Showing posts with label Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comics. Show all posts
Friday, November 06, 2015
Six Months Til Captain America: Civil War
I'm ridiculously excited about the May 6th debut of Captain America: Civil War. I really liked the first Cap film, and then absolutely loved Winter Soldier, so I've probably got unrealistically high expectations about CW but I can't help it... Captain America, when done right, has always been one of my favourite comic book characters, dating all the way back to him being in the first comic I remember buying. So how can I not be jazzed that the next installment is now only half a year away?
Thursday, October 01, 2015
9th Anniversary Of This Here Blog
While it certainly doesn't get the traffic that it used to, Kimota94's Place is still up and operating, 9 long years after I started it with a post entitled Misadventures in Blogland back on Oct 1, 2006. A lot sure has happened since then:
- I've enjoyed 7 years of retirement so far, and have never regretted getting out of the rat race at 45 for even a moment
- I've written 8 books, starting off with 3 non-fiction before moving into the much more satisfying task of novel-writing
- Vicki has joined me as a retiree after about 15 years of off-and-on contract work
- Tammy's graduated from Western (and the Ivey School of Business) with an HBA, become an accountant and even lived in Australia for almost 2 years
- We've been fortunate enough to get the best cat ever, as Jonesy joined our family a little over 3 years ago
- I've finally tired of being a comic collector, deciding last year to begin selling off and giving away some of the 30,000 comics I'd accumulated over the course of 40+ years
- I've managed to keep in touch with the work friends who meant the most to me from both of my last two jobs, even after 14 and 7 years, respectively
- Life has gone on, as it always tends to do
Wednesday, August 05, 2015
Nothing Good Ever Lasts: Scene Points Edition
As Tammy pointed out to me this morning, it sounds like Cineplex is soon going to be devaluing their Scene point system! Premium tickets will soon require 1500 points and VIP 2000 points, where both had previously only needed 1000 for a ticket.
For years now, we've been building up 100 points per General Admission movie that we paid for, and then redeeming 1000 points to attend a VIP screening (usually on opening weekend) for some big budget blockbuster like Avengers or Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The economics of it worked wonderfully, as we'd spend between $70 and $110 on 10 General Admission tickets (depending on how many cheap Tuesday shows we went to) and then redeem our 1000 points for a show worth about $20. I sort of knew that was too good to last, and now it seems I'll soon be proven right in that assumption.
If you've got points built up right now that you've earmarked for a VIP show, you may want to use them before Nov 4. Unfortunately for us, that rules out Star Wars Episode VII (December), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 2016) and Captain America: Civil War (May 2016). Bummer!
For years now, we've been building up 100 points per General Admission movie that we paid for, and then redeeming 1000 points to attend a VIP screening (usually on opening weekend) for some big budget blockbuster like Avengers or Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The economics of it worked wonderfully, as we'd spend between $70 and $110 on 10 General Admission tickets (depending on how many cheap Tuesday shows we went to) and then redeem our 1000 points for a show worth about $20. I sort of knew that was too good to last, and now it seems I'll soon be proven right in that assumption.
If you've got points built up right now that you've earmarked for a VIP show, you may want to use them before Nov 4. Unfortunately for us, that rules out Star Wars Episode VII (December), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 2016) and Captain America: Civil War (May 2016). Bummer!
Friday, April 10, 2015
My Long Wait Is Almost Over
On this, the first day of Daredevil being available on Netflix, I just ordered 2 tickets for Avengers: Age of Ultron for the night of its premiere, Friday, May 1st. We're going to see it at the VIP theatre, reserved seats, and hopefully avoid having any of its surprises spoiled beforehand. I'm ridiculously excited about this movie, just as I was for the first Avengers flick, and it didn't disappoint... at all!
Just 21 days to go now...
Just 21 days to go now...
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
The New 52
Well, I've made it to another milestone, turning 52 today. I had a wonderful day, starting with Vicki joining me for my Tuesday yoga class, and ending with the two of us watching one of the last House M.D. episodes together on Netflix (just 3 to go, now). In between those two thrills, I also got homemade brownies, a new hoodie and T-shirt, take-out fish & chips for dinner, another awesome viewing of The Avengers on Blu-Ray and even a Rangers win over the hated Islanders (which I could've watched on TV but opted for the movie instead). I don't think the day could've been any better, really, thanks to my lovely wife.
Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Wednesday, January 07, 2015
Rarified Air
It's not every day that I get to see my name in a list of acknowledgements that includes J Bone (the comic artist), John Cassaday, Neil Gaiman, Dave Gibbons and Alan Moore, but today is that day:
This is the first page of the Dave Gibbons Watchmen Artifact Edition that I contributed a scan to, back in March of last year. It's a monster of a coffee table book, only equaled in size by the Alien Illustrated hardcover that I bought in Las Vegas a couple years ago. And it has my name it! Sweet.
This is the first page of the Dave Gibbons Watchmen Artifact Edition that I contributed a scan to, back in March of last year. It's a monster of a coffee table book, only equaled in size by the Alien Illustrated hardcover that I bought in Las Vegas a couple years ago. And it has my name it! Sweet.
Saturday, January 03, 2015
The DC Universe, 1970s Style
Just an amazing image, which apparently has been up in the lobby of DC Comics in New York City for decades. Surprisingly, there are at least a couple characters in this shot that I can't identify off the top of my head (click for a closer look):
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
As 2014 Ends, Let's Look Into The Future (Of Movies)
Specifically, I've been meaning, for awhile, to post a calendar of upcoming films that I'm looking forward to or am otherwise intrigued by. These are mostly superhero flicks but with a few other types thrown in for good measure.
2015
May 1st - Avengers: Age of Ultron - This is probably my most eagerly-anticipated entry on this list, as Ultron has long been one of the scariest Avengers villains, and of course the first Joss Whedon-directed film was unbelievably cool. The fact that they've retained all of the original characters and added Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Watch makes me very happy. I sincerely hope not to be disappointed by the sequel, and for now I'm confidently placing my faith in Joss.
June 12th - Jurassic World - I want this to be good, even though the previous Jurassic offering was pretty crappy. The original, on the other hand, like the book it was based on, was quite excellent. I'll wait and see what the early reviews on this one are like before committing any cash to it.
July 1st - Terminator: Genisys - I'm a sucker for the Terminator franchise, having seen each of the films many times and sticking with the TV show right to the bitter end. This film came about after the rights were sold off to the highest bidder, I believe, which makes it an interesting experiment, if nothing else.
July 17th - Ant Man - Marvel Studios can seem to do no wrong lately, as even Guardians of the Galaxy was much better than I'd expected. I liked GotG well enough as I watched it, though I've yet to have any desire to see it again. I expect Ant Man may fall into the same category, although anything with Evangeline Lily in it usually warrants a second look, so who knows.
August 7th - Fantastic Four - This is either going to be an utter train wreck or something quite... fantastic, I think. It's a reboot, which isn't bad in and of itself considering how lackluster the two previous FF movies were. However, I've read just enough about its setup and approach to cause me to scratch my head, as it doesn't appear to stick at all closely to what's been done in the 50+ years of comic stories. If I had to put money down right now, I'd put it on train wreck. Happy to be proven wrong, though.
December 18th - Star Wars: The Force Awakens - As someone who thoroughly enjoyed the prequels, I clearly don't have the highest standards (or expectations, at least) when it comes to Star Wars installments. I personally consider The Empire Strikes Back to be the peak of the franchise, which seems to be a pretty common stance, but I also find the original Star Wars to be fairly blah. Plus I remember well how excited the fans of the original trilogy were when the first trailer for The Phantom Menace debuted, and we all know how that worked out. But having said all that, I'm mildly excited at the thought of a new Star Wars movie to take us out of 2015.
2016
March 4th - Prometheus 2 - I'd call the existence of this film and its release date both tentative at this point, because neither have been officially confirmed. However, I really, really want to see Ridley Scott deliver a sequel to 2012's Prometheus. While I readily acknowledge the many flaws in that feature, I'm not sure I could love it any more than I do! Vicki and I went to the theatre to see it twice, something we almost never do. And then we promptly watched it a third time as soon as the Blu Ray for it came out. I think we may have even seen it again since then, which would make four viewings in just two-and-a-half years! Like the video game Alien: Isolation which came out this year and became my obsession for awhile, Prometheus totally scratched the itch that I have for anything Alien-related, and did it very well.
March 25th - Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice - A film that pits Superman against Batman, with Wonder Woman somehow involved as well, and which is a lead in to the first ever Justice League feature? My drool bucket runneth over! I liked but didn't always love Man of Steel, so that's a bit worrisome considering that its director and star have carried over to this, but maybe Zack Snyder can rise to the occasion this time around. And Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman, while raising a lot of eyebrows when it was announced, could end up being brilliant considering that Affleck is often a very good actor. I'm frustrated that this film is still almost 15 months away, considering that it's been filming for ages already, but if taking their time adds to the quality of the final product, I'm all for it. In terms of anticipation on my part, BvS is nearly as high as the 2nd Avengers flick.
May 6th - Captain America: Civil War - Did I mention my drool bucket was quickly filling up? The second Cap film, The Winter Soldier, was mind-blowingly good and didn't have a bad scene or dull moment in it. So any sequel with the same production crew is sure to grab my attention right out of the gate, and then adding Robert Downey, Jr to the mix is just incredible. To think that just a few weeks after we get Batman fighting Superman on the big screen we're going to be similarly treated to Cap versus Iron Man, I sometimes wonder if this is all just a dream I'm having back in 1978. I honestly wouldn't have believed, back then, that we'd ever get this many high quality treatments of superhero stories at the movie theatre.
May 22nd - X-Men: Apocalypse - The last two X-Men films, First Class and Days of Future Past, upped the ante on the franchise something crazy. Each of them put the original three to shame, and I say that as someone who liked that first trilogy and thought the second part was especially good. Therefore, my expectations are high on Brian Singer's next foray into mutant territory, even though I couldn't really care less about Apocalypse (the villain) as he was introduced into the comics after I'd stopped following anything X-related.
August 5th - Suicide Squad - The comic series by this name that started in the 80s and ran for several years was a real sleeper. It didn't have any hype behind it and I actually ignored it for the longest time, until I started hearing some of the buzz around it. When I finally checked it out, what I quickly realized was that the strange concept behind it - a secret government agency blackmails imprisoned supervillains into running potentially-suicidal missions for it by promising them their freedom if they succeed or instant death if they try to make their escape - was actually the secret to its appeal. Many of the members of the team were third- or even fourth-tier villains, and therefore the writers could do virtually anything with them over the course of a story / mission. The upcoming film, on the other hand, seems to be leaning toward bigger name villains - Lex Luthor, the Joker, Harley Quinn, for example - and that probably means there won't be quite as much freedom for the characters to be killed off, maimed, or otherwise damaged. Still, with some of the interesting actors involved (including Jared Leto), I can see a lot of potential here.
November 4th - Doctor Strange - I've become a huge Benedict Cumberbatch fan following his three seasons (and counting) on Sherlock. At this point, he pretty much walks on water as far as I'm concerned, so while he wouldn't have been my first thought for playing Stephen Strange, I can certainly see him pulling it off. Strange is one of those characters who's always been hit-and-miss for me, as most comic writers who've tackled him haven't really known what to do with a Master of the Mystic Arts. Given Marvel Studios' recent track record, though, I'll extend them the benefit of the doubt and assume that won't be the case with his big screen debut.
December ?? - Avatar 2 - I loved Avatar, so I welcome more magic from Canada's own James Cameron. Bring it on, I say!
2017
June 23rd - Wonder Woman - Now we're two-and-a-half years into the future, and about all we really know about this feature film is that Gal Gadot will play the Amazonian warrior and Canadian Michelle MacLaren will direct her in it. I guess we'll all have a much better idea where Warners plans to go with the character once Batman V Superman drops, but until then I'll remain cautiously optimistic that the greatest superheroine of all time will get good treatment at their hands.
July 28th - Thor: Ragnarok - With 2014's Sexiest Man Alive in the starring role, what's not to like about a third Thor movie? (The ladies who get dragged to these things by their boyfriends and husbands deserve at least that much, don't they?) The first two features were solidly entertaining fare, and that's what I expect from Ragnarok. That title (meaning the end of the world for the Norse gods) certainly suggests that it could be the final installment, making room for other Marvel characters to get films. I'm OK either way, personally.
November 3rd - The Black Panther - Speaking of new characters, T'Challa is an amazingly rich one to tell stories about, being an African prince, spending time as an Avengers, and having been married to Storm (of the X-Men) for awhile, to name but a few elements. I have no idea which parts of his history they'll choose to explore in the screen version, but I look forward to finding out.
November 17th - Justice League Part 1 - A film so great, they had to... split it in half? What the -? Oh never mind, it's what all the cool kids are doing these days (Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Hobbit, etc, etc, etc) so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. My initial reaction to this news, I'll admit, was excitement. After all, getting two films has to be better than one, right? More room to tell a more complete story, to focus on character development or just have more cool action scenes. At least in theory. I've dreamed of a big budget JLA film since I was a kid, and in a little less than three years it looks like I'll finally get my wish. Please please please don't blow it, Warners!
December ?? - Avatar 3 - Yes, assuming # 2 is good.
2018
March 23rd - The Flash - Doesn't he already have a TV show? Oh wait, this is the completely different version that's in the Justice League movie, which shouldn't be at all confusing to fans. Hmmm. Reserving judgement on this because... it's still more than four years away, for crying out loud!
May 4th - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 - Again with the breaking the story up over two films! Still, it's Avengers, and it'll probably rock!
July 6th - Captain Marvel - Not to be confused with the Captain Marvel who says Shazam! to change between Billy Batson and his superhero identity, this is Marvel Comics' current iteration: a strong female character who has a ton of potential. I love seeing non-white and/or non-male heroes being developed, and both Black Panther and Captain Marvel (not to mention Wonder Woman from Warners) are great steps in that direction.
July 27th - Aquaman - Another Justice League spinoff, with more still to come. They've cast one of the Game of Thrones actors for this role, and he was fine in GoT so... sure, let's see what he's got! Done right, the king of the seven seas can be a fantastic vehicle for telling great stories.
November 2nd - The Inhumans - Fans of the SHIELD TV show have already seen the seeds being planted for this, I think, as the blue alien that Coulson and the rest have discovered is actually a Kree. They're the alien race who created the Inhumans in the comics, you see, which is likely where that storyline is headed. Rumour has it that the Inhumans basically replace the X-Men (or mutants in general) in the Marvel TV and film universe, since they can't use any of the mutant characters who 20th Century Fox currently own (in terms of cinematic rights).
December ?? - Avatar 4 - I'm sensing a pattern here, perhaps inspired by Peter Jackson and a little trilogy you may have heard of, called The Lord of the Rings...
2019
April 5th - Shazam - Hey, we were just talking about you! My guess is that Warners will call the character 'Shazam' rather than 'Captain Marvel' in order to avoid confusion with the other one. But they really shouldn't, as this Cap was Cap long before Marvel Comics even existed. In the comics, Shazam was the old wizard who told Billy Batson to say his name (SHAZAM!) whenever he wanted to change between boy and superhero. Anyway, I hope they don't blow this too badly.
May 3rd - Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 - I can hardly wait to see what kind of cliffhanger we were left with at the end of Part 1!
June 14th - Justice League Part 2 - Ditto, although this one at least comes out on a great date!
2020 (No, I'm not kidding!)
April 3rd - Cyborg - Another Justice League member, leaving only one more to go...
June 19th - Green Lantern - ... and here he is! Not Ryan Reynolds this time around, thankfully, but probably Hal Jordan once again. This means that all of the JL heroes will get their own chance to start or continue franchises... Wow. That's a lot of faith in the brand, on the part of Warners.
Whew.
And this expansive list doesn't even touch on the upcoming Netflix series starring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and them teaming up as the Defenders, nor any of the other TV shows, some of which have turned out be great.
2015
May 1st - Avengers: Age of Ultron - This is probably my most eagerly-anticipated entry on this list, as Ultron has long been one of the scariest Avengers villains, and of course the first Joss Whedon-directed film was unbelievably cool. The fact that they've retained all of the original characters and added Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlet Watch makes me very happy. I sincerely hope not to be disappointed by the sequel, and for now I'm confidently placing my faith in Joss.
June 12th - Jurassic World - I want this to be good, even though the previous Jurassic offering was pretty crappy. The original, on the other hand, like the book it was based on, was quite excellent. I'll wait and see what the early reviews on this one are like before committing any cash to it.
July 1st - Terminator: Genisys - I'm a sucker for the Terminator franchise, having seen each of the films many times and sticking with the TV show right to the bitter end. This film came about after the rights were sold off to the highest bidder, I believe, which makes it an interesting experiment, if nothing else.
July 17th - Ant Man - Marvel Studios can seem to do no wrong lately, as even Guardians of the Galaxy was much better than I'd expected. I liked GotG well enough as I watched it, though I've yet to have any desire to see it again. I expect Ant Man may fall into the same category, although anything with Evangeline Lily in it usually warrants a second look, so who knows.
August 7th - Fantastic Four - This is either going to be an utter train wreck or something quite... fantastic, I think. It's a reboot, which isn't bad in and of itself considering how lackluster the two previous FF movies were. However, I've read just enough about its setup and approach to cause me to scratch my head, as it doesn't appear to stick at all closely to what's been done in the 50+ years of comic stories. If I had to put money down right now, I'd put it on train wreck. Happy to be proven wrong, though.
December 18th - Star Wars: The Force Awakens - As someone who thoroughly enjoyed the prequels, I clearly don't have the highest standards (or expectations, at least) when it comes to Star Wars installments. I personally consider The Empire Strikes Back to be the peak of the franchise, which seems to be a pretty common stance, but I also find the original Star Wars to be fairly blah. Plus I remember well how excited the fans of the original trilogy were when the first trailer for The Phantom Menace debuted, and we all know how that worked out. But having said all that, I'm mildly excited at the thought of a new Star Wars movie to take us out of 2015.
2016
March 4th - Prometheus 2 - I'd call the existence of this film and its release date both tentative at this point, because neither have been officially confirmed. However, I really, really want to see Ridley Scott deliver a sequel to 2012's Prometheus. While I readily acknowledge the many flaws in that feature, I'm not sure I could love it any more than I do! Vicki and I went to the theatre to see it twice, something we almost never do. And then we promptly watched it a third time as soon as the Blu Ray for it came out. I think we may have even seen it again since then, which would make four viewings in just two-and-a-half years! Like the video game Alien: Isolation which came out this year and became my obsession for awhile, Prometheus totally scratched the itch that I have for anything Alien-related, and did it very well.
March 25th - Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice - A film that pits Superman against Batman, with Wonder Woman somehow involved as well, and which is a lead in to the first ever Justice League feature? My drool bucket runneth over! I liked but didn't always love Man of Steel, so that's a bit worrisome considering that its director and star have carried over to this, but maybe Zack Snyder can rise to the occasion this time around. And Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman, while raising a lot of eyebrows when it was announced, could end up being brilliant considering that Affleck is often a very good actor. I'm frustrated that this film is still almost 15 months away, considering that it's been filming for ages already, but if taking their time adds to the quality of the final product, I'm all for it. In terms of anticipation on my part, BvS is nearly as high as the 2nd Avengers flick.
May 6th - Captain America: Civil War - Did I mention my drool bucket was quickly filling up? The second Cap film, The Winter Soldier, was mind-blowingly good and didn't have a bad scene or dull moment in it. So any sequel with the same production crew is sure to grab my attention right out of the gate, and then adding Robert Downey, Jr to the mix is just incredible. To think that just a few weeks after we get Batman fighting Superman on the big screen we're going to be similarly treated to Cap versus Iron Man, I sometimes wonder if this is all just a dream I'm having back in 1978. I honestly wouldn't have believed, back then, that we'd ever get this many high quality treatments of superhero stories at the movie theatre.
May 22nd - X-Men: Apocalypse - The last two X-Men films, First Class and Days of Future Past, upped the ante on the franchise something crazy. Each of them put the original three to shame, and I say that as someone who liked that first trilogy and thought the second part was especially good. Therefore, my expectations are high on Brian Singer's next foray into mutant territory, even though I couldn't really care less about Apocalypse (the villain) as he was introduced into the comics after I'd stopped following anything X-related.
August 5th - Suicide Squad - The comic series by this name that started in the 80s and ran for several years was a real sleeper. It didn't have any hype behind it and I actually ignored it for the longest time, until I started hearing some of the buzz around it. When I finally checked it out, what I quickly realized was that the strange concept behind it - a secret government agency blackmails imprisoned supervillains into running potentially-suicidal missions for it by promising them their freedom if they succeed or instant death if they try to make their escape - was actually the secret to its appeal. Many of the members of the team were third- or even fourth-tier villains, and therefore the writers could do virtually anything with them over the course of a story / mission. The upcoming film, on the other hand, seems to be leaning toward bigger name villains - Lex Luthor, the Joker, Harley Quinn, for example - and that probably means there won't be quite as much freedom for the characters to be killed off, maimed, or otherwise damaged. Still, with some of the interesting actors involved (including Jared Leto), I can see a lot of potential here.
November 4th - Doctor Strange - I've become a huge Benedict Cumberbatch fan following his three seasons (and counting) on Sherlock. At this point, he pretty much walks on water as far as I'm concerned, so while he wouldn't have been my first thought for playing Stephen Strange, I can certainly see him pulling it off. Strange is one of those characters who's always been hit-and-miss for me, as most comic writers who've tackled him haven't really known what to do with a Master of the Mystic Arts. Given Marvel Studios' recent track record, though, I'll extend them the benefit of the doubt and assume that won't be the case with his big screen debut.
December ?? - Avatar 2 - I loved Avatar, so I welcome more magic from Canada's own James Cameron. Bring it on, I say!
2017
June 23rd - Wonder Woman - Now we're two-and-a-half years into the future, and about all we really know about this feature film is that Gal Gadot will play the Amazonian warrior and Canadian Michelle MacLaren will direct her in it. I guess we'll all have a much better idea where Warners plans to go with the character once Batman V Superman drops, but until then I'll remain cautiously optimistic that the greatest superheroine of all time will get good treatment at their hands.
July 28th - Thor: Ragnarok - With 2014's Sexiest Man Alive in the starring role, what's not to like about a third Thor movie? (The ladies who get dragged to these things by their boyfriends and husbands deserve at least that much, don't they?) The first two features were solidly entertaining fare, and that's what I expect from Ragnarok. That title (meaning the end of the world for the Norse gods) certainly suggests that it could be the final installment, making room for other Marvel characters to get films. I'm OK either way, personally.
November 3rd - The Black Panther - Speaking of new characters, T'Challa is an amazingly rich one to tell stories about, being an African prince, spending time as an Avengers, and having been married to Storm (of the X-Men) for awhile, to name but a few elements. I have no idea which parts of his history they'll choose to explore in the screen version, but I look forward to finding out.
November 17th - Justice League Part 1 - A film so great, they had to... split it in half? What the -? Oh never mind, it's what all the cool kids are doing these days (Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Hobbit, etc, etc, etc) so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. My initial reaction to this news, I'll admit, was excitement. After all, getting two films has to be better than one, right? More room to tell a more complete story, to focus on character development or just have more cool action scenes. At least in theory. I've dreamed of a big budget JLA film since I was a kid, and in a little less than three years it looks like I'll finally get my wish. Please please please don't blow it, Warners!
December ?? - Avatar 3 - Yes, assuming # 2 is good.
2018
March 23rd - The Flash - Doesn't he already have a TV show? Oh wait, this is the completely different version that's in the Justice League movie, which shouldn't be at all confusing to fans. Hmmm. Reserving judgement on this because... it's still more than four years away, for crying out loud!
May 4th - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 - Again with the breaking the story up over two films! Still, it's Avengers, and it'll probably rock!
July 6th - Captain Marvel - Not to be confused with the Captain Marvel who says Shazam! to change between Billy Batson and his superhero identity, this is Marvel Comics' current iteration: a strong female character who has a ton of potential. I love seeing non-white and/or non-male heroes being developed, and both Black Panther and Captain Marvel (not to mention Wonder Woman from Warners) are great steps in that direction.
July 27th - Aquaman - Another Justice League spinoff, with more still to come. They've cast one of the Game of Thrones actors for this role, and he was fine in GoT so... sure, let's see what he's got! Done right, the king of the seven seas can be a fantastic vehicle for telling great stories.
November 2nd - The Inhumans - Fans of the SHIELD TV show have already seen the seeds being planted for this, I think, as the blue alien that Coulson and the rest have discovered is actually a Kree. They're the alien race who created the Inhumans in the comics, you see, which is likely where that storyline is headed. Rumour has it that the Inhumans basically replace the X-Men (or mutants in general) in the Marvel TV and film universe, since they can't use any of the mutant characters who 20th Century Fox currently own (in terms of cinematic rights).
December ?? - Avatar 4 - I'm sensing a pattern here, perhaps inspired by Peter Jackson and a little trilogy you may have heard of, called The Lord of the Rings...
2019
April 5th - Shazam - Hey, we were just talking about you! My guess is that Warners will call the character 'Shazam' rather than 'Captain Marvel' in order to avoid confusion with the other one. But they really shouldn't, as this Cap was Cap long before Marvel Comics even existed. In the comics, Shazam was the old wizard who told Billy Batson to say his name (SHAZAM!) whenever he wanted to change between boy and superhero. Anyway, I hope they don't blow this too badly.
May 3rd - Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 - I can hardly wait to see what kind of cliffhanger we were left with at the end of Part 1!
June 14th - Justice League Part 2 - Ditto, although this one at least comes out on a great date!
2020 (No, I'm not kidding!)
April 3rd - Cyborg - Another Justice League member, leaving only one more to go...
June 19th - Green Lantern - ... and here he is! Not Ryan Reynolds this time around, thankfully, but probably Hal Jordan once again. This means that all of the JL heroes will get their own chance to start or continue franchises... Wow. That's a lot of faith in the brand, on the part of Warners.
Whew.
And this expansive list doesn't even touch on the upcoming Netflix series starring Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist and them teaming up as the Defenders, nor any of the other TV shows, some of which have turned out be great.
Thursday, December 04, 2014
The Latest On The Preacher TV Series
It seems like the project that will never happen: getting Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon's amazing Preacher comic series adapted to either television or film. There have been several aborted attempts, and it's still very much up in the air as to whether the latest one will fly, but at least now a pilot has been ordered for the proposed AMC series. I still have my doubts that anyone can successfully translate the material out of its original medium and deal with the inevitable push back from religious types, but time will tell.
My love for Preacher is nearly boundless, and it's one of the very few long comic series (75 issues) that I've re-read multiple times. It's also on my short list of comics that I won't be selling as long as I still own any comics. That's how good it is.
My love for Preacher is nearly boundless, and it's one of the very few long comic series (75 issues) that I've re-read multiple times. It's also on my short list of comics that I won't be selling as long as I still own any comics. That's how good it is.
Monday, September 08, 2014
How To Combat Online Harrassment
It's a problem that just keeps getting worse and worse: more and more people (often, though certainly not always, females) are targeted by online trolls and arrested adolescents for abuse. Death threats, rape threats, verbal abuse... It's something I hear a lot about on the comic book sites I frequent, as well as being famously bad within the various gaming communities.
I like the thinking behind this Wired article, which argues that the same sort of community norms that exist within our work environments and social settings (in the real world) need to be expected and enforced online. I think that's exactly right, and the only reason it hasn't happened yet, I suspect, is that it hasn't really been all that long that Joe and Jane Q. Public have been frequenters of the web world. Not too many years ago it was only a small, socially-dysfunctional subset of society (among whom I'd count myself, more or less) who were spending a lot of time on their computers, interacting virtually. Back then, it was more of a private club, and as we all know, those are the sort of places that are usually the last to welcome diversity or adapt to changing social pressures (see: golf memberships not allowed for Jews, or blacks, or ....).
Here's hoping the ideas expressed in the article can be embraced by the main social networks, as this is clearly a problem that needs to be solved.
I like the thinking behind this Wired article, which argues that the same sort of community norms that exist within our work environments and social settings (in the real world) need to be expected and enforced online. I think that's exactly right, and the only reason it hasn't happened yet, I suspect, is that it hasn't really been all that long that Joe and Jane Q. Public have been frequenters of the web world. Not too many years ago it was only a small, socially-dysfunctional subset of society (among whom I'd count myself, more or less) who were spending a lot of time on their computers, interacting virtually. Back then, it was more of a private club, and as we all know, those are the sort of places that are usually the last to welcome diversity or adapt to changing social pressures (see: golf memberships not allowed for Jews, or blacks, or ....).
Here's hoping the ideas expressed in the article can be embraced by the main social networks, as this is clearly a problem that needs to be solved.
Thursday, August 07, 2014
The First Sale
Speaking of my brother (as I was in the previous post), he gets the credit for the first sale of a comic from my collection. He mentioned to a friend what I was up to, and the next thing I knew X-Men # 12 was flying out of its long box and off to a new home somewhere in the Strathroy area. Easiest. Sale. Ever! Thanks, bro!
One down, several thousands to go...
One down, several thousands to go...
Monday, July 28, 2014
The Big Sell-Off
For years now, I've been telling Vicki that I'll eventually start selling off the comic collection, since it was never my intention to have it be something that she, or Tammy, or whoever would have to deal with after I'm gone. In my 40s, "after I'm gone" looked far enough away that I didn't really do anything more than sell some of my doubles (second copies) on eBay or at comic conventions.
Now that I'm firmly esconced in my 50s, however, I figure it's time to get started on keeping this promise. My plan is to shrink the collection to about 10% of its current size over the next several years, meaning I'd go from around 30,000 to roughly 3000, or 10-ish long boxes in place of the current 100+. Many of the comics I'll be getting rid of will be easy to sell, but most won't be. Therefore I expect to give a lot of them away, hopefully along the lines of what we did with Tammy's comics last year, which was helping to get them into the hands of needy children on Christmas morning.
Of course, if you're a reader of this blog and you have someone in your household who'd appreciate the gift of a pile of comics to enjoy, let me know. I'm sure something can be arranged.
Now that I'm firmly esconced in my 50s, however, I figure it's time to get started on keeping this promise. My plan is to shrink the collection to about 10% of its current size over the next several years, meaning I'd go from around 30,000 to roughly 3000, or 10-ish long boxes in place of the current 100+. Many of the comics I'll be getting rid of will be easy to sell, but most won't be. Therefore I expect to give a lot of them away, hopefully along the lines of what we did with Tammy's comics last year, which was helping to get them into the hands of needy children on Christmas morning.
Of course, if you're a reader of this blog and you have someone in your household who'd appreciate the gift of a pile of comics to enjoy, let me know. I'm sure something can be arranged.
Monday, March 31, 2014
X:Men: Days Of Future Past Trailer Blows My Mind
This... looks... amazing!
"Days of Future Past," from Uncanny X-Men # 141 & 142, remains one of the best X-Men stories ever, even 30+ years later. And so to see it adapted into a major motion picture, directed by Bryan Singer and starring (among others) Ian McKellan, Patrick Steward, Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page and Anna Paquin? Sheer fanboy joy!
It comes out May 23rd, a mere 7 and a half weeks from now. By then I'll probably have seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier twice (we've already got tickets for this weekend coming up), which should make the waiting a whole lot easier. What a great start to the year in terms of superhero movies! (And considering the storyline of my latest novel, I'd say 2014 may just be the Year of Time Travel!)
"Days of Future Past," from Uncanny X-Men # 141 & 142, remains one of the best X-Men stories ever, even 30+ years later. And so to see it adapted into a major motion picture, directed by Bryan Singer and starring (among others) Ian McKellan, Patrick Steward, Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman, Michael Fassbender, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page and Anna Paquin? Sheer fanboy joy!
It comes out May 23rd, a mere 7 and a half weeks from now. By then I'll probably have seen Captain America: The Winter Soldier twice (we've already got tickets for this weekend coming up), which should make the waiting a whole lot easier. What a great start to the year in terms of superhero movies! (And considering the storyline of my latest novel, I'd say 2014 may just be the Year of Time Travel!)
Thursday, March 27, 2014
A Perfect Day In Toronto
On Monday of this week Vicki and I headed to Toronto for the day. I had been asked to get a high resolution scan of my Watchmen page for inclusion in an upcoming over-sized hardcover book of Watchmen artwork being published by comic company IDW. They periodically release "coffee table books" featuring original art that's of particular interest to fans, and Watchmen certainly qualifies in that category (it's often referred to as "the Citizen Kane of comic books"). The editor of the art book, Scott Dunbier, had put me in touch with Toronto comic artist J Bone, whose work I'd recently enjoyed in the Spirit/Rocketeer 4-issue miniseries from IDW, and who had a high-res scanner that I could use. Since we were going to Toronto to get that done, we invited Tammy and Ryan to meet us for dinner later in the day, and just like that: we had a day-trip planned!
I wasn't sure what to expect when we got to the artist's apartment, as I'd never met him before or even read an interview with him. Any concerns we had, though, were completely wiped away in the first few minutes of the visit. J greeted us at the door with a huge smile and made us feel completely at home. His apartment was amazing: walls of bookshelves filled with graphic novels, art books, movie DVDs, and action figures of all kinds. In other words, our kind of place! Before long, J and I were geeking out on various comic and movie topics, and then he and Vicki realized they had classic Sci Fi books in common, and off they went in that direction. J turned out to be one of the nicest and friendliest comic pros we've ever met, and we've met a lot in Chicago and elsewhere over the years.
More than an hour after we got there, we all remembered we were supposed to be scanning some artwork, and so we got busy with that. Then it was more chatting and swapping stories, and before we knew it, we'd taken up two hours of J's time and Tammy & Ryan were waiting for us at the nearby restaurant. Oops... It'd been way too much fun and neither of us wanted to leave, but we had other fun to get to and J had artwork to finish for a deadline. Vicki thought to grab a photo before we took off, though:
And we didn't leave empty-handed, as J very kindly gave me the first 3 issues of his current Image series with James Robinson, The Saviors. I've since read and enjoyed them very much, and will be picking up all of the future issues at the store as they come out. Yay: yet another creator-owned Image title for me to happily support!
We capped the day off with a wonderful dinner at a pizza place Tammy recommended, getting to spend a couple of hours with two of our favourite people. Lots more excellent, non-stop conversation ensued about work, movies, TV shows and whatever else came to mind.
And then we braved a couple of white-outs on the 403 and 401 before making it back here safely, much to Vicki's relief (I was the one driving and yet my knuckles weren't white).
Definitely one of our best days, thanks to J, Tammy & Ryan!
I wasn't sure what to expect when we got to the artist's apartment, as I'd never met him before or even read an interview with him. Any concerns we had, though, were completely wiped away in the first few minutes of the visit. J greeted us at the door with a huge smile and made us feel completely at home. His apartment was amazing: walls of bookshelves filled with graphic novels, art books, movie DVDs, and action figures of all kinds. In other words, our kind of place! Before long, J and I were geeking out on various comic and movie topics, and then he and Vicki realized they had classic Sci Fi books in common, and off they went in that direction. J turned out to be one of the nicest and friendliest comic pros we've ever met, and we've met a lot in Chicago and elsewhere over the years.
More than an hour after we got there, we all remembered we were supposed to be scanning some artwork, and so we got busy with that. Then it was more chatting and swapping stories, and before we knew it, we'd taken up two hours of J's time and Tammy & Ryan were waiting for us at the nearby restaurant. Oops... It'd been way too much fun and neither of us wanted to leave, but we had other fun to get to and J had artwork to finish for a deadline. Vicki thought to grab a photo before we took off, though:
And we didn't leave empty-handed, as J very kindly gave me the first 3 issues of his current Image series with James Robinson, The Saviors. I've since read and enjoyed them very much, and will be picking up all of the future issues at the store as they come out. Yay: yet another creator-owned Image title for me to happily support!
We capped the day off with a wonderful dinner at a pizza place Tammy recommended, getting to spend a couple of hours with two of our favourite people. Lots more excellent, non-stop conversation ensued about work, movies, TV shows and whatever else came to mind.
And then we braved a couple of white-outs on the 403 and 401 before making it back here safely, much to Vicki's relief (I was the one driving and yet my knuckles weren't white).
Definitely one of our best days, thanks to J, Tammy & Ryan!
Friday, February 28, 2014
The Changing Face Of The Comic Book Industry
I blogged a few months ago about the fact that my comic reading tastes are changing after more than 40 years in the hobby. Specifically, I'm enjoying more creator-owned titles and fewer of the big publishing house releases (notably Marvel/Disney and DC/Warners). I think there's a huge difference in quality between those two camps right now, with the creativity shown by the former group absolutely eclipsing anything coming out of the Big Boys. There's only so much you can do with corporately-owned figures like Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and the X-Men, after all, and only so much creative energy that a truly talented writer or artist is likely to spend on stories about them. Titles like Velvet, Saga, Fatale and Lazarus, on the other hand, are all creator-owned and awash with new ideas and revolutionary stories. All four of those titles, along with the monstrously-successful Walking Dead series, by the way, are published by Image Comics.
Recently, the head honcho at Image, Eric Stephenson, delivered a speech to a gathering of comic book retailers (i.e. a roomful of Comic Store Guys, in Simpsons-speak) that I think is brilliant and dead-on. He talks about what it will take to bring new readers to the comics industry, highlighting the importance of being innovative in terms of character and story rather than in packaging and hype. This sort of thinking, which he's obviously backing up in practice as shown by the incredible quality coming out of Image right now (in sharp contrast to the crap they used to be known for back in the 1990s), has the potential to revolutionize the comic book industry over the next few years if it catches on.
Recently, the head honcho at Image, Eric Stephenson, delivered a speech to a gathering of comic book retailers (i.e. a roomful of Comic Store Guys, in Simpsons-speak) that I think is brilliant and dead-on. He talks about what it will take to bring new readers to the comics industry, highlighting the importance of being innovative in terms of character and story rather than in packaging and hype. This sort of thinking, which he's obviously backing up in practice as shown by the incredible quality coming out of Image right now (in sharp contrast to the crap they used to be known for back in the 1990s), has the potential to revolutionize the comic book industry over the next few years if it catches on.
Thursday, February 06, 2014
AMC May Yet Bring Us A Preacher TV Series
Anyone who's read the comic series by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon knows just how amazing Preacher really is... And yet every attempt to bring it to the big or small screen has seemed cursed up to now. Nevertheless, AMC is still trying to figure out a way to insert Jesse Custer and friends into its Breaking Bad-less TV lineup, and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed. For those who think that The Walking Dead was the coolest concept to ever come out of a comic book, Preacher could easily blow that misconception out of the water if it were done right. It's chock-full of colourful characters and unexpected plot twists that blew my mind when I was reading it in the 90s, and I'd dearly love to see how it works as a TV series.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Miracleman Is Here!
They've also chosen a God-awful format for the series, if the first issue is any indication. It's $5.99 for what looks to be about 15 to 20 pages of the Alan Moore story from the British Warrior magazine, with the rest of the 30 or 40 pages given over to text pieces and black-and-white reprints of the Marvelman strips from the 50s and 60s that no one wants to read. Eclipse did a much better job packaging these stories in the 80s and 90s, but I guess we shouldn't be surprised that Disney would opt to gouge the fans for as much as they possibly can.
The other hilarious aspect of this series is that Alan Moore apparently insisted his name not be used, and so the credit page inside the front cover reads "STORY - THE ORIGINAL WRITER," as if Moore were perhaps a mythical figure from before the dawn of recorded time.
Still, none of that detracts from the fact that this is one of the greatest superhero tales ever put to paper. I'm genuinely excited that a new generation of comic fans will now get to experience the magic that Moore created thirty years or more ago.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Hulk Vs Wonder Woman
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
What Is It With Plagiarism All Of A Sudden?
First we had Rand Paul lifting entire paragraphs of his speeches from Wikipedia and elsewhere (uncredited), and now it's Shia LeBeouf. As the linked article points out, he not only stole the material for his short film but also lifted the wording of his apology! Do people really think that they can get away with plagiarism in 2013, when everything is at our virtual fingertips and crowdsourcing happens constantly, whether we want it to or not? I almost wonder if LeBeouf foolishly believed that Daniel Clowes was some obscure cartoonist that only he had ever heard of, and therefore nobody would be likely to pick up on the fact that his 'creative process' was really just theft.
I find stuff like this truly shocking.
I find stuff like this truly shocking.
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