Happy New Year

I think the fact I'm writing a New Years message on my blog at midnight says something about the scope of my plans to celebrate the new year, but whatever.

All the best to you and yours and all that then.

Stick People Comic Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man #545

Here's a Stick Man look at Amazing Spider-Man #545:

50 Most Loathsome People in America, 2007

A little dark, but surprisingly accurate. All of the obvious choices, and a few I'd forgotten about.

Check it out.

Happy Holidays!

Hope everyone has a pleasant holiday season. I've got the latest Looney Tunes Golden Collection volume from my brother and a San Diego Comicon Grundy figure I ordered to give to myself, so I'm happy. Best of the season to you and yours.

Here's a little something keeping with the spirit of the season:

The 40 Worst Rob Liefeld Drawings

To view at your discretion.

Wonderfully Twisted

I came across these TV theme remixes while checking out Happy Days clips on Youtube. A little off, true, but mostly in line with what I consider uproariously hilarious. There's a Ducktales remix that was pretty good but awfully twisted that I might post, but I'm afraid it might be a little much for the more pure of mind out there. Either way, great work who ever you guys are.




(To clarify I didn't just happen to think of Happy Days out of the blue -- it was just on TV Land and that got me thinking about it. That's all, I swear.)

My Lost Years

I've been seriously depressed for two years now. It started in 2003 and got worse from there. I used to be able to balance work and school with my burgeoning depression because, despite feeling 'down', I knew if I kept plugging away and working toward a goal that things would be get better. When they didn't, it became harder to keep plugging away at those things. Harder to work that summer job at the movie theatre, so that had to go, harder to work myself into the schedule of friends and family too busy to see me otherwise so they had to go, until school became too much to deal with and half-way through a semester I just gave up. That was about two years ago.

About that time I began taking anti-depressants. I was told it might take a while to find one that did the trick. By the time I'd gone through two or three in my search, I'd started seeing a therapist. That's been going on for about a year or so. I hesitate to say there haven't been any major breakthroughs, but some of the little things I've been able to better understand about myself have been terribly helpful. And it's nice being able to get everything on my mind out there, not unlike a blog except you're actually talking to someone and it's less likely someone halfway around the world is liable to stumble onto my ramblings that way.

I say this because I had a conversation today with a close friend who stubbornly attributed the lack of forward movement in my life to laziness. I won't dispute that I am indeed lazy at times and favor procrastination over finishing something soon as possible, but I found it so terribly offensive that he would say that I choose not to do something about my depression and that my depression is my own fault because of my lifestyle. I found that so offensive it made me sick.

And now I don't know what to do with this "friend". I promised myself I the next time he said something so vile that was it. I was cutting myself off from him. The first time was when he, myself, and a few of the guys were in a bar and he got pretty drunk and started throwing things at me. The second when he told me my whole like was a "complete f**k up and all I do is sit around on my fat ass". This would seem to be the third strike against him. But I have so few friends at the moment, I'm afraid to lose one, even if he is a miserable bastard.

And then there's the whole thing about putting this in my blog for all the folks that might stumble upon it to see. Well, it's more a cathartic practice for me than for the amusement or reading enjoyment of any potential visitors. If you found my ramblings interesting, then I'm pleased. If not, I apologize. Just felt like I had to get this off my chest, is all.

Thoughts as I'm Watching "Seinfeld"

I'm watching the sixth season of Seinfeld on DVD and two things come to mind.

1) Third Rock From the Sun wasn't a very good TV show. Sure, it had it's moments, but once the novelty of the premise and the performances wore off, there really isn't much there. It all boils down to the reason I stopped watching it during the run and why it died a slow painful TV demise -- there was just no progression and it was the kind of show that needed it. Not a big sweeping change to the status quo or anything, but some forward movement. If a show is based around a gimmicky premise, it's a necessity after a few years. I thought That 70's Show was running in circles after a while, but the core idea behind the show, that basically of teens hanging out, is solid enough there are directions to go with it organically. Third Rock From the Sun's premise is that they were aliens on Earth to study humans while pretending to be humans. Unless you do something to shake things up you're going to start repeating yourself after a while. Wouldn't have even needed to be a big change, maybe something as simple as Mary finding out the truth, or Sally marrying Officer Don while keeping the secret going. There were subtle changes to the status quo over the years on the show, but it invariably reset itself after a while, and that lack of forward momentum killed the show. Why bother with a new episode when you've seen the same dozens of times before?

2) What ever happened to that woman Kramer got pregnant in "The Chinese Woman" episode of Seinfeld? Not that they confirmed she was pregnant, but that whole thing seems an odd thing not to get back to.

More Youtube Stuff

I've been watching the first season of Flight of the Conchords on DVD and here's my favorite song of the moment from that series.

The DVD set is good. It's nice having the episodes in one collection. Would've preferred some bonus material though with the set, like the Flight of the Conchords HBO special from 2005 or something, but still.

Well, geez...

If the last few issues of Spider-Man weren't indication of the dissolution of Peter Parker and Mary Jane's twenty year marriage (which is, like, five years in comic time), this comment from writer J. Michael Straczynski seems to spell things out:

"In the current storyline, there's a lot that I don't agree with, and I made this very clear to everybody within shouting distance at Marvel, especially Joe. I'll be honest: there was a point where I made the decision, and told Joe, that I was going to take my name off the last two issues of the OMD arc."

Thanks, I guess, to the Comics Should be Good guys to pointing this out.

I don't know... I liked them as a married couple. Guess there were enough higher-ups at Marvel who felt otherwise though.

Stick People Comic Reviews: Countdown #22

It's like a regular review, but with more Stick Man.

Turns out they're not killing Batman.

Yeah, according to yesterday's Lying in the Gutters they're not going to kill off Batman. Not due to fan outcry, mind you, but because when the brass at Time Warner, DC Comic's parent company, caught wind of the plans they stopped that plan cold. Turns out it's a bad idea to kill off the lead character of a franchise known world-wide and featured in films, television programs, and just about every bit of merchandise imaginable, from lip-gloss to underwear to wedding cake figurines. To say nothing of the fact making Jason Todd the new Batman would've just been wrong, but there you go.

This makes me:

Countdown to Final Crisis #23 - - Sold Out?

So, yesterday I went back to my local comic shop to look for a couple of back issues and to get a book or two that I missed on Wednesday -- Captain America #32 and Countdown #23. Captain America because it's a great book that I really enjoy following month-to-month, Countdown because I'm an idiot who doesn't know when to stop reading a book, much less a finite title like Countdown, even if it does mean I'm committed to it for another six months.

I got Captain America, of which they still had ample copies. I didn't get Countdown.

Now I don't know if they under-ordered the latest issue -- that would be the obvious solution -- but this is the first time in as long as I can remember, even going back to 52 (Countdown's predecessor in the weekly DC Comics game), that it's been sold out. The fact they still had extra copies of the last four weeks worth of Countdown issues could mean they finally curbed their orders accordingly. And certainly the fact the issue seemed to be about Superboy-Prime* torturing Mr. Mxyzptlk doesn't make cry out "must have collectors item".

I'll have to make a point of finding out what happened on Wednesday. Unless I forget, which I will almost certainly do.

And by the way, I got a copy of Countdown Presents: The Search for Ray Palmer: Gotham by Gaslight #1 instead. Yeah, yeah. I know.

*Because calling him Superboy-Prime sounds less stupid than Superman-Prime for some reason.

Sycophantic Jack Sez:

Declarative George Sez: No More Voiceovers

Why does it seem like movie trailers are regressing to the way they were made in the 1980s? Not that the last ten years of movie trailers have always been great, but there's been a shift away from telling the audience what the movie's about, to showing them what the movie's about. And for the better, I must say. In fact, the norm has been that any telling is usually done via a text card or two. Granted it's a shame that means less work for your Don LaFontaines, but really, with the exception of trailers directed at children, there's really no need to have to beat your audience over the head with what your movie's about, because, quite frankly, it's not that hard to follow a two minute preview of a movie, and if you don't get it, all the more reason to check the movie out. Right?

The first sign was the "Horton Hears a Who" trailer. I'll concede that, yes, this is a movie aimed at children, so it's fine to spell things out for a five year olds who don't know what's going on. I do have a problem though when the Horton trailer is shown before "Superbad", to an audience presumably smart enough to follow what's going on and why it's going on. I mean, if you're going to advertise Horton before "Superbad", do us all a favor and make a trailer that doesn't seem like it was supposed have been shown before "Bratz". That said, I was fine with it. I mean, "Horton Hears a Who"? Of course they'd want a trailer that makes sure you follow everything. It's a kids movie, right? And because it stars Jim Carrey and Steve Carrell, sure you might want to advertise it before "Superbad" because there's probably a lot of folks there who like them too.

The reason why this has become an issue for me stems from another trailer I saw on HD net, on their program that shows new theatrical trailers for an hour or whatever. It's a mixed bag, but some of them are quite good, and they look great in HD. But there were a few, can't remember what they were, that stood out as being... quite frankly, amateurish, which is my way of saying they couldn't tell a story clearly enough on their own so they added a narration. It bugged me, but I don't think I thought much of them because they probably weren't important releases, and, really, they were a couple out of a dozen or so. Not cause for alarm really, but certainly they stood out enough for me to wonder why they had to have a narrator walk you through the synopsis instead of, I don't know, perhaps giving you the synopsis visually. Isn't that the point of film, to convey through visuals? The moving picture, as it were?

At this point I realize I'm harping on this like a little pissant. I mean, trailer narration? Really? How asinine a topic to give even a second thought to, no? But if you're like me, an avid movie-goer who likes to get there early enough to catch the previews and see if there's anything good or at the very least enjoy the surprise of a few minutes of movie that a trailer holds, then you're probably noticing that these throwbacks are a real threat to the modern trailer. And if you doubt me, think back to your favorite trailer, and odds are it didn't have a narrator holding your hand through the two minutes of story.

And in case you think I'm going too far with this, here's a new trailer that I think ably proves my point.



I know if I saw that in theaters I'd be pretty miffed. How about you?

Declarative George Sez:

I just noticed the Hungry, Hungry Hippos post was my 37th of the year, bringing the total higher than the number of postings from my first two years combined. It'd be more impressive if that weren't the total number of posts the average blog logs per week, but I'm happy. I guess. Although, it probably means I'll have to think of more stupid things to say if I want to keep up or pass that number next year.

Hungry, Hungry Hippos

Not much to say, except the other day I went into ToysRus -- wasn't really looking for anything in particular, just hoping to see something cool, like a neat action figure or Transformer or something. On my way into the store they had a bin by the entrance full of "travel-sized" games, one which was Hungry, Hungry Hippos, so naturally I got it. I've always liked the game, but was never able to justify it's thirty or forty dollar price tag. Getting a version of the game for $9.99 was fine, even if it's not as cool as the full sized version.

So yeah, getting Hungry, Hungry Hippos was my highlight of the week. Not that it's a bad thing. It's Hungry, Hungry Hippos for chrissakes!

Haven't been able to think of anything to write...

Here's a few more Stick People Theatre cartoons, courtesy of a complete lack of ideas. Hopefully I'll come up with something for the next post. Not that there isn't something enriching about comically violent Stick People cartoons, but still.

From Todays "Lying in the Gutters"...

"In June/July, DC are killing off Batman. Or rather, Bruce Wayne. Robin will inherit the Batman cowl. One of the Robins anyway. Tim Drake. Jason Todd. Or possibly Red Hood. Hey, maybe Jean-Paul Valley, it has been ten years since Azrael."

This makes me:

But here's the upside:

"Either way, the book will relaunch with a nice shiny #1."

Yay.


Sigh.

Hi there.

Hi. Hope everyone had a good Halloween. I was hoping to actually do something last night, but my semi-plans fell through. I guess the fact my pumpkin imploded when I was getting ready to carve it implied my Halloween would be about much fun as the last nine New Years. Pleasant, but woefully uneventful.

Anyway, I'm contributing to the Marvel Appendix website and my latest profile should be on the site in the next day or two. Don't think I've mention it in the blog so far, but figured I ought to lieu of having anything more recent to write about.

http://www.marvunapp.com

Edit: Turns out I mentioned it, not a week earlier. Whoops?

Happy Halloween

Jack O'Lantern Sez:

Happy Halloween.

Marvel Delays "One More Day"

So, Marvel's issued a press release today, announcing a second set of delays to the story that's going to "shake Spider-Man's foundation to the core!™"

The books were supposed to come out weekly in August, with the final issue in the first week of September. Then the first weeks of September, October, November and December. Now the final two issues are set to arrive the last weeks of November and December. I'd like to think this would be the last delay, but I wouldn't be surprised if the last issue came out next year.


At least the fan commentary on a book that artist and Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada touted earlier in the year as coming along nicely has made up for having to wait another month for the next part.

Here's probably the best thing I've heard on the subject: "It's also not lost on me that because of this crossover and its delays, there will be two months with only one Spider-Man title out there for me to sell instead of just the one. If they had kept Sensational and Friendly alive during this event then we could at least be selling those."

Read more here.

"True Love... Can Drive A Man Crazy"

Thanks to Valerie D'Orazio at the Occasional Superheroine blog for finding and posting this absolutely brilliant trailer recut.



Just absolutely bloody brilliant. Funny, too.

Hi there.

I was writing a long post about what I'm watching on TV nowadays, and it got erased. Still figured I'd leave something here since I haven't written a good post in a little while. I guess I point was a lot of my favorite shows are off the air now -- Arrested Development, Alias, Stella, Justice League Unlimited, and Veronica Mars, for example -- and, amid much apprehension, I was able to find a quartet of new series -- Chuck, Pushing Daisies, Bionic Woman, and Dirty Sexy Money -- to ably fill the void.

And let me tell you, it was a really great post. And long too. I was barely half way through, and we're talking like, six paragraphs. A real kick the balls, is what that is. Oh well.

By the way, I don't know if I mentioned I'm now a writer for the Marvel Appendix website, having contributed two profiles so far, with two waiting to be added. The site is run by one of the guys who handles the Official Marvel Universe Handbooks for Marvel, and some of the contributors to the site have also written for the books, so it's a little daunting and nerve-wracking, but I'm enjoying it. I mean, they haven't said my stuff sucks so far, which, you know, is a good thing.

Anyway, here's a funny picture for some additional filler. Bye for now, then.

I've Never Heard of Fabio Laguna...

...But the man sure ripped Jim Lee off a lot.


There's more at this great blog, the swipe file. It's in Spanish and I have no idea how often it updates, but it's really surprising how many artists got work in the 90s by literally ripping-off the popular artists of the day and how many of them haven't been heard of since then. Except for Roger Cruz. Must've been hard for him when Joe Madureira went into semi-retirement.

Check out the Swipe of the Week

Declarative George Sez:

Fred Armisen is dead weight.

Is his Prince really so funny he needs to play him several times a season? Same thing with his asinine Noonie character.

At least he doesn't do Ferricito any more.

"I'm just keeedding!"

More Stick People Theatre

I've still got a few more of these stored up, so more to come. Let me know if you think they're a bloody riot. Hm. That'd probably be funnier if the blood in the above cartoon was colored red. Sorry. I'm too tired to be funny.

Al Gore: Nobel Prize Winner

Wow. First an Oscar and now a Nobel Prize.

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/27598

You'd almost think not becoming President was the best thing to happen to him. I've got to say though, that if he ran now he'd clean up.

My take? You know how people voted for Bush II because he was "the kind of guy (they'd) want to have a beer with"? I'd vote for Al Gore in part because I think I'm starting to feel the same way about him. Come on -- you think Bush would appear as an animated disembodied head?

So... Has DC Cancelled Justice League Unlimited or Not?

Because if they have, well, that'd be a real kick in the head. The latest issue was a lot of fun. Great story by Justice League Unlimited TV writer Matt Wayne, great art by Dario Brizuela, and is was a neat follow up to the bit in the JLU series finale when Giganta (pictured above), kissed the Flash (pictured running away from Giganta, above). It was a cute story too, and a solid entry in a pretty solid series.

I'm not 100% on this, but I think DC is cancelling the series. I got the impression they were also axing the Teen Titans animated-style comic, but I think they're keeping it around for a while. I don't see why they can't do the same with JLU. Unless sales are just awful. It's too bad really, especially since they seem to be cancelling it and replacing it with a new "Superfriends" title, based on the kid-friendly Mattel toys. I don't want to get ahead of myself or anything, but it looks terrible.

I also got a copy of the latest Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man with the Mary Jane-on-white variant cover. I asked about the other white variant covers and if there was one for the last Amazing Spider-Man. Not that I'd ever seen that particular Spider-Man-on-white variant in the three shops I've been in since it came out. Turns out they had a few copies in my local shop and I'd been passing by them since the reordered copies came in. So I'm glad. Just hope I can snag a copy of the last white variant cover with Peter Parker. It looks neat.

And now I'm just rambling.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Here's a Teen Girl Squad comic, care of Homestarrunner.com. It's actually just a couple of stills from a Teen Girl Squad cartoon pasted together, but it made me chuckle. If you like this, you should check out the actual shorts at the site.

http://www.homestarrunner.com"It's dot com!"

Battle of the Insurance Company Spokes-Characters! Addendum

I forgot to mention this, but when I was looking for images for my insurance company spokes-off, I found a surprising amount of Erin Esurance pornography. Although I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised. After all she's a woman, and she's a cartoon character. All she needs are cat ears and a tail.

Battle of the Insurance Company Spokes-Characters!

You know, I was trying to figure out which recurring insurance company spokes-character I enjoy more.

The Geico Gecko.

Or Esurance's Erin Esurance.

I came the conclusion that I would watch a show featuring either of them before I'd watch that dumb "Cavemen" show. Although in all fairness, the Erin Esurance show would probably be full of action and adventure, while the Geico Gecko show would probably be dry and observational, so it isn't really fair to compare them.

And this is the kind of crap that goes on in my head. The next post'll be better. Promise.

Stick People Theatre Revisited

Hi there. Here's a few of my old Stick People Theatre cartoons. I came up with this first set in one sitting during what I recall as being a very dry Short Fiction class. I'll probably add a few more when I realize I haven't update my blog in a few days and I can't think of anything else to talk about or post.

Youtube on "Ghetto Man"

I was browsing some of the comments people made to the Legend of the Superheroes "Ghetto Man" segment on Youtube (covered in an earlier post as seen here). Some of them are pretty idiotic, but a few are pretty funny, and since it's easier to copy stuff than come up with something on my own, here we go.

"It plays like a Mad TV skit. But it's not."

"Ed McMahon had a rigorous process in selecting scripts in the late 1970s. I believe it was called the "If-it-lands-on-my-desk-I'll-DO-it!" System (TM)."

"Oh, dear lord. Did he just smack asses with Batman?"

"I can't believe Batman would agree to be a part of this racist s**t."

"If Malcolm X was alive in 1978, this would kill him!"

And my personal favorite:

"I was pissed when they killed off Ghetto Man in the comics..."

"KARRREEEEEEEMMMM!"

Awful. Just awful.

"Who is the Best Flash" Poll

There's a neat poll going on over at the Occasional Superheroine site, asking readers which Flash would like to see take the lead if DC Comics were to do a fresh-start reboot of the character. The question comes from the fact that there've been about four different Flashes over the years.

The first Flash, Jay Garrick, who first appeared in the 1940s and is still around today thanks to some complicated explanation that probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

The second Flash, Barry Allen, who first appeared in the 1950s, killed his arch-enemy the Reverse-Flash, retired to the future, and died saving the universe in the first DC Crisis.

The third Flash, Wally West, formerly Barry Allen's sidekick Kid-Flash and assumed the mantle after Barry died, and who, thanks to some wacky explanation, has ten year old kids while still being in his mid-20s.

And the fourth Flash, Bart Allen, named for his grandfather Barry, formerly known as Impulse, then Kid-Flash to Wally's Flash, and who briefly assumed the Flash identity when Wally went missing until he was beaten to death.

I voted for Wally. True, Wally was the Flash when I started reading comics so there's that kind of attachment to the character, but he's a really great character besides. Wally's just an average guy who's a superhero because he loves being a superhero. He's a bit of a smartass and makes mistakes here and there, but he's also a good honest guy. I really, really hate to say it since it's a total cliche, but Wally's the everyman of the DCU.

I could defend the other Flashes and give reasons why any of them could head up a reboot of the character -- there are valid points for all three -- but Wally's my pick. Why not cast your vote here:

http://occasionalsuperheroine.blogspot.com/2007/10/poll-who-is-best-flash.html