Comic Book Review: Superman #695

Book Information

Written by James Robinson

Art by Bernard Chang

Plot

Mon-El, having escaped the clutches of General Lane, now has an opportunity to strut his stuff.  But can Mon-El over come the lies being spread by General Lane, and the oncoming attack from Bizarro and the Parasite?  And how will the Science Police deal with the fact that Mon-El has been someone they’ve known for the past few months? 

My Thoughts

As Superman continues to progress with Mon-El at the foreground, the more bored I become of this story arc.  James Robinson has really drug the “World against Superman” storyline out to the point of no return.  Once again, we the readers find ourselves in the midst of another narrative that does not involve General Lane, New Krypton, or anything that would help propel the New Krypton storyline into a successful conclusion.

Robinson is attempting to give Mon-El new direction in preparation for his time on the new incarnation of the Justice League.  Mon-El was thought to be dead during his time in captivity, and now as a way of bolstering up the confidence level among the people of Metropolis, Robinson has him fight The Parasite and Bizarro.  This fight doesn’t do anything to help the story, nor does create a new sense of purpose within Mon-El’s persona.  Along with this, we have the science police whom Robinson has also not served very well either.  This new order of law enforcement being created by Robinson is quite flimsy and weak and I wonder how much of this is going to stick once Superman returns to his own title.

Now one thing I do give Robinson credit for is his ability to build up a mystery.  I’m very interested to see how the Legion plays into this whole story and if everything being unveiled only seems to be contrived in Robinson’s writing.  In addition, the mystery surrounding Jimmy Olsen’s return from his seemingly deadly experience is driving me nuts.  Now, maybe I had read the Jimmy Olsen mini series to understand more of what’s going on, but I certainly want to know what that thing was that seemed to save Olsen’s life.  There are some great aspects of this issue that give a lot of potential for future issues.

The art in recent issues is up and down with me.  This one in particular was decent, although not fantastic.  Bernard Chang typically does a good job, but isn’t consistent enough for my tastes.  He has moments of brilliance, and moments that initiate my artistic gag reflex.  His characters at times are so wooden and lacking emotionally, and other times he is an utter genius and outdoes some of the best artists in the business.  With this issue in particular, generally it goes above the normal artwork quality that has been laid on the pages of Superman.

Overall

The return of John Henry Irons seems to be a fleeting idea with very little purpose, which lies the major problem with the Superman title since Mon-El took over, one too many plots.  When you attempt to jam pack a title with a lot of side stories, the main story becomes less interesting; almost unnecessary.  And the worse part of it…nothing is resolving fast enough for it to work.  Robinson truly is killing the Superman title.

Rating:  4 out of 10 stars

Next Issue Coming February January 27^th, 2010

"Man of Valor" Part 3! Picking up plot threads from ACTION COMICS #885, the Guardian, Nightwing and Flamebird are hot on the trail of General Zod's Metropolis sleeper agent. But just as they're about to uncover who the sleeper is, tragedy strikes, which leads to a completely different revelation. Seeds for this issue's surprising twist were planted all the way back in James Robinson's first issue – so don't miss it!

Comic Book Review: Superman World Of New Krypton #11 (of 12)

Book Information

Written by James Robinson & Greg Rucka

Art by Pete Woods and Ron Randall

Plot

Superman and Adam Strange come closer to solving the mystery of the phantom sniper gunning after the council members of each respective guild.  But the closer they get, the more terrifying the results become.  As the space duo continually pushes through to solve this mystery, they are at the same time threatened by the very people whom Kal-El is trying to defend.

My Thoughts
Out of the eleven issues that have been published in this series, this has got to be the strongest one.  It kept my interest pumping through every page, mainly due to the confidently humorous man that is Adam Strange.  I really had my doubts about introducing galactic space ranger in this series, but Strange has shown a lot of promise.  His ability to subtlety make fun of the idiocy portrayed by the Kryptonians and the detective skills makes you chuckle underneath your breath.

I do get a little frustrated by how dumb these Kryptonians are.  It took an Earthling to show these aliens what it means to be a “super sleuth.”  The intelligence level is not represented well in the Kryptonian race and I blame Mr. James Robinson who has portrayed an entire world of living and thinking beings as no smarter than the humans we know here on Earth.  But of course, that may be the whole point that Robinson and Rucka are trying to make; to allow Superman and Strange to outshine every living being on New Krypton and become the real hero in the reader’s eyes.  Having Rucka on board has really helped Robinson’s below average story telling.  Rucka has always been a top notch writer and he was able to give the WONK series the boost it really needed that Robinson was unable to provide.

Woods and Randall do possess artistic talent, but once again they bring us the quality that is only equaled by a children’s picture book.  I feel as if I’m opening the pages of a baby book, the only difference is this issue is made of paper while a baby book made of cardboard.  The use of color is quite good, but the figures are too wooden and unproportional for me to enjoy the artistic value of the book.

Overall
This series, while fun to read, I fear will be a complete let down once the final issue comes out next month.  I really can’t comprehend why this was made into a separate series.  DC could have kept this whole arc in the actual Superman title and given Mon-El his own mini-series.  I have a feeling that once I read next months issue, I will be left unsatisfied and empty inside from reading this series.  This issue, in and of itself is great thanks to Rucka, but overall, the series I fear is going to be a complete let down.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars

Next Issue Coming February 3^rd, 2010

Now that the conspiracy involving New Krypton's council has been brought to light, can Superman keep his people from tearing each other apart? And what does a skull-shaped ship flying towards New Krypton mean?

Geek News: Star Wars Burlesque...A Nerds Ultimate Fantasy Right?

I found these photos at the L.A. Weekly website.  It's frickin awesome, but at the same time...scary.

It really doesn't get much better than this right?  Oh and for any men getting turned on by the fact that a woman is popping out of a man's body...you might want to reconsider your sexual preference ok...

Comic Book Review: Green Lantern #49

Book Information

Written by Geoff Johns

Art by Ed Benes

Plot

John Stewart takes a trip down memory lane, in the worst way possible.  Can John Stewart endure the emotional torment of seeing the ones he loved back from the grave?  As a former American soldier, Stewart must call upon his life experiences to defeat the oncoming horde of Black Lanterns and show that his serious and stoic manner is not such a bad thing after all, especially when it comes to fighting an entire planet of Zombie Lanterns!

My Thoughts

The re-examination of a character is always an exciting thing.  Green Lantern fans have always listed John Stewart as the most underused Green Lantern in DC’s history.  When taking time to deviate from the regular story to take a deeper look into a character’s personality, the writer must take care in making the story connect with readers in a very emotional way, and this book does just that.

What makes John Stewart so different from the rest of the Corps is his strike force mindset.  While the rest of the corps always rely on the ‘logical’ thing, Stewart calls upon his life experiences and memories of war to battle the hundreds of risen Lanterns out to do him harm.  It was very nice to finally flesh John Stewart out and allow readers to become more familiar with him.  The lesson we learn from this issue…Don’t antagonize a war veteran!  Otherwise, you are in for a major fight!

As much as I like Doug Mahnke and his art in Green Lantern, I almost had an orgasm when I discovered Ed Benes would be doing the artwork for this month’s issue of Green Lantern.  No artist comes close to the talent level of Ed Benes in my humble opinion.  The two paged spread of Stewart using his ring to create his army construct was a detailed stroke of genius.  The battles scenes were also an amazing piece of work in which Bene’s colorists should be given a raise.

Now as much as this issue rocks my face off, I find it strange that this story is found in the regular Green Lantern title.  This feels more like a Blackest Night tie-in and should have been kept separate from main GL titles.  But who knows, maybe Geoff Johns didn’t have enough time on his watch to write a tie-in for Blackest Night, and this might have been something johns had his heart set on writing.  In any case, it is a good issue.

Overall

In and of itself, you couldn’t ask for a better issue.  I found the supplemental story at the end a little strange and corny, but this issue is definitely a must have.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Next Issue Coming January 27^th, 2010

BLACKEST NIGHT spreads with an oversized anniversary issue! Surrounded by friends and enemies, Hal Jordan goes into battle with a being he will never defeat – the Black Lantern Spectre! Can Saint Walker, Sinestro and the others put a stop to this bizarre Spectre rebirth? 

Plus, Atrocitus reveals a tie to a power that may make him the most unbeatable of all the Lanterns!

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!

In Brightest Day.....

Yeah, I'll definitely be picking this up!  This will be a bi-weekly series to start in April.  I wonder if I should wait until it comes out in a trade......

Movie News: More on Spider-Man 4, Green Lantern Starts Filming, Avatar's Grossing Continuation, And Wolverine Two

Post-Production Blues For Spider-Man 4
Things haven't been looking great for Spider-Man 4 recently.  According to comicbookmovie.com, the script has been met with less than enthusiastic criticism.  Below come from an e-mail sent to the script writers....

- More of the same campy, tired scenes by Raimi including starting off with a musical number (while Spidey fights terrorists). Ugh! Raimi wanted "Walkin' on Sunshine" whereas the studio wanted Taylor Swift. Double Ugh!

- Vulture WAS the villain only, get this, Malkovich was set to control the a Vulture 'robot' ala Avatar by laying in a pod and fusing his mind with the Vulture Avatar. The 'Vulture' was set to be 10-ft tall and blue.

- The Pascal and Raimi are battling over where or not JJJ should yell at Peter over his being discontented at his pay to "Go start a blog" vs. "Go tweet a tweet."

- A scene where Peter is in his room watching a youtube clip of a Vulture attack, imagining how he'd fight him when he accidentally shoots out webs. Aunt May comes in and Peter has to hide the mess. Sigh
Additionally, it appears that the personal battle between Raimi and the Studio execs been allowed to affect the script with Raimi deliberately planting ludicrous things in the script just to piss the studio off such as:

- A scene involving full frontal nudity of Peter/Toby.

- A villain named the "Meddler" who gives bad advice to Peter and always butts into his life who is modeled after Pascal.

Now this came from a source that isn't the most reliable.  However, I did happen to stumble upon a qoute from Toby McGuire himself which supports this claim that Spider-Man 4 production is not up to par....

"Like anything, it's a process," Maguire said, "We're just in the midst of the process. We have a lot of great stuff in terms of story and script. We're just trying to dial it in and get it ready as quickly as possible. Of course, these movies are a very big undertaking and take a lot more time than a drama or something more straightforward.  Not only do I have specific ideas, but the ideas are evolving on the page. It's all happening right now. It's all sort of coming together. It's very exciting to me. I think the evolution of the character is really exciting, to be rooted in the history of what we've done already and to have a continuity, yet have a progression or evolution."

However, it is now official that Spider-Man 4 is now scrapped from production. And now a reboot of the entire Spider-Man franchise is being put into motion.  What does that mean?  Exactly what it sounds like, Spider-Man will be taken back to its roots with an all new cast and take on the origin story.

I find this relieving yet awful.  Sam Raimi took the Spider-Man franchise by storm which helped to redefine the comic book movie genre.  It was a daunting task and Raimi did all he could with it.  However, to be honest, the Spider-Man films, while still a lot of fun, aren't great films.  They are exceptionally hokey and painfully over-the-top.  It would be nice to see a reboot of the whole story that takes a much more serious and more mature approach to the hero.

Green Lantern Has The Green Light!

On the 7th of January, Green Lantern was given the green light to begin production!  Filming is to begin sometime in March. This is nice to hear since there have been nothing but delays in getting this film underway.

I'm certainly glad to hear the film is finally going, however I wonder how long it will take to get casting set.  Martin Campbell is not known for his timeliness.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Avatar Keeps Topping The Box Office

It's no surprise that Avatar continually racks up in the cash at the box office, but currently it's going above and beyond expectations.  It's only been out for approximately 4 weeks, only having a 26% decrease in sales, but still grossing a $50 million income.  I would say that's pretty darn impressive if you were to ask me.  Of course this now brings it to the second highest grossing film in history, next to Titanic.

I am, of course, not surprised by this bit of news.  The general public all seem to go for the flashy, more predictable films rather than enjoying the more intelligently written films.  I'm not trying to imply that Avatar is not worth seeing, but it's the visual aspect of the film that makes it worth the price of admission.  The story however, not so much. Films like Lord of the rings, V for Vendetta, From Hell, The Spirit and Sin City are much better films than Avatar purely on how well the script is written.  If you were to take the story in Avatar, and remove the incredible visual effects, you would have a bad film.

I will accept the fact that most people will rant and rave about this film and how "awesome" it is.  But truly, this film is only doing as well as it is because of its visual originality and genius, not because of it's story.

Wolverine the 2nd???

It looks like fan based demand is going to be met.  Hugh Jackman hinted at a sequel to the X-Men Origins: Wolverine film.  At the people's choice award ceremony, Jackman received the award of "actor favorite" by fans.  During his acceptance speech, he mention a film he will be shooting this summer called "Real Steel," following by this qoute, "Wolverine will be back."

According to some sources, the film will focus on his travels in Japan.  This could mean the relationship between Logan and Yoriko will be revealed.  But I certainly hope it is a step up from the below average Wolverine film Marvel Studios put out.

The One Who Will Save Us From Blackest Night Is.....

Oh man, the connection is so obvious that it's disappointing!  However, it is funny.  Nice job whoever you are..

The Heretics Blog Is Looking For Writers!!

Yes, The Heretics Blog is looking for writers to post comic book reviews, movie review, opinion articles, news, and other topics relating to comics, movies and other pop culture and geeky stuff.  Please e-mail Jimmy Trapp at jamesqtrapp@hotmail.com or find me on facebook and ad me.  Please include a description about yourself and why you would like to be apart of the Heretics Blog.  I am looking specifically for Marvel readers so we can equal out the DC/Marvel balance of things.  Thanks and I hope to hear from some interested people soon. Thanks!

Comic Book Review: Blackest Night Wonder Woman #2

Book Information

Written by Greg Rucka

Art by Nicola Scott

Cover by Ryan Sook

Plot

Wonder Woman fights with herself a she does battle with Mera.  Will Wonder Woman be able to break free of the black rings hold on her, or will she fall to the hands of a friend?

My Thoughts

After the first issue of Wonder Woman’s Blackest Night tie-in, I was really excited for this installment.  However, as good as I thought the issue was, I was a wee bit disappointed in its unnecessary storyline.

I opened up the first page to discover that this second issue doesn’t connect with the first.  This isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but it was quite a surprise to discover this.  The other tie-ins for Blackest Night have been series; where as Wonder Woman was more self-contained and segregated from each other.  I wasn’t sure why Rucka decided to do this, or why DC allowed this to happen.  Wonder Woman is such a power horse in the DCU and the potential that was this tie-in was wasted by constructing the three issue spread like this.

I did enjoy the triple dialoging that Rucka put into this story.  Observing Diana Struggle with herself was an interesting approach and a great emotional story telling tactic.  There she was, Wonder Woman fighting off Mera, but deep inside Diana was powerless to stop herself.  We’ve been given two major clues in this series to show that the risen lanterns, and the alive heroes who inherited black rings, aren’t actually themselves when becoming a Black Lantern.  The first was when Deadman’s body rose while his soul was still in tact, and now the second clue lies with Wonder Woman.  Something else is controlling the dead bodies of heroes, while their soul/consciousness remains the same.  Rucka is an incredible story teller, and this issue proves it.

Nicola Scott brings us another incredible display of artistic talent which is constantly portrayed in The Secret Six.  She’s completely on par with Aaron Lopresti and maintains a consistently fantastic array of clean lines and fully expressive faces.  Thank you Nicola for delivering such powerful artwork to DC comics.

I wasn’t sure if I understood the dream sequence Diana had.  What was the point of bringing Batman to her dreams in that manner?  I’m sure we all know that Batman has an even bigger part to play in this story, but it really didn’t make sense.  And having Aphrodite give Diana a Star Sapphire ring seemed rather strange as well.  Is Aphrodite a Guardian, or was it a way of making sense to Diana when she’s was struggling to be free of her Black Lantern state?  I don’t know, do you?  Please enlighten me.

Overall

It is wroth buying based on Rucka’s quality writing, with exception to a few little gripes about the story telling structure.  However, nothing new is pushed into the foreground which makes this issue easy to skip.  This issue would have been better served being published BEFORE Blackest Night #6.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10 stars

Next Issue Coming February 3^rd, 2010

Following closely to the events of BLACKEST NIGHT, this miniseries event concludes as the Amazonian Princess comes to terms with who she is and what her role is in the world. But will her acceptance make her more appetizing to the Black Lantern hordes – or could that emotion be their undoing?

Lego's Blackest Night!!!

This photos was just too awesome not to post.  I found this on another person's blog, Geek Orthadox.  It would be cool to have another Lego video game based on Blackest Night.  How twisted would that be?  What type of aspects of that type of game would you like to see?

There's a couple of hilarious aspects of this photo I find amusing..
1st - Batman is alive and kicking
2nd - Of course it's Power Girl who debuts the first set of Lego boobies. 
3rd - Is it just me, or is Black Hand grinding to nothing?
4th - I know they are Legos, but the zombies sure don't look scary!


Best photo of the year thus far!

Comic Book Review: Wonder Woman #39

Book Information

Written by Gail Simone

Art by Aaron Lopresti & Matt Ryan

Cover by Aaron Lopresti

Plot

Wonder Woman undergoes some major changes within her world and her personality.  With a massive attack by an aquatic monster, released by the traitorous Alkyone, and Zeus trying to maintain his proclaimed rulership of Themyscira, Wonder Woman must now fight back her rightful place as Wonder Woman and win back the respect of her fellow amazons.  Plus!  We finally learn the strange reason for Wonder Woman’s lighting producing abilities.

                                                  

My Thoughts

It’s obvious that Gail Simone’s purpose from the get-go was to establish Wonder Woman in a much more relevant and powerful light within the DC Universe.  Having redefined many of the characters in Wonder Woman’s life, such as Zeus and Hippolyta, and giving Wonder Woman and much more dominant place within DC, Wonder Woman has finally been placed upon a pedestal that is deserving of the long winded DC heavy hitters.

The story begins with Wonder Woman fighting off the monster unleashed by the scheming Amazonian warrior, Alkyone, who claimed Diana to be the offspring of the satanic beast.  This was rather strange, yet interesting even though I’m not sure I fully understood the reasoning behind that claim.  I had always been under the impression that Wonder Woman was not conceived, but made from the very sands of Themyscira.  This aspect of the storyline seemed rather contrived and out of place, especially since it didn’t seem to affect the Amazonian Princess or Hippolyta in the least.

Aside from that rather confusing and unnecessary part of the story, the plot progresses positively and left us with even more to look forward too later this month!  I’m actually quite sad Alkyone was killed; she was such an interesting villainess who truly believed this new path she was leading the Amazons down was the correct path that would only benefit her people, bringing the two separated colonies together in peace.  Of course, knowing DC and their powers of resurrection, they may bring her back to once again to challenge Wonder Woman.

The main storyline focused on the relationship of Zeus and Achilles with the rest of the Island of Themyscira.  To watch Hippolyta herself rise up against Zeus was an incredible sight to see.  Maybe you feel I’m being silly and rolling you’re eyes at me, but in the face of a God who controls the power of lighting and could vaporize me in an instant, I’m not so sure I could hold my ground and fight back.  But I’m sure we all can relate to the difficulty of standing up against the religious powers of America and how scary it can be.  But an even more powerful, and humbling sight was Zeus finally find himself powerless against the Amazons.  Here we have the womanizing and egotistical Zeus saying he is powerless and confused about what was happening.  I found it very…to put in his own words…mortal.

The pregnancy overhaul continues to shock and amaze me.  Next month should be interesting as this new story arc descends upon us and begin to explain what Ares’ dastardly plan actually is.  I have my theories, but I should never jump the gun when it comes to Gail Simone.  Now, even though the power of lighting within Diana’s bracelets has been made a permanent characteristic of Wonder Woman (kind of corny and ridiculous if you ask me!) I still look forward to how it assists or hurts Wonder Woman’s life as a hero.

Poor art and composition is NOT a defining feature of Lopresti’s artwork.  Month after month I praise Lopresti as an artist to the same degree with Simone as a writer.  There is nothing but strong figures, incredible compositions and beautiful scenery, which is a consistent feature of Lopresti’s artwork.  Not only that, but he knows exactly how to compliment Simone’s story telling better than any artist in the business.  Lopresti is THE Wonder Woman artist and DC would be stupid to enlist the artistic talents of anyone other than Lopresti when it comes to Wonder Woman.

Overall

And above average issue.  It contained a powerful storyline which is propelling us into a new storyline with a lot of potential.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars

Next Issue Coming January 27, 2010

Written by Gail Simone

Art by Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan

Cover by Aaron Lopresti

Wonder Woman faces The Crows! Five mysterious young men with a dark and terrible secret have arrived on Paradise Island with one mission: To kill Wonder Woman!

Pedophile Batman and Superman

These photos are all over the web, so I'm sure you've seen them before.  However, I think they are priceless so I decided to post them on my blog.  So funny, yet so disturbing!

Comic Book Review: Blackest Night #6 (of 8)

Book Information

Written by Geoff Johns

Art by Ivan Reis & Oclair Albert

Plot

Having failed to stop the Black Lantern corps by combining all spectrums of the light, the leaders of the different corps have turned to Ganthet to deliver them from this deadly situation.  As the rest of the world fights on to defeat Nekron and his continually growing corps, Ganthet calls upon the assistance of some very unexpected individuals.  But the question still remains, what is the fate of our beloved heroes who escaped death and are now under the rulership of Nekron?

My Thoughts

So, not having access to a comic book store that took advantage of DC’s “Green Christmas” early bird special over Christmas, I was subject to hearing all the great, unexpected surprises issue #6 brings to the table.  And of course, it does!  However, I’m not entirely sure if this issue is deserving of all the praise it has been receiving.  Maybe it’s the fact that I was bombarded with raving reviews and expected too much, but I am unable to get as excited about it as the rest of the world.

Of course the issue is fun and exciting to read, however the first half of it is more of a recap of what we already knew.  In fact, I would say the only new realization we come to is how the Lantern rings have the ability to replicate themselves another ring, in which case Ganthet sends those replicated rings out to find worthy alleys in this battle against the Black.

I do wonder what the point of reintroducing Ganthet back into the Green Lantern Corps was supposed to accomplish.  For starters, aren’t the guardians their own living power battery?  Why does he need a ring?  Was it for the sole purpose of replicating the rings?  And if so, did I miss a key story line that helped outline the fact that the Green Light controls the others?  That part of the issue felt very contrived and forced in my opinion.

Now, the second half of the book is quite entertaining.  It all seemed to fit so perfectly, like all of the original creators of the Flash, Atom, Scarecrow, Wonder Woman, Mera and Lex Luthor had divinely ordained Geoff Johns to one day write this story.  Flash getting the Blue ring of hope, Wonder Woman receiving a ring of love, Lex Luthor selfishly nabbing onto an orange ring, Mera spurting blood as a red ring wraps around her finger, Atom taking hold of an Indigo ring of compassion, and Scarecrow being inducted into Sinestro’s corps of fear…It’s absolutely perfect.  Almost too perfect!  I wonder if this plan of action by Ganthet will play out like his hoping.  And what will this mean for the future of these heroes?

Ivan Reis again takes my breathe away with his spectacular artwork.  The interesting thing I’m finding to be a common thread with this series is, the further along we get, the brighter each issue seems to become.  The covers were very dark toned in the beginning.  But as the stories progress, the more colorful and bright they become.  If this was on purpose, kudos to the artistic team!  Wonderful work and I can’t wait to see what happens next month!

Overall

A lot of fun, but a little underwhelming.  Not what I thought it was going to be…which could be part my problem.  However, without a doubt this issue has started something that is going to take the DCU by storm!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Next Issue Coming February 24, 2010

Sorry, but the cover says it all.  We wont know anything till February 24.  AAHHH!!!

Movie News: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Trailor

This isn't this best quality video, but ti's the best I could find on youtube.  Wait until after 40 seconds, and the trailer will start.

Movie Review: The Princess and the Frog

Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements

Screenplay by John Musker and Ron Clements

Loosely based on E.D. Baker’s “The Frog Princess”

Plot

In an attempt to quench the thirst of fans who desire a return to the 2-D Disney animation style, the said company now brings its animation studio back to life with it’s first full length animated feature film, The Princess and the Frog.  Tianna, an independent young teenager living in 1920’s New Orleans, pushes herself beyond her peer’s expectations in order to pursue her dream of opening a restaurant of her own.  However, things go dreadfully wrong when a mysterious witch doctor, who will sacrifice the entire town of New Orleans to obtain riches and glory, turn Tianna and an obnoxious prince into a pair of frogs, and she only has a limited amount of time to change herself back again.  With the help of new found animal friends, she tries to find her way to humanity again and put a stop to the with witch doctor’s evil plot.

My Thoughts

I had my doubts about this film the first time I saw a preview for it.  Those doubts continually ballooned more and more as I constantly saw the previews.  From and entertainment standpoint, the film does its job.  It introduces lovable characters combined with wonderful humor and beautifully diverse animation styles.  But from a sociological standpoint, the film not only continues its sappy “searching for true love” type of story telling, but it borders on being a culturally insensitive storyline.

The story is roughly set in 1920 in New Orleans.  The setting and scenery are reminiscent of the world of Huckleberry Finn; very dirty and deep in the south, yet still has this upper class, elitist aura about it.  The film itself is very period appropriate and well researched with its accurate depiction of landmarks and machinery. (Steamboats, housing structures.)  However, the film forms a new picture of the south under the jurisdiction of Jim Crow, where we have a happily integrated hue of black and white folk.  Now being someone who doesn’t mind if a film is historically accurate, I do wonder if presenting a false interpretation of a terribly racist time period is a safe approach to take, especially with how influenced today’s youth is by film, TV and other related media.

Now, this “Disney Princess” story does break a few rules when compared to past animated films.  This film’s Protagonist, a young upper teenaged woman named Tianna, whose drive to open her own restaurant outweighs her need to find true love, which is close to non-existent.  Tianna even sacrifices time with her friends in order to save enough money to buy her restaurant.  This is not a common thread of a typical Disney Princess film; rather the film presents an argument that happiness does not magically appear on a silver platter, you have to work hard for what you want.  It’s quite refreshing to see Disney taking this new route.

However, this new direction only stands firm for the first half of the film.  We, the audience, are then spoon fed the classic, campy love story that also depicts a false sense of happiness and love.  Tianna, in the beginning of the film, is shown as a headstrong, independent female whose dependence on a man is slim to none.  However, at the same time, she doesn’t find happiness until she finds a man.  Here we have another false image of life being instilled in our young girls and boys, accepting the fact that women can only be truly happy if they have found true love.

Now the film has great artistic sense with the different animation styles.  Tianna’s fantasy was a fantastic musical number which was fun to watch and listen too.  I was even more impressed with the number of animators that worked on this film.  I have a lot of respect for artists/animators who have the ability to create very similar art; as if the film was drawn and animated by one person.  Along with that, the music is equally as good, yet not as memorable.  The music in past Disney 2-D films such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King were musical works of art in all their corniness.  The music in this film, while the songs were very well done, is not something I would want a steady diet of.

The films characters were all very lovable and contain the “over the top” expressions which truly define the classic Disney personalities.  Prince Naveen was hilariously arrogant and idiotic, which made him the comic relief!  And even though he looked strangely familiar to Prince Eric, Aladdin, and all the other Disney Princes, he seemed to be filled with more life and a love for being alive than all the other Princes in the Disney Repertoire.

 

Conclusion

A decent and fun film.  While the story can be found in most Children’s and family films, it is original in its own way.  It does raise a few eyebrows with me in the culturally sensitive department, and I did wonder if the film was going to end sooner rather than later, I did enjoy myself.  I won’t be going out of my way to purchase this film however.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

World Of Warcraft Catches A Drug Dealor!

According to Yahoo News, World of Warcraft was instrumental in discovering a fugitive drug dealor and tracking him down.  Below is the entire article.  Click HERE to go to the actual website with the article on it.

Criminals can run, but they can't hide. Especially if they play World of Warcraft.

Just ask Alfred Hightower. Having successfully left the country to avoid being nabbed for dealing drugs, the fugitive figured he was home free. But thanks to his insistence on keeping up with his World of Warcraft habit, Hightower was tracked down by authorities and is now in custody, reports The Kokomo Perspective.

The saga begins in 2007, when Indiana's Howard County Sheriff's Department issued a warrant for Hightower's arrest on charges of dealing in multiple controlled substances. U.S. Marshals were unable to locate the suspect, although a tip placed him in Canada.

According to Howard County deputy Matt Roberson, authorities came upon the Warcraft connection during their investigation into Hightower's background.

“We received information that this guy was a regular player of an online game, which was referred to as ‘some warlock and witches’ game,” he told The Perspective. “None of that information was sound enough to pursue on its own, but putting everything we had together gave me enough evidence to send a subpoena to Blizzard Entertainment. I knew exactly what he was playing — World of Warcraft. I used to play it. It’s one of the largest online games in the world.”

Blizzard played ball, giving up Hightower's account history, IP address, screen name, billing address and preferred game server. One Google Earth search later, and Canadian authorities had apprehended Hightower in Ottowa, Ontario.

“You hear stories about you can’t get someone through the Internet,” said Roberson. “Guess what??You can. I just did. Here you are, playing World of Warcraft, and you never know who you’re playing with.”

Warcraft is just the latest ally in gaming's war against crime. Several weeks ago, police tracked down a New York thief by tracing his online gaming on a stolen Xbox. Federal officials have even begun using Sony'sPlaystation 3 to crack passwords used by child pornographers.

This has to be one of the most amazing things I've ever read!  I never even thought about police using online gaming as a detection tool.  Hopefully this can be used to the advantage of the authorities in positive ways.  

I can see this becoming a problem with gaming fanatics, claiming this is an invasion of privacy.  However, I do believe that this whole online gaming age must remember this...It's an online community, and you have to be careful with what you do online.

Best Of 2009: Top 5 DC Comics Covers

5. Detective Comics #853
I was hooked on this cover when I first saw it.  The usage of red and black is incredible.  And the idea of Gotham City as Batman's coffin was a stroke of genius.

4. Secret Six #12
I don't know what it is, but this cover is amazing to me.  It could be the subtlety of Wonder Woman's upper and lower portion of her body peering in and how realistic it looks.  One of my favorites.

3.Wonder Woman #33
This cover blows me away!  I love the use of digitally enhancing the foreground and background, and how the only thing really clear is Wonder Woman's face.  It's a perfect visual description of Wonder Womans's feelings at this moment in her story.

2. Power Girl #5
Maybe it's my crotch speaking, but really, this cover is fantastic!  It sends a real clear message of "you can look, but if you touch I'll break your arms off!"  But even so, the background is gorgeous, and the cape flying behind her fantastically detailed!

1. Batman #684
Come on, you have to admit that this cover is beautiful.  The streaks of light beaming through through the objects in front of it are incredible.  The work it must have taken to put this piece of art together must have been immeasurable.  I dare anyone to challenge the fact that this cover does not beat out anything else that DC comics, or any other comic company has put out for 2009.

Comic Book Review: Supergirl #48

Book Information

Written by Sterling Gates

Art by Fernando Dagnino & Raul Fernandez.

Cover by Josh Middleton

Plot

Silver Banshee has returned, but this time with a different task in mind.  As the Banshee closes in on the artifacts that will help release her from the family curse, Supergirl must find a way to save her friends and family from the destructive path of screaming ghoul.  Meanwhile, the mystery surrounding Lana Lang’s illness begins to unravel, yet at the same time becomes more confusing.  With time running out on both of these problems, Supergirl must figure out how she can stop Silver Banshee while finding a cure for Lana’s unknown disease.

My Thoughts

What is the most common complaint we’re hearing about the World of New Krypton storyline?  The answer is this, the fact that it spreads across four different Superman titles and is usually unnecessary for the plot.  Surprisingly, most of the stories in the main Superman title are the boring and ridiculously stupid ones.  The only reason I’m even picking up Superman right now is because I subscribed to it before the whole World of New Krypton saga began.  Which is what makes the Supergirl title so impressive right now, it’s going along with its own story, while maintaining and supporting the current World of New Krypton saga.

In this issue there are two plot devices going on as stated above in the “plot” section, and the master that is Sterling Gates melds the two together into this one book very well.  I had never known about Silver Banshee’s past, which is great!  Now whether or not this new revelation of the Banshee’s past was made for this issue specifically I don’t know, but it still made for a fantastic twist on the character.  I’ve always thrown Banshee out as an insignificant villain in the life of Superman.  This new back story, however, gives a refreshing new look at the goddess of scream which should help boost up her status with Superman fans.  Now granted this type of plot device is very common; finding a set of ancient artifacts to help lift a family curse is an overused and underwhelming addition to the villainess.  However, Sterling Gates intelligently makes this plot device interesting with the painful memories of Siobhan McDougal and her patriarchal family.  It will be fun to see how this race to get the artifacts before Banshee does will play out.

I am having a little trouble buying into conflict between Lana and Supergirl.  The whole situation seems a wee bit contrived and forced.  I certainly hope an original ending comes out of this and she doesn’t die without some sort of explanation of her new found disease.  I do want to know what it is exactly, don’t you?

The artwork is good, with some minor problems.  Matt Camp last month brought us some exceptionally clean lines and emotional faces, and new artists to the title Fernadez and Dagnino bring that exact same style to this issue.  However, my complaint is, when you see someone or something from far away, the quality diminished.  The close-up’s are fantastic, but the further a panel panes away from a person, the more the quality of the art goes away.  It’s nothing huge, but as an artist myself, this minor aspect bugs the heck out of me.

Overall

A good issue.  This might even make my top ten.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Next Issue Coming January 27, 2010

This is it! The moment you've all been waiting for, as Supergirl takes on −>kkkzzzt< "WE INTERRUPT FOR A DAILY PLANET BREAKING NEWS BRIEF: Lana Lang, Business Editor of The Daily Planet, passed away this morning from undisclosed causes. She is survived by her ex-husband, former President of the United States Pete Ross, their son, Clark, and her niece, Linda. More on this story as it develops." >fzzt< − story you won't want to miss!

Pac-Man, The Worlds Most Recognizable Game Personality Is.....

As revealed to me at 9:00 this evening, Pac-Man has now been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recognizable gaming character in history.  So yes, that means he's above the Mario Bros, which shocked the hell out of me!  I would have thought Mario and Luigi would have taken that trophy.  But it does make sense, Pac-man has been around sense before I knew I was cool enough to play video games.  It has transcended beyond anything most people could imagine.  Pac-Man has a huge cult following and rightfully deserves this "Most Recognizable" award.

Click here to go to the actual article





Other awards were as follows....

Biggest Selling Video Game of All Time: Wii Sports, with over 46 million sold

Highest Grossing Video Arcade of All Time: NBA Jam, making $1 billion in its first year


Longest Time Spent Playing an MMORPG:  Sara Lhadi logged 16,799 hours grinding away in  Runescape between November 2004 and October 2009 (I guess she hasn't stopped). That's nearly 700 days, which is nearly two solid years of game time! Also, that averages out to 9 hours 20 minutes a day

Largest Collection of Pokemon Memorabilia: 12,113 unique Poke-things make up UK-resident, Lisa Courtney's real life Pokedex.

Most Popular Puzzle Game of the Century: This one goes to Bejeweled, which is likely sitting in your pocket as we speak. The game accounts for about one-third of PopCap's 1 billion game downloads.

Most Recognizable Video Game Character:  Pac-Man. 94 percent of American consumers recognize the pellet-gobbler, edging out Nintendo's plumber by just one percent.

Number 1 Video Game Series (As Voted By Readers): Halo

Comic Book Review: Power Girl #7

Book Information
Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray
Art by Amanda Conner

Plot

A planet unknown to Earth called Valeron has undergone a drastic, catastrophic event…infertility!  A massive contraceptive bomb attack by the Kashkovan alien race renders all of females infertile and unable to conceive children.  Vartox, ruler of Valeron decides he must do the manly deed and seek out a wife who can help ensure the continuation of the Valeronian race.  Who do you think he’s going to pick?

My Thoughts

As always, the writing team of Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti brings a painfully delightful issue filled with the typical porn innuendos and 70’s retro shout-outs.  This issue in particular went above and beyond at making its readers hate and love this style of writing.  Be warned, this issue is not for those who want an angst driven story or a riveting and overly emotional plotline; rather this issue brings a lot of laughs and bosom heaving fun!

I opened up this book, and as soon as I read Vortexes promise to find a wife to keep his planet flourishing with hard-working men and submissive women, I thought of only one person…Maxima!  This story is almost a carbon copy of Maxima’s, how she goes out looking for her male equivalent to claim as a husband.  However, the difference is Maxima and Superman are beautiful people.  Power Girl is a bombshell as we all know, but Vartox…not so much.  This could have been Gray and Palmiotti’s purpose as we have become accustomed to reading a “beautiful people” comic book, where Power Girl’s hard-body is as perfect as every male and lesbian would want it to be.  Then enter Vartox, whose hairy body and unattractive porn star mustache leaves very little to be admired.  Gray and Palmiotti attempt to point fingers at our superficial and over-the-top expectations about what “beautiful people” need to look like by way of introducing a character with a hideously exposed, hairy physic and third person speech pattern.

Amanda Conner does her normal quality work by reaching into the inspirational film styles that are the 70’s retro movies and campy porno visuals with the nice pink throw pillows and multi-colored throne room.  But Conner also delivers her talent of drawing the most expressive faces in comics today.  Now, even though Conner’s style is more cartooney and fun than most other titles, she has established herself as one of the better artists in comics and I hope she sticks with Power Girl for a long time.

Overall

A great issue, worth it’s weight in gold.  There was nothing new about it, view it as a huge shout out to all the campy and over the top story telling that came before us in our late 20’s were born.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Next Issue Coming January 20, 2010

Vartox has already taken out Dr. Mid-Nite to win Power Girl's hand in marriage, and now he's made Power Girl mad!  And that's the last thing you wanna do... 

Happy New Year From The Heretic's Blog!!!

Happy new year from the Heretic's Blog!  Safe travels to all!  Make good of your new year resolutions and, in the words of Bill and Ted, be excellent to each other!
Excelsior!