Comics of the Week (10/29/08) part 1

DC Universe: Decisions #4 (of 4) - this biweekly Election '08 tie-in ends with a battle against Jericho, who possessed Hal Jordan's body, and then a "sermon" of sorts from Superman on why voting is important. I liked how this mini started out and how we got to see some political opinions of established characters, but the end did not pay off the way it should have. In hindsight, I probably could have skipped it and had been $12 richer because of it. Ah well.

Reign In Hell #4 (of 8) - this mini hits the halfway point and has a "Sightings" banner on the cover to boot. Turns out the last page reveals the return of a fan-favorite character (I won't spoil it right now). Suffice to say, it all hits the fan as Giffen certainly knows how to write this character well. The rest of the issue? Eh. Okay but not great. I still may drop it before the finale.

Teen Titans #64 - the team (what's left of it) does battle with Bombshell while Cassie gets a little "family" history. The issue seemed like filler to stretch this storyline over three issues. Can't say I was thrilled. This book runs hot and cold. I wish it could find a steady stream of hot to keep it interesting all the time.


Rann-Thanagar Holy War #6 (of 8) - Starlin and Lim give us a full issue to really comprehend the scope of the villain of this saga, and it sets the stage nicely for the final act. How will the rag-tag team of cosmic heroes beat this threat when their mightest of guns easily is swatted down? My interest is there now to want to see how this epic plays out to its conclusion.

Rocky Horror Picture Show

The cosmos must have been aligned just right yesterday, telling me that something was missing from my life of late. I mean, really, when you get two signs in a single day - it must be telling you something, right?

So, I was doing my usual daily browse over on emusic.com, trying to find a way to spend my 75 monthly downloads (still had 30 left to go before the 10th when I get my next month's batch), and I stumble on the newly added titles the following:


Yeah, baby! You know what this is. The original motion picture soundtrack for the Rocky Horror Picture Show, that campy musical fraught with sexual energy that first hit theatres in 1975 and became a cult classic as a staple of midnight showings all around the world since. Now, I had a couple songs from it on my iPod already but this was the whole kitten-caboodle. It didn't take me long to download many of the tracks.

Making Comics

In 2006, Scott McCloud put out his third book on comics - the aptly titled Making Comics.

Naturally, it is about, what else, making comics. And since Scott is an artist himself, the book is more an illustrated guide on various topics including the expected discussions on perspective, character design, facial features, layout, composition and more. His approach to the topics works very well - in a show, not tell manner. That is really important when we're talking about how to do art. Those with MFA degrees or art backgrounds would most likely agree.

Losing It...

Confession time: I had a huge crush on Valerie Bertinelli from the first time I saw her on TV on One Day At a Time in the mid-70's all through my junior high and high school years. I'm sure I wasn't the only teenaged male who did. There was something about that wholesome, girl-next-door look and how well she portrayed Barbara Cooper that just entranced me. Maybe it was because she reminded me in a lot of ways someone else I was crushing on at the time. Hard to say. Still, I've always considered her very tops of my list of celebrity crushes.

Anyway, last week I realized she had written an autobiography entitled Losing It - and Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time. I checked the non-fiction section of my local library and it was checked in. Not for long. I checked it out and eagerly read through it in a couple nights.

The book talks about her career both on the sitcom and other shows and TV movies. It also talks about her marriage to Eddie Van Halen, and the ups and downs of that relationship over the years. It talks about her greatest role - motherhood (to their son Wolfgang). It also talks about a woman who has struggled with her own sense of self-image from a very young age until in her 40's when she most recently became a spokesperson for Jenny Craig.

I found the book to be very easy going and honest, just as I would expect Valerie to be. She doesn't lay blame on anyone but herself for most of the problems she has encountered in life. She speaks straight from the heart and gives an honest portrayal of things she went through, why and what those choices led to. I found it a very enlightening read.

Does this book shake my image of her? Well, a couple things might have - but not enough. She still seems like someone I would love to get to know, just to sit down and talk to. She seems more like an everyday person who just happened to be famous rather than some kind of diva or huge "star".

Comics of the Week (10/22/08) part 2

Trinity #21 - This issue felt, in a lot of ways, like a fill-in if you will. The lead focused on the three villains of the piece who usurped the trinity's power but we learn why things didn't go as planned. It was okay but not as great as previous issues. The back-up didn't do much to move the story either. Not sure why. I guess with fifty-two weekly issues in the story, you have to have a clunker every now and again.


Superman: New Krypton - this one-shot bridges from last week's Action Comics to the next event running in all the Superman titles over the next few months. Superman has to bear with a great loss while at the same time juggling the Kandorians discovering what the yellow sun will do for them. There are a couple scenes that indicate this could turn into a huge problem for the Man of Steel and Earth. You can sort of tell which creative team did what. The art was split through out - some of it better than others. It hasn't convinced me to pick up any further Superman titles beyond Action though.

Comics of the Week (10/22/08) part 1

Final Crisis: Submit - I liked this tie-in one-shot that was more character focused. Black Lightning shows how a true hero continues on despite insurmountable odds. However, Grant Morrison's disjointed writing tainted the book a bit. Still, it was a better read than...

Final Crisis #4 (of 7) - if the idea was to give us a feeling of chaos and confusion, this issue did it! Seriously, I don't all the praise for Morrison on this. This is supposed to be a cornerstone event and yet it just isn't working for me at all. There are a few good ideas here and there, but none of them follow through. It is like throwing spaghetti on the wall to see which is done enough to stick. Too much is sliding to the floor. And the dialogue is clunky. Ugh.

Tangent: Superman's Reign #8 (of 12) - while I appreciate the epic feel Jurgens is trying for here and the fact he wants readers to realy get to know the ins and outs of the Tangent Earth, I think this book is suffering from having too many issues to play with. It is like the story is dragging on purpose just to fill out the twelve issues.

Maybe I'm just having a cranky week. Two more books left to read.

Comics of the Week (10/15/08) part 3

Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #3 (of 3) - Geoff Johns and Scott Kilins deliver an amazing ending to this mini series, showing why the Flash's villains can easily carry a title on their own. These criminals show that there is honor and rules among thieves, and that they take care of their own. As Johns did when he wrote the Flash years back, these characters are more than just advesaries to make the hero look good. They are fully formed, well-rounded characters. I cannot wait until he relaunches the book now that Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash is back!


Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #2 (of 5) - here Johns' epic story telling is supported by the ever perfect, ever detailed artwork of George Perez. Together they take the rich history and cast of not one but three LSH eras and weave an epic adventure. And looking at those full page spreads and identifying all the players is a lot of fun too. I have a feeling there will be some big casualties in the battle with Superman-Prime's Legion of Super-Villains, but in the end the LSH franchise will be left stronger and ready for another 50 years.