p.s. I’m heading off to San Diego Comic Con, so I’ll be sure to update as the week unfolds.

Subscriptions be praised! Somehow, by “accident” I’m sure, the much hyped X-Men milestone comic was released two days before its typical Wednesday release date. This issue was written by Ed Brubaker (The Death of Captain America) and Matt Fraction (Punisher War Journal) and focuses on the X-Men now that there are only 198 mutants left in the world and forced to flee to San Fransisco as it has denied the Super Human Registration Act.

This issue did a great job of setting up the future of the X-Men and mutants, and hopefully those humans now dealing with losing their mutant heritage and powers. Magneto is hooked up with the High Evolutionary and with two those two together, who knows what could become of the X-Men. Personally, I want the mutants to come back through some experiment of the High Evolutionary, but I feel confident now that there are enough new items to explore to keep the different X-titles fresh for awhile while Marvel decides what to do.

X-Men is about surviving in spite of hatred and bigotry, the minority being exploited and eradicated by ignorance. It might seem like with mutants, who symbolically stood for African-Americans and most recently homosexuals, could not stand for the same things there are only 200 mutants around, but now there is potential to look at what happens when the ignorant are close to winning, what would happen if the little guy were about to be overwhelmed. The best part is, we’re going to see that story told with giant robots and crazy battles with a cast of colorful characters.

Plus I’m also looking forward to learning more about Pixie’s involvement in the team.

courtesy Warner Bros.

Those of you who went to see The Dark Knight this weekend saw the trailer for the highly-anticipated movie adaptation to Alan Moore’s Watchmen, the first comic book ever collected in trade paperback.

The trailer looks awesome, and I’m looking forward to this movie, even though Alan Moore doesn’t approve. The comic is about an allegorical set of super heroes now in retirement. It’s the 1980s and the height of the Cold War. The comic is a tome, 12 issues, but well worth the read. The storyline is brilliant, but filled with all sorts of homage and allusions to comics. In fact, the world of Watchmen is a reflection of DC’s history, and acts as a massive love letter to comics fans. The movie will most likely remove a lot of these nuances to make the film more appealing to a wider audience.

All in all, this will most likely be a box office hit. Comic fans have known about Watchmen for years, and hopefully hype up to the film’s release will send people to bookstores to see what it’s about.

But the first order of business is to point out that this isn’t a super hero movie. Sure, Warner Bros. used the likeness and names of some DC characters, but Dark Knight wasn’t based on the comics - it was it’s own beast. All the previous Batman movies, including Batman Begins, were super hero movies. The hero fights villain over the use of a doomsday weapon and good succeeds. I don’t know what Dark Knight was, but it was not one of those films.

I don’t know how Dark Knight didn’t have an R rating. The amount of pointless, sadistic violence was disturbing. Cellphones sewn under skin? Children held at gun point? I will be the first to admit, I read and watch disturbing stuff. I’ve read the likes of Carlton Mellick and Edward Lee, so my exposure to the absurdly violent is not something new. So when I say this movie was one of the most purposelessly disturbing thing I’ve ever seen, take my word for it.

This is not a movie for children. This is not a movie for people with children.

What this was was an immature grasp at “depth” and “creativity,” using bizarre killing as a juvenile means of tricking the audience into thinking the movie was groundbreaking. Like Dr. Horrible has said,”Killing’s not elegant or creative.” The Joker would do the sort of things he did in the movie, dead-man switching two boats and killing his own men, but the way he did it was not how the Joker should have been portrayed. They took a homicidal genius and turned him into a sadistic monster just because.

You could tell Saw 5 was attempting to break the super hero mold, which it did, by focusing on Harvey Dent almost more than Bruce Wayne, and showing us people suffering. Why was it so serious? This was not a fun summer movie - this was not Iron Man or Incredible Hulk. Save yourself the emotional scarring and see Mama Mia! instead.

In some way, it is. The idea of the Punisher, the bad ass human who fights crime with large guns and explosives, began in a super hero comic. But, as time progressed and Marvel became more “realistic”, Punisher fought human foes, and costumed vigilantes appeared less and less. Matt Fraction’s Punisher War Journal puts Frank Castle straight into the heart of the Marvel Universe in all its absurd glory.

From becoming the new Captain America to shooting the Rhino, the Punisher has gotten back to his roots as a vigilante out to fight vigilantes. Couple this nostalgic take on Punisher with the beautiful art of Ariel Olivetti that could give Alex Ross a run for his money and this is a great, fun series. There’s action, crossovers, humor, and character development - all the thing Marvel fans read comics for. (more…)

This series has been an unexpected hit for BOOM!, and Phillips continues his comic writing career, which focuses on crime and the underworld. This is a good bonus for the many fans of this book, and also a good look at a writer’s process. Check the video out below, and look for future installments on YouTube.

courtesy DC

Take Superman - while a child’s hero, is not as accessible as he could be. What I mean is super hero comics are escapist fantasies - the reader likes to get lost in these stories and for kids, imagine what it would be like if they were that hero. But I can never be Superman. He’s an alien. I can’t be Batman - I mean, I could if I was the world’s greatest athlete, a millionaire, have gadgets and an IQ over 300. Wonder Woman is a Greek Myth.

But Captain Marvel is a better sort of hero. When kid Billy Batson says the word SHAZAM he becomes Captain Marvel, the super strong and fast adult hero that can throw down with the likes of Superman. Any child can be Captain Marvel. You don’t need scientific knowledge or a trust fund to become him. It’s conceivable that walking down the street we could be this hero. (more…)

Not bad. It was really hard to gauge what to expect from this movie based on the trailer due to many factors - how the success of Pan’s Labyrinth would influence the film, what comics would they adapt, etc. As far as that goes, Hellboy 2 was it’s own unique thing, apart from the comics and Guillermo del Toro’s other works.

The biggest pull for the movie was it’s bigger budget. There were more monsters, including a giant elemental and dozens of background creatures, making the movie seem very Men in Black-esque. This was a great aspect of the movie, that there was just a lot of cool, bizarre throw away monsters and magical creatures that added depth to the fantasy underworld.

There were a few characterization driven lulls in the film, but once the action started back up, these doldrums are forgiven. The sequel was a great summer movie, playing off the legacy of the comics, del Toro’s artistic style, and the first film, throwing in the types of gimmicks you’d expect from a Hollywood sequel.

If the movie breaks even, we may expect a third movie on the horizon, and I think with all the hype and the fact that this film is enjoyable and filled with imagination, a growing Hellboy fan base is assured. In the summer of great super hero movies - this is a must see, even if it’s just to see something different.

“Novelist Gary Phillips aims to paint a picture of the underbelly of the Los Angeles underworld, “showing us The Dark Side of the American Dream”. Unfortunately, what gets depicted is more like The Dark Side of Beverly Hills; perhaps 90211. Everything is pretty and clean. The gang leader, Trey, drives a Mercedes convertible and preaches his “bid’ness” to his desegregated officers over a lunch of wine and fine food. And the muscle-car driving protagonist, Cameron (or CQ, as he goes by on those impeccably-swept streets), has a sister, Rita, who lives the high-life with her gambling-addicted husband. If anything, the characters are culled from an episode of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and if this is what the “underbelly” of Los Angeles is like, then I’m on the first flight out.”

As one commentator pointed out “I actually kinda liked how the atmosphere wasn’t the same stereotypical hoods always on tv and video games”, which got me thinking about crime and how we perceive it. (more…)