WANTED

I never got through the Wanted comic series. Something about having a protagonist who brags about raping celebrities and getting away with it kept me from getting into it. So, I wasn't ecstatic when I heard a film adaptation was in the works. Of course, I should have known Hollywood wouldn't put the rape and the random sniping of innocent people in the film, or use the "super-villain" angle at all, for that matter. While the movie starts out with a pretty faithful interpretation of "hero" Wesley's mundane existence, once the movie kicks into high gear it's a guild of assassin's, not super-powered villains, who recruit Wesley and give him something to live for. And boy does this flick deliver on the high octane action (leave all disbelief at the door if you want to fully enjoy this one). This has got to be the most visually entertaining action flick since the Matrix trilogy ended. I loved the cast, and while sometimes the tone seemed to veer too far into humorous territory, overall it sucked me into the world and kept me wide-eyed and jaw-dropped.

4/5 stars

Fantastic Four: World's Greatest

Well, I've been able to catch up on some comics, and here's what I thought of the first storyarc from Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's Fantastic Four run. A four-parter titled "World's Greatest".

Many spoilers lie ahead...

Millar and Hitch set the bar awfully high with their 20+ issue Ultimates run, and it's going to be hard for them to match it with Fantastic Four. Millar has stated before that there should be no rules for Fantastic Four. ANYTHING is possible. And boy he unleashed a doozy of a plot for this one. A group of scientists (The Earth Trust) have concluded that the earth has less than a decade of life remaining. Where is humanity to go once the world dies? Don't worry they got it covered. Step through a portal (an interdemensional one, I assume) and you're in NU-WORLD. An exact copy of earth right down to the graffiti on the walls. Reed's old flame Alyssa Moy is a member of The Earth Trust and has asked Reed to leave the FF and help them finish construction. (Why the world's greatest scientist wasn't involved from the beginning is never touched on, annoyingly.) To keep things on NU-WORLD safe for everyone, they have C.A.P. (Conserve And Protect). A giant robot painted to resemble the dearly departed Captain America. The dictators... er, I mean scientists, have decided that there will be no armies or guns on NU-WORLD, and CAP is going to be their enforcer... um, that is, their "patrolman". In a slightly cheesy turn of event's, CAP goes rogue when it realizes there are soldiers in the real world and hops through the portal looking to identify and destroy all potential threats. Some super-heroes, including Ben, Sue, and Johnny, show up to put the stomp on CAP and pretty much get ass-handled, leaving Reed to save the day. I won't go into anymore details, but in terms of action, the book delivered, fo sho. While the arc mostly focused on Reed, the rest of the cast was well represented, with some great moments featuring Ben, and a nice subplot is developing with Johnny dating a C-list super-villian, while also trying to start a rock band. Also, Millar shows that Reed really can be a pimp, albeit a super nerdy one. For their anniversary Reed has two gifts for Sue, a ring which contains (in Reed's words) "A micro-galaxy. Seventy-Four inhabited worlds and over forty trillion couples in total... All loving each other like I love you." and dinner at a restaurant in view of the first time Reed and Sue bumped into each other as adults... thirteen years in the past.
Like Millar has always said, there is nothing too fantastic for the Fantastic Four. Overall, this was great start, and the last page makes me thing the next arc is going to be even better.

4 STARS (out of five)

Guys I Don't Like: Justin Timberlake

Remember when Rob Thomas re-invented himself as a poor man's Justin Timberlake? Well guess what, I miss Matchbox Twenty. Speaking of Justin Timberlake, I simply don't like the guy. Why? C'mon, I shouldn't really have to explain it, should I? This dude was supposed to fade into obscurity with the rest of N'Sync. And when did it become OK for a heterosexual male to be a JT fan? Not cool, sirs. Not cool at all.

(Although Timberlake on SNL is gold.)

Just Because...

Haven't been reading comics lately, but I felt like giving the industry some love. This is the best I could do...

Tell me...

... this won't give you nightmares. I dare you.

WTF?

I just found this on a message board and laughed out loud. That doesn't happen very often when I'm alone, so I felt I had to share it. Immature? Maybe, but I never claimed maturity was one of my qualities.

Best Of 2007 (Comics)

Although I enjoy indie-type comics like Ice Haven and Box Office Poison, and I LOVE non-superhero books like Y: The Last Man, Criminal, Fables, and Ex Machina, it's clear by my list below that Marvel and DC superhero comics are what I was raised on, and continue to follow.

Best Comic Book Series:

Astonishing X-Men
Joss Whedon's crafted the most consistently entertaining X-Men run since, well, maybe ever. And certainly the best one since I've been reading comics (roughly 1990). Not only are the action sequences perfect, the characterizations are dead on. Wolverine has been stripped down to what he should be (at least in an X-Men book), a rough neck brawler with little respect for authority. Kitty Pryde is worth reading about. And most importantly, Whedon makes readers understand why Cyclops, despite his flaws, is the man in charge of this team. Great writing and John Cassady on art chores. It's kind of a no-brainer.

*The Walking Dead

*Green Lantern

*Criminal

*Action Comics

Best Single Issue:

Astonishing X-Men #22

Great action, great twists (like Lockheed working for S.W.O.R.D.), and great art. Business as usual for this book, but what separates it from every other issue of the series, and every other comic of the year, is the way the (apparent) death of Cyclops is handled. Regardless of how inconsequential death is in comics, it's still a powerful moment and noble sacrifice. Kudos to Whedon and Cassady (again).

*Batman #666

*Sinestro Corps Special #1

*Captain America #25

*The Ultimates 2 #13

Best Writer:
Geoff Johns (52, Action Comics, Green Lantern, Justice Society of America)

I know what your thinking. I just heaped boatloads of praise on Joss Whedon, but he doesn't even crack the top 5 writers list. Well, in the world of comics, it's not just how good your work is, but how much quality work you produce. At least that's my opinion. Whedon is a Hollywood big shot, so he has other stuff to do besides write comics full time. Outside of Astonishing X-Men, he wrote a run on Runaways (which I haven't got around to reading yet) and Buffy (which I'll never read). Now take, Geoff Johns. He was part of the writing team on 52, he masterminded the epic Sinestro Corps storyline in Green Lantern, and revitalized JSA. Not to mention a stalled, but vastly entertaining run on Action Comics that he co-wrote with Richard Donnar (although, I'm pretty sure it was mostly Johns). There were also a few, well, mediocre issues of Teen Titans this year. They weren't great, but they weren't weak enough to take away from his overall body of work.
*Robert Kirkman (Invincible, Ultimate X-Men, The Walking Dead)
*Grant Morrison (52, All-Star Superman, Batman)
*Brian K. Vaughn (Runaways, Y: The Last Man)
*Ed Brubaker (Criminal, Daredevil, Uncanny X-Men)


Best Artist:
John Cassady (Astonishing X-Men, Fallen Son: Iron Man)
This one isn't even close. As much as I love the other guys on this list (and guys like Mark Bagley, Mike McKone, and the Kubert brothers), no one can match Cassady (I just wish he would finish up Planetary). Below are some examples of what makes him the best.
*John Romita Jr. (World War Hulk)
*Olivier Coipel (Thor)
*Carlos Pacheco (Superman)
*Frank Quietly (All-Star Superman)