Blog Delay....Yet Again

Hey guys, you'll have to bear with me on blog posts.  I'm currently in Kansas City training for my new job until the 23rd of June.  I'll be picking up s few issue's today and review them this weekend, but posts will be coming out slower than usual.

I also plan on seeing Jonah Hex this weekend since there will be no training at all.  I'll have two days to myself to see the movie and read A LOT!  And even though my fellow trainees think that is strange, I will be enjoying it very much. 

Heretical Jargon: The Audacity Of Warner Bros. And DC

Megan Fox Sucks!
She's staring in Jonah Hex....Is anyone else upset by this?  ggrrrr!  And I know it's an optical illusion but does Megan Fox look as if her waist is is a lot smaller than what it should be?  Nice job to the costuming committee at making Fox seem even skinnier than she already is.

I have been told that Jonah Hex is a great comic book to read and I should pick it up.  I've never been a big fan of westerns, but Dan Didio's work on the Blackest Night Tie-In, Weird Western tales definitely peaked my interest.  I think Josh Brolin will rock as the title character, but Megan Fox will tear the movie down as easily as wet toilet paper.  But, I guess Warner Bros. must please their crowd, even if they're wrong.

Wonder Woman is to lame of a super hero, WTF?!?!  I'll be going to watch this film purely to see Josh Brolin kick some major ass and out stage Megan Fox.  Is it a bad sign when an actor or actress pisses you off so much just by the mere mentioning of her name?  Maybe I'll start a Megan Fox hate club, that should make me feel better about life right?

Bruce Wayne To Be Resurrected, DAMNIT!!
I understand that Bruce Wayne is the ONLY Batman and Dick Grayson will never fill his shoes to a satisfactory level, but honestly, how much longer can this constant resurrecting of heroes go on for?  Superman came back to life after dying, As did Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Superboy, Ice, etc etc, the list goes on.  I was really, REALLY hoping that DC would not defile Bruce Wayne by causing him to return from death like everyone else.  I was happy with him dying peacefully the Neil Gaiman way.  But thanks to the evil efforts of Grant Morrison, Bruce Wayne shall return.  I can only hope that Mr. Wayne will not take back the Cape and Cowl and live out his days as Bruce Wayne and let Dick remain as the Dark Knight.


Watchmen 2???
As I'm sure the well informed have heard, there are rumors of a sequel to Zach Snider's Watchman adaption.  Now while I know that every single Watchmen fan is opposed to this, none of us are surprised by the Stupidity of the whole concept.

However, I think fans will be happy to hear that Patrick Wilson, who played Niteowl, according to comingsoon.net had a few conflicting things to say about the possibility of a sequel...

CS: Patrick, I want to quickly ask you about these rumors about the new DC Entertainment and how there's been talk of doing a prequel or sequel to "Watchmen," which might not be true, but have you heard anything about that stuff? I know Zack Snyder has always been against the idea.
Wilson: (shakes head) We always sort of joked, like "What would happen?" but the reality is... I think the movie's great, I had an unbelievable time doing the movie, but actually, from that perspective--it's not that you're ever glad that a movie didn't do $500 million--but for the idea of "Now we've gotta do a sequel," financially it wouldn't even make sense.CS: But I feel that the DVDs and Blu-Ray have done very well with all the different versions.
Wilson: Yeah, but I don't know what you'd ever do with it, I don't know how you'd ever.. the whole point of the movie… CS: ...is that it's one complete story.
Wilson: Yeah, yeah.

Comic Book Review: Weird Western Tales #71

Book Information

Written by Dan Didio

Art by Renato Arlem

Plot

Not even the wild wild west (queue Will Smith) is safe from the oncoming Black Lantern takeover of the world.  A barrage of gun slinging favorites are risen from the grave, including Bat Lash, Super-chief, and of course, Jonah Hex.  Josh Turnbull, who is overseeing an energy project designed to decipher the source of the Black Lantern’s power in an attempt to defeat them, faces his father’s old nemesis, Black Lantern Jonah Hex!  Will the west survive, or will the zombie cowboys and Indians take over to tell tale of how the west was lost?

My Thoughts

As bad of an Executive Editor that Dan Didio is, he certainly makes up for it in his writing style!  We don’t get a lot of opportunities to read Didio’s stuff, but when he has the chance, Didio sure delivers.  The flow from page one to two is outstandingly clever.  Page one presents that classic, Hollywood style old west town, while the transition to page two, with Turnbull answering his cell phone, showing readers we are currently in the present.  It’s a very clever way to distinguish nostalgia and the present.

Speaking of stories that live in the past, while taking residency in the present, but occupying the future, this issue is full of that futuristic western mentality; reeks of inspiration from Buck Rogers and Firefly.  I’ve never been a fan of stories involving cowboys and Indians, even sci-fi related ones, but this was definitely my cup of tea.  When I heard a Jonah Hex film was in the works, I sighed in disappointment.  However, this issue has peaked my interest in Mr. Hex and his story.  I might have to revisit some of my past claims at the stupidity of comic book based in the west.

One thing I do take a little issue with in this resurrected title is the false advertising presented on the front cover.  It states in that popular Black Lantern Oath, “Jonah Hex, Scalphunter, Super-Chief, Firehair, Bat lash….RISE!”  However, as the book progresses, the only time given to any of the said western heroes is Jonah Hex, and even he only receives the spotlight for five pages.  This is not necessarily a bad thing about the book, only a minor distraction.

Who the heck is Renato Arlem, how long has he been in the comic industry and why haven’t I gotten a glimpse of his work more often?  He blew me away with his static, somewhat fuzzy artistic style.  I would typically be turned off by this, but Arlem sure grabbed my attention with his knack for detail.  DC, a word of advice, hire this man more often!!  On that note, the cover art is fantastic!  Bill Sienkiewicz did a number on this gem.  I’m slightly tempted to put this on my nomination list for best cover of 2010!  It’s a long time to go before the end of the year, yeah I know, but it’s still damn good!

Overall

Nothing too innovative or new came out in this issue, it was merely a fun western tale told in the classic way, while still keeping time in the present.  There was a nice twist at the end seeing as the bad guys won!  I’m typically a guy who prefers a “not so typical” type of storytelling, but Dan Didio just showed me that it’s nice to go back and relive what once was.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Movie News: Spider-Man's New Director

James Cameron To Direct Spider-Man Reboot?
James Cameron is being rumored to direct the new Spider-Man reboot franchise.  Apparently James Cameron wrote a treatment to Spider-Man back in 1991, so Sony is looking to enlist Cameron to take the lead in bringing this reboot to life.

I find it unlikely that this rumor is true seeing as how he has six films in development which include a fifth Terminator film, and a film adaptation of the Japanese hit "Heavy Metal."  But even if the rumors do turn out to be true, It worries me because Cameron is mainly known for his "action films" and not so much his "literary films."  I remember watching "True Lies" staring our esteemed governor Schwarzenegger and thinking this was nothing more than a "hit 'em up and shoot 'em out type of film."  This trend of film making follows Cameron like an annoying tick, and he can't seem to get out of that rut.

I'm praying that Cameron will find a decent writer to help boost the Spider-Man franchise up a few notches and put out some quality Spidey films come 2012.

Jonah Hex Reshoots

The entire cast of the upcoming Jonah Hex film is being taken back to L.A. to reshoot multiple scenes and a few new script additions.  Apparently Warner is unsure of their DC adaption and feel it doesn't meet the needed standard to be successful.

From what I'm hearing, it sounds as if the story was lacking substance and needed some revamping.  The newly improved script will now focus on more story based dialog and less on action packed mayhem.  I personally have never read Jonah Hex, but I've always enjoy comics that featured him as a guest star.  He's a rather interesting addition to the DC Universe and I might start picking up the trades for his title.

I am sad to see Megan Fox is in the cast of the film though.  I wish everyone would start to realize that Fox may be a hottie, but an actress she ain't.

Blake Lively Casted As Carol Ferris In Green Lantern

You heard it, an unknown! I'm not too familiar with her, which means new faces are being put into the next big comic book film. Which makes me happy!
That's all for now!