My Haul and Countdown

A light week this week but that means I was able to read some and they were both fucking amazing. i love when i have a small week but each title so far is better then the last.

Here is what I got:
(don't feel like looking up the numbers this week)
Batman
Countdown to mystery
Action Comics
The comic formally known as Countdown

Well like i said up top i got to read a comic in my car during my lunch and i begrudgingly chose Countdown to final crisis.

Oh If you don't want you shit spoiled i would stop here. (by the way i love when podcast tell me they will be spoiling shit that I may not of read. They then go on to say put our cast aside and come pack once you have read your comics. I always intend to do this but what happens is that i listen to so many podcast that It gets so far away that i just end up deleting it. Yes i am a lazy fuck but i hate my shit too spoiled.)

This is Finally the book i was looking for. This is a catchup story to a degree that sort of explains everything that has happened so far (well they do not touch on piper and trickster and there is one line for Mary Marvel). this catchup is told through the eyes of the monitors. They all are discussing what needs to be done to stop the anomalies and after much coercion they decide to no longer sit back and watch but do to war.

We then are shown the Challengers and realise that Jason Todd is an asshole but not as much of an asshole as we were left to think last issue. Kyle is still being written horribly but Bob is a great read.

We are then shown earth 15 were that earths lex luthor is being grabbed by a superman on sorts. He is then told by said superman that he could have achieved order on his universe but he is gone and (i am paraphrasing) fucked things up.

The pacing, writing and art in this book was exactly what I have been looking for. i am so happy that I have not jumped of this book.

Talk to you later,

TJ

Seven Soldiers of Victory Volume 1

Today is a trade review of Seven Soldiers of Victory Vol 1

This book was written (dreamed of(tripped about)) by Grant Morrison with Various artist.

First let me say that the art is amazing. Every single book holds a different style but each is equally beautiful. I can see this getting the absolute treatment because they tend to do that for this sort of artwork. Simone Bianchi, Frazier Irving, Ryan Sook, JH Williams and more. If you are a fan of any sort of art i would suggest that you pick this book up.

The writing is pretty good. i can't say it is great because i still have no clue what the hell i read after 2 days of thinking about it. It is very loosely put together and sometimes it doesn't feel as strong in some issues as it does on others. Very inconsistent. I am saying this as a fan of Grant Morrison. I like a lot of what he has done. But i also feel that i am judging this a bit too early because it is a four volume series and probably all needs to be read together.

Well now to the story. Volume starts of with the zero issue and focuses on The Vigilante. he is putting together a team of seven too take on a big bad. One of the heroes bows out and they are left with six. Here is a SPOILER******* because they are not seven they fail and die. Wow I am thinking Morrison starts us of with these great heroes and kills them all in a matter of 25 pages. The rest of the story of seven soldiers takes place in seven 4 issue miniseries and they are published in trade form in the order that they are published. This volume has Shining Night, The Guardian, Zantana, and Klarion the Witchboy.

Shining knight is a member of the Arthurian legend that is trying to recover magical items for Arthur and to do so has to battle the big bad that I think is the villain of the book. he get to one but is put through a time warp (its just a jump to the left) and ends up in modern day LA with his winged horse. The police capture him and his horse. Here's the trippy part of this story he speaks in old English so the reader has no idea what he is saying.

The guardian is an ex police officer that has been dismissed because he accidentally shot a boy who he mistook for his partners killer. he is down on his look until he sees an article in a gossip paper for a bodyguard of sorts. when he goes for the interview he is tested and is told that the job is for him to become a superhero. Now here is where the acid kicks in here, his wife and child are kidnapped by subway pirates who travel the NY subway lines with name like all beard and No beard. he spends the rest of his time in this volume on the subway trying to save his family.

The Zantana story is the one i was least looking forward too only because i like being introduced to new characters and I already knew about her. This story starts with Zantana in a paranormal 13 steps program saying that she is a spellaholic. She then goes into her history and her fathers. We come to learn that she has also lost her powers. At the end of the meeting she is approached by a young girl that wants to become her apprentice. The girl is somehow a backwards talker already and knows how to cast spells that way. They go to Z's friends place a business (you guessed it a magic store) where we learn that she is being followed by a phantom. A battle ensues where in the end (here comes the peak of the trip) Z says "GNIRB EM EHT NAM FO YM SMEARD" She is then presented with a snow globe sort of thing that has a man sitting on a sort of mushroom. He gets out and then the Phantom Stranger comes in.

Klarion is a pure acid trip that you all should experience on your own. it involves this Salem like town where they are all witches and it was by far my favorite.

Now here is the thing. All of these stories are supposed to connect somehow and maybe i am just too dense but i cannot see it. I was looking believe me i was really looking for anything but nothing was there for my mind to grasp on to. I will continue to read and let you know if it ever completes it goal IMHO.

Bye all

TJ

Phantasm

Time for a movie review.

Well its Halloween time so that means it is time for some Horror movies.

I love the horror genre and there are a lot of "classic" horror movies that i have never seen. Phantasm is one of them.

This movie was very good. The majority of this flick takes place in a funeral home that is run but "the Tall man". He is also has an alter ego that is "the lady in Lavender". it seems to me that Don Coscorelli (the director and writer) wasn't very creative in naming his characters.

The Lady in lavender entices people to the cemetery for some good old fashioned grave fucking. Being that this is made in 1979 there is some boob shots that really don't need to be there but what the hell i am not complaining. There is even one scene the the lady in lavender is about to fuck this one guy and then he takes her top off. The camera is just a wide screen shot of just her boobs and it stays there for a couple of seconds with nothing else happens. God isn't gratuitous nudity great.

Anyway we come to learn that the Tall man is an alien type character that is taking the dead and shrinking them to midget size so that they can be slaves on his home planet. No i cannot make this shit up.

Anyway i thought the movie was actually well made for a low budget 70's horror flick and can see why it has such a cult following. (There is actually a guy at my work that spent $200 on a replica Sphere that has the spikes in it).

My wife on the other had looked over at me in the end and said "Why do you waste my time with this shit." Oh well guess different strokes, right Arnold.

Talk to y'all later.

TJ

An Addiction is born

I have found a new addiction to go with my comics and DVD buying addiction.

let me describe this for you. You go searching around looking for the score you have always wanted but never realized you needed till the minute you see it. You tell the person how much you are willing to spend and then the waiting game starts. You watch the clock and your palms start sweating. You hope that no one wants this thing more then you do. The seconds are moving slower and slower as you see that you are still on top. The faceless being on the other end then tells you that you are tops and you feel like you just won Game seven and the World Series, Stanley Cup, Super Bowl, and the lottery all rolled up into one.

Can you guess what I ma talking about. That's right heroi... I mean EBay.

I have always been weary of this little auction site because i am not the most tech savvy person in the world. I have heard a lot of horror stories about people not getting what they ordered and then people being impossible to contact to try to get your money back. I had no clue what Paypal was or how it worked.

Well i have gotten over any fears I had and started bidding on things a couple of days ago. I need a new computer printer you can recall if you remember reading about the Walmart Scam that I encountered. So i started with Printers. I have lost each and every one of these. i started to think that this was a lot harder then I thought.

I decided to move away from the tech and go for Comics. A friend of mine has told me how great American Flagg! was but mainly just the Chaykin stuff. i saw a listing for the first 26 issues. i put my bid in and it came up at $10.50. There was a day left in this auction so I thought "well I've seen what happened with the printers so there is no way this will stick. i put my high amount at 20 which would have made with shipping all the comics around $1.00 an issue. I was prepared to pay this. I start checking last night when there was only 30 minutes left on the clock and was surprised to see that i was still on top with my initial $10.50. The seconds began counting down and I am now the owner of the first 26 issues of Howard Chaykin's Masterpiece for the mere price of $10.50 plus a little over $5.00 shipping.

This is the greatest invention in the world.
Talk to Y'all later

TJ

My Haul

Well this was one heavy week for the LCS.

I Got:

DC
Blue Beetle #20 (sinestro corps tie in)
Countdown #27
Flash #233
Green lantern Corps #17

Avatar
Doktor Sleepless #3

Dark Horse
Ciminal Macabre: My Demon Baby #2

I have found that i need to be in a certain mood to read my comics. Is this just me or are there others like me out there. If i am not in the right mind I can't use my comics as the escape that i like. Comics have always help me escape the real world and live in my little pocket universes (universi to you scientific fucks). Lately I have had so much shit on my mind that right when I start to read something would happen too bring me right the fuck back to reality. So of course it is only fitting that on a week that I am feeling this way my LCS has all these fucking books for me. Oh Well I guess i will have to trudge through. i hope one of these books is so good it gets me out of this funk i am in (why do we use this term. Funk is awesome. Ever listen to George Clinton and the P-Funk all stars. I saw them live last year in a very small venue and it was by far one of the best concerts that I have ever been to.. I think instead of funk we should use the term easy listening.) So anyway hopefully one of these books will be able to get me out of this easy listening that i am in.

Help me obi wan my comics your my only hope.

Talk to you later

TJ

Bomb Queen: Woman of Mass Destruction tpb vol 1

Today's review is of Bomb Queen Vol 1 TPB

This book was both written and drawn by Jimmie Robinson.

First off I have to thank Mike Myers for Getting me this book. Mike is the Host of Geek Brunch with Heath Holland and it is a great Podcast. You can find it at http://feeds.feedburner.com/GeekBrunch. If you have any interest in Food, Comics and/ or movies (and lets face it if you are reading this blog you do) You should really check these guys out. It is basically a conversation show about the things we love.

Now to the Book. Where has this been all my life. What a fantastic Title. Great Art, Great Action, Great Writing. I cannot say enough good things about this.

The art is a little cartoony and is most definitely not for children. The main character is a villain that has a costume taht shows her nipples and pants that are probably the most impractical things drawn today. Even though the art is a little cartoony it is not that way in the anime style but much more Saturday morning style. The lines are very clean and not scratchy at all.

The writing is amazing as well. It is the perfect mixture of Raunch, comedy and action. You can tell the Robinson has a political agenda that is very much different then mine but i was able to put that aside and enjoy this book thoroughly. He wrote his characters extremely different from each other and was able to hit you over the head with some very raunchy things while doing it a lot subtler in others. Fantastic. Now you all know what a huge Garth Ennis fan I am. I would put this in league with "The Pro" . It is actually much more then that though because these characters have a lot more depth then that character and you can tell that Robinson is creating his own little universe here at Shadowline.

This story centers in a corrupt little town called new Port City. This city has a local government but they are all basically pawns of the Bomb Queen. We come to learn that she was part of a Four woman team of villains but she is the only one left and she now uses this town for all her vices. She is a tech expert and has wristbands that have bombs on them that she likes to use frequently. It is election time in new Port city and this book basically follows the incumbent who is a pawn for the Queen and the person that is trying to beat him who is most definitely against her. he tries to capture her with a superhero but through twist and turns, a lot of action as well as a few camel toe shots we realize that all these attempts are futile.

I loved this book if you cannot tell. I am really looking forward to reading the next Trade and will be picking up anything like this in the future.

TJ

Some Spidey News and My Thoughts

New Spidey Mini Coming out. Read the news below

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=133036

Now this may be the greatest new mini in the world but i will not know because I am putting my foot down on this. This book is not only a retelling of Spiderman's origin ( and i think this will be retelling number one million one hundred and ninety tow but this is the retelling of a two panel segment of Amazing fantasy 15. This book is setting out to tell the history of peter as a wrestling star and doing the late night talk show circuit. Yeah that is a story that we really needed. Sorry marvel I think my $12-$15 can be spent on much better things.

Spidey 3 News

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=133304
Now this movie sucked. I saw it in the theatre and I could not stand it. I had to explain to some non comic fan friends (yes we all have them) about why this movie was so bad. It really didn't come out that long ago and now I am seeing the commercials and thinking "Damn this movie looks great." Stupid brain do not believe marketing. Then they do a promo like this where you know the completist asshole in all of us will want a Brand new Bendis and Bagley comic. The only reason that they do this is because they know that their movie blew and now they need to throw something in to get the Comic fan to buy it. resist my fine feather friends, Resist. (Fuck knows i will be getting it).

Oh well a double dose of Spidey news for you.

Back with some reviews later.

TJ

My Haul

Hi all it is time for that weekly ritual of the My haul blog

Today from the shop i got:

Countdown
Checkmate
Brave and the Bold
The Boys

Now i am writing this from home because I took half a sick day. Normally I might take a half sick day when i am just not in the mood to be there but this was not the case today. I had this pounding headache when i went in today and and it just got progressively worse. Think (if you can) of the headache you might have after a night of drinking a bottle of two of red wine. Well this is what I had but without the fun of having drank said wine. yeah My mind is mush right now and i have to go through a Lamaze class tonight. Fun for all.

Talk to you all later.

TJ

Punisher Annual #1

Time for today's shit


This Book was Written by Mike Benson and Pencilled by Laurence Campbell(i got that spelling from another site although I find it weird. Either I am wrong or brothers parents really wanted a girl named Laura.)

The art was Meh. A little scratchy. not too dynamic. Not big enough for all the action that happens in this book in my opinion. I just tried to see if he did anything else but there were no listings for him on comicdb. ( you should check that site out if you ever have a question about specific issues. http://www.comicbookdb.com.) But it was no mean Humberto Ramos (which is what i will call the worst art my eyes have ever seen). I'll give it a 5 out of 10. Well i just checked again and i was wrong this guy did the work on the Christmas Wolverine issue that came out last year that i loved. i will have to go back and see if the style has changed.

The writing is from TV writer Mike Benson (he wrote for a little show call Entourage). I was a little skeptical about this book at first being a non Ennis written Punisher and having a writer from what is basically a comedy but damn if i wasn't blown away. Great pacing. a little too over the top in some places (do i really need the dialogue of the guy getting blown in the bathroom stall). But hell This was this guys first work in comics and he can only go up from here. There was talk of Ennis leaving Punisher soon (crossing my fingers that that never happens) but if this guy is the one that will replace him I think Frank will be in Good Hands.

This story takes place after a heist gone wrong. Frank shows up and Fucks some people up like he is oh so apt to do. the only survivor is our narrator. it is basically a survival tale of this character trying to stay out of the hands of the Punisher. Like so many great Punisher stories Frank Castle is really just a background character. I love when we learn the lives of the people that he is after. This almost felt like I was reading an issue of criminal until the Punisher eventually shows up.

Even though i have gushed on this book before, i will continue to gush until every free born person buy this book. OK People Who is with me. (I'll now go back to my own little delusional world).

TJ

DMZ Vol 3 TPB Public Works

Today i am Reviewing the third Volume of DMZ which collects issues 13 - 17

This book is written by Brian Wood and Penciled by Riccardo Burchielli

I was first turned on to this book by the Comic Book Savant. Everyone out there should really give his show a try because not only will he offer you great reading advice. He will also mellow out your day with his laid back delivery. (plus yours truly has a segment on his show.)

The art in this book is amazing. It is so much more then the typical vertigo book. It has that realistic edge but not overly so if you know what i mean (if not well then Fuck me). The great thing about this book is the drawing of the backgrounds. Anyone that lives or has lived in the tri-state area will see things in the background that they hold near and dear. As Brian Wood has stated in numerous backgrounds the City play as much of a character in this book as do the people. Now that is not saying that if you have never been to the city you will not enjoy this but it is just an added dimension to the story.

The Writing is amazing. The one thing that I love about the writing in this book is that the story is a very political one. I have listened to Brian Wood on numerous interviews and i know that his politics are very much the polar opposite of mine but he does not let that show too much in this title. Another great thing about this book is the fact that he has the ability to write each character differently. Even without the pictures i would be able to tell when the lead is talking compared to a terrorist compared to some military figure. I think this is a sign of a great writer. i will hop on and try almost anything that i see his name attached to.

This story takes our protagonist undercover. He is working for the "Trustwell" company who is rebuilding part of the DMZ (Manhattan). While working for them he encounters a terrorist cell and befriends them by not snitching. He witnesses them do many atrocities and decides he wants out but in doing so he decided to help a girl that has signed up to be a suicide bomber. I really don't want to say too much more on this because this book is so full of twists and turns that by the end you will be spinning a little. (Of course this is a good things all you fellow dead heads out there).

This is the Trade that I look most forward to each time i see it solicited (or hell when i can figure out when an arc is ending so i know the trade will be there in the next previews). I will pick up anything the Wood does for now on because the writing is just that damn good.

Hope i helped you pick out a winner.

TJ

Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman #23

Well Well Well we finally get One more day part 2

The cover image is not the one i got but Google Images wouldn't pull up the marko icantspellhislastname cover in the 5 minutes that I had the patience for.

This Book is Written by JMS and Drawn(i refuse to put pencilled) by EIC Joe Quesada. (Can we get any more hard names on this book. For fucks sake its like they said Marko Your last name is harder to spell then ours Draw our variants.)

The are it Great in spots but not so much in others. i can't stand the Way Joe Q draws faces. They seem a lot older then they should be. There where a couple of panels with Spidey and his half pulled up mask where I was saying to myself "Who the fuck is under that mask?". (And yes I do talk to myself.) But there were some breath taking scenes as well. he can draw a very good Dr. Strange in my opinion.

The writing here I thought was much better then JMS has been of late in this series. He seemed to have Dr. Strange down and finally found Peters voice. ( well after this many fucking issues and only 2 to go i would hope so.)

The story was decent. may is still in a coma and the Doctors are saying that there is really nothing that they can do so Peter goes to the only Doctor that he thinks will be able to help, Sorcerer Supreme himself Dc. Strange. Doc then tells Peter of the problems with time travel and changing events that have already occurred (Obviously they have not been reading Booster Gold.) Peter Tries to anyhow but is chased by demons and Strange is forced to try to help peter back. The ending was a little strange in my book though because do not know much of Marvel characters. He is met by one that I did not know that says she can help. if anyone can give me a hand on this please leave a comment.

Now to what pisses me off about this book. The backup features. I hate that Marvel is charging me $3.99 for a story that has a couple of extra pages but is made thick with what is essentially an OHOTMU entry for Mary Jane. Hey Joe, i don't think there are that many new readers jumping on to Spiderman with One More Day. if someone out there does not know who Mary Jane is then fuck em. This is not the story for them. Lets save you loyal readers the Fucking Buck and let us use our god damn memory about Mary Jane. She wasn't even featured in this Fucking Book so i had no reason to even have to "learn" about her character. Also I do not give a shit on how you drew four pages or to have a story from the "good old days". How about you save me the dollar and I spend that on another Marvel book (although you all know I would be just using that on a DC Book.)

These backups are really pissing me off and I am here at work so i better stop typing before i throw my computer and get fired

Talk to you all later

TJ

Revision to last review

Well Fuck me. i just started the next Jetta Trade and I was completely wrong about some of the plot points. This is going to be a very quick post. I either didn't read it right or it was revealed in Rain ( the title of the next trade).

Oh Yeah, I just figured out what it is that i don't like about the artwork. Even though the females are beautiful some of the men look the same. One thing that I didn't mention in the review was Jetta's Love of Daniel (a boy she hit with a motorcycle) and her long lost love Kim. The reason I didn't bring this up is because i couldn't differentiate between the two.

The seconds writing is leaps and bounds better then the first so far. I now even more strongly urge y'all to get these books.

I am debating about piking up the zero issue and the prequel as well.

TJ

Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa Defiance

Today i am reviewing an indie book (yes folks i do read more then Just Marvel and DC)

This Book is Written by Martheus and Janet Wade and Pencilled by Martheus Wade

The art in this book blew me away at times and was just OK in others. I think i should add that I am not the biggest Manga fan so if you read this then you can tell what i though was OK. But otherwise the artwork is amazing. Man can this guy draw some beautiful women. They are bust they are scantily clad. They are very pretty. ( i am a little upset that when I got a sketch from Martheus I asked for Batman instead of a woman).

The writing is very good. Although it did not blow me away it still was 100x better then a lot of the indie shit out there. You can tell that they are just starting to feel there way with this character (i may be wrong but that is what i thought).

The story is about a girl whose father was killed in Japan. She is a very powerful martial artist and is training with knowledgeable sensei. The group that has killed her father is now after her and she and the sensei seem to run whenever they get the chance. Well that was until now. The background story is of Shiandrea (Jetta) coping with being this all powerful Martial Artist and also being a Girl who just wants to live life as such.

I would definitely suggest picking this book up. If you are interested go to http://www.toshigawa.com.

I cannot wait to read the next one.

TJ

My Haul

This was another light Week.

Only Three books for me:

Countdown
Friendly neighborhood Spiderman (Marko Djufuckinhard name Cover)
Green lantern.

I also had a previews conference call last night that helped me put together my DCBS order for this month.

Here is what I am getting

PREVIEWS VOL XVII #12
Dark Horse
END LEAGUE #1
UMBRELLA ACADEMY APOCALYPSE SUITE #4
DC
COUNTDOWN TO MYSTERY #4
SALVATION RUN #2
BATMAN AND THE OUTSIDERS #3
CRIME BIBLE THE FIVE LESSONS OF BLOOD #3
GOTHAM UNDERGROUND #3
BOOSTER GOLD #5
SUICIDE SQUAD RAISE THE FLAG #4
GREEN LANTERN SINESTRO CORPS SECRET FILES #1
JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #16
LEGION OF SUPER HEROES CVR A #37
WONDER WOMAN #15
Image
CASANOVA TP VOL 01 LUXURIA
CIRCLE #2
SWORD #3
Marvel
CAPTAIN AMERICA #33
PENANCE RELENTLESS #4
THOR #6
ASTONISHING X-MEN #24
PUNISHER #53
CRIMINAL TP VOL 02 LAWLESS
Indie
STREETS OF GLORY WRAP CVR #3
TOTEM #2
THIRTEEN STEPS #5
BADGER SAVES THE WORLD #1
GHOSTING #5

This thing is amazing I downloaded a spreadsheet and compared what my cost is as to what i would be spending if I would buy it in a comic shop and (I would sit down if I were you because the results are amazing)
For the Next Three Months Comics I ordered
LCS Price: 304.42 (322.69 with tax)
DCBS Price : 174.18(203.53 with shipping and Bags and Boards)

Holy shit I just save myself almost $120.00. How come when I tell the wife i just saved us $120 she is not ecstatic. I know the argument that I could be buy more important things like Clothes and Food but for Fucks sake she can do her own damn nails too right Fellas. Who's with me? I know you are cowering and hoping your wife doesn't go through your history and read my blog. I know you will use the defense like "Can you believe what that jerk off said?" but in your heart of hearts i know there are some of you that feel this way too.

(Oh by the way you can tell that My wife doesn't read my blog because if she did I would have to use the "I was just trying to be funny" defense)

Talk to you all later.

TJ