists as athletes/artists trying to achieve perfection at the expense of their own health, both physical and mental. Though there are many similarities drawn between the two films, Rourke’s character is at the end of his road, while Natalie Portman as Nina has her whole career ahead of her. Both films are intense psychological character studies, but what sets them apart is the frightening way that Black Swan dives into absolute terror and madness. Make no mistake, this is a horror flick. Did I mention that it’s about ballet?

Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) strives for perfection as a ballerina. Although technically precise in her dancing, she lacks the ability to find the real passion in her art. When the New York ballet company she is apart of falls under hard times, director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to produce a modern take on the famous Swan Lake. Nina is chosen to portray the Swan Queen which requires her to take on the roles of both the White Swan and the Black Swan. While already possessing the innocent, virginal qualities that would make her perfect as the White Swan, Nina struggles with finding the ability to “lose herself” and “let go” as the seductively dark Black Swan. Having just replaced the company’s original prima ballerina Beth (Winona Ryder in a bit of ironically cruel but highly effective casting), and facing competition from new dancer/doppelganger Lily (Mila Kunis), Nina will begin the journey into the realm of terror and madness and we, the audience are coming along for the ride.

Nina’s obsessive need to achieve perfection requires her to embody the roles and the story of Swan Lake, LITERALLY becoming both the White and Black Swans. The movie in itself is an obvious take on the famous ballet. Natalie Portman gives us the performance of her career and will no doubt take home the Oscar. One can imagine that the making of this film uncannily mirrors that of the story. Vincent Cassel’s role of the smarmy director, and his excruciating demands placed on Nina, could have been what it was like for Aronofsky directing Portman.

Cinematography and editing are top notch. The film is excellently paced and clocks in at just under 110 minutes, which is refreshing. Aronofsky’s long-time collaborator Clint Mansell composes (as usual) an eerie score that uses elements of Tchaikovsky‘s original music to great effect.

Black Swan is as visceral an experience as can be expected of the auteur that brought us Requiem For a Dream and Pi. Aronofsky directs films that are always enthralling, and his latest is no exception. There are cringe-worthy elements of “body horor” here. It feels like watching classic Cronenberg at times. It’s difficult to take your eyes off the screen despite the movie having a direct gateway into our nightmares. I could go on for pages about this film, but I feel that would be a disservice to the experience. Black Swan is best to watch cold and fresh. I feel that I’ve already spoiled too much in simply writing this review.

I’m reminded of my first true love; film-making. With Black Swan, I think I’m falling in love again.

Ok, I guess I can comment on it a bit. First things first, everything looks way better in action than in any of the promo stills we’ve seen up until this point. Second, the basic premise is masterful. Having Odin cast Thor out is definitely the way to go, and I’m glad that a smart guy like Branagh is behind this film. Third, Natalie Portman. That’s it. Just Natalie Portman. And fourth, Chris Hemsworth is lookin’ pretty good as Thor. Robert Downey Jr. is gonna have his hands full sharing the screen with him and Chris Evans. I’m looking forward to it. But until then, we’ll have to settle for what looks to be an incredibly cool superhero movie. Just take a look at this badass poster!

Chris Hemsworth as Thor. In theatres, May 6, 2011.

It starts with some bloody fingers being severed, people being dragged to their watery graves after frolicking in the shallow waters naked. Although there’s no Betty White, we do get a bad ass Michael Ironside and the comparable Yancy Butler. Most of the rest of the movie is pretty weak in the areas of writing, believability and is basically a junk movie for those of us who like that sort of thing.

The DVD could have presented more material, but as it is, we’re given three ten minute conversations with each if the stars where they attempt to glad hand each other and how wonderful they are ad nausea.

Like most Hollywood movies, this new Karate Kid tries to outdo it’s predecessor by making the story more epic in scale and unrealistic. This leaves the film in a very hollow place unfortunately and while there is very little chance of reviewing this film without comparing it to the original, some comparisons are warranted. In the new film Smith moves to Hong Kong and must learn Kung Fu from Jackie Chan to protect himself. This begs the question of why the movie wasn’t titled ‘the Kung Fu Kid’ since no one in the movie even uses Karate. In fact, the only time the word is used is when someone mistakenly calls it Karate and then is chastised for it. Too bad the producers didn’t read that part of script!  So little Smith is going to fight bullies that have been practicing Kung Fu all their lives, they flip through the air, pull off tightly choreographed grapple and flip maneuvers but still won’t be a match for little Smith who has a good few weeks of training under his belt. In fact, everytime you see one of the antagonists fight, the shots are long, wide and show all of the impressive moves, while Smith’s moves are chopped up in editing so you can’t see that he can’t fight and the moves you do see are mostly a combination of dancing and ducking.

The cinematography is well done and the movie looks slick. The soundtrack is marred by a Justin Beiber single featuring Smith that leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Too bad little Smith is next in line for the highly credible (read sarcastic) hot seat that child performers are forcibly seated in. Will the Smiths be as pointless as the Jonas Brothers or just implode like the Jacksons? Anyone questioning that logic should watch the myriad of scenes in which the twelve year old is sexualized, with his shirt off or practically getting a lapdance from his new girlfriend. These scenes aren’t a problem had his character been cast a little older, a year or two at the least, but then it wouldn’t have been a Smith vehicle.

In a final analysis, the new Karate Kid film was titled poorly and only to add franchise recognition. The film could have been worse and did have one or two additions that were welcome and well done, but the magic of the first movie was not here and at a running time some where near two and half hours it’s an investment that doesn’t quite return.

There aren’t many laughs despite how hard the actors try and the cinematography fails to nail down a low budget chique and instead comes across as made for TV on the cheap. One of the highlights is Wayne Knight (Seinfeld) whose performances rarely fall short of entertaining. Our main three leads are unoriginal or at the very least, cannibalized versions of characters from other movies. Napoleon Dynamite is basically trying his best to be Chuck from the hit TV show Chuck. He is the straight man to Josh Gad‘s Jack Black/Judah Frielander/Nick Frost from Shaun of the Dead. Gad does seem to have acting chops and comic timing but needs a role that will define him instead of being cast as a Frielander stand in. Krysten Ritter is cute but comes across as a Zooey Daschenal clone. Unfortunately, if most people wanted to watch someone like Zooey, they’d probably watch Zooey.

The movie is replete with all kinds of DVD extras which is nice for fans of the film. The only thing missing is a commentary. But beyond that, there’s plenty to watch if you’re into the whole video diary and interview scene.

Here’s the problem; while haters are unlikely to need, want or go looking for a Twilight parody, are the emo kids that love this crap likely to have a sense of humor about it? The series was a void for humor intentionally and a few poorly placed sexual innuendos between Dietrich Baeder and his on screen daughter are unlikely to hit their mark.

There are a few jokes that seem borderline clever, yet nothing that begins to crack a smile. You should be able to tell without watching it whether or not you’d even want to. There’s no surprises here, no mysteries beyond; why bother?

The truth is that although this movie could be torn apart by all of it’s failings, it is actually a loving homage. You can tell that the film makers layered in some cool nods to the original and while this version of the film isn’t particularly good it may be just as well received in twenty-two years as the fun and gory cheese-fest that it is. And it’ll take the entire package; the over-the-top effects, Shannon Elizabeth’s cringe worthy performance and even the tacky, eighties, neon, eye irritatingly day glow lighting. Now remember that Night of the Demons will be part of a truly lame sub genre of horror films of the early twenty first century; the horror remakes. Put that all together and I think you’ll have the recipe for a late blooming cult film. What kind of a glorious world do we live in where in twenty-two years people could see the remakes of 13 Ghosts and Night of the Demons and celebrate them for how enjoyably bad they truly are?

Special features include: making of featurette and audio commentary by director and cast including Monika Keena and Bobbi Sue Luther.

Batman Beyond #6

Well, the new Batman Beyond mini-series comes to it’s exciting conclusion in it’s sixth issue. Ok, so the finale wasn’t that exciting, and we kind of see it coming, and in issue form, it’s kind of “meh”. But as a trade paperback, I’m sure it’ll flow a lot better. I’m trying to give this review without any spoilers, but I guess at this point, if you’re not reading the series, you’re not interested.

I suppose I should just suffice it to say that it was a good six-issue run, and the ongoing series was certainly earned. I’m excited to see what they’re going to do with this as an ongoing, and how they’ll deal with continuity issues. It’s really apparent by about the third issue of the mini that they’re not following the current continuity of the comics. It’s kind of hard to, with an established continuity and universe coming from the television series. That said, it would be kind of nice if they tried to reconcile the two, or start fresh with the ongoing and say once and for all that it is in fact the future of the current continuity. Either way you’re going to alienate someone, so I guess they just made their choice and stuck with it, and you gotta give them props for that.

Hopefully they keep this team together for more than just the next story arc, as Ryan Benjamin is the perfect artist for the world that was created by the television series, and Adam Beechin managed to create a pretty compelling mystery for us to ponder. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see…

The original title was so popular and critically acclaimed that we are now privileged with a spin-off series, Legends of the Guard, collected in this first volume. Legends of the Guard differs from the original series in that rather than focus on one story, and a specific cast of characters, instead we’re treated to the many legends that make up the rich world of Mouse Guard. What makes this even better is that every legend is presented by a different artist, handpicked by the series creator, David Peterson. Each artist was given the chance to tell their own legend, and illustrate it in their own style, leading to an amazing anthology collection that definitely lives up to the standard set by Peterson in the regular continuity.

There’s not much to say about the story, as each one is self-contained and separate, but there is one through-line to the series. Peterson writes and illustrates the overarching narrative, using a tavern and it’s occupants to tie the legends together. Each story is presented by a patron of the tavern, adding to the richness of their world. Not only are the stories themselves interesting and beautiful in their own respects, but the overarching narrative introduces a link to the continuity and the personalities of the characters telling the stories. Few anthologies that have tried to weave their stories together have done it with such eloquence.

Peterson’s work is definitely what stands out for me here, but some of the guest artists have created truly inspirational work in this book. Karl Kerschl, in particular, creates a beautifully lyrical story without ever writing a word. Terry Moore does a great job in capturing the fun and fantasy of the original series with her amazing art. Craig Rousseau and Jason Shawn Alexander both take existing tales and adapt them to the Mouse Guard world in truly clever and poignant fashion, respectively. Every artist has taken the time to immerse themselves in the world of Mouse Guard for this book, and it speaks to the talent of David Peterson, who created such a rich and wonderful playground for these artists to jump into.

I can’t recommend this book enough, and if you haven’t read either of the previous Mouse Guard books, I suggest you do so and add it to your pull list, saver, box or what-have-you, post haste! This is a series that is not to be missed, and I for one, eagerly anticipate the next installment.

This is an idea I can get behind. Both Ant-Men teaming up to fight evil and not getting along. It’s like a superhero Odd Couple. So the concept is great, but how about execution? Well, I’m happy to report that it’s totally solid on that front as well. Tim Seeley writes AND pencils this title, and he does both incredibly well. He managed to capture Eric O’Grady’s very specific wit, making him equally funny, hated and lovable all at once. He’s that friend everyone has that they know better than to hang out with, but there’s just something charismatic in the way he insults people. And to top it off, he adds the heart of the character, showing his eagerness to truly be a hero and turn over a new leaf.

Along with that, he writes a great Hank Pym. Pym is trying to make up for a lifetime of poor decision making (similar to O’Grady) and bring up a new generation of superheroes with the Avengers. This is a great evolution of a classic character, and Seeley writes it perfectly.

Throw in a very cool supervillain plot that utilizes the vast Marvel rogues gallery and history and you’ve got yourself a great sleeper-hit. I don’t know that many people will pick this title up, as neither Wolverine nor Spider-Man adorn it’s cover, but I can tell you this, if you’ve read this far and you haven’t grabbed your shoes and headed out the door in search of the nearest comic shop to pick up this title, well, then you’re an idiot, and we can never be friends. So do me a favor and pick up Ant-Man & Wasp!

So, to the title at hand, Superior #1 is a successful first issue. It gives you the basic details of the story, sets the tone, and then pulls you in. There are twenty-four pages of comic panels and word balloons and almost no ads, but this still felt insanely short. I actually went and counted the pages to call Millar out on gypping us but sure enough, it had the standard number. That should tell you something. Now, as for this title being created just to be a movie, the tongue-in-cheek joke Millar built into this one, is that Superior is a movie superhero that main character Simon Pooni somehow actually becomes. So, if this was to be turned into a movie, it would be the adaptation of a graphic novel about a teenager who becomes a superhero from the movies. Wrap your head around dem metaphysics.

Sure, anybody who has any comic knowledge can tell this is Millar doing his version of Superman/Shazam, but then again Kick-Ass was basically his more realistic take on Spider-Man, so I don’t think we will be disappointed.

Now that you’ve watched that glorious piece of awesomeness, let me tell you of my recent experience with Tron at Disneyland. I was recently down there enjoying a magical honeymoon with my new wife, and upon arriving in California Adventure we were met with something that blew me away; the entire Hollywood Backlot  had been transformed into The Grid, and the Portal to transport you there would be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday night. And best of all, when the Portal is open, you can check out Flynn’s Arcade, play some Space Paranoids and even check out a full 7-minute clip from the upcoming movie. IN 3D

A Flynn's Arcade token in all it's glory!

But even better than that, were the tokens for the arcade! They actually made special Flynn’s Arcade tokens, straight out of the movie. The best piece of merchandise from the entire trip and it only cost 25 cents!

On Sunday night, when we went to check out the event, we were met with quite the experience. The streets of the Hollywood Backlot were lit up and a full size Recognizer looming over you as you make your way past a huge DJ setup with go-go dancers and eventually Flynn’s Arcade itself. It was pretty intense. If you happen to be in the Southern California vicinity and you’re a Tron fan, I highly suggest you make it out to California Adventure while this is happening, because it’s a once in a lifetime event.

Ennis has had a long working relationship with DC for many years and just after Preacher started coming out, the powers that be at DC realized that they wanted more of that Ennis essence in their superhero universe, so ressurecting a side character from his run on the Demon, Ennis and John McCrea created a sixty issue run of sweet comics that have all of Ennis’ humor and sickness and violence and yet somehow it was allowed. Okay, he didn’t swear outright, but somehow it felt right. And the violence might have been toned down for the public, but there are people shot in the face and their heads pop into spaghetti sauce bombs! Everything you love about Ennis’ writing us here; the dialogue, the tender homages to cinema (especially Sergio Leone) and did I happen to mention the amount sickness that comes out of this guy’s head? Wicked stuff!

So here’s this great series, everybody loves it (this is the nineties mind you, I speaking as though we were in the past) So how does it get forgotten? Preacher sells amazingly well! Anything Ennis sells well, let’s face it! So then why?

As it happened, for reasons unknown and that may never be revealed, DC had only ever collected half the series into tradepaperbacks. This was early on in the new trend of collecting issues into trades. Maybe people weren’t catching on fast enough and DC shelved the series. Only five books were collected and for many years now only the last two have stayed available to order. These two books are very good, but you try selling somebody on a new series when they have to start on book four!

Now, finally, DC has started reprinting these books and hopefully they’ll fulfill this reader’s dream and finish collecting the entire series for the first time! The first two books are already on shelves and volume three: Local Heroes is on the way. (Local Heroes may he of special interest to Green Lantern readers as it heavily features Kyle Raynor) You don’t want to miss out on an epic and satisfying run for Garth Ennis and John McCrea, even if it seems like a forgotten classic!

On screen, Shawn Ashmore tries to climb out on the cable, trying to find a way off the lift. But the cable shreds through his gloves and cuts his hands and he’s forced to go back. Just like Ashmore, the audience has no way to leave the horror of the situation without the razor sharp images on screen cutting into our minds. Green gives us no way out. Instead, we are forced to watch the most painful moments of suffering and it is intense. And all the while you squirm in your seat, you know that Green is out there giggling somewhere. This is the most terrifying horror movie in years!

I suppose there’s two arguments here. First is the argument for the exploration of the nature of Superman’s destiny, and that no matter what, he is, and always will be, destined to become Earth’s Greatest Hero. I get that from this story, but it seems clunky. Rather than being an organic part of the narrative, it feels forced, like the writer, Cary Bates, had the idea, but someone at DC said that by the end, Kal-El had to become Superman, no matter what. At times it feels like the story is being pushed in that direction by some unseen force. Most apparent in this issue are the Guardians of Oa, who essentially come right out and say that these things are supposed to happen, as if they have meta-knowledge of the main DC Universe. I suppose we’re just supposed to accept that. I can tell you, even being a Green Lantern reader, it was a hard pill to swallow without any real explanation.

The second argument you could make is that this is a story about Jor-El’s character. In that case, it’s a bit easier to take. All of the actions of the story take place in order to explore an element of Jor-El’s nature, thus giving us insight into Superman’s nature. An interesting idea, but again, poorly executed. There’s more room to excuse the writing here, but Bates still doesn’t take that opportunity and realize it’s true potential.

At the end of the day, I don’t regret reading this series, but I will have a hard time recommending it. The writing seems rushed and contrived, and I don’t personally care for the art of Renato Arlem. As a Superman fan, it’s an interesting look into the parents of The Man of Steel, but honestly, if that’s what you’re after, pick up the novel “Last Days of Krypton” by Kevin J. Anderson. It’s a much more fleshed out examination of Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van, as well as giving a look into General Zod, who I have to say was lacking an appearance in The Last Family of Krypton. Now that would have made this last issue interesting! Final verdict; hardcore Superman readers will find something to take away, but the casual Supes fan will just be bored and confused.

Early rumors had Stone pegged for the role of Mary Jane Watson, but it appears we all jumped to a conclusion or two...

That’s right folks. Emma Stone, who can currently be seen in the ridiculously great Easy A, and known for her roles in Zombieland, House Bunny and Superbad, has been cast as Gwen Stacy in the upcoming Spider-Man reboot starring Andrew Garfield. Stone is actually a natural blonde, so those shouting about miscasting can quite their griping already, as hair colour is the least important thing to worry about in a casting decision.

The decision was announced earlier today by Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment and Matt Tolmach, president of Columbia Pictures. Commenting on the announcement, Tolmach said, “It’s been an incredible journey for us to watch Emma’s star rise as an actress. She is extraordinarily talented and has a very special on-screen spark that is perfect for this role. Given her history with the studio, casting her in one of our most important franchises is a real thrill.”

After a word from our sponsor we are then joined by Jordan C from Thick magazine and so with both he and Mike in the room, we couldn’t help but discuss some Star Wars, Predators (Rodriguez’ other new film) and what kind of a pissy little bitch M Night Shyamalan is.

Check out the poster gallery below for Machete.

On a science station in the middle of the ocean, an ambitious doctor plans to make Alzheimers a thing of the past. Using shark brain matter as the test subject, Saffron Burrows doesn’t see the inherent danger in creating super smart eating machines. She’s accompanied by a stalwart crew of character actors and personalities. Among them; LL Cool J, Thomas Jane, Stellan Skarsgard, Michael Rapaport and Samuel L. Jackson. We all know that the sharks will escape and it will be up to our motley band of survivors to do just that.

Deep Blue Sea is successful on many levels and has a few wonderful surprises in store for those of you who haven’t seen it before. Sure, there’s a cheese factor here as well, but after a summation that concludes this movie is about smart sharks attacking a science station, I think that you should be aware of what you’ll be watching. Fans of most of these actors should also be pleased. Each actor has a good amount of screen time and fun moments to enjoy. Transformers fans might also be interested to know that Frank Welker (the voice of Megatron in the classic cartoon) lends his squawking abilities to the parrot in the movie.

Fun precursor to Snakes on a Plane or brilliant cg homage to Jaws, you decide. Either way, this blu-ray treatment offers no new special features from the earlier DVD release. Although, the original already featured a commentary, deleted scenes and featurettes.

The Reborn Palpatine

If you’re not familiar with this comic, then let me enlighten you a bit. It’s fairly renowned for being the first Star Wars comic published by Dark Horse in the 90′s. Previous to that, all that had come out were the canonically irrelevant Marvel Comics issues, which, although being fun, had no real grounding in the Official Star Wars Canon. They’re also pretty well known because they’re one of the first storylines to spin-off of the Timothy Zahn trilogy of books from the 90′s. These two things, combined with the amazing and moody artwork of Cam Kennedy (Dark Empire I, Dark Empire II), made the series a huge success, spawning a sequel series, and a two-issue conclusion. This is what the Trilogy is comprised of; Dark Empire I, Dark Empire II and Empire’s End.

The story itself revolves around a revived Emperor Palpatine, brought back through cloning and dark side magic. He now seeks revenge on those who defeated him, and to restore his once glorious Galactic Empire. Along the way, Luke Skywalker finds some new Jedi disciples, Leia begins her training, and Han manages to be awesome while also being a good father to young Jacen and Jaina Solo. There’s also some other familiar faces in there, along with some new characters that were introduced in this series.

Overall, this hardcover is a must have for anyone trying to get a comprehensive collection of the Star Wars comics. It stands out as one of the greatest stories in the long run of Dark Horse Star Wars, and it’s the bedrock of several other stories in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. If you don’t already have these in softcover, then I suggest picking it up in hardcover.

11: While the series is all digitally colored (with a mouse fittingly), I painted the first two covers in watercolor. The first because I had self-published a version of that issue and while the interiors were black and white, the cover was color, so I painted it. When Archaia picked up the series, I painted that second cover as well, mostly out of wanting the covers to be similar. However, I did scan in my inks first and do a quick color sample in Photoshop to test and set my palette. When I did that again for the third cover, I realized I had done more than half the work of coloring just in my test. With the digital colors on the interiors being well received, I opted to do digital colors for all the covers from that point on.

12: The original art for Mouse Guard pages is 12″ x 12″ (with two-page spreads being 12″ x 24″). However, there is one page, the first I drew, that was 14″ x 14″. I drew it at that size because I had pads of 14″ x 17″ bristol board. I quickly changed the page size to 12″ x 12″ after I had to scan the 14″ x 14″ page in four parts on my scanner.

13: Jeremy Bastian and his pinup for issue six of Fall 1152 helped me sort out the storytelling issues I was having with that issue. He and I went to lunch where he handed over the pinup, and I complained about how the issue wasn’t going well and I may need to rewrite it. Over lunch, we addressed a few of the issues and found solutions in his pinup: bees (as a way to turn away the members of Midnight’s army outside the gates of Lockhaven), the portrait (a way for Saxon, Kenzie, and Celanawe to sneak right in to Gwendolyn’s office, and the sword with the leaf hilt and guard (Lieam’s escape from binding and weapon for the final battle scene).

14: The June Alley Inn in Barkstone in was inspired by an anagram of my wife’s first and middle name: julia lynn= jun ally in. The Inn keep, June, is therefore Julia’s mouse, who wears her favorite color: blue, and does something Julia is a master at: welcoming people into her home, serving them amazing food and drink and, making them feel as welcome as family. Because of Julia being June, I left it to her to decide which mouse’s story wins the storytelling contest in Legends of the Guard.

15: The line “It Matters Not What You Fight But What You Fight For” came to me out of the blue as I was writing and reminded me of how Stan Lee said, “With great power comes great responsibility” came to him suddenly and without thinking. I saw Stan in the elevator at the San Diego Comic Con and told him about my line and he replied, “Oh! That’s a good one!” I have since realized the motto can be interpreted as “ends justify the means” so instead of avoiding that fact, I pointed it out in a conversation between Celanawe and Lieam in Winter 1152.

16: Saxon’s cloak ties together in front as an homage to the front of a Boy Scout neckerchief. I was a Scout for seven years and earned the rank of Life Scout.

17: Originally, the predatory threat in Winter was set to be a pair of hawks. Mark Smylie (publisher at the time) and my wife Julia both felt it should be an owl and persuaded me enough that I changed it to the one owl. Its eye getting wounded and blodshoot was for two reasons: 1) I though the red eye made him even more of a creepy villain; and 2) so the reader knows when it returns in issue three, it’s the same owl from before and not just a random one.

18: Before Mouse Guard was a comic, and only my friends knew of the concept, storylines and characters, I would run short, system-less Mouse Guard Roleplaying adventures for them. The characters Quiggly, Midnight and Abigail were all player characters from that time. While none of the RPG characters acted like the characters do in the Fall and Winter stories, I liked the idea of adding the nod to those players in the canon stories.

19: in Winter issue one, I wanted to take the reader to a new mouse town and show a different aesthetic and architecture (something I hope to do with many of the settlements over time). The concept for the look of Sprucetuck was “what if Brian Froud designed the Ewok Villiage inside a tree?” I designed the glass windows in that city (meant to be the medieval science hub of the territories) to reflect a love of beauty, but also geometry, math and subtlety.

20: Lieam’s name is spelled that way not because I found some old, cool Galic version of the name Liam, but because I’m an idiot and can’t spell, it ended up in my notes and sketches with the added “e.” By the time I started to publish Mouse Guard, I knew it was wrong, but had grown so used to it, I decided to keep it.

Read Part One: Here.

In the spirit of the series, David was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to give us even more insight into his fan favorite series. We have twenty juicy bits of info that you’ll find nowhere else straight from the man himself, so strap in and tool up for a whole new Mouse Guard adventure:

Here are the first ten.

1: The first Mouse Guard story I ever came up with (back in 1996..last century!) had Saxon, Kenzie, and “Rand” as the main trio. In 2004, when it came time to draw the first issue of Mouse Guard, I opted for a different starting point for the audience, and set the story after that original tale. I did this because the story with Rand involves a huge war with the weasels, and I wasn’t ready to draw and write anything as complicated as a war. I also felt if I found it complicated, then it was a bad introduction to the world.

2: Music and Lyrics: When writing Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, I asked Jesse Glenn (a friend of mine who was the best man at my wedding and is the guy Kenzie is based on) to write the music for the ballad that would appear in issue four. Having never written a song before, I felt I needed a melody to write the words to. Later, for the funeral ballad in issue six, we did it the other way around—I first wrote the lyrics and he followed up with music. One of those ballads (“The Ballad of the Ivory Lass”) is available as a free MP3 download on mouseguard.net.

3: Kenzie sings both of the ballads in Winter because I was looking for a way to make his character more interesting. As the calm rational mouse, he can sometimes be a bore, so I looked to the guy he’s based on for inspiration, and Jesse Glenn does a lot of musical theater. This is why when it came time to record the MP3 of “The Ballad of the Ivory Lass,” it’s Jesse performing it.

4: The idea for singing also was planted in my mind because of a new report I read about scientists discovering that mice “sing” to attract a partner to mate with. I knew that I had a Kenzie and Sadie romance blossoming, so decided the singing would be a great way to show tenderness and tie in with obscure, real-world-science.

5: The character Conrad was created when Guy Davis asked for one of my mouse sculptures I have of the main characters. I didn’t want to break up my set, so I offered to sculpt him a new mouse, one who is not a character, that I would be willing to part with. While trying a new polymer clay, I was having trouble sculpting two matching legs, so I replaced one with the broken end of a paint brush. Liking the pirate look, I pulled off some of his ear and gave him a little earring. When I handed the sculpture over to Guy, I told him he got the sculpture, but I was going to use the character. Guy named him Conrad.

6: Many of the settlement names in Mouse Guard have personal meaning or are a reference to a real Michigan location:
Flintrust: after my hometown of Flint, MI
Oakgrove: after the sanitarium there that was the site my high school was built on
Frostic: after printmaker and MI naitive Gwen Frostic, who had a love of the natural world
Appleloft: after the Flint estate of the C.S. Mott family (I attended Mott Community College)
Ferndale: after my current city of residence
Dawnrock: reference to Petoskey’s meaning of sun rays (and the petoskey stone is Michigan’s state stone)

7: I have hidden a few Star Wars bits in various panels: Han and Luke mice, R2D2, the Millennium Falcon, an AT-AT and Darth Vader’s lightsaber appear throughout the Mouse Guard books.

8: The hares, who appear in Winter 1152 issue six, are named after three of the members of Monty Python. I looked up the etymology of their surnames and Terry Gilliam became Gylham, Eric Idle became Ydell and Michael Pailin became Heilyn. Ydell makes a comment about how the owl has “ceased to be,” a nod to their famous “Dead Parrot Sketch.”

9: There will never be cats in Mouse Guard. I think any domestic animal will break the feeling of this being a medieval story. And even though there were cats then, they are not what you think of as wild-forest-dwelling creatures.

10: At the time of this writing, I have drawn 341 story pages of Mouse Guard. Before Mouse Guard, I had never drawn more than 10 pages of anything.

Check out the second half: Here.

Up on the chopping block is David Fincher‘s newest. We hope it’s not as bad as Zodiac… well most of us, but with a track record like Fincher’s; Se7en, Fight Club, Alien 3, the Game and Panic Room, anything is possible.

Plus he’s working with new people including Michael Sera 2, Zombieland‘s Jesse Eisenberg who plays the man who created facebook, or is it “the” facebook? Tune in, click it and listen up people!

This is Tom Baker territory right here! Spaceships and monsters and cheap sets and glorious hyjinx! The plot is pretty incidental here, isn’t it? The very second the Doctor’s crazy TARDIS malfunctions we know that we will embark on a funny, cheap looking, hammy and utterly epic journey through space and time to defeat evils both human and alien! All of the best Who are always ambitious stories.

Performance wise you’ll always be happy with a Tom Baker episode, his rhythms and bursts of energy are always entertaining but in this set, Baker is given the perfect partner to spar with. Graham Crowden plays Soldeed; a leader who is duped by the Nimon into sending it sacrifices. His manic overacting and quirky insanity is a beautiful companion to Baker, a dark reflection almost. Of course, the most powerful acting presence might be in the foot tall shoebox on wheels, the Doctor’s trusty robot dog, K-9. Yes, it’s a K-9 story as well!

Like every BBC Doctor Who DVD, this is a loaded package fit with commentary, featurette, interview with the writer, original music demos for the score, photos and all kinds of nice additionals. If there were to be any complaints it might be that Tom Baker is not on the commentary, but to be fair he is on many of the other DVDs.

So Christina Ricci spends half this movie naked. She’s naked laying down, she’s naked standing up, she’s naked from the front, she’s naked from the back. She’s naked in a house, she’s naked with a mouse. Now before we get into red fish, blue fish, is anyone going to finish reading this or have you already left to go buy it? See, the movie IS worth buying, but not JUST for Christina Ricci naked. Hard to believe, right?

Afterlife is a movie about what happens to us when we die. What happens to us for the three days after our death, before we’re buried or cremated. Christina Ricci’s character dies and then both she and her definitely alive boyfriend/fiancé have trouble dealing with this. Liam Neeson is the mortician who makes up the dead for their open casket funeral. While Christina tries to deal with her death, she talks to Neeson who tries to calm her to help her transition from this life to whatever lies beyond. Her boyfriend (Justin Long) also has trouble dealing with this tragedy and so we get this very sad love story, wrapped in a horror movie that finds it’s roots in movies like Phantasm and Psycho.

The beauty of the movie is in it’s possible duality of the Liam Neeson character. He could either be dark and sinister, crazy and frightening, or a lonely soul who fights a righteous fight. You could look at the movie as a story about a mythic hero (the mortician) who bravely helps to ferry the confused lost souls to their final resting place as easily as he can, speaking and communicating with them while no one else can hear their words and eventually find someone else with his gifts and train them to continue his noble, secret and very sad work. You could also completely flip the concept. Neeson is actually preying on victims of car accidents and sneaking them off to fuck with their heads and eventually bury them alive. They would question and struggle and try to escape, but keeping them sedated, he convinces them that they are in fact dead and then bury them alive. Maybe he doesn’t talk to anyone and he’s just a very sick man and the conversations between him and the dead are just in his head. There are any number of ideas that could be at work here. So with room for for interpretation, compelling film making and a very naked Christina Ricci; we have a great movie worthy of some more attention than it seems to be getting.

Starting of with a bang, this book wastes no time introducing the crazy cast of characters to the reader while they do what they do best., getting the job done at any cost. The story starts just after returning home from some third world jungle shit hole. The rest of the book gets everything set up for what’s to come, while letting us learn more about these very different men who happen to work together under the most dangerous of circumstances.

All and all, this book’s a fun read that really gets you prepared for the movie all action aficionados have been dreaming of.

Reuniting with Russell Crowe, Scott gives us a completely new take on the old myth of Robin of the Hood with mixed results. On a technical standpoint Scott is on the top of his game giving the viewer a great deal to soak up with each frame. Quite frankly the movie “looks” great. Unfortunately the written portion of the film is not quite up to the same standard as the direction.

The film opens with a decent battle scene where we’re introduced to Robin Longstride; archer of the kings army. Now for this reviewer (who was raised with Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) this was a big difference since I’ve always known Robin Hood as “Robin of Loxley”. This switch was an interesting choice and really gets the viewer prepared for all the differences this movie would have. After both the King’s death and the “real” Robin of Loxley’s demise, our hero outlaw assumes the identity of the fallen knight along with his trusted archer friends; Will Scarlet, Little John and Allan A’Dayle. From here we return to England were the body of the story takes place.

Now the largest difference is the fact that the Sheriff of Nottingham is not the main villain. In fact, he only appears a few times throughout the film and has a total of maybe fifteen minutes of screen time. The real villain is Godfrey, played by Mark Strong whom we will all soon see in next year’s Green Lantern film playing the villain; Sinestro. As far as villains go Godfrey is a weak heavy, who is trying to destabilize England for a French invasion. All of his posturing and scheming leads to the inevitable large battle at the end of the film. This battle is the only time where Scott does not seem to have a handle on things. The battle is short and although it’s the climax of the film, it’s also very boring. It’s not until after this battle and sitting safely on his throne that King John names Robin as an Outlaw leaving the film open with the chance of a sequel that no doubt will ever come.

In short; this is not as good as Gladiator, but thankfully is not a complete mess like Kingdom of Heaven. This movie is definitely a rental or a cheap bin pick-up, but for this reviewer; I’m sticking with Prince of Thieves until we get something better.

You could look at it like it’s a prequel to Gladiator or like a dark, live action Asterix book told from the perspective of the Romans as the protagonists… With copious amounts of violence. Either way, this is a fantastic blend of horror and action and darkness that pits the Roman ninth legion against the ancient Britains; a fierce enemy that picks off our heroes one at a time.

Most of the faces in the movie are fairly unknown but so effective and capable that while you aren’t distracted by Hollywood personalities, you’re still drawn in by the strength of the characters on their own merits. It was a particularly pleasant surprise to see Noel Clarke who had previously played Rose Tyler’s boyfriend Mickey on Doctor Who as a completely different character and well done. Michael Fassbender (Inglorious Bastards, Eden Lake) carries the lead as the unkillable Quinton Daius and Olga Kurylenko‘s (Hitman, Max Payne) mute assassin/tracker has an unfolding quality as the movie plays out. Her character grows visually adding another element to her wardrobe or makeup as the scenes go on.

Somewhere in the vein of the 13th Warrior, Gladiator and King Arthur, Centurion’s stylized visuals and inventive violence is the icing on an otherwise compelling and ever entertaining film. Congratulations Neil Marshall!

Below is a selection of posters for the film:

Fifty’s performance comes off a little flat, not horrible but not his best. His work in Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ is the proof that he can do better, but he also played himself. Either way, he can only do so much with such a confused and weak script. Kilmer is all charisma and can even make a little something out of this mess. It doesn’t make this worth watching, but it’s worth saying that he’s still got it.

The first issue in the collection is just the special, “Who Will Wield the Shield?” which is an important moment after Steve Rogers’ return where he has to decide whether or not he’ll return to being the Star Spangle Avenger and what Bucky will do. This is the very last chapter to deal with Brubaker’s overall arc.

The rest of the book is a “new Cap” adventure with the Falcon as they take down a right wing terrorist cell in America’s own backyard led by the crazy 1950′s Cap that Brubaker had previously brought back a couple books ago. The problem is almost negligible, but it really doesn’t carry the weight of the rest of the series. Cap is back, Bucky is the new Cap, everyone is cool for now and this is a story about a catastrophe that never happens because our heroes stop it in time! Cute story, not bad but not so epic, grand or compelling. Sorry Ed, but I know you can do so much better! Why do I now feel like the Grinch that stole Cap?

First off, let me say that although I’m a big fan of Ratchet and Clank, I wasn’t expecting all that much from this comic. Most video game to comic adaptations aren’t worth the time, and usually tie-in to an upcoming release. R&C however is it’s own stand alone comic story, thankfully. The first issue takes place some time after the events of the most recent R&C: Future game, A Crack in Time. Our heroes have been enjoying some much deserved downtime when their old ally, Captain Quark, now president of the galaxy, comes to enlist their help in finding some missing planets. Yes. Missing planets. Ratchet is reluctant, due to the events of A Crack in Time, but whether they like it or not, they get pulled into the fray when Veldin, the planet they’re on, gets teleported to another galaxy!

The writing, by T.J. Fixman, actually matches the games pretty well. While I was reading, I could hear the voices of the characters as I went through the comic. That’s thanks in big part to the amazing job the voice actors did in the games, but also to the writing, which captures the characters tones and inflection.  This is probably because Fixman is one of the writers responsible for the games themselves. A smart move on Insomniac and Wildstorm’s part.

The art, by Adam Archer, however is only adequate. his proportions and style don’t match the R&C universe established in the games, and for a die-hard fan, it’s difficult to get past. His robots and spaceships are excellent, but some of the magic of the games gets lost in translation, in big part, due to the artist. He’s not bad, by any stretch. He’s just not a good fit for the R&C style. If the interior pages were more like the cover art, though, the comic would be a perfect representation of the games. Creaturebox has worked on the games, and as such, their art is a direct 2D representation of the games. But with Creaturebox working on the next R&C game, All 4 One, it’s highly unlikely that we’ll see an entire comic drawn by them.

Overall, Ratchet and Clank #1 delivers a pretty good dose of R&C fun, and has laid the groundwork for what promises to be a cool story with some good laughs along the way. If you’re a fan, then I suggest you pick it up, for sure.

No, that has far too much artistic merit attached to it! Instead, why don’t we just redraw the series is fewer issues for the all ages line since kids don’t that much anyway and this way we don’t actually have to think of any new and cool stories! How great to see that the comic book industry, (an industry that has for decades, been pushing the limits of the medium to help it grow and mature) has taken a page out of Hollywood’s book; let’s just REMAKE our comics! Why not? We already reboot them, right?

Whatever, if you’re a real comic fan, you’ll skip this book recognizing it for what it is; a waste of time. Read the original or read something else that’s original. Who has time for this?

The first issue reads like you’d expect. The El’s arrive on Earth and make their presence known. Some people are hesitant to accept these aliens, while others become infatuated with their every move. They become the most watched celebrities on the planet. This leads Lara to send young Kal-El off to be with a normal Earth family, the Kents, so that he can have a normal childhood. Essentially, everything they write in the first issue is a contrivance to get Kal-El onto the Kent farm, so he can ultimately become Superman. The one area where this story differs from what you expect is in Jor-El. This character has been explored before, so it’s not as though they’re establishing him in this series. Previously, he’s been depicted, most famously in the films, as a thinker first, and as a benevolent scientific genius; Kind of the opposite of Lex Luthor. But in this story, he’s depicted as more of a driven man than a genius. He devotes all of his time to bettering mankind, and in the process seems to neglect his family. This is not the Jor-El we know, and I personally don’t like him. Maybe that’s the point, I guess, but it makes the first issue difficult to read.

Now, issue #2 is a litte different. With Kal-El a little older, the story focuses more on his story, while also expanding on the El family with the introduction of his twin siblings, Bru-El and Valora. The idea of Superman having a younger brother and sister is interesting, but in my opinion is a little underused in this issue. I guess we’ll see what they have in store for the third issue. By this point, Kal-El is now fully entrenched in his Clark Kent persona, and wrestling with his place in the world. By the end of the issue he reaches the inevitable moment where he becomes Superman. Again, this aspect of the story seems incredibly contrived, especially considering he wears the same costume and ends up once again being called Superman. But it’s at this point that we see the whole reason why someone wanted to write this story; the interaction between Superman and his father. Jor-El seems to be disappointed in Kal-El for becoming Superman, and that’s an interesting storypoint, but it’s hardly a story.

With so many things going on, and so many sub-plots, this Elseworlds series is a bit of a mess, but at the end of the day, there are some interesting points worth exploring, so if you’re a die-hard Superman fan, it’s worth your time. Maybe wait for the Trade Paperback though, as three issues at four bucks a piece is pretty much the same as buying the TPB anyways.

There isn’t much that really works in the newest entry, but two important elements seem to have been misjudged. While horror fans (more than most other genre fans) can be pretty forgiving on plot lines and performances, but there needs to be some seriously wicked gore or make up effects as this is basically the bread and bitter of the genre. In this film there is far too much reliance on computer generated effects to bring the violence to life. Sometimes CG can be used to good or at least stylized effect, but Survival of the Dead misses the mark by a long shot. Completely unrealistic and eye rolling silly ideas for gore that raise an eyebrow questioningly.

The other main problem is one of tone. Most of the violence is comic, slap stick, ridiculous Wile E. Coyote antics, but it has no place in a Romero zombie flick.

In the end, we haven’t tread on any new ground here, or created much worthy or glowing praise, but these last two “Dead” films both suffer from emaciated budgets and will make some Romero die-hards very happy regardless.

Each section highlights roughly ten movies in any particular sub genre. As an example, “Abhorations of Nature” has twelve pages covering mostly animal attack movies and includes Jaws, the Birds, Black Sheep, Grizzly, Cabin Fever and the Ruins. Who hasn’t seen these movies? There’s little chance that someone referring to themselves as a “horror freak” would have missed these well known and successful films. The Birds came out in 1963 and in the subsequent five decades we only get six films in this book that focus on animal/nature attacks? Off the tip of my head I can think of Lake Placid, Rogue, Cujo, the Edge, Razorback, Squirm, Deep Blue Sea and the list goes on. Perhaps author Don Sumner was only trying to show us the best that the sub genres have to offer, but then what horror freak is looking for a book filled with classics and recent obvious candidates for classic status?I myself am not much of an Asian horror enthusiast, but even I had seen all of the chestnuts in his Asian Horror section.

The book is still filled with full color pages and as many photos as words and includes a DVD copy of Night of the Living Dead. Of course most “horror freaks” already have multiple copies or at least one of the many special editions already available.

There is even a beginner’s section (although it’s unclear why that would be necessary for “horror freaks”) that catalogs some of the less gruesome or explicit films. In the book, Sumner writes that these movies, “are typically separated from the rest of the collection and put on their own shelf so as to be easily identified”. Never before have I heard such ridiculous bullshit! Movies are separated by director, genre or even alphabetized, but they aren’t separated some kind of “wimp factor”. At least not that I’ve ever seen.

So if you’re looking for an obvious rundown of the movies you’ve already seen with one or two that you’ve been meaning to catch and almost none that you weren’t already previously aware of, then this book is for you! If you’re just getting into horror movies and you need a place to start that will show you the basics of the different horror genres, then enjoy. But if you really are a “horror freak”, you’ll likely be disappointed by this book that I’m sad to say was mislabeled as some kind of bible for real Horror enthusiasts but is in actuality nothing but a waste of time for the fans who already know their stuff.

In my personal opinion, two books on genre movies that are quite thorough and worthy of your collection are; Zombie Movies: the Ultimate Guide by Glenn Kay and Blaxploitation Cinema: An Essential Reference Guide by Josiah Howard. While neither of these books can boast as many colorful pictures as Horror Movie Freak, they both have thorough compilations of every movie from their respective genres and the pertinent information you’re looking for. Blaxploitation even collects ten interviews with the most influential directors. Horror movie freak only really makes one mistake and that was trying to convince real “Horror Freaks” that this book is worth buying. It should have been called “Don Sumner’s Beginner’s Guide to Horror.”

The Good: So much of the movie is great and whether it’s the cast or the very warm and radiant glow of the cinematography, the movie demonstrates the highest quality in it’s visual experiences. The action is fun and the violence is pretty sweet. All of the characters have their visual style that clearly identifies them and the bizarre costume ideas that are put together are larger than life, again saturating the visuals with comic book sensibilities. One of the main concepts taken from Leone’s The Good The Bad and The Ugly is the structure of our three main characters. The best of the three is “the bad” who seemingly revels in his darkness like a sinister Lee Van Cleef character.

The Bad: Despite it’s colors and it’s flash bang start, we have some trouble identifying with the main character as he tries to protect his stolen treasure map until he can dig it up for himself. Asian audiences might be used to the bipolar tone changes as their hero goes from bad ass gunslinger to goofy comic front man, but American audiences might find this harder to swallow. Also it would have been nice to get a little Indiana Jones pre-adventure for him. Much like the beginning of Raiders when we can see him in action so we know what our hero is capable of or the beginning or Crusade when we get to see how got the scar on his chin or hat or whip. Instead, we get a very interesting character but no window into why we care about him other than his being silly or bad ass depending on what scene you’re watching. Much like another “Eastern Western”; Sukiyaki Western Jango, suffers from being lost in it’s own world. With no sense of time or real location, threats are harder to take seriously because of how unrealistic the environment seems to be. Sergio Leone got away with the unrealistic nature of his western environments because he made them even harder looking and dirtier.

The Weird: Honestly, the entire freaking movie is weird! Come on! A Korean, eastern western, heavily influenced by Sergio Leone but taking place in it’s own world with it’s own rules and the comedic style of manga and anime with the kind of action you’d expect from John Woo? But that’s what makes it good!

The actual reason behind all these “throw downs” is to prepare Skaar for the big showdown with his dear old dad; The Hulk himself. But who is chaperoning this huge, green behemoth? None other than Bruce Banner himself, who at the current time is unable to transform into his alter ego. One part cheerleader and one part coach, Banner has taken it upon himself, at great risk, to get Skaar ready.

And that is, in a nut shell what this book is all about. Just a lead in to what, no doubt will be a battle of the ages. Filled with loads of action with some great bits of humor sprinkled through out. What else could you ask for?

Creation Entertainment is Coming to Vancouver again! But this time they’re here to bring us a… you guessed it; Supernatural Convention! Aside from appearances by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, there will be other celebrity signings and guests as well as a plethora of other events!

FRIDAY NIGHT KARAOKE PARTY!

As an extra treat for all of our great attendees Creation Entertainment is happy to present this special FREE PARTY for all! We’ve had a great time with our CREATION FRIDAY NIGHT Karaoke Parties at past events so come sing, watch, or raise a few with Creation staff, fellow fans and surprise celebrity guest drop-ins! You never know who might show up and it is a great way to mix and mingle! Exact times and locations will be announced on the printed schedule available at the convention itself (or on-line by the Wednesday prior to the opening day) ENJOY!

Special appearances tentatively by SAMANTHA SMITH, RICHARD SPEIGHT, Jr., MATT COHEN, KATHERINE BOECHER and ALDIS HODGE.

THE GREAT CREATION DESSERT PARTY
SUPERNATURAL CENTERPIECE CONTEST

Another way that fans can show off their love of SUPERNATURAL creatively is by entering our famous themed CENTERPIECE CONTEST! This event takes place at our DESSERT PARTY (Saturday Evening) and is for Gold Members attending the event this weekend! Create the very best centerpiece that touches the hearts of our judges and you might just win a special $250 Gift Certificate! Just be “GOLD” and bring your entry to the party and that’s all it takes to enter!

Special appearances by ROB BENEDICT, MATT COHEN and DEMORE BARNES.

THE “SUPERNATURAL” COSTUME CONTEST

Here’s an opportunity for you to show your creative talents by entering our famous Costume Competition. Held on Saturday, come dressed as any Supernatural character (or make up your own) and vie for audience applause and great prizes including a $250 gift certificate. Good Luck!

Fri., Sat. & Sun.
August 27-29, 2010
Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre
1088 Burrard St.
Vancouver, BC

For other info please visit: http://www.creationent.com/cal/supernatural_van.htm

Yet another comic adapted into a movie! When his idyllic life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last ditch effort to survive.

I have indeed read all 6 volumes of the comic. In fact, I reviewed Vol. 6 only a couple of weeks ago, here on Fancore. I fully intend on purchasing the video game when it is released, and I’m waiting until September 7th for the deluxe version of the soundtrack to be released on disc(It’s available on iTunes, but I want the physical copy for my collection!). I am a Scott Pilgrim Fanboy.

That being said, this is still, from an objective point of view, a fantastically crafted film, from start to finish. Edgar Wright(Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) does an excellent job of adapting the comic to the screen in a manner only he and maybe a couple of other human beings in history could. The choice to maintain the comic book style, with fully realized visual sound effects, reminiscent of the old Batman TV series, is definitely what makes this movie a different animal. Accompanied by a truly kick ass soundtrack, all the video game references one could want, some of the best martial arts action I’ve ever seen, and a stellar cast of noticeables and newcomers, Wright really hits it out of the ballpark with this one.

Michael Cera is really great at being… well, Michael Cera. Thankfully, that fits perfectly into the on-screen persona of our title hero, Scott Pilgrim. Now, in my own personal version of Scott Pilgrim, he would have been a much cooler, more cocky type of guy, but that’s probably only because I relate to Scott quite a bit, and have transferred some of my own qualities to his character. But that’s neither here nor there.

The rest of the cast does a pretty good job of bringing their respective characters to life, perhaps with the exception of Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Scott’s key love interest, Ramona Flowers. There were a few moments where her dialogue seemed clunky, and not completely there. Like she was playing along, but had a different set of rules to the game. But it wasn’t noticeable enough to truly detract from the film overall.

Some of the standouts of the cast definitely include the evil exes. Brandon Routh(Todd Ingram) is great as a bass wielding Vegan, Mae Whitman(Roxy) is a totally sexy rocker lesbian, and Jason Schwartzman(Gideon Graves) is a deliciously evil nemesis that you completely love to hate. But the one who stands out for me, above all the rest, is Chris Evans as Lucas Lee, the former extreme sports star turned movie star. The snippets from his in-universe action flicks are some of the best cheese camp in years, and his characterization leaps off the screen. Again, I may be gushing due to a slight bias here(I’m pretty sure that Chris Evans is about to E-X-P-L-O-D-E after Captain America), but the marketing department at Universal seems to agree with me, as he appears in 90% of the commercials I’ve seen on TV.

Overall, it’s a 10 out of 10 for me, but at the same time, I could see the other side of the argument if you didn’t like it. It’s really flashy, loud and completely obnoxious(in a lovable and charming kind of way, I think), and if you didn’t get the constant video game, anime and indie rock references, then this movie probably isn’t for you. But if some of the things I just mentioned made your ears perk up, then it’s probably worth while to check it out. You’ll be glad you did.

But if you’re not sure, then I have one piece of advice for you; Let your inner 11 year old out, and enjoy the ride that is Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World!

Transformers: Bumblebee

The simple answer is no, he cannot.  I’m not sure what’s more disappointing. Is it the boring, drawn out story or the simplistic art? I understand with every different artist there come a bit of creative license. But the decision to illustrate the characters in their G1 style runs in direct conflict with the way they are currently drawn in the ongoing series, which adapts a more modern take combined with the Michael Bay movie-verse aesthetics. In the end, the result can be confusing to new readers.

As a story, it’s boring. There’s really not much more I can add to that. It is the equivalent of unfinished deleted scenes found in the bonus disc of a DVD. If you love the ongoing series and want some extras, you might be interested in reading Transformers: Bumblebee. But I feel like it adds nothing to the greater story.  The plot is slow moving especially compared to the other miniseries, The Last Stand of the Wreckers (which has yet to be collected as a trade paperback). This should have been a one issue Spotlight.  I recommend skipping this and reading For All Mankind instead.

Some of the tone of the film become silly, like the trio of ridiculously hot assassins, Jail-bait, Stiletto and Bombshell that even the main character claims to be ridiculous. But there are two ways to watch this, taking it seriously (which is not recommended) or as a fun comic book style Snatch-type movie, except Snatch is a classic crime movie and this is a Luke warm rental.

If you like hustling con men trying to pay off ridiculous debts by talking fast and running even faster, larger than life gangster characters and zippy dialogue, give the Bannen Way a shot. Just keep your expectations in check.

The DVD boasts six featurettes on the movie but no commentary.

Kevin Sorbo movies don’t really need reviews. Fans of Sorbo know what to expect and they’ll grab the movies regardless of quality. People who don’t know Sorbo might want to avoid his glorious crown of made for TV magnificence. You usually have a good idea of what kind of movie you’ll be watching when Sorbo’s flowing locks grace the poster art.

Fire From Below isn’t great, but it does bare all the hallmarks of the drive-in B-movie 1950′s monster/disaster genre. Part “Dante’s Peak“, part “It Came From The Bottom Of The Sea” and part “Journey To The Centre Of The Earth“, this is a geologic, tectonic thriller with an almost sinister and malevolent intelligence guiding this seismic terror as it effectively “attacks” a small town. Half of Kevin Sorbo’s team gets trapped in a series of underground caverns the likes of which we’ve never seen before, with glowing algae on the walls to light their multicolored journey back to the surface.

Of course computer generated effects don’t hold the same allure that stop motion does and likely never will, but maybe one day these cheap and effective cg effects will be thought of fondly and as a stylistic choice. Like the rear projection used in Pulp Fiction lovingly as a nod to those old movies who couldn’t afford better quality, these bargain basement effects may one day bring a smile to cine enthusiast’s lips, but that isn’t today.

There are no special features on the DVD which is always confusing. Every Kevin Sorbo fan will automatically buy any DVD that Sorbo made a commentary for! Lou Diamond Phillips, Dolph Lungren, Jean Claude Van Damme, Christian Slater; these are all people we want to hear speak and rarely do they make appearances. Is it really too much money to pay to load up your DVD with more reasons to buy it? After all, these movies get made for DVD release! Special Features should be your bread and butter. That’s how Bruce Campbell and Will Wheaton keep their peeps happy! Just a digressionary thought.

Completely fun and gloriously terrible at the same cliched time, Kevin Sorbo’s new masterpiece is for those who know what they’re doing!

Joss Whedon‘s been off the script writing for a while now and it’s anybody’s guess as to when this movie will get made. Everybody has an opinion on who should be in the golden bustier and Julia Benson is mine!

If you’ve been watching Stargate SGU, you might have already seen her Lt. Vanessa James character or in an episode of Masters of Horror: Right To Die. While she is embarrassingly beautiful and buxom in a very Lynda Carter kind of way, she also knows how to hold a gun and look like she’d kick your ass if you disrespected her.

Below are some photos of her from Stargate and some mock ups of her as the Amazon Princess. Enjoy!

Art: Don Figueroa

Wow! That’s the best word to describe this great collection. It boasts really solid writing by Costa and eye melting art by Figueroa with a special nod to colorists J. Brown and Andrew Dalhouse. Wow! I don’t regularly read an abundance of Transformers titles and the ones I have read didn’t leave a good taste in my mouth afterward. (Megatron: Origin comes to mind) But this book is both great to look at and engaging enough to please all.

Taking place three years after the Decepticons’ devastating defeat and the death of Megatron. The remaining Transformers are now in hiding while us puny humans have rebuilt and rearmed and are now systematically hunting down and rather than killing them. The army keeps them in vehicle mode, mindless and unaware. After an attempt to save an enslaved Autobot goes bad with the death of a fan favorite G1 character, Optimus Prime, who for the first time that I can remember, really seems lost and completely vulnerable and not infallible. With the Autobots splintering into groups, one led by Hotrod while the other is led by Bumble Bee, the former joining up with Decepticons to build a ship and get off planet.

From no brainer back stabbings too cool new turns for our old favorites, This book should please just about every Transformer fan out there and should even satisfy the most casual fan. Highly recommended.

Surprisingly, Dolph looks credible in the role and looks natural behind a drum set. Of course when I say “credible”, I mean in the sense that he could be that heavy metal drummer, not so much in the sense that he could also, in addition to being a drummer for a rock band, also be a one man demolition unit. And Dolph would be credible in that role as well. I just don’t think you can put the two together, you know what I’m saying? Then again, that is also the point of watching the movie. So you can see where we are. Then again, Dolph wrote and directed this movie so it stands to reason that he really likes playing the drums.

Listening to Dolph say, “Dude” is just plain bizarre to the ear, but not nearly as clunky and tacky as when a reporter states in the first two minutes that tonight will be a “command performance”! I mean, is that actually a thing? Is it real musical terminology? Tonight Metallica will be playing a command performance? Is it supposed to be the presidential jargon for a presidential musical show? The kind of crap movies are constantly trying to mine. We’ve got ourselves a broken arrow gentlemen!

Gun play and general action is digestible and even pretty gorey as at one time he stabs somebody through the chest with a guitar neck, killing them with Rock and Roll! The dramatic performances are pretty much what you expect and the movie is pretty fast paced with a reasonably high fun factor. DVD package is lacking in special features though. A commentary track with Dolph talking about his love of drumming would have really hit the spot.

Click this link to see the images in hi-res @ ign.com

Jackie has been on a role! Int he past year he’s released three theatrical movies, all with very different styles and sensibilities. We cover two of them here and there’s a definite gaping chasm between the two. Can you guess which is better or worse and why? No need! Mike and I will point you in the right direction. Come on, that’s what we’re here for.

Heads Up! This review contains some things that some people might consider spoilers. You have been warned. So don’t complain to me when you find out that Scott- …See what you made me do? I almost ruined it for you!

So that’s it. I literally just finished Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, the sixth and final chapter in the Scott Pilgrim series. In the lead up to this monumental event, I went back and re-read the earlier volumes through again. On the whole, the final volume does what it’s meant to do; wraps everything up, and finally gets to the point. What it doesn’t do is everything else the earlier volumes did.

Lemme break this down for you: Scott Pilgrim is the story of Scott’s crazy life in the mythical land of Toronto. It’s whacky and full of crazy hijinks, etc. But the reason it works so well is that it’s all grounded in a strange kind of psuedo-reality. For every nonsensical piece of nonsense, there’s what appears to be true stories holding up the silliness. One way of illustrating this was by using actual locations in and around Toronto. This gives the world of Scott Pilgrim a deep sense of reality, so when evil exes start exploding into coins, we can just let it go, because it’s awesome.

Allow me to get to the point now. The first five volumes are chock-full of this sort of thing, but the final volume seems to be lacking in this department. Like most finales, I think this volume suffers from wanting to deliver what the audience is expecting. To be quite honest, the majority of this book is the face-off between Scott and Gideon, and Ramona’s appearance is very Deus Ex Machina. There just wasn’t a whole heck of a lot going on here. In truth, I was underwhelmed. Maybe I built it up too much in my head, or maybe the series’ creator, Brian Lee O’Malley just wanted to get it all finished already. Either way, it seems rushed. I mean, I read it in like an hour, guys.

This is just one of my favorite images from the entire series. Enjoy!

Of course, I say all that to just turn right around and tell you that you should read it. It is the end, and it is indeed an ending. Everything is dealt with. Our heroes and their companions have all had their stories wrapped up in neat little bows. There’s even a kind of epilogue to let you know that some other stuff turned out pretty ok, too. All in all, hearts and kittens for everyone.

Actually, there is one thing that I need to say about this volume that actually surprised me, and that’s how great the art was. Don’t get me wrong, the art has been really strong all the way through, but this volume really took it to the next level, and I’m excited to see what O’Malley has planned next, as I’m keen to see more of his art.

So there you go. A critical, yet praising review of Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour. Go read it, and then see the awesome movie when it comes out in theatres, yo. I’m gonna. I’ll save you a seat!

When you go into a comic shop and shoot the shit with the guy behind the counter about whether or not the new Green Lantern movie is going to be any good, there comes a moment. Sometimes you’ll put a book on the counter to buy, and maybe you’ve read it before and maybe it’s just the next volume in a long running series like Fables or Punisher Max. Either way, sometimes you’ll put a book on the counter that the comic shop dude has read and loved and you share a moment. The moment.

You might say a few things about how much you like it or recollect your favorite part or get a strong approval from him, but sometimes there is a look. A knowing look that understands that you both have taken part in something great and when you could tell each other everything the other already knows, sometimes you just get a look that says, “Good choice, nice taste.” I love when those moments happen and that’s all I wanted to say.

The artwork is clean and swift, although Ed McGuiness seems an odd choice at first. Truth be told, he actually fits in quite well in this fast paced world where conspiracies are revealed and alliances are forged. Hickman explores more of Ares’ world as he takes his boy to be judged by a council of Gods, while Fury punches Osborne in the face and the Secret Warriors face off against the Thunderbolts! All of that in one book? Come on! You know you want to read it now!

If you want to watch Nick Fury storm the Avengers tower single handed, them pick up Secret Warriors and see what the hell I’m talking about. Secret Warriors is easily one of the most unnoticed book on the shelves today.

Every page of J.H. Williams III’s art in this book is painfully beautiful. With a touch of Charles Vess-like fairy tale quality and Sam Keith-like loving attention to details, even in the borders and margins, Williams is constantly challenging the limitations of the medium with panel placement and border bleeding and sheer precise craft work. Williams will lock your focus onto the key part of each frame with a box around the important details. For example; Batwoman is fighting a thug, but what is most key is her kick that sends his machine flying, highlighted by a little red box, very dynamic! On other pages, one frame will bleed behind all the others to create depth and detail like the layout of an apartment or the connective visual theme of music, shown by separating panels with staff notation and interacting with them to create almost movie poster art. This doesn’t begin to do the work justice but it is a start.

A partner in crime, Dave Stewart brings life to the work is such an integral way that one often wonders where Williams stops and Stewart begins. In an ingenious way, Stewart manages to breathe life into the pages by utilizing different textures like watercolor, focusing your eye to the action by sharpening the blacks where you need to look and fading out the background slightly. He will fade the pencils from black to gray when he wants to add an ethereal, gossamer look to the creepy villain of the book; Alice. This is a partnership that is so complementary to each artist, neither takes anything away from the other. While some artists today are seemingly impressive, one starts to notice that if they weren’t colored, they wouldn’t be so incredible. Stewart enhances the pencils, but doesn’t stand in their way either. Williams’ line work is flawless, graceful, at times storybook-like even. This is a mind blowing collaboration!

DC has just released this book in a slightly over sized hardcover to do the artwork the justice it deserves. I highly recommend grabbing one before they’re gone. And the closest comparison I can make would be if you had a chance to see Empire Strikes Back on an Imax screen. Some things are just nicer, bigger.

This month Ed Brubaker puts the Avengers in space and artists Mike Deodato and Will Conrad have put Hank McCoy into a silly spacesuit with a big letter “A” on the front! I mean, noone else has a silly A-suit! Not even Steve Rogers Captain America! No, Steve has a star on his chest which makes sense and Moon Knight has a moon and that makes sense but why a big “A” for Beast with some trendy, tight bondage costume? Ya got me!

There are some strange inconsistancies throughout the issue that go unexplained or maybe have an explanation I’m not aware of, like they all wear suits on Mars to breathe, except Valkyrie and Beast wears the breathing mask but then leaves his arms exposed? Anyone got any thoughts on this? Other than these quibbling minor picadillos, the issue was pretty good.

Artists: Liam Sharp, Federico Dallocchio

Collecting the six issue mini “Hollow” as well as the short story “One Day”, this trade is high on sci-fi action and horror. Now I might be one of the few who have not played the game this trade is based off of, but after reading this fun action packed read I think I might have to give the game a go.

Following Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad, we find our squad of heroes in the badlands surrounding the human city of Jacinto looking for missing squads. But what they find instead is far worse and far more terrifying. From this moment on we are treated to numerous action sequences as well as nice little character beats that keep the story from being one dimensional. After all the mayhem of the first story we are treated to nice character piece about one particular “Gear” in Delta Squad. Which is a nice story to close out this wonderful trade.

And after all is said and done I have to say this was one fun trade to read and I recommend it to all comic readers everywhere, no matter if your into sci-fi, horror, action or even super-hero fare, everyone can enjoy this thrilling read.

Gone are the scenes of flipping and kicking, gone is the Disney styled humor that was so accessible to families of all ages and there’s no sign of any obvious CG or wire removal here. In fact, there is very little action at all! Shinjuku Incident is a dramatic, violent and historical movie about illegal immigrants from China that found themselves in Japan. They are treated very poorly and much like in Hoffa or Scarface, there is a rise to power for Jackie as he unites his people in this dangerous new setting. At first this is just to protect themselves, but as time goes on the power, as it always does, corrupts his organization and as war starts to break out in the streets, people are brutally killed and lives are ruined.

Now, when I say “brutally killed”, I put the emphasis on “brutal” if only for the fact that this is a Jackie Chan vehicle and probably the most shocking of his movies in that respect. You should be prepared before watching this movie. This isn’t the old Jackie.

The new Jackie holds much promise though. While we may miss the incredible stunts he used to perform, this new movie demonstrates to a certainty that Jackie has the chops to play in very serious and heavy roles. Most of his American films have him struggling with his dialogue and that gives him a misconceived appraisal of his abilities. Watch Shinjuku Incident and be impressed.

I wouldn’t envy the person who would have to turn this movie into a trailer. To try and distill the movie down into a minute and a half? In the end it mostly captured some of the funny gags, but in a movie where even the dry scenes are somehow riveting, it pales to the actual film. Michael Sera has built himself a good selection of work thus far in his career, it’ll be interesting to see where he takes his career in the future.

The movie features a commentary by Sera and the director in which he (Sera) seems to be exactly who he is in everyone of his movies; the nice, awkward, mild mannered guy. Except in this movie where he gets to play a figment of his own imagination, a romanticized version of himself; the scrupulous Francois Dillinger. You’ll have to see the movie to appreciate it fully. Other special features include deleted scenes and rehearsal footage.

Well, being honest it should be said that Flash Rebirth was less than exemplary. I mean, let’s be fair, with everything else on his plate, one title was bound to fall through the cracks and Rebirth was that one confusing, less than stellar book that fell.

Here’s the good news; the new Flash ongoing series is mighty wicked! Rebirth was only a reintroduction for readers to the character of Barry Allen and a weak explanation of his return. A much needed though introduction though, seeing as most fans of the scarlet speedster are fans of Wally West and the change over was a little tough to swallow at first. Lucky for us, Barry’s new set up back with the police department as a forensic scientist fits like a glove! Even three issues in, the series reads as though it’s been non-stop monthly for ten years.

Some of this must be attributed to Francis Manapul whose style of art is such a departure from Skott Kolins and other artists who contributed to Johns’ previous run. This difference helps to give the new “old” Flash his own distinct identity. This is a Flash for the year 2010 and everything about it so far is so promising!

We’re still in the middle of this thing, but so far, a group of cops, themed like the rogues, calling themselves the “Renegades” have come from the future to arrest Barry Allen for a murder he has yet to commit. Captain Boomerang is back again to wreak havok in the Flash’s life and by the time we’re through this first arc of this Minority Report-esque story, we’re sure to have some kind of idea where this “Flashpoint” 2011 event is going. At least I hope so!

Even better then that is the book itself! Let’s go down the list of greatness that has bestowed upon us by the good folks at DC and writer Adam Beechen, shall we? Keep in mind, I already told you guys that this is a great book, so anything beyond (no pun intended) this point will have spoilers riddled throughout. You’ve been warned!

So starting off in the first issue we see that a prison breakout has occurred. We see an old Amanda Waller from Justice League Animated and we’re told that the person who has broken free has also brutally killed several people. Killed? Well, this is a darker book than the animated series and it sends a clear message to the readers that this is not a Johnny DC title. Smart move if you ask me seeing as the people who love Batman Beyond are no longer little kids if ever they were.

Next we see Spellbinder, one of the original villains created for the show and here mention of Inque; another series created villain. These are nice additions and an attention to detail that fans of the show appreciate. There’s talk of Two Face and the Mad Hatter, neither of which was mentioned throughout the show. So Beechen is starting off strong, giving fans everything they want; love of the show and something new we’ve never seen before.

And to that end we get to the cliffhanger of the book. Seriously, don’t read any further if you want to keep this reveal a surprise. Ready? This first story arc seems to be focused on one of Bruce’s old foes, but a new villain for Terry to face off against. Prepare yourself for Hush Beyond! …and I’m out!

For those of you who don’t know, trepanning is the process of voluntarily drilling a hole into your skull to allow more oxygen to the brain. Although it can be done for medical reasons, some people believe that it will stimulate more creativity and imagination or on the fringe cult side, like in this book, maybe even awaken one’s third eye to possible future sight! Crazy? Maybe. But interesting? Absolutely.

Writer Gage is accompanied by Chris Samnee as a no nonsense noir master of pulp crime ink. Every page is a seemingly effortless array of black and white brushwork. He propels the story along with matter of fact renders and pools of pitch and shadow.

As I pointed out earlier, even with out the weird skull-hole thing the characters and story are solid and take us down a twisty and unpredictable road, cementing Gage’s skills to this new reader first time out. Someone needs to realize how easy it would be to turn this into a great movie. Maybe they already have an eye on it, after all, what comic property isn’t being looked at today?

Area 10 is an eleven!

For the last few volumes of Ex Machina, every review I’ve written whines about where the series is going, how it feels like Vaughan is treading water and while that doesn’t make for a bad comic (all of the stories are entertaining enough), I personally just want the main story of his powers, where they come from and what they mean. Well it looks as though we may start getting those answers. In fact, we start getting more answers and clues in this very book! Sure they’re cryptic and give us nothing concrete yet, but I’m hooked!

Hundred also makes a statement about not running for a second term which might be Vaughan’s way of saying that he’s starting to tie things up and wind the series down now. Now, it could just be the end of him as mayor of New York and the start of a new direction for the story much like Willingham did with Fables, but only time will tell on that one.

The book also has a cute opener where in the first issue, our writer and Tony Harris the artist meet their creation Mayor Hundred as they go to a job interview for the privilege of chronically the Great Machine into sequential panels. This brings all kinds of humorous moments and was a fresh start for the book, the ninth in the series. And any time you’re nine books into a series, a bit of fresh and new, funny or clever is going to be a nice addition. Hopefully Vaughan is going to give this series the ending it deserves only said in a slightly snotty voice due to some of his other wrap ups that didn’t quite “get there”. Still, picking on a writer that may only deliver a seven for his ending instead of the nine he usually musters is something only a picky critic would do. Oh, wait, I am a picky critic! Viva la Machina!

The cast is actually superb. Led by Cameron Diaz with an affected and pitch perfect southern accent, and James Marsden in tow with a powerhouse like Frank Langella rounding out your core characters, you can’t stray too far from credibility or believability. Unfortunately for director Richard Kelly, his first film is a hard one to follow and while this holds some of the same thematic elements, it doesn’t quite knock it out of the park. His last movie Southland Tales may have a been a bit of a mess, but at least it entertained with a constantly changing and almost schizophrenic genre palette, swapping from sci-fi to comedy and drama and musical. The Box is steady and slow with a mix of sci-fi and thriller.

What up people! Big Snoop Dogg is in the house! Actually, we were in his hotel room the day after his show in Vancouver, but who’s splitting hairs here? Snoop Dogg is easily one of Hip Hop’s royalty and an iconic figure in both music and movies. Jordan burns trees with the Doggfather while they discuss some of the entrepreneur’s current projects as well as some older collaborators and how Snoop is feelin’ the hit HBO series True Blood.

The King of Cool, Snoop Dogg settles in and we suggest you do the same. Click the player below and immerse yourself in this uncut, uncensored interview.

Penciler: Billy Tan

With less than a year till Thor storms his way into theaters, Marvel has unleashed it’s first in what’s sure to be many Thor trades leading to the upcoming blockbuster. Collecting both Latverian Prometheus and Sif #1 as well as a bonus story by Stan “The Man” Lee himself, this trade is packed with Asgardian action from cover to cover.

The opening story, Latverian Prometheus, finds Dr. Doom killing and harnessing Asgardian energy to create abominations that he can control. With an encampment of Asgard’s finest warriors laying siege to Doom’s castle, he unleashes his horde of fallen Asgardian warriors upon our heroes. Only when Thor shows up do our heroes “unleash Hell” on their former comrades, meanwhile the God of Thunder takes on Doom one on one. This story is very straight forward and simple and chalk full of action and battle sequences to keep the average/avid Thor fan happy.

As for Sif #1, it too is a pretty good read and moves at a good pace and stars Beta Ray Bill, but the real bonus here is Stan Lee’s story. Entitled “To Asgard! Forever!,” This short story is heavy on action as well as character with a really great emotional beat at the end that I won’t spoil here. So if you’re already a fan or someone who’s curious about Thor, this is a good, fast read and has a little bit of everything for everyone.

He starts his buzz with a seven book run that kicks off the Runaways for Marvel. It’s about a group of teens who find out their parents are all super-villains and (you guessed it) runaway as they try to find out more about their heritage. They discover that some of them have powers and some aren’t even human! Every book after Vaughan’s run is a letdown so make sure you read all of his stories before you read any of the other volumes. They were originally collected into manga sized volumes as seven different books. These are full color and super cheap. They are highly recommended. For the high end collector, the seven books are now collected into three over sized hardcovers. The pages are nice and big, but there’s a higher price tag on them. While you’re unlikely to be disappointed with your purchase, it’s an easier sell to get someone to buy the manga sized books simply on price. There is a third format that Marvel has put out which is a normal sized trade at a middle range price level. These are an irritation to people who were reading the mangas, because now there is fear that they might discontinue the smaller sized books, forcing people to rebuy their books so the collection will match. Of course it’s also possible that these collections are for people who want all of their comics to be the same size and maybe were avoiding the mangas.

Probably the most popular of his work and the one series he’s done that every Brian K. Vaughan fan loves, is Y the Last Man. A Vertigo series that has already concluded it’s epic run, Y the Last Man is a question for our hero Yorick who wonders why he and his pet monkey Ampersand are the only two males alive after a near biblical event. They meet up with a secret agent who tries to protect the last man and his friend. Now they wander the globe trying to unite Yorick with his fiancé and try to find the answer to what killed all of the men.

Truth be told, the book flounders in the latter half of the series as for as building momentum, but the series is always funny, entertaining and easy to read. There are plenty of pop culture references and intrigue that you’ll rocket through the ten volumes within days if you’re a fiend. There are also a series of hardcovers that collect two books at a time.

Third on my list is a single book. The Escapists is a special treat for most comic fans and may well be the best thing Vaughan has ever written, but is third on the list because it might not appeal to your average comic reader. (Or at least they’re more likely to enjoy the first two) Available in soft cover or hard, the Escapists is one of those books that plays with the idea of fiction and reality blending. For different phases of reality and narrative, Vaughan has different artists with differing styles only drawing their piece. The story follows a comic lover who decides to acquire the rights to an old forgotten superhero comic and start publishing new adventures himself. This is only skimming the surface of the book. Highly recommended.

Taking place in a world parallel to our own, wherein one of the twin towers is still standing, Ex Machina is about a mayor of New York city with super powers. After diverting one of the terrorist’s planes, Hundred reveals his identity, retires his costume and runs for Mayor of New York. Now with his cape and tights days behind him, the series follows him as he deals with mayoral problems and political situations. The only real superhero stuff you see are in flashbacks.

While a political book could be boring, Vaughan keeps things lively with more of his sharp dialogue and engaging issues; one book deals with gay marriage while the next deals with the legalization of marijuana. And sprinkled on all of that is the mystery of his strange powers, how he got them and where the series is going.

This is where we discuss the bad news. While each book is pretty good, the series isn’t going anywhere fast enough. Every three books or so, you’re teased with some hint of things to come, but there isn’t enough movement. As long as you’re looking for the political debates and not the superhero stuff, you’re fine. We’re a little strapped for capes and tights around here. Much like Y the Last Man, the series is strongest at the beginning. This currently the only book Vaughan is still writing.

Pride of Baghdad is a supposedly true story of three lions that escape a zoo in Baghdad during a bombing. The story is told from the lion’s perspective, features gorgeous artwork and is a touching commentary on war from a unique perspective. This is very close to an adult Lion King and is one of Vaughan’s least dialogue driven works. This is interesting if only for the fact that Vaughan’s dialogue, as stated earlier, is one of his best strengths as a writer. Still, the book is beautiful to look at and very moving.

In the Marvel universe, there is a new underground crime kingpin and Brian K. Vaughan created him. Wearing a cloak that allows him to disappear for as long as he holds his breath and armed with double-fisted hand guns, the Hood is a major player in current events. This is the book that tells his origins. It’s a cool story, very solid and enjoyable, but it isn’t as epic as some of his other work or brilliant. This is mostly for Marvel readers and Vaughan fans.

Easily his most disappointing work to date and also his latest comic project, Vaughan took a hand to a three part Wolverine mini series entitled simply; Logan. Filled with flashbacks to Vietnam and signature cool artwork by none other than 100 Bullets artist Eduardo Risso, the book is a quick and painless read, but fans of Vaughan’s work are used to a higher standard. The plot was a little too simple and failed to charm readers.

Aside from Ex Machina, Vaughan seems to be taking a hiatus from comics to work on the hit TV series Lost. Of course that has just ended this year and we’ll have to wait see whether he tries his hand at more TV writing or if he’ll come back to comics for a while. The paycheck is always bigger for television work, but comic lovers usually don’t write comics for the money but rather the small paychecks and a chance to play in the sandbox.

As for his current library of material; a strong collection that can be tackled from almost any title without reservation. They’re all easy reads and well written. If there’s a weakness to his work, it looks like endings (judging by Y the Last Man and the way Ex Machina is going), but the ride still makes the journey worth it.

So pick a place to start and dive in. You’re not afraid of paper cuts are ya?

What caught my eye that inspired this little rant was the advertising in the issue itself. I can understand Marvel hocking Marvel products. I can understand ads for other comics, video games, movies, etc. What I can’t fathom is how effective a marketing campaign for children’s lunch boxes, Popsicles, inflatable pool noodles, Spiderman themed fishing rod toys, footballs and freeze pops could be in a comic that wouldn’t really be read by many kids in elementary school. Is this some kind of misguided edict sent down from on high? Does Disney make these decisions and have no idea what their demographic is? Maybe they know exactly what they’re doing, but I don’t remember the last time a ten year old kid came in the store and started talking to me about how cool Siege was! Comics aren’t targeting little kids anymore, so why is their publicity department doing it?

How will comics garner the respect they deserve as a legitimate literary format if we keep up the pretense that these are written for kids? When parents come in the store and ask what they should have their kids read, you almost always have to explain that comics for kids are their own entity now. Sonic the Hedgehog, Johnny DC, Superhero Squad and so on are not part of regular continuity. Somebody needs to wake up and realize that times have changed. Okay, rant over.

Penciler(s): Guilherme Balbi, Gabriel Guzman

Well, we’re less than a month away from Robert Rodriguez’s vision of the Predator franchise, and I have to say from what I’ve seen that I like where things are going. And of course with a new movie comes a new comic series and as seems to be the trend; it’s a prequel that leads into the upcoming movie.

Broken down into two separate stories, the first entitled; “Welcome to the Jungle,” finds a group of mercenaries transported to a jungle were there systematically dispatched by an unseen foe. With a surprise ending, this story is by far the stronger of the two. Thankfully we only have to wait a week for the conclusion of the cliff-hanger.

The second story, “A Predatory Life”, focuses on Adrien Brody’s character Royce. To me this story’s whole purpose is to paint Royce as a true bad ass which is a bit of a hard sell. I mean come on, it’s Adrien Brody! Even in comic form he looks like a pussy. I hope he comes off better in the movie.

All and all this issue is okay, but I really only recommend this to the most die hard fan who wants to know everything leading into the movie. Everyone else might as well skip it, since none of it will impact your viewing pleasure.

The stunts and choreography are pretty weak and uninteresting to go along with the flat performances and dull dialogue. And the plot of the white kid whose parents are killed and gets raised in the temple where he learns Kung Fu and one day avenges his parents’ death is an old chestnut, not made any better in this production. On the good side, this is one of those rare and truly international productions; a Canadian/Chinese joint that brings its share of multinational characters and elements. There are more Chinese actors in the movie than white (even if the leads are almost all white) and many of the Chinese actors who couldn’t speak English were dubbed while others fluent in English simply speak clearly. It’s nice to see a familiar face like Matt Frewer, but like Jim Carrey, it’s hard to take him seriously when he’s not in a comedy. There are no special features to speak of. Skip it.

The movie is about a crappy filmmaker (whose horror movies are tanking) as he decides to start killing people in real life and using the body parts for his movies. The parallel between this director and Smash Cut‘s director; Lee Gordon Demarbre is almost clever if you can believe that the crappiness of Smash Cut is intentional.

As it teeters on the brink of being worthwhile, several demons coming at you from various angles, pull the movie down further, showcasing a distracting and glaring score, a weak marriage of cinematography and less than average editing. The script is ridiculous, leaving less than capable actors stuck trying to deliver awkward lines of dialogue. At times there’s a sense in the midst of the cockamamie madness that a mind at work trying in vain to inject kooky creativity into the movie. This thought is quickly doused when a several second viewing of any random scene makes you face the fact that almost every aspect of this movie is uninteresting and painful.

There aren’t too many big conventions that come up to Vancouver. Aside from Anime Evolution, we don’t have much going on up here, so when a big con comes to town, we should really be there and try to support this kind of community. Especially if they’re going to bring Kirk and Spock!

Buy your tickets Here: http://www.creationent.com/cal/stvan.htm

Take a really good look people! They’ve got a list of Trek guests that any Trek fan of any series or generation will be impressed by! Here’s some of the highlights:

William Shatner

Leonard Nimoy

Armin Shimerman, Chase Masterson, Max Grodenchik (Come on! Quark, Rom and Leeta? Amazing!)

Jeffrey Combs

Lursa and B’Etor!

And there are others from Enterprise and the new movie! Take a look at their site for more info.

Also, Fancore will be at the show, taking pictures, taking video and maybe an interview or two! So you might see us there and if not, we’ll be posting some kind of mega-report extravaganza of photos and other fun stuff!

See you there!

Artist: Harvey Tolibad

The X-Men’s sexy, psychic ninja is back and she has nothing but vengeance on her mind. Spinning out of Psylocke’s some what convoluted past, this tale of vengeance, death and deceit tries and succeeds to clean up her messy past while at the same time setting her up for her reintroduction to the core “X” books.

The story finds Psylocke and our favorite cigar chomping hero Wolverine on their way to Japan. One with her mind on vengeance while the others motives are uncertain. Once they’ve landed, the two go their separate ways with Psylocke going to a local cemetery were she is attacked by The Hand, a deadly ninja clan. During the battle, The Hand destroys Psylocke’s original body (she was originally a brit), this act (as well as some severe personal issues) drives our sexy ninja on a collision course with the man that switched her consciousness from her old body to the ninja assassin body we have all grown accustomed to. That mans name… Matsu’o. What follows is a lot of fighting, death and of course explosions. When the dust settles, only Matsu’o, Psylocke and Wolverine remain. With some nice twists and turns along the way and a cool revelation at the end, this is a fun read for any X-Men fan and any Psylocke fan in particular.

But wait there’s more! Thanks to Marvel realizing that some of us might not know Psylocke’s history that gets referenced constantly in the main story, they’ve included the three part story from Uncanny X-Men #256- 258 by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee, which shows her transformed into The Mandarin’s new assassin and Matsu’o’s new lover. Though these issues are a little dated it’s still a fine read and I would recommend anyone who is unfamiliar with Psylocke’s past to read this three part story first.

Amazingly, it works! The title story from this collection actually does take place in America and includes an American folk hero that none of us is likely to hear about in passing conversation. In fact, the story reads more like Hellboy guesting in someone else’s book, rather than an actual Hellboy story. This has a charming effect that makes you feel as though this other guy actually does have his own monthly series and you just picked up these couple issues because Hellboy’s in them. It takes place in Deliverance-type back woods spots and is married to Richard Corben‘s fantastic pencils in a way that to separate them would destroy the story.

The other stories are also worth mentioning briefly. With a fully Mignola written and drawn story (a rarity these days) and a Jason Shawn Alexander drawn book, you get a damn good collection of comics that exceed expectations for what has been currently coming out. That’s not to slag the newer Fegredo Hellboy stuff, but this was fresh and fun.

Each story is prefaced by Mignola to give it context and there is also a sketchbook with commentary from the various artists at the end.

I personally watch the show as a comedy and because it’s Steven Seagal and he’s hilarious. The entire show feels like a set up and like his movies it’s not very convincing, and JUST like his movies you’re really only watching them for the hapkido master himself. So the “fakey” set up part isn’t too bad, given that you can see through all of the theatrics.

Not once do you ever feel like Seagal is even remotely close to any kind of danger. In fact, it almost looks like they’re picking on people and creating situations to film. Almost every suspect is released. Almost every episode features what I’m calling “Seagal Vision”, it’s a slow motion repeat of what was just shown next to a close up shot of Seagal’s face as if his eagle eyes are spotting crimes as they drive by. Every episode also starts with a monologue by Seagal where he actually says “My name is Steven Seagal. That’s right, Steven Seagal.” There’s also an almost inevitable moment in every episode where he has to state that he’s “spent his entire life practicing martial arts,” as if we’d ever forget! This is the kind of humor you can expect to find throughout the show, so if you don’t think it’s funny, you might want to give it a pass.

Each episode follows a fairly specific pattern. We go out on patrol with Seagal and his boys three times and each time captures a different incident. For example, you might see a public disturbance, a B&E and a speeding violation that results in a hidden weapon charge. Between these three sections there is a small narrative that focuses on some part of Seagal’s life. This too plays out in three parts. So a typical episode might look like this; stop a reckless driver on patrol, cut to Seagal trying to train his dogs to protect his house, then back on patrol they might respond to a domestic disturbance. When we cut back to the dog training we can see that his dogs are coming along but they’re not quite there yet. After one more adventure on patrol, we cut back to the dog training and see that the dogs have learned something new.

These “window” into Seagal’s life is just as great as seeing him in the streets. One day he’s visiting a children’s hospital and putting on a benefit concert for the sick kids with his band and the next he’s showing his partner how to shoot. “Like the Buddhist masters of archery, push the bullet where you want it to go,” he says. Come on! That’s just genius! Two enthusiastic thumbs up for this ultimately silly show.

Hot on the heels of two financially, and one critically successful Disney Princess themed films (The Not-So-Great Princess and the Frog, and the Incredibly-Awesome Enchanted), they’re at it again. This time, the target is the classic tale of Rapunzel.

Now, before you go clicking away on to other things, hear me out. See, what makes this foray into fairytale land interesting is the male lead. As the trailer explains, he’s some sort of thief; a roguish fellow, with smoldering charm and deft hands. Reminds me of an old space pirate you may have heard of… Han Solo? And to top it off, the character is voiced by Zachary Levi(Chuck, from…well… Chuck). That, and the top notch animation(although I’d prefer classical 2D to 3D) are helping me to get those hopes up. I’m gonna be real upset if Disney lets me down again… but see for yourself and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Check out the poster gallery below:

Art: Kev Walker

Marvel Zombies 4? Really? There was a Marvel Zombies 3? Apparently there was but I never read it. And having not read the third one I really had low expectations for this one. After all, how many 4’s are any good? Lethal Weapon 4, Nightmare On Elm Street 4, the Next Karate Kid, Live Free Die Hard, Final Destination, Jaws, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and the list goes on. So does this book buck the trend of the cursed number 4? Surprisingly… yes it does.

The main story focuses on the team the “Midnight Sons”, which consists of D-listers; Morbius the Living Vampire, Werewolf by Night, The Witch Jennifer Kale and Satan’s son himself Daimon Hellstorm. Working for A.R.M.O.R. (Alternate Reality Monitoring and Operational Rescue) We find our D-list team hot on the heels of two Zombies loose in our reality. Those two zombies being Simon Garth (the 1st Marvel Zombie, more on him later.) and Zombie Deadpool (head only). These two are looking for a quiet place to settle down and live in peace but leave nothing but disaster in their wake.

With cameos by The Hood and Man-Thing, plus some nice laugh-out-loud moments from the undead merc without a body, this book is surprisingly enjoyable. Coming in, I couldn’t give two shits about any of the characters, but the more I read, the more I liked this group of D-listers. And it really is these lesser known characters that are the charm of this book. I would recommend this just on the miniseries it collects, but Marvel really adds some extra punch by adding three classic short stories that chronicle the origin of Simon Garth Marvels first zombie. These stories are a real treat with some of yesteryear’s top talent contributing. This  includes: Roy Thomas, John Buscema, Bill Everett and Stan “The Man” Lee. With these added stories and the wonderfully executed fourth installment in the Marvel Zombies catalog, I say get off your ass and go get it… Pronto!

Now I could go over everything that is awful about this, but since I don’t have the necessary space to write all of that, instead I’ll go over the few things that I felt were alright with this garbage. The first and best thing about the story is the art by Mark Bagley and John Romita Jr. I don’t think I need to tell anyone out there how good these guys are at there jobs. Their work here is by far the highlight of the proceedings. And the only other applaud-able element is the design of the Scarlet Spider’s costume…I don’t know what it is about the blue-hoodie-with-the-plain-red-and-arm-gauntlets that I like, but it’s a striking image.

So that’s it. There really is nothing else to say. So if you haven’t read it go read it and once your done, you will then have earned the right to bitch about how bad it truly is.

Written by comic vet Scott Lobdell with art by llias Kyriazis. We find our heroes displaced and separated throughout time by the first movie’s villain, Gozar’s father; Koza’Rai. This makes this book a direct sequel of sorts. It’s too bad it doesn’t feel that way. One of the big problems is that all the characters look and feel younger than their first movie counterparts. Venkman in particular looks twenty years younger than he did in the first film. Added to this journey is new Ghostbuster Rachel who caries a secret of her own. But in the end, only a die hard “busters” fan will give a shit.

This book looks and feels and is more in tone with the 80’s cartoon than the movies and fans of the classic ‘toon will probably love and enjoy this book. Anyone who’s more of a fan of the movies will probably want to avoid this book at all costs so they can keep their happy memories of those fun 80’s movies.

So beyond these images being totally awesome, and making Thor into a believable, not to mention badass, hero, this means that we can now start photoshopping together the entire Avengers team! Which we have. Yeah, Fancore is that awesome.

Yeah, that’s totally Professor Lasky from Saved By The Bell: The College Years. Awesome.

The Walking Dead is based on the award winning graphic novel of same name, written by Robert Kirkman. The story revolves around Rick Grimes, a police officer just trying to protect his family and keep everyone safe in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. The TV series is due out this October, on AMC.

I, for one, couldn’t be happier with these designs. They evoke the right feel of modern with the classic, borrowing from the original costume, and a little from the Ultimates, without being too beholden to any one element. My only beef is this; where’s the wings? In my mind, Cap works best when there’s just that little bit of over the top style to him, and the wings on the helmet do that for me. I’m not saying he should have actual wings fluttering off the sides, but a 40′s style airbrushed wing on the side of the helmet would be a nice touch.

But that’s just my take… what do you think of the costume? Sound off in the comments below.

This first issue is pretty light on action, but the story seems to be building to something. The seeds planted in the first volume may come to bear fruit in this follow up. The writing by Tom Taylor remains solid, if lacking a little bit of flair, but Colin Wilson’s art has taken a bit of a hit in this first issue. Hopefully the next one will be back up to where he was in the first volume of the series.

Overall, not a bad start to what promises to be another solid Star Wars comic. Although, how this massive of a storyline could have happened in the midst of an already established plotline is still beyond me… but that’s Star Wars for you. Take it, or leave it.

Following future-father-of-John-Conner; Kyle Reese, we are treated to a lot explosions and battles while Reese gathers as many survivors as he can, retreating to safer ground. And that my friends, is the entire first issue in a nut shell.

Now even though I’m a Terminator fan, but there’s something that I can’t quite put my finger on that bugs me about this first issue. Both the writing and art are strong. Maybe I still have a bad taste left in my mouth from the last Terminator film. Whatever the case, I do reluctantly recommend this to all Terminator fans.

Written by Chuck Dixon and Eric Burnham with art by Casey Maloney. This story, focusing on the “bad ass” of the team has some real grit to it with Maloney’s murkier art as we follow B.A. as he goes on a black ops mission that involves lots of weapons, dealing out death and double crosses from trusted allies. But it’s the way that the story ends that really leaves a mystery as to how B.A. is pulled into the A-Team. I guess we’ll all have to wait for the film to find out.

Unlike the Hannibal story, this one (surprisingly) doesn’t have as much action, but still manages to show us how much of a bad ass, B.A. is. So though I enjoyed Hannibal’s story better, this is still a fun romp that no A-Team fan should miss.

Before our downloaded, spoiled, leaked and cloned, hyped and jaded brains could be tainted, there was just good music. The sixties carried it’s innocence, or the beginning corruption of the innocent mind onto boats off the coast of the UK and broadcast, pirate-style for the people to hear. This is Pirate Radio.

While the government tries to find ways to shut down these free speaking and radical voices, these cats just try to pump out the best tunes they can. This is the British “Almost Famous“, only better. Philip Seymour Hoffman is the coolest cat he has ever been and the coolest cat anyone is likely to be as the pimp radio DJ, “the Count”. So cool is Hoffman that many will wonder why he doesn’t just BE that guy. It would most likely make the world a better place to live in. Nick Frost (Shaun’s buddy from Shaun of the Dead) was fulfilling to see him stretch into a more sincere character displaying the broad range of an English Robin Williams. Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans and future Thor director Kenneth Branagh join the cast delivering stand out performances.

As good as the movie is, as good as the music is, any really disturbed movie fan will be more concerned with the special features package than the actual movie itself. To that end, it should be noted that this movie has some of the most worthy extras ever. If not supreme in quantity like the Lord of the Rings flicks, these features have a compelling honesty to them that makes them infinitely better than ninety eight percent of featurettes out there. The additional hour of deleted scenes  not only carry worthwhile footage but some of the best scenes never before seen. Each specific seen has an introduction by the legendary Richard Curtis. Unlike most other intros, Curtis takes his time and makes a real effort to tell you something worthwhile.

Pirate Radio, known across the water as “The Boat That Rocked” is a true gem and is not to be missed. Enjoy.

Shades of Abbott and Costello meet the Wolfman, Scooby-Doo, American Werewolf in London, Elvira and Shaun of the Dead; Lesbian Vampire Killers is born from the right cinematic genes, giving birth to one beautiful movie! Probably the best kept secret of 2010, this is an inventive, quirky, funny horror-comedy that few have heard of. As Jimmy drags his best friend Fletch on a hiking adventure cross country, they get caught up in old folklore, myth and sexual innuendo when they accidentally stumble upon the hunting grounds of some, you guessed it, lesbian vampires.

Part of what makes this movie work is the script and the performances by the two leads, but there needs to be a special nod to the editing that constantly uses every opportunity to be as dynamic and interesting as possible. At times, the editing will lend to the comedy as well. Even the special effects on such a low budget flick are surprisingly well done and keeping in step with the tone of the movie and despite how easy it is to rely on digital effects these days, director Phil Claydon knows when it’s important to use practical effects for some of the gore. Every piece of this movie is in perfect sync with the strange marriage of tones that make up the identity of the film. The humor is a good fit with the horror, combining two completely dissimilar genres with the same success as Big Trouble In Little China. The horror has enough weight that it will be respectable to horror fans as it was in Shaun of the Dead or Severance and the editing acknowledges the comedy. The music plays the straight Gothic, ethereal vampire score enhancing the humor by contrast. The special effects have enough realism to give us the action we’re looking for but have the zany fun qualities appropriate for the humor. The girls are hot and there are lots of titties to see, so the pulp/grind house appeal is fulfilled. Whatever bad performances one can find (Which aren’t many) are easily forgiven and applauded in loo of the comic book feel of the film.

Sink your teeth into Lesbian Vampire Killers, you won’t regret it.

So we know it ends strong. How about the middle and the beginning? “The Next Doctor” is a comedy styled caper that has a massively epic ending. Anytime the Cybermen come into the picture, something cool is bound to happen, but when the Doctor mounts his new TARDIS (a large red hot air balloon) high above the streets of London and facing off against a Megazord-sized Cyber-mech, you’re at some kind of zenith.

In the second special, entitled “Planet of the Dead“, we get to see the Doctor flirting with Michelle Ryan; possible new companion. They trip through a wormhole onto some desert planet that presents all kinds of new and exciting threats. Hot girl, exotic locale, sinister villains; that’s a win.

The middle adventure is the weakest of everything in this set which really is saying something about how good the other specials are. When the Doctor encounters a fixed point in time, a point in history that weighs heavily in the balance of major change. In this situation, a group of brave astronauts are about to die as heroes and the Doctor can’t interfere. This has a fair amount of whining in it which can get annoying, but overall is a strong pivotal moment for the Doctor’s character. That goes a long way.

Who fans will buy this anyway, but regardless of dangerous “Who” addiction, the set is a worthy purchase. Commentaries and behind the scenes on all episodes.

Replacing Vietnam with Iraq, we find our master of disguise; John Smith aka Hannibal, on a mission to capture and take back a biochemist to the US for debriefing. But like anything that involves a member of the A-Team, things don’t quite go as planned. Explosions, gun battles and car chases ensue before Hannibal can get his “cargo” to safety.

Written by comic veteran Chuck Dixon with Erik Burnham and art by Hugo Petrus. I really enjoyed this first one-shot which keeps the charm and action of the TV series while still feeling new and fresh. I recommend this to all A-Team fans as well as anyone who’s considering going to see the movie. You won’t be disappointed.