Post 4.2 - Why I am a DC guy

You may or may not be able to tell that I am a DC comic guy. In the past I have not put much thought into why, I just read a lot of Batman, Green Lantern, and Lobo (it was the 90s.) Now that I have put some thought into it, I still don't think I really know why, but I will do my best to explain.

I guess, the first reason to come to mind is because they have my favorite characters, but that's a pretty cheap reason. To me their characters were more believable in their world. I know that sounds odd because its a world with supermen and living gods, but hear me out. Marvel stories took place in New York City or at least visited regularly, and this was cool, but it took me out of it because I never saw spider-man swing through, the FF fight a Moleman, or the Avengers beat Loki in time square. See, Marvel took our world and built on top of it, where DC built their world, seemingly, from the ground up. Gotham was maybe a city I could visit and see some strung up bad guys hanging from a lamp post, or travel to Metropolis and see Superman fly by. The whole world was believable to the child me for this reason. It was a completely different world from the ground up, so everything meshed to me; real New York and Marvel New York did not.

Second, to me they had more action, and that was what I was looking for as a kid. Marvel was fine and all but all there characters were out of their costume almost as much as they were in them; this did not appeal to me. I remember reading some current random issues of Spider-man and X-men in the 90s, then I remember reading Green Lantern and Superboy around the same time and the DC stories grabbed me more because of the action.

Last, I have stuck with DC pretty well this long because it has grown with me. They have come out with those more mature stories that hook me now as opposed to the straight action that had me before. It seems the more I learn the more there is to learn, and I love that about the DCU.

Now, While I have digressed in the past by picking up some normal Marvel U books, this has pretty much been eliminated because of the Marvel price point. I'm not saying they are not good stories, I just cannot afford them.

post 4.1- leaked Batman Rising set video (spoiler footage?)

Well, I missed my first post of my 30 day challenge. I thought I would at least make it through the first week, but whatever (2 posts today). Moving on, a buddy of mine (who actually was supposed to make posts on this blog along with me) sent me a link to a Superherohype.com article that featured leaked footage that looked to be from a handheld camera on the set of Batman Rising. They say that the footage is spoiler footage, but I don't get how it could be spoilery seeing that all you get is a out of context fight seen shot from a long way off. No dialog. I mean we know he fights Bane eventually in the move, right? Though, the images are pretty cool to see, they make me ask more questions then they answer. I don't condone this type of leak usually because I like to be as surprised as possible at a movie, especially a Batman movie. I cannot not post though, you know.

Post 2 - Time for the second biannual Buckeye Comic con August 7th @10am

This is one of my favorite times of year, time for the Buckeye comic con. This is a biannual show once in March then in August. This is a cool show to for me because I can fill holes in my collection on the cheap. In past shows there have been about 50ish dealers; a couple of the larger tables deal in more classics from the silver age w/ some golden age stuff for normal wall prices; most of the tables are selling modern stuff on the cheap(don't pay more than half price for a trade at this show); then there are several dealing in toys(mostly action figures the prices are all over the place but you'll find deals); there are normally a few local creators there also.

I am really looking forward to hitting the cheap trades table. Earlier this year I found a limited edition hardback of Marvels for 5 bucks! Great deal and I picked up like 3 other trades for less than 15.

My comic shop Capital City Comics will be there, most likely with some more cheap trades (at most half price) along with half price on sets of singles issues.

Hopefully I will be able to fill in some holes in my collection, along with picking up some things that I am actually collecting not just reading. I am always looking for Black Panther Stuff I don't have, I also started trying to scoop up Eastman&Laird TMNT plus Alan Moore's Miracle Man series. I found some early issues of TMNT for 2 dollars an issue at the previous show along with issue 11 of Miracle Man for 11 ducats which I talked down to 8. Holes I'll be filling will be in Robin (haven't found much in that prior), New Avengers, 90s Green Lantern issue 51 and up with Kyle (this is my original GL), and then there is other stuff I'll be on the look out for. Its always the stuff you find that your not looking for that is the best.

Post 1 - New comic/nerdy podcast you should check out: The Black Tribbles

You should check out The Black Tribbles. It is awesome. Basically it is a podcast full of blerds (aka. black nerds) and it is sweet. They are only up to cast 13 as of right now, but it is all solid. They don't stick to straight comics but they have some pretty great not so serious episodes about anime and video games, and them some relatively serious conversations about race in nerd culture. I was hooked after listening to episode 6 entitled, Growing up Geek in Black America, and they talked about so many things that I myself had thought and felt while being myself a geek in black America.

They do their show live Fridays 10pm-12am and streaming to here and then put up in podcast RSS here. The show feels like a real radio show with live call ins and the semi regular musical interlude. This podcast is now my second favorite podcast, just under CGS, and that is only because CGS comes out multiple times a week. If Black Tribbles was put out even twice a week it would be putting up a fight for my top spot.

Post 0 - The start of my 30 day post challenge

I have not been posting as much as i would like. So, I have challenged myself to posting everyday for the next 30 days. This is post zero just explaining what I set out to do, and hopefully this will jump start me to post more regularly after this month is out.

Just saw Captain America: The First Avenger

... and thus ends the superhero movie summer. It started with Green Hornet, followed by Thor, X-Men: First Class, and then Green Lantern. This is the best year for comic book hero movies over all. I would have a hard time saying that any of these movies were bad and there certainly were a lot of them this year. I know what your saying to your self, "hey, some of those are not that good of movies," but ask yourself were any of them worse than last years Jonah Hex or 2003's Daredevil. 2008 seems to come in for a close second for best year for comic movies clocking in at 6 again but that list includes The Spirit.

In Order from best to worse:
X-Men: First Class
Captain America: the First Avenger
Green Hornet
Thor
Green Lantern

X-men was a surprise to me because i feel like there were major flaws in the previous three or four files. Don't get me wrong they all had some great features, but over all they were not the best movie movies. First Class was just that, it was really a movie; I feel that even if i had know idea who the X-men were previous to the movie I would still be able to enjoy it and feel engaged.

Cap is next because this was just a great action flick, and Marvel Studios just keeps hitting it out of the park. This was a cool movie that gave cap the time he deserved. This is a character that should be just as big as Batman in popular culture, and its about time he got his due. While I'm not a die hard fan of the character I can truly say this movie made me want experience him more.

Yes, Green Hornet is third... hear me out. Again, like the others, this was a cool movie and i love a movie that can mix action and comedy well. I also really liked what they did with the characters and how they approached the story telling. I remember as a kid watching some of the original Green Hornet on reruns, and being under whelmed by the story and only 30 seconds of Bruce Lee fighting you got (as bad ass as it may have been.) This movie though made me want to see what was happening between fights, because it was funny and interesting. I hope they make another.

Thor was really cool. All the people were great, the action was great, and the story was great. While i feel that it was just a stepping stone to the Avengers movie, it was a really really good stepping stone.

Finally, Green Lantern. This was a fun movie, but the most comic booky of the bunch. I feel they really just told the story to fast and had to many wasted opportunities. I'm fine with the Ryan Reynolds and the all cgi costume, but the two enemies and the lack of Oa kinda got me. The fact that they had two enemies in the move is not bad, and they executed it alright, but if they really concentrated on only one instead of both it would have been better. It is about time GL got his brightest day in other media rather than just comics. for the next one i hope they take a page from Justice League and introduce Jon Stewart.

Just finished reading...

The Life And Times of Martha Washington in the Twenty-First Century. This book was recommended to me by a friend who is a Frank Miller fan. I have to say, this is quite the book. It has a great blend of action and absurd comedy dealing with a corrupt incorporated America and how Martha Washington deals with life here over the course of her's. The style of the book changes significantly from the first story to the last, seeing that the book was a compilation of stories written over the course of 20 years totaling over 500 pages. It is cool seeing how Frank Miller and Dave Gibbons styles progress over the years along with the character. The First section of the story i enjoyed somewhat more than the later stories, just because it showed a ridiculous satire of the United States (think a way less serious Watchmen) while she was fighting this dude that tried to kill her, while the later stuff was more Scifi-ee with her fighting a computer program that tried to kill her. I love seeing a character's development from beginning to end and this character literally gives me that, like you see her born and you see her death. Overall this is a really cool story about a girls journey from little project child with no prospects to someone who is a leader and has saved the world on more than one occasion.