Over on the CoH boards, there was a minor kerfuffle recently about so-called NSFW (not safe for work) images being linked to. I thought it was all a bit silly, since we really weren’t talking about anything more than a nipple or two on DeviantArt, which requires you to sign in and mark yourself able to see work tagged as NSFW.
Whatever the case, the whole thing bubbled up into a thread of NSFW art by the talented Alex Dai (www.imagesbyalex.com). I suggested he and I do an art trade.
Imagine my surprise! When he said NSFW, he meant it.
Anyway, as my part of the trade, he suggested I draw someone who’d submitted to the thread, which I thought was very generous of him. So I did two. Together.
Awww yeah.
Presenting: Professor Blues‘ Soul Train and Lokie49‘s Crimson Sabre in “International Relations“.
Oh, NSFW (but not as much as Alex’s piece, yowza!).
Giant Size Astonishing X-Men
Whedon and Cassaday’s epic is finally concluded. The bad news? It’s waaay late, the art isn’t up to Cassaday’s usual par, and we all pretty much knew what was going to happen, more or less. The good news? It’s a solid story, with interesting possibilities for new stories coming out of it, and we get to see Whedon writing Spider-Man.
Worth it to finish off the series, but could’ve been much better if it were on time and if certain events hadn’t been given away in other books.
Batman #677 RIP
This issue is better that the first (or at least easier to understand). My complaints about the first issue still stand (I don’t like Jez Jet and feel she’s a plot device waiting to happen, among other things), but it’s a more enjoyable read.
I’m sure the Morrisonites will proclaim it more manna from Heaven, but as a more casual devotee of his, this book actually feels rushed and more than a little heavy on the buy-in. There are a few aspects of the Black Hand’s plan which I feel like they’re just asking us to accept. For example, when Batman did his sensory-deprivation experiment, the doctor that oversaw it did something in preparation for this grand plot.
Will my suspension of disbelief pay off? I suppose we shall see.
Final Crisis #1
Right off the bat, let me say this: This feels like a Marvel story. In fact, in some ways, it feels like bits of Marvel stories that’ve already happened. For instance, we have Libra essentially doing the Hood thing from New Avengers, the Monitors feel like a combination of the Watchers and the Marvel Asgardians, and the whole thing’s wrapped up in a package that puts me in the mind of Galactus meets the Celestials.
Does that mean it’s bad? No. It’s quite good. It’s got a nice pace and there’s enough there to make me want the next issue, even if I’m having trouble placing the events. An example of that: we just wrapped up Death of the New Gods, with Orion battling Darkseid and ol’ grey face getting burned into nothing. Final Crisis opens with a Lanter report of a 1011 on the galactic space police radio. For those not up on their space police codes, that’s a Deicide. The victim? Orion. Meanwhile, a dark and familiar figure from Morrison’s Seven Soldiers series shows up, and we also see a pretty major character get the shaft.
lol puns.
New Avengers #41 SI
I have to admit that I’m really liking these Avengers SI tie-ins. Despite the fact that the story doesn’t progress at all, and the whole thing is basically Bendis showing us all the breadcrumbs that he placed building up to this event, I’m still entertained.
Really: Spider-Man gets bucked by a T-rex, and gets into an argument with SheenaShanna over her name, and it has Ka-Zar and Zabu fighting Skrulls. How can that not be entertaining?
The art’s nice, like Cho-lite. The story’s got action in the jungle, and ends with a confrontation that I’m pretty sure will play out in the main SI book, so really you should be reading all of these books to get the full scoop.
Iron Fist #15
This is the first Brubaker-less Iron Fist book and it seems he wasn’t kidding when he said Fraction didn’t need him anymore to write these. SO WHY AREN’T YOU, FRACTION!? Oh well. Let’s not my trepidation for next month’s new Iron Fist creative team ruin this great issue.
This issue is another of the stand-alone Tales of the Iron Fist one-shot fairy tales. This one has to do with Iron Fist Bei Bang-Wen (1827-1860), who fought in the Second Opium War.
I’m a big fan of these, as they really serve to give depth and history to the entire Iron Fist legacy, and more than that, they’re just really cool little stories. I could see an entire series being written of “Iron Fist Mysteries”, Planetary-style. I could see myself buying it.
Anyway, great issue as usual, and I cross my fingers for next time.
Today is my birthday. I’m 31 years old now. That means I’m IN my thirties, and must begin being serious. So no more goofing around. Thank you all for coming.
Thanks partially to Victoria Day Monday, and to the fact that I forgot my wallet at home yesterday, I’m two days late getting my comics this week. Go me. Oh well, let’s get to it!
The Mighty Avengers – Secret Invasion tie-in!
I liked this one a lot. We get to see a lot of backstory with the Skrull Jarvis, and how completely he infiltrated the Avengers and Stark’s files. The rest of the book is about the internet fan-favourite, The Sentry, and how he handles being told the invasion is his fault. In short: he doesn’t, and it’s kind of awesome. Not to give anything away, but the Void makes its return and I’m liking where this is going.
Let’s see if it ends up somewhere awesome, or if Sentry ends up in his usual “interesting, but misused” category.
JSA
The brawl with Gog continues… or is it really Gog? JSA is consistently the best team book in DC’s catalogue, far outshining the supposedly premier JLA in my eyes, and this issue’s no exception. The entire issue’s one massive donnybrook, with the rolling dust cloud ending up in Africa, and a big teaser for the next issue and the next year of JSA books. Good stuff, though I’m a little confused about Green Lantern and his shadow-powered son. Is that Kingdom Come Lantern or Earth-1′s?
Captain America
Brubaker’s determined to write a story which encompasses the full breadth of Captain America’s entire history, and so far it’s blowing my mind. There hasn’t been a clunker issue in the entire run, and everytime he builds to something and I say, “WHOA!” he finds another way to top it.
This issue, we have the usual cast of villains (Skull, Faust, Zola) furthering their mysterious plot, which we’re only now starting to see the shape of. Nevermind the Ultimates title, this is the real Grand Theft America, with a plot to put Skull’s man in the White House, and bring Captain America back…
A showdown’s coming. Fantastic.
Let’s talk about the Gormogon’s apprentice.
There probably aren’t many people that know I watch Bones, and I mostly do because my special lady likes it, but I’ve come to enjoy it enough that I found the season finale this week to be kind of jarring and, frankly, annoying. Big spoilers ahead.
So we find out the identity of the Gormogon and his new apprentice. Gormogon’s “nobody”, and his apprentice is somehow Zach. Yes, the squint.
How does this happen? Why does this happen? Well, because Zach’s apparently a creature of pure logic (like a Vulcan) and he was approached at a conference a few months back. How do we find this out? Expositionary dialogue.
That’s just annoying. Remember the feeling of “wow, that was quick” that you had when watching Anakin’s descent in Revenge of the Sith? Okay, now pretend that you didn’t even get to see any of the scenes between Anakin and the Emperor, and the entire thing just got spouted off in about three sentences when Obi-Wan confronted Anakin about why he was being such an evil douche.
It’s not like Bones is Shakespeare, but while it’s not a “smart” show, it’s usually a well-crafted one. The dialogue’s cute and witty, and the character interactions, though sometimes caricatures, are generally believable and involving.
You could see the actors doing their best to work through the whole mess, too. Bones’ reactions to both Booth’s “death” (which was already a bizarre enough plot element) and then to Zach’s betrayal felt authentic, but it was all kind of like interior decorating a bathroom. Sure, you’ve got pretty things and it all looks nice, but you can’t ignore that steaming pile that’s floating in the bowl.
I suppose this is all due to the writer’s strike, and things would’ve been less rushed with a few more episodes, but whomever thought going ahead with this plotline on a shortened season was a good idea needs a stern talking to.
For shame!
The sale has begun!
For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be taking orders for pieces for the sale. Everyone who orders within that time qualifies for something special for the sale.
What’s that mean? Well, it depends, really. At the very least, if you order a piece, you’re going to get something extra for your money.
Order an inked piece? Get free colour.
Order cel-shaded? Get a free magazine layout.
And so on.
I’m leaving myself options here, too. If you get something big, I reserve the right to give you a larger bonus.
That’s how I roll.)
What kinds of stuff can I get?
Here are the types of art you can get:
- Static shots – Your character in a standard, heroic pose
- Action shots – your character in an action pose of some kind
- Character model sheets – front/back/side images of your character (or any combo thereof)
- Headshots - quick facial images of your character
- Magazine cover – put your hero on the cover of a GQ or Time or Vogue-style magazine, or even a comic cover
I’m also offering another type of piece in a kind of beta test:
- “Casting Call” – your character played by a chosen actor/actress
I’ve only just started trying these, so I’m still working the kinks out.
All pieces are available inked, cel-shaded or painted. You gotta do something with your George Bush money! Stimulate MY economy!
If you’re interested email me (agentfoo@gmail.com) and we can talk/get you on the list.
Batman RIP
The Big Event in Batman lore is finally here. This issue is a prologue of sorts, laying out the wheres, whys and whats of the play, and giving things a gentle nudge to begin. It doesn’t begin with a bang, but there’s a few action beats, and the debut of the new Batmobile, and the reveal of the new look for the Joker (who appears to be about fifteen years late to a Marilyn Manson video).
Robin’s worried about Bruce, Alfred’s sure he’s okay, and we find out there was a paternity test on Damien, though the results aren’t made clear. All the while, the Black Hand begins closing its grip.
Enjoyable as a beginning, but not the immediate “whoa” that Secret Invasion 1, for example. Maybe I’m just trepidatious about the whole thing and need to let go of my Batlove to see where things are going…
The Boys
How do you even review a book like the Boys? The story wraps up with more character development than action, and Hughie keeps his hamster. If you like the Boys, you’ll like this issue.
Green Arrow and Black Canary
This book keeps on rolling like a great cartoon show that I only get to watch for half an hour every month. It’s never going to be Watchmen or Kingdom Come, but I like it that way. The book feels rooted in the DC universe, with cameos from the JLA in almost every issue. It’s fun, the banter’s witty, and I’m always left wanting more. What more can you really ask for?
newuniversal – Shockfront
Let me preface this by stating that I don’t entirely remember how New Universal ended, but that was back in 2006, so I guess that’s not terribly shocking. I think Starbrand got saved by Mask lady and they ran away after meeting himself from the future.
Anyway, this book picks up right where we left off. Justice is murdering people because he can see everyone’s sins and thinks he’s in hell. Sawyer– I mean, Starbrand, is hiding out at Nightmask’s house. She works at a “manhua” store (Chinese comics, apparently), giving this whole thing an odd Watchmen vibe, albeit with Romance of the Three Kingdoms comics instead of pirates.
As with the first New Universal, you’ve got no real idea what’s going on by the end of the first book, as it just sets the scene and introduces a few new players to the game. (Quite literally. One of the new players is a football player whose powers manifest in a chest-burstingly bloody way.) What’s to come? I dunno. Do I care? Yeah, I do. Hopefully, this whole thing builds to some kind of gigantically bloody super-fight the likes of which only Warren Ellis (okay, maybe Garth Ennis, too) could write.
So not safe for kids or the squeamish.
Captain Britain an MI13
Despite my suspicions of a new title that’s launching as part of a big crossover, I picked this book up because I’m British and totally gay for the English heroes. (Screw you, Union Jack’s book was awesome.)
This one’s actually good. You’ve got a traitor Skrull who has chosen the form of John Lennon as his Earth form, Captain Britain, Pete Wisdom, Spitfire, and a newly-flippant Black Knight. There’s some fun dialogue, good art, and the whole thing’s got that classic mystical bent that the magics of England provide, complete with some kind of vision and prophecy.
Also, Captain Britain punches the head off of a Skrull. Fuck yeah.
Serenity: Better Days
The “missing episode” of Firefly concludes. I find myself torn about this one. I’m going to have to go back and read the first two issues so I can keep them all in mind and get the full flow. Upon reading this one, while I find it was fun and had that old Firefly flavour, I couldn’t help feeling there were some plot points that came out of nowhere, and an oddly douchebag move by Mal to tie things up.
I just didn’t expect the droid army to show up, or the crew to get shafted financially like they did (even though I obviously didn’t really expect they were going to strike it rich since this takes place before the movie).
Not quite up to par with the Buffy series going on, but still solid work from Joss.