Thursday, June 30, 2016

JUDAS MAIDEN


The latest album artwork from Iron Maiden and Judas Priest go well together!

LOST TRIBE OF THE SITH


I picked this book up for $4 at a used bookstore. I didn't know they had collected these stories - I had been under the impression they were all eShortStories. 

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

BRYAN SINGER'S X-MEN MOVIES ARE RACING TOWARDS 1996's 'GENERATION X'


SUPERMAN REBIRTH COSTUME DESIGN




The New 52 is gone and with it is Superman's Kryptonian Armor
Above is the new costume design.

A few thoughts.....



1) He looks like he forgot to put his boots on.
(I won't get into the lack of red trunks)




2) He looks like ULTRAMAN


3) I really dislike the WRIST BANDS.

Superman doesn't need elements of armor. 
And these disrupt the design flow to his hands...
heroic hands you'd feel safe shaking.


4) Back to the Super Socks. It reminds me of Dr Seuss characters.



5) He also looks like he's wearing a full pajama suit with feet.


6) Patrick Gleason's early rendition looks so much better, which has a YELLOW BELT and RED BOOTS. In the above pic, I also removed the wrist bands.

Basically, I think Superman works best in his classic costume. For those who want the trunks gone, so be it - just have the "belt" include yellow to continue the balance of flow from the S-Shield. In the end, Superman should look like a HERO, be a visual beacon for Hope, and appear to be approachable to anyone in need. 


6) I wish 'Rebirth' Superman kept the beard for a little while longer


7) I'm sorry, but I can't let the socks thing go.


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Regarding the New 52 Armored Design:


For me, my main issues were the armor lines - I just didn't like them, aesthetically speaking. Plus, why would Superman wear body armor?

I also didn't like the lack of yellow in the belt area. It made the design dull and bland. Superman should be striking - a light in the dark.

And speaking of the belt area... a belt without the trunks felt odd. Like someone wearing a belt with no pants. But the added yellow could fix that, I think.

Below are a couple renditions with slight modification tweaks. Primarily take note of the added yellow to the belt - I think it makes a huge improvement.

If you removed the armor lines from the 2 above (and the stupid JRJR hand sleeves), I think it would have been a more acceptable design for the New 52. At least for me.

DARTH SKULL


SUPER FRIENDS GENDER SWAP


by Jasric

GAME OF THRONES / STAR WARS MASH-UP


GHOSTSBUSTERS III (SORT OF)


* this post is from Screen Rant:

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Fans can probably agree on is that it sure would have been cool to get a third Ghostbusters film with the original team. Unfortunately, that obviously never materialized, and Harold Ramis’ death in 2014 effectively put the kibosh on it ever happening in the future.

Of course, while Ghostbusters III never made its way to multiplexes, fans got a pretty cool substitute back in 2009, in the form of Terminal Reality’s Ghostbusters video game for PS3 and Xbox 360. For those who never played it,Ghostbusters: The Video Game was set in 1991 — a mere two years after the events of Ghostbusters II – and featured the return of Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Bill Murray to their roles for the first time in decades, at least in voice form. The story — penned by Ramis and Ackroyd — cast the player as a new recruit to the team, who is being trained by the veteran foursome. When evil architect Ivo Shandor returns to Earth to complete Gozer’s unfinished business from the first film, it’s up to the now five-man squad to save the world once again.

At the time, Ghostbusters: The Video Game was cited by many as the third movie that always should have been made, but never came together for various reasons. With that in mind, a dedicated fan of the franchise has taken the time to edit together and combine all the story cutscenes with relevant gameplay footage in order to create a full-length, plot-coherent Ghostbusters III animated movie.


Beginning with film-like studio logos and a nicely done opening credits sequence complete with title graphic, the full cut runs for a rather lengthy two hours and 22 minutes. That’s nearly 20 minutes longer than the first Ghostbusters film, and over a half hour longer than Ghostbusters II. Still, one has to admire the effort involved in putting this together, even if the final product comes with flaws inherent to the footage being made for a game and not a movie.

For instance, the gameplay footage is all from a fairly zoomed out, mostly static third-person camera angle, which works great in the interactive realm but isn’t so compelling to just sit and watch unfold visually. At the same time, the story is quite amusing, full of classic returning characters — voiced by their original actors — and mountains of inside jokes and fan service sure to delight those who can’t get enough of the first two films. Is this as satisfying as a real third movie would have been? No, but for diehard fans, it’s certainly better than nothing.
___

JimSmash Comment: 2 hours and 22 min?!?!?!!

* this post dedicated to: Tim Prowant, Chris Norris, Shane Coleman and Dylan Battles.

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

FUNKO POP: LAYBRINTH


Available this September


THE NEW 52 - SO WHAT WAS GOOD?


So DC's 'NEW 52' is finally fucking over and 'REBIRTH' appears to be pretty damn good (so far). I've had a few friends ask me if there was anything good/decent in the New 52, so I thought I'd post some recommendations for those wanting to pick up some cheap books in Convention Discount Bins this summer.

I could devote an entire blog about what I hated about the New 52, but instead I'll try to focus on the positive....

For the most part, I thought there were only TWO really good, note-worthy single issues out of the New 52. So we'll hit those real quick....

ACTION COMICS #9 and SUPERMAN #51

Action Comics #9 (by Grant Morrison and Gene Ha):
President Superman of Earth 23 and lovely motifs about creator rights and the dilution of character properties.

Superman #51 (by Tomasi and Janin):
Part 1 of "The Final Days of Superman". I found this one touching, particularly his relationship with Lana Lang. 

Now onto noteworthy runs/arcs....

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The best books of the New 52 were those LEAST effected by the reboot - those titles that were more-or-less an uninterrupted flow from an in-progress run:

BATMAN AND ROBIN
by Tomasi and Gleason

I hated the character of Damien when he first appeared, but Tomasi actually made me love him during his run. Issues 1-18 are a must have for your Batman shelf. 

BATMAN: COURT OF OWLS
by Snyder and Capullo

The first story arc, "The Court of Owls" (#1-7), is a fantastic Bat-Story and also worthy of your Bat-Shelf. I advise stopping here... "Night of Owls" was disappointing and the title shits the bed after that.

GREEN LANTERN and SINESTRO
by G.Johns, Mahnke, Bunn and others.

This recommendation is about the Sinestro stories, which flow right out of Johns' pre-New52 'Green Lantern'. I love John's Sinestro and later Cullen Bunn continues the "right voice" with the 'Sinestro' solo series. Recommended Reading: GL #1-12 and Sinestro #1-23.

The above books are all Shelf Worthy, IMO.

Now onto the others....

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Okay, so now let's move onto the "REALLY GOOD, BUT NOT NECESSARILY STELLAR CLASSICS" group of books:

WONDER WOMAN
by Azzarello and Chang

What if WW was a Vertigo book? I enjoyed this run, but didn't care for Diana's retconned origin. Instead of "Born of Woman", she's now "Bastard Child of Rapie Zeus". But the story that transpires from that setup is intriguing and Chang's art is fantastic. Again, think of this more as a self-contained Vertigo/Elseworlds book and you'll enjoy it more.

AQUAMAN
by G. Johns and Reis (and Pelletier)

It's a bit quirky in parts, but overall this is a really fun read. The first 2 storylines are nice setups for the next 2 more epic storylines "Throne of Atlantis" and "Death of a King". The coloring by ROD REIS and later RAIN BEREDO is superb and holds it all together! 

BATWOMAN
by J. H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman

This is more-or-less an continuation of sorts from the pre-New52 run by Greg Ruck and JH Williams III. The story is ok, but the Williams art is gorgeous. Despite DC Editorial fucking the ending, it's still a nice story. I recommend the issues with JH Williams' art, but the McCarthy issues are pretty, too.

EARTH 2 and EARTH 2: WORLD'S END
by Robinson, Taylor and others

This is set on a different Earth entirely (Earth 2) and is not bound by ANYTHING. If I was to describe this book with just one word, it would be "EPIC". The first arc sets up the world and characters, then goes through a semi-slow world-building burn and about a 3 issue boring arc (IMO) with Dr Fate. But by issue 18 things kick into gear and never lets up! So power through the great world-building issues and then enjoy the crazy, epic adventure of Earth 2 #18-32, then Earth 2: World's End #1-26! 

NEW 52 KRYPTON STUFF
by Various

I'm a sucker for Kryptonian Imagery and the New 52 had some really fun takes on Krypton and its history.  Superman #0, Supergirl #0 and the first 7 pages(?) of Action Comics #3 have some great Krypton visuals. I really dig the design work here.

Then we have Batman/Superman #3.1 :Doomsday, Superboy #0 and Action Comics #23.2: Zod for some great History of Krypton. The new take (within these issues) of Doomsday and Clones are interesting ones. 

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And lastly, here are some "FUN, BUT NOT GREAT" books. These are especially ripe for Quarter Bin binge reading:

FOREVER EVIL
by G.Johns, Reis and Finch

This is a fun story of the Injustice Gang invading Earth, defeating the Justice League (off panel) and wrecking havoc to the planet. The Villains we know and love must fight back to save the day. There's also a nice offshoot book "Forever Evil: Rogues Rebellion" which is a lot of fun if you're a fan of the Flash's Rogues.

GREEN ARROW
by Lemire and Sorrentino

This is what the New 52 Green Arrow should have started with. While the stories are ok-to-decent, and Oliver Queen is kind of a lame kid who talks empty talk, the real appeal is Sorrentino's artwork. The storyline "Outsiders War" was pretty sweet. This is collected in an oversized hardcover.

SUPERGIRL
by Green and Johnson

I really enjoyed the first dozen or so issues of this primarily due to the art by Mike Johnson. I dig the new costume design (even with the weird red crotch patch) and his Kryptonian designs are really cool. I've been very pleased with the New 52s demise and rebirth with "Rebirth", but will mourn the ending of this incarnation. 

SUPERMAN / WONDER WOMAN
by Soule, Daniel, Tomasi and Mahnke

The first issue is abysmal, but if you power through (or skip it entirely) the first arc is really fun (#1-6) - ZOD and FAORA!!! Then you can jump to issue 13 when Tomasi and Mahnke take over. From there until the series' end is pretty fun, which is exactly what you'd expect from that creative team.

PAK/KUDER'S ACTION COMICS
by Greg Pak and Aaron Kuder

When these 2 get together with Superman, fun happens! There are 2 arcs I found to bring a fun smile: Issue 25-28 and 41-44.

SWAMP THING / ANIMAL MAN
by Snyder, Paquette, Lemire, Foreman, Soule, Saiz

These are hit-or-miss for me. Some interesting horror stories with some great art. The concepts of The Green, The Red and The Rot are compelling. And I loved Jesus Saiz's Swamp Thing artwork/design! But overall, they felt a bit lacking. Worth a read if you find in the discount bin and want some funky horror that comes with Swamp Thing.

CYBORG SUPERMAN and PARASITE
(Action Comics #23.1 and Superman #23.4)

Ya know, I'm also going to include these 2 one-shots. The art is sweet and I enjoyed reading them. If you see them in the Quarter Bin, check em out.

________________________

So there you have it. 

Now, please take note that I have not read everything under the New 52 banner. But I read a decent amount through friends' copies and other means... enough to have the opinion most of if was crap, but also enough to deem some hidden gems buried in the turd that was the New 52.

These are but my opinions and recommendations.

TUESDAY COSPLAY: SUPERMAN ! ! !


TWO-DOLLAR SCORE: M*A*S*H VODKA DISPENSER


YES!!!



WHY IS HULK A FUCKING GIANT?


Naked Giant Hulk is terrifying.

from 'Civil War II'

CUSTOM FIG: NEW FRONTIER AQUAMAN


* This post is from When Batmobiles Fly:

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NEW FRONTIER Aquaman figure!

Darwyn Cooke wrote a pitch-perfect tribute to the Silver Age of comic books with the NEW FRONTIER series.  At the center of the story was the origin of the Justice League of America.  DC Comics grabbed on to the popularity of the book and released seven figures of the JLA "big" eight members.

They forgot Aquaman.

After recently re-reading the book, I was inspired to right this wrong.

I had seen a similar figure on the net and used a NEW GODS Metron body with the Hal Jordan head that came with my NEW FRONTIER Green Lantern figure.  I sculpted gloves on the body and added calf fins.  In the NEW FRONTIER, Aquaman doesn't have the black trunks, but I think they add great contrast.  



A great book and a fun animated movie, now the team is complete!