Comic of the Week (9/26/07)

What can I say - I sometimes like to route for the villains. After all, I spent a number of years writing an ongoing series starring super-villains as part of the DC Comics Fanfiction club I was in. So, when an issue like Justice League of America #13 comes along, you know I'm going to love it.

First of all, check out the two part cover image (issues come with one half or the other) by Ian Churchill. (click on the picture below to see it full sized) How awesome is that! Even if only some of the villains shown appear in the story, that is one awesome assembly of evil!





Next up, the story itself. Dwayne McDuffie kicks off his run as the new writer on the title by picking up the reigns left by Brad Meltzer and running with them nicely. The transition between writers is not jarring at all. Dwayne keeps all the character bits Brad served us up while kicking up the action level all the way to eleven.

There is also nice focus on some key JLA members. Batman struts his stuff in the beginning pages. Green Lantern (John Stewart) shows us how to efficiently mow down some villains single-ring-handedly. Black Canary kicks some major butt effectively. And Black Lightning is shown as well earning his spot in the League after all these years.

I can't wait for next issue to see what Luthor has up his armored sleeve. And that's what a good comic should do - make we want more.

Other good reading for the week: Teen Titans #51, Countdown #31, and Countdown to Adventure #2.

The Tour Ends Sunday Night

For the later part of the summer and well through September, I've been catching the episodes of Rock Of Love With Brett Michaels on VH-1. This is another one of those bachelor-dating type of shows that has been popular on various networks over the past couple years. ABC has done them with both bachelors and bachelorettes. VH-1 tends to put a celeb-reality spin to them - they did two with rapper Flavor Flav, a spin-off show with one of his rejected contestants 'New York', and now this one with the former front man of Poison.

I guess what appealed to me about this show is that I always found Brett Michaels to be charming. For a hair-band rocker, he has multiple layers. I've seen him do some acting and directing stuff which he was good at. He is likable. He's wrestled with diabetes openly.

I figured I would enjoy the show just to see what kind of interesting competitions he'd put the potential dates through. And on that level, he didn't disappoint. Sure, there was the chessy 'talk dirty to me' phone-sex one, the tour-bus obstacle course one and the 'design an album cover' one. Those were kind of expected on a show of this type. But he also had the girls ride dirt bikes, play some football, and a few other activities that he actively enjoys when he's not performing and touring.

There was also the dates themselves. He took the girls to favorite restaurants and bars, took them to the shooting range, to hockey games, to the recording studio, to ride horses, to Vegas, to get a tattoo. They were varied and interesting, and it again showed me more aspects of what Brett enjoys - so I got to know him better.

Of course, what also makes the show are the girls. And let me tell you - a lot of these seemed like they were taken right out of the open casting call from Jerry Springer! There were those that were trashy, plenty that were 'enhanced', some that couldn't hold their alcohol, and plenty who were willing to get into a cat-fight to win 'their man'. All the sterotypes were there: the bubble-heads, the crazy-ones, the sensitive ones, the one's there for fame, and even one's who were open to finding 'love'.

At first, the eliminations went fast - five of the thirty weren't even going to make it inside the house (though one of the first five ejected begged her way in - but she went when the next mass cut happened). Once down to a reasonable number, the eliminations went one per week. Those chosen to stay on got a 'backstage pass'; for the ones cut "the tour ends here". So after the final three's parents got brought on to meet Brett (and that was a hoot of an episode!), crazy Lacey was let go leaving the final two as Heather (the bleached blonde enhanced stripper) and Jess (the hair styliest with pink-frosted-tips).

The winner will be revealed tomorrow night in the finale after Brett takes the two girls for the final dates down to Mexico. I've been backing Jess for many weeks now as she's cute, hilarious in her commentaries, and just a lot of fun. Of course, then we'll have the inevitable reunion show (which is really just another Springer-like madhouse when all the girls are put back in the same room to answer questions and take final shots at one another now that they've seen the aired show ). That'll be nothing but a good time!

Elementary, My Dear Reader

Someone on one of the message boards I frequent brought up the topic of first grade. That got me thinking about the past.

I went to elementary school at School 4 in Dunkirk, NY. All of the elementary schools were numbered (there might have been up to six at one time - though I don't think all of 1 through 6 were still open at the time I went in the 70's).

I don't recall my first grade teacher's name - I'd need to check old class pictures that my mom has for that. I do remember I had Mrs. Johnson for 2nd (she was actually a third or fourth cousin of mine who had recently gotten married), Miss Oliver for 3rd, Mrs. Notte for 4th and Mr. Reardon for 5th.

I do, however, vividly recall the layout of the school, right down to the color on the floors (a black/white/gray mosaic kind of tile) and walls (beige). I can close my eyes and pretty much walk a virtual tour of the place in my mind. From the front entrance off of Central Avenue you turned left. To your right was the auditorium where Mrs. Mohney taught us music (and where I was one of five dancing soldiers at Valley Forge for the 5th grade's musical production of "George Washington"). If you went straight up the short steps you passed the principal and nurse's offices. Continue straight on the first floor and there were the classrooms for grades K through 2. Off to the right was the short hallway to the gym/cafeteria as well as the janitor's rooms. There were large stairwells on each end of the first floor that went upstairs to the second floor where grades 3 through 5 were taught. Also on the second floor on the end near the auditorium was the library which had a larger room and then a smaller room. Each grade had two classrooms each - except kindergarten. That was one room and kids only went a half day for kindergarten (thus creating the two classes for each grade thereafter).

I have a number of vivid memories from School 4.

In 4th and 5th grade, there was four of us who were considered 'advanced readers'. That basically meant that Kirsten, Joey, John and myself were given an independent study course separate from the rest of our class for reading. We read books and did special quizes and assignments to test our comprehension. Funny thing was - there wasn't a classroom to put us in, so we often met in the small room in the side of the library or, on days when that room was booked for films or something, on the landing up the second floor stairwell(!).

Prior to 5th grade, I went to my grandparents' house on the next street over for lunch (yes, I was allowed to leave school, walk to their house, eat and walk back for the lunch period - other kids who lived nearby had that option as well). I only stopped doing that the year my grandfather passed away; I'm guessing it was hard for my grandmother to have me over during that initial grieving period so I just started eating at school and kept it up for that last year. My first lunchbox was yellow, shaped like Snoopy's doghouse. The thermos inside had all the Peanuts characters on it.

Besides the presidential musical in 1976, our 5th grade class also planted a garden of flowers in front of the school laid out like an American flag (red, white and blue); I honestly don't know if they survived the following year but they looked good for a few weeks after we planted them. Also, the other 5th grade teacher was Mr. Ford, and I recall there were political discussions about Ford/Reagan at the time so we tied those events in with our two classes in a friendly competitive way.

Every school year ended with Spring Frolic which was held in the huge parking lot on the side and back of the school. It was a day of fun, games, group songs and a cook-out. When we "graduated" from 5th grade, each of us was given a green dictionary with our name inscribed in gold on the front cover by the Parents' Club. I still have the book to this day - and it includes well wishes and signatures from many of my friends and teachers.

Last Stand or Last Gasp?

Last weekend I was able to catch on cable the third installment in the X-Men trilogy - X-Men: the Last Stand. I didn't get around to seeing it the theatres last year when it came out. To be honest, I only saw the first of the three films in the theatre anyway. I have the first and second on DVD, and it was on my big-screen TV that I saw the second film. Maybe that's part of the reason I wasn't so excited to see the third film as the second was okay but not spectacular.

As with most super-hero related films, I am willing to let my comic book roots go and judge the film solely on its own merits. I'm not a nit-picker about the continuity versus the comics, the tweaks to costumes and origins, etc. I'm willing to ignore that stuff and look at the film itself (or within the context of the franchise, which would be valid in this case).

Things I liked: bringing in the Beast (cast with Kelsey Grammer in the role - a nice fit) as well as the Angel (the flying effects with the wings looked sharp), the expanding roles of Kitty Pryde (loved the use of her powers against the mighty Juggernaut) and Iceman as well as Colossus, the introduction of the character Leech, the nice fanboy nod to "the Days of Future Past" story from the comics (I would have loved to see more of the Sentinels), and the creative teamwork of Magneto and Pyro on Alcatraz Island (flame-bomb cars are cool).

Things I didn't like: too many juggled subplots for a film that was only 1 hour and 45 minutes long (it was like they felt they had to cram so much into the film just in case it was the last - the whole Phoenix plot, the introduction of the Morlocks, the Legacy Virus, etc. - any one of these could have properly carried a film itself if explored in great detail), the killing off of so many main characters (either through depowering - which can be reversed, or death - though in one case we saw how they found an 'out' after the credits and in another case we never did see a body), and so many characters on screen through out that you sometimes get to know very little about a lot of them (which means the casual viewer does not develop a reason to care about the fates of any of them).

I enjoyed the special effects a lot, but at times it seemed that everyone was just standing around taking in the effects. And maybe it ties back to the writing making me not care so much about the characters. If I don't care about the character or find them interesting, I don't care that they're getting clobbered by a cool effect. It is like "so what". A good film will make me character about the character so that when they are about to get clobbered by a cool effect, I'll be think "#$%#@, NO!".

Now, rumor is that they plan to spin-off Wolverine and possibly Magneto into their own solo films. That might be a good idea. Maybe we'll get more character development that way - however, these two are probably some of the more developed of the cast of thousands from these three films already. Maybe that's just more overkill. I don't know. I know, however, that I'm not the least bit excited for those installments. Again, I'll pass on the theatres and wait to catch it for free at home.

Premiere Week Round-Up

With a week's worth of Fall Season network programming debuts behind me, I thought I'd add a few words about the new season so far and the shows I'm viewing.

9/19 - Watched the Back To You pilot (FOX), which I blogged about last week. A funny show that'll get some follow-up viewing in our household.

9/20 - Watched the debut of Survivor: China (CBS). This was a little different in that the contestants got a taste of the culture first before being broken up and sent down the rivers to their campsites. The mix of contestants is your usual ones. The interplay between them is always interesting. I enjoyed the immunity challenge with the large Chinese dragons and the obstacle course. I really wish "Chicken" had gotten to stick around longer - even if they were going to have to start subtitling him due to that thick Virginian accent. My early favorite is the grave-digger.

I watched Don't Forget the Lyrics (FOX), which I blogged about earlier in the summer. Another fun contestant and cute proposal by her boyfriend. This is a game show I'd love to go on myself. Wayne Brady is a cool host.

9/24 - Monday is my big night. DVR has to do double-duty at nine. But, first up the comedies.

The season opener for How I Met Your Mother (CBS) was good, but not great. Too many guest stars took time away from the core cast five. The show clicks better when its about those five exclusively. Their chemistry is that good. Very excited about the slap bet countdown! Great tie-in to a last season subplot.

The debut of the Big Bang Theory (CBS) was very funny. I wasn't planning to watch this but I kept the channel there and was instantly hooked. Nothing funnier than some really super-smart but socially inept guys and a gorgeous but not all there waitress. I can laugh at the former because, hey, I was a geek/nerd too (but not nearly this bad!). Bonus props for putting one of the guys in a Flash t-shirt. Loved that! Oh, and the show is from the same creator as the next show - another plus point.

Two And A Half Men (CBS) kicked off another season with their usual gusto. This is my wife and my "we're so going to Hell for watching this" show. It is so raunchy at times that we shouldn't find it funny, but we do. The chemistry of the actors is always good, and you can't go wrong when Angus' character "Jake" has a big part. This kid is so funny.

Heroes (NBC) kicked off season 2 with a good effort as well. We managed to check in a most of the cast and move the story along four months later. I love the bits with the Bennetts, especially how Claire and her father can't seem to keep a low profile despite their efforts. I loved Hiro's misadventures in China's past. I am intriqued by the brother-sister combo (I knew it was a bad idea to separate her from her brother!). I also love how the older generation is being hunted down. A solid debut.

9/25 Bones (FOX) is back - our favorite crime solving team. I love how this show is so deep in the forensics yet at the same time keeps with the quirky characters and the bizarre murder situations. The dialogue is snappy and well-delivered by cast. The season opener is presenting only the beginning of what appears to be a long-going plot line involving canablism, secret societies and lots of mystery. Very cool.

ST:TNG Turns 20

Wow, it's hard to believe but Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted twenty years ago this month. Where does the time go?

I remember very vividly when this show debuted in September of 1987. I was still back in college in Rochester, right in the middle of my final quarter of my senior year. I was living in an apartment on campus with three other guys - they were all "geeks" like me. We all played Advanced Dungeons and Dragons together every Saturday - just like we had for the past four years. Trek debuted in syndication on a Saturday night, so my roommates had arranged a gathering in the apartment family room with a bunch of other folks from our gaming group to watch the first episode, the two-hour "Encounter At Farpoint". We all thought the first misson seemed a bit lackluster, but the introduction of the new crew, the cameo by DeForrest Kelly, and the introduction of the entity known only as Q made us very interested in seeing more. I am sure the guys continued to discuss the show well into the night while waiting for Dr. Who to come on at 11pm; after the debut show ended I myself got changed to go out to a local club for drinks and dancing (my usual Friday and Saturday night routine in those later years of college).

I thought the show worked on a lot of levels for an 80's viewing audience. Here was a thinking show, a show about diplomacy and tolerance. The Captain Picard wasn't a fighter/lover, as Captain Kirk had been; Picard was much more a problem solver. And he didn't lead every away mission (that job went to Riker, who was more of a Kirk-like lover/fighter). Oh, and this new captain didn't cover up his baldness with a hairpiece. The crew had alien races in it - a Betazoid (Deanna Troi) and a Klingon (Worf) - as well as an android (Data). There were families on the ship, even an annoying know-it-all brainiac son (Wesley) of the ship's female doctor (Beverly Crusher). It definitely had a lot of potential - and that potential would get realized as the show developed and found its actors loosened up a bit and found their groove.

Now, don't get me wrong - I am a fan of the Next Generation. Over the seven years of its first-run, I would watch it pretty faithfully. In fact, of all the Trek franchises it is probably my favorite. I was born a bit late to get a lot out of the first-run of the original Trek series in the 60's, but I recall as a kid watching a lot of the reruns in the 70's. It was pretty much a staple of Saturday afternoon television where I grew up. Later, ST:TNG would spin-off other shows like Deep Space Nine and then Voyager. My wife and I would watch these on occasion - she was a big Voyager fan while I'd more put DSN in my second-place spot. We never did get much into Enterprise though.

ST:TNG also helped revive the lagging sci-fi genre on television which had sort of faded out after the 60's and mid-70's. If it wasn't for this show, we'd not likely have a Sci-Fi Channel today. I think the revival of the Trek franchise on televison opened the door for other successfully syndicated sci-fi and fantasy shows of the 90's and today.

So, take a moment to drop into Ten-Forward, have Guinan serve you a Romulan Ale and drink a toast to the Next Generation.

Comic of the Week (9/19/07)

Not a very stellar week for books I am afraid. Some hits but a lot of misses.

Countdown #32 felt like a fanboy attempt to write Black Canary's bachelorette party. I expected a bit more decorum from the DCU heroines. Sigh.

Countdown to Mystery #1 is the first of an eight-issue mini series. Veteran Steve Gerber is writing the Dr. Fate lead feature the gives the origin of the new helm wearer. Steve is known for his unique, bizarre kind of writing from the 70's which actually fits this supernatural character well. The back-up feature is of Eclipso, one of DC's more deadly and long last villains. This book could be a lot of fun.

Flash #232 disappointed me - two months in a row. I think Daniel Acuna's artwork is wrong for this book; it is too water-color and clunky. A book about a speedster needs to have sharp, moving artwork. And Mark Waid's writing seems very flat - like he's phoning this in. I may be dropping this title very very soon.

The Green Arrow/Black Canary Wedding Special felt sophmoric at times. These are two seasoned heroes but the story felt like they were horn-dogs in their 20's. The artwork was okay at times but very cheesecake at others. And I was looking for a happy ending wedding - and the final pages were anything but. I hate when they do that - make you have to buy the first issue of the new ongoing series to see the continuation of the story. Thanks but no thanks. I'm passing.

Tales of the Sinestro Corps Presents Parallax was a nicely written and beautifully drawn book. However, it was a stand-alone story in a much huger arc that could easily be skipped and not missed. Good but just an extra.

So, the winner of the week is the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 31st Century #6 which is a tie-in comic to the Saturday morning cartoon starring these characters. The story was fun, well drawn and features a tie-in with the Green Lantern Corps in the 31st Century. Being a self-contained tale, it was easy for readers to follow and very enjoyable. Yes, this is from the kids' Johnny-DC line of books but sometimes simpler and straight-forward is a lot better. These remind me of comics of my youth, when comics weren't so dark and gritty.