Monthly Archive for September, 2008Page 2 of 4

Fringe: Alias For a Lost Cause

This post was supposed to go up yesterday, so sorry about the lateness. Actually, it was supposed to go up a week before yesterday, before the second episode of Fringe aired, but that clearly didn't happen. I told myself that I didn't feel like writing was because I was sick. When I got better, I said that I wanted to give it an episode past the pilot before judging it. The fact is, however, that I just didn't feel like it. It's not that the show is so very terrible or that it's too brilliant to discuss; it's neither. It's just so mediocre.

We've seen a lot of shows like this: a wide-eyed naïf joins a shadowy organization committed to uncovering even shadowier plots and hoping to strike a blow at the yet shadowier entity that lurks behind it all. The mystery of the week is solved and understood within the episode, but our heroine still isn't entirely sure of for whom she's really working. Neither does she suspect that the multinational corporation she's been consulting is really totally evil, although every audience member came to that realization half an hour into the pilot.

Continue reading 'Fringe: Alias For a Lost Cause'

AudioShocker Podcast #48 - Phantom of the Awesomecast

It's the AudioShocker's first birthday! To celebrate, the podcast hit the road and recorded live at Phantom of the Attic Comics on Craig Street in Pittsburgh, PA during New Comics Day on Wednesday, September 17. 2008. Joining Neal and Nick are guests Wayne Wise and Scott Hedlund. The crew talks about Dave Sim and Cerebus, Wonder Woman, the aging comic book fanbase, graphic novels vs. mini series, Drunk Duck, Strumhaus, Grey Legacy, and tons more comics topics.

Girls I Want To Stick It To - Girl With Glasses

Ed. Note: This will be my last planned 'Girls I Want To Stick It To' post. The inspiration comes too infrequently and all my in-progress drafts are crap. Therefore, I think it is time to end this feature and find something new. I will however leave you with this one last piece.

I dig girls who wear glasses. Spectacles instantly pique my interest and increase sex appeal exponentially. But, I'll spare you the sexy librarian cliches today. Instead, I want to focus on why I prefer girls who wear glasses as opposed to the alternative contact lens and surgical options. I believe glasses are indicative of three things: self respect, personality, and honesty.

Wearing spectacles is an inconvenience: They slip down your nose, break easily, and are easy to lose among other things. They do however allow you to see, and vision is a sense that I value above all others. You have to respect yourself and your body before I can respect you. I am impressed by the girl who is more concerned with seeing well than looking good. (not that the two are incompatible)

Glasses reflect one's personality. Eyewear is as much a part of the fashion industry as are shoes. With no dearth of styles, colors, and labels in a given price range, I think it is plausible to gauge how adventurous one is by their glasses. Does she wear wireframes to the office but Lisa Loeb cateyes on the weekend? It speaks a lot to how she carries herself.

There is little artifice in wearing glasses. Quite the opposite. Glasses show me that a girl can be honest with me. Contacts and refractive surgery are popular because they are cosmetic solutions devised to mask an imperfection. They are the ocular equivalent of fake lashes and bronzer. (yuck) A girl wearing glasses has little to hide and can just be herself.

I don't mean to discriminate against ladies without the need or desire to wear spectacles, but in my book glasses are a go!

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Beatcast #10 - Oh Wait by Dirty Weekend

Oh Wait, another raw rock tune by Dirty Weekend. This lurid DW tale is also known as "I Dreamt That I Slept With Your Mom Last Night (Oh Wait, That Was Real)."

Holy Crap, It's Our Birthday!

Nick and I published the first AudioShocker.com post on September 21st 2007. Since we started all those weeks back we've brought you regular podcasts, entertainment news, reviews, and some great editorials. We hope you have had as much fun reading and listening as we have had writing and recording. Here is to another year of shocking the world!

The Top 9 Horror / Psychological Anime - Part One

[Check out The Top 9 Psychological Anime at the AudioShocker Amazon Store]

9. Wicked City [Buy it on DVD] This only made the list because I enjoy movies that have spider-women with fanged vaginas. In all seriousness though, this movie is a great find though definitely for adults. I want to talk about the characters because that's where the amusement begins. There's the tall, dark and handsome secret agent man for our world, the pale and beautiful yet secretly monstrous Black World woman, and the horny old man that helps to keep a truce between their worlds. Its even got a woman deep throating a tentacle of sort! It's honestly a really bad neo-noir and altogether awesome movie. I like it cause it doesn't take itself too seriously while balancing a weak story with a lot of general anime horror.

8. Le Portrait de Petit Cossette [Buy it on DVD] Oh man...this has a place in my heart. I knew I was going to like this OVA when i first heard the theme song. Beautiful violins. Not for everyone by any means, this anime is dark in many different ways. The imagery and artistic style is a bit jarring at first but I very much appreciated it upon repeated viewings. My advice: just bear with it...even if you don't like it, there's still an interesting twist worth seeing. I mean, it's only three episodes right?

7. Boogiepop Phantom [Buy it on DVD] Hmmm...took me FOREVER to find and watch this one. I think this one is more interesting than horrific (which is what i like) but it has a Serial Experiments Lain feel to it: not giving away too much in one episode but still making you watch it for its climax. The animation style is wonderful, the colors dark and gray. I can't rave enough about this OVA. I absolutely love it. The stories are so well done that i still have them vividly imprinted on my mind even now. Boogiepop Phantom, though about as dated as Wicked City, has a much darker and more mysterious feel and if you're into that sort of thing...check it out. It's worth it.

6. Ninja Scroll [Buy it on DVD] A giant grin crosses my face when I think of this movie. I remember laying in bed with Nick one night and trying to get him to watch it. Early on in the movie, probably the first fifteen minutes, a monsters blade flashes on the screen and about a dozen men were sliced. Before their bodies hit the ground it was raining blood. Morbid huh? Needless to say, I had to turn it off so my snookims didn't get nightmares. When I watched it in its entirety, I thought it was magnificent. The characters are amazing, ranging from a woman who can not be poisoned to a man whose own body can generate enough electricity to kill. Great movie, great characters, great animation style. Definitely deserves its reputation.

5. Perfect Blue [Buy it on DVD] Satoshi Kon is one of my favorite creators and this movie is none short of genius. More psychological than horror, it bends the mind's perceptions of what is real and what is not. Just like most of Kon's films, you can dig out any meaning you want and still enjoy the film. I've only seen the dubbed version but, like Akira, that was enough for me. Just watch this one. Saying anything else would ruin the surprise.

To be continued in seven short days... (you CAN wait, right?)

Next: The Top 9 Horror / Psychological Anime - Part Two!

Why the Top 9? Because 10 is too many and 9 is better. 3 X 3 = Awesome. Now that’s what I call math.

Sneaking Into Comics 002 - How I Got Fired from a High Profile NYC Comic Shop

It was the end of 2004. While shopping at my New York City comic shop of choice (which shall go nameless), the idea came to me that I should work there and save a few bucks on my weekly haul.

Everything about my interview went smooth like butter until I was asked, "Do you read any online comic book reviews?" Not reviews, I told him, but I read news and interviews on Newsarama. A look of shock washed over my interviewer's face as he asked, "What?! Why don't you read Pop Culture Shock?"

I didn't have a good answer for the guy. Maybe because I barely knew anything about Pop Culture Shock. Maybe because Newsarama was more comics-centric back then. Either way, there was an air of sadness in his voice that made absolutely no sense.

Eventually, I got the job. This was around the time that the Countdown to Infinite Crisis cover image was being teased. Everyone speculated that Batman was holding a dead Nightwing. As I was stuffing poly bags with back issues, I made an offhand comment about the Jim Lee art.

"Psssh, who cares if he dies?" I said jokingly, figuring that my sarcasm was inherent in my tone of voice. "Nightwing sucks anyway."

"Don't let Dave hear you say that," another employee whispered. "Nightwing is his favorite character."

"What?!" Dave shouted from across the room. "Who said Nightwing sucks? Nick, Why would you say that?!"

Continue reading 'Sneaking Into Comics 002 - How I Got Fired from a High Profile NYC Comic Shop'

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Last Night I Dreamed About Black Panther Action Figures Sold at Blockbuster

[Note: This dream was not actually last night. Blog posts have to be planned a few days in advance. I actually had this dream sometime last week. But let's pretend it happened last night, okay? Oh, and check out this other dream I had recently about working for Image and Marvel.]

It all began as I entered Blockbuster to, I assume, rent a movie. I noticed the wall facing the entrance was covered with collectibles and non-movie products. Justique went to find something for us to watch while I went to peruse this interesting wall of items.

Something caught my eye towards the bottom... action figures! I can't resist new action figures every time I go to Target or Wal-Mart. I never buy them, but I love seeing what's new.

The first set was He-Man related (probably due to all those damn He-Man toy posts I read on Topless Robot). The second row had a boring X-Men collection. But the last line had something unexpected -- Black Panther toys!

At first, I thought I was looking at some sort of DC Universe toyline and I almost walked away. But I did a double take when I saw the Black Panther logo across the top of the packaging. The toys were part of a "Black Panther vs. the DC Universe" line of action figures. Weird!

That's when the store clerk -- none other than P. Diddy himself -- came over to tell me that he personally ordered the Black Panther action figures. Apparently P. Diddy is very proud of his efforts in Blockbuster inventory ordering because he wouldn't shut up about the damn toys.

Finally, the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy shut his damn mouth and I was able to get a look at action figures. Here's what they had:

Black Panther vs. Superman. Superman was on the left as he leaned into T'Challa with all his might. Meanwhile, Black Panther was decked out in a navy blue and gray Superman-style costume on the right, complete with flowing Superman-style hair. All I could think was: "It's weird that T'Challa straightened his hair just to fight Superman..."

Black Panther vs. Batman. Batman was in a leaping pose as if he was flying off a rooftop and into battle with T'Challa. The Black Panther was on the right side bracing for impact in a Dark Knight-style crouched position, decked out in red and orange. He even had a Batman-style cape and cowl. Why was T'Challa fighting these heroes in the first place, and why was he wearing poorly-colored replica costumes?

Black Panther vs. ???. Unfortunately, this is where the dream ended. P. Diddy was annoying me while I was trying to show Justique these awesome action figures. As I reached for the third package, my dream went hazy and I woke up. It would have been awesome to see T'Challa fighting Green Lantern or Hawkman. Honestly, this third toy was probably Aquaman (considering how much I love the Orange Shirted Wonder of the Seven Seas).

And that was that. Totally bizarre and totally excellent. I know there's never going be a Black Panther vs. the DC Universe toyline, but I can always dream, right?

AudioShocker Podcast #47 - Ross Campbell's Wet Moon 4 Preview

Ross Campbell is back for the second half of a super long interview about his comics work and more. In this episode, Ross talks about his upcoming Wet Moon 4 graphic novel as well as a secret Vertigo project from DC Comics. Also make sure to check out the first half of this interview in Podcast Episode 045, and listen to last year's interview with Ross in Podcast Episode 012.

Next Avengers Movie Review

Awesome. Totally awesome. Go watch it.

Nuff said for right now. But as I think of anything else worth saying about the movie, I'll edit my thoughts into this post.

EDIT 1: Next Avengers is my favorite of the Marvel direct-to-DVD animated films so far.

EDIT 2: Okay, after thinking on it a bit, the only flaw that I can find with this film is the character design and animation of the Hulk. The way the character is conceptually roped into the story works very well for me. But when the Green Goliath finally appears, he just doesn't look right.

Hulk's movements are too jumpy and not nearly menacing enough. His body language suggests "Tasmanian Devil" more than "strongest one there is." Still, this is hardly an issue. The story still works great and the character fits in even if he doesn't visually fullfil his part to the fullest.

EDIT 3: I really enjoyed the character of Azari in Next Avengers. He's obviously the kid of T'Challa and Storm. For some reason they never say Storm explicitly, which I assume is because Marvel Studios doesn't currently have the rights to reproduce Storm in an animated release. He's also a tad bit underdeveloped compared to his Next Avengers teammates. Still, his straight man persona and wonderful design worked.

Speaking of the design, I found it interesting that Azari had some striking visual similarities to Nezhno a.k.a. Gentle from New X-Men. Nezhno's vibrainum tattoos look very similar to Azari's markings that light up with electricity. Since Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost both worked on this movie, I'm curious to know how much Azari was influenced by Nezhno. Actually, considering how long animated features are in production, it's possible that Nezhno was actually influenced by Azari.

EDIT 4: Here's another favorable review of Next Avengers by Ed Liu over on Toon Zone. It echos some similar sentiments that you see here (no Storm mention = probably a rights issue), but Ed also has some differing opinions as well (especially his take on Pym's character, which I didn't have a problem with at all!).

EDIT 5: The only element of the Next Avengers story that's truly divergent from the Marvel Comics 616 Universe is the creation of Ultron. Yeah, Cap hooking up with Black Widow is a little far fetched, but Ultron being created by Tony Stark instead of Hank Pym is a radical departure.

Seeing as how Tony is the caretaker of the children and a focal figure in the film, having him directly responsible for Ultron makes sense in terms of this story's emotional development. It also allows for other small flourishes such as the moment when Pym determines that Azari can break into Ultron's fortress because the locks are the same as the maintenance hatches at their home.

EDIT 6: As I end my broadcast day here at the AudioShocker, I'd like to give a special mention to the spooky scene where the kids end up in Ultron's "trophy room." As they enter, we see the tattered costumes of the fallen original Avengers. It's not long before the lights click on and reveal a seemingly endless vertical corridor of costumes, alluding to a momentous massacre of Earth's heroes.

The creepy visual was (in my mind, whether conscious by the filmmakers or not) akin to the Return to Oz scene where we catch a glimpse of the towering room full of interchangeable heads worn by Princess Mombi. Damn, I still get chills just thinking about all those eerie heads!