All posts by Brent

Comic Timing – Episode 74

Second month in of our new feature, the Comic Timing Review Corner! This month, Ian and Brent go 3 books from September 2008. Those books are DC’s Blue Beetle #31, Image’s Back to Brooklyn #1, and Marvel’s Avengers: The Initiative #17. Which book did not get Brent all crazy and hyped up? Which one had him drooling at the art? Find out here in Episode 74!

Comic Timing is sponsored by Heroes Corner. All first time Heroes Corner users can enter the promo code CTROCKS to receive an additional 5% off their first order with the site, and make sure to check out their Mercury and The Murd Special where you’ll receive not only Mercury And The Murd for $2.59, but also a Katie Cook sketch print AND FREE copy of Marvel’s DARK REIGN: NEW NATION! And the Heroes Corner picks for October are:

DC:
GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #15 – 50% off retail (HC price: $1.50 / retail $2.99)

MARVEL:
SECRET INVASION: DARK REIGN – 75% off retail (HC price: $1.00 / retail: $3.99)

INDEPENDENT (Anime Works Publishing):
AKIHABARA @ DEEP VOLUME 1 GN – 50% off retail (HC price: $6.00 / retail: $11.99)

CT 1st Time Order Code CTROCKS get an extra 5% off you Order Total. For first time users of Heroes Corner only.

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO Initiative effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Comic Timing – Episode 71

It’s Here! The first ever Comic Timing Review Corner is here! Join Ian and Brent as they look at three books from August 2008. Were they good? Were they bad? Were they Raph? Find out tonight on the Review Corner! Ian and Brent discuss Dr. Who: The Forgotten #1 from IDW, Booster Gold #11 from DC, and Amazing Spider-man #568 from Marvel, as well as RadioWayne and Harold Jennett’s M.I.M.E.S.!

Comic Timing is sponsored by Heroes Corner. All first time Heroes Corner users can enter the promo code CTROCKS to receive an additional 5% off their first order with the site, and make sure to check out their September Back-To-School Special where you’ll find special discounts on all sorts of kid-friendly books across the board as well as 50% off the Bone One Volume Edition! And the Heroes Corner picks for September are:

DC:
JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #21

Marvel:
DAREDEVIL & CAPTAIN AMERICA: DEAD ON ARRIVAL

Independent (Dark Horse):
THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: DALLAS #1 (OF 6)

CT 1st Time Order Code “CTROCKS” get an extra 5% off you Order Total. For first time users of Heroes Corner only.

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO Initiative effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Comic Timing Special: Wanted Movie Review

Ian and Brent discuss Wanted, the film based on the Top Cow comic book series! How faithful is it? Does it measure up to the other comic book films released this summer? And what do New York sewer rats have to do with all this? Find out here, at Comic Timing!

Comic Timing is sponsored by Heroes Corner. All first time Heroes Corner users can enter the promo code BROOKLYN to receive an additional 5% off their first order with the site, and make sure to check out their July 1776 Special. For every 17.76 spent, you get a comic book on them! And finally, the Comic Timing books of the month are as follows:

Avengers: Initiative #17 – extra 10% off the already listed discount of 40%. CT listeners will save 50% off retail (CT price: $1.79 / retail: $2.99)

Blue Beetle #31– extra 10% off the already listed discount of 40%. CT listeners will save 50% off retail (CT price: $1.79 / retail: $2.99)

Back to Brooklyn #1 – because Bob and Sam of Heroes Corner like the Beastie Boys’ No Sleep Till Brooklyn (and I’m from Brooklyn) this gets an additional 35% off the already listed discount of 40%. This gives CT listeners the title for 75% off retail (CT price: $0.75 / retail: $2.99)
Enter Comic Timing Special Discount in the Notes for your order to get these extra discounts!

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO Initiative effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

We shall see you back here next week with another podcast crossover with Half Hour Wasted!

BKs Bullets: The Incredible Hulk Review

This is a Special Episode of BK’s Bullets where Ian and I review the new Marvel Movie, THE INCREDIBLE HULK which came out last weekend. We talk about the actors, the story, the old Ang Lee debacle, and everything else! We’ll catch you next week with 22 Pages: Invincible Iron Man #1!

This episode is Sponsored by Heroes Corner. Enter CTSAVES on your first order and get an extra 5% off on your order. Check out the forum for more details on more savings!

BKs Bullets – FBCD 2008

Welcome back to another BK’s Bullets! This time Brent discusses Sea of Red Volume 1 from Image Comics, the Free Broken Trinity Prelude from Top Cow, the free Hellboy Comic from Dark Horse, and the free X-Men comic from Marvel, all offered on Free Comic Book Day 2008. Well all the ones labeled free anyway. Stay Tuned later this week for our 2-Year Anniversary Extravaganza!

Music Provided By the Podsafe Music Network:
(In Playing Order)
Dammit Boys – Sambaca
Dammit Boys – Toluene
Danny Weis – Gunslinger
Darren Nelson – Dinosaur Town
Dennis Janlov – Evil Karma

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO Initiative effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

BKs Bullets: Alias & Punisher War Journal

Like we promised! A new BKs Bullets! This time Brent goes over The Brian Michael Bendis Alias Series from Marvels MAX imprint, and the recent Punisher War Journal series by Matt Fraction and Ariel Olivetti.

For those who do not know, Brent puts out a segment for Raging Bullets called BKs Bulets, where he reviews something DC related, whether it be comic book or media, in about 15-30 minutes. Well, Brent is taking BKs Bullets and expanding upon it, so any non-DC related material will be released here! This time, he goes through the 1st volume of Invincible, The Image creator owned Robert Kirkman title that began the Kirkmanverse.

Give us your thoughts on this episode on the forums, and thanks for listening! We’ll see you next time with MegaCon Madness with Ian, Brent, Raph, and Brandon!

Comic Timing – Episode 57

Ian, Brent, Sam (from the 88 Miles Per Hour podcast), and Umar (from the Dafixer’s Hideout Podcast) discuss what it means to be a fanboy in the year 2008. We talk about What we buy, why we buy, and so many other tangents that can’t be covered here. PLUS: The roommate of Brent makes a surprise appearance in the bloopers! Darn roommates!

You can e-mail the show at comictiming@gmail.com, and please vote for us at Podcast Alley and Digg us at Digg.Com. And of course, if you can, please donate to the HERO Initiative effort if you can. Every little bit helps!

Thanks for listening, thanks for downloading, and see you later this week with a new BKs Bullets on the Marvel titles Alias and Punisher War Journal series, and after that, the madness that is MEGACON!

Jim Lee Kills My Feet at a Signing

The Corner I was Stuck at

My feet hurt, thanks to a long line at a Jim Lee signing at Sci-Fi City in Orlando, Florida. I went to Orlando this past weekend for this signing and was particularly excited to get stuff signed, and maybe even get a sketch in the Absolute Hush that I won from Nick in his massive contest awhile back. I got to the store at noon and saw a full parking lot, I went inside the store, which is a massive space, much bigger than most comic stores with spaces for card games, table games, video games, an Xbox 360 lounge, Sci-Fi City is really a great store and I had a high opinion of it, until I left the signing. Anyway. I got there at noon, and was prepared to wait an hour when Jim arrived at 1 pm. After I had my books counted and stickered (so you left with the same amount of books as you came in with) I got in the main line. After I got in this line, I learned, as the manager announced over the microphone, there were two more lines that would be able to get their stuff signed before me! So, I went from being not that far back in line, to way at the bottom.

The first line was for people who dropped $50 in the store and bought and Absolute Hush the day of or a few days before and had a reciept. They had first crack at Jim. The second line was for comic subscribers at Sci-Fi City, and they had second crack at Jim. After them was the main line, which I was in. I thought, “Ok, well that’s cool for people, hopefully I’ll get my sketch.” 2 hours later, my line and the subscriber line had not moved more than 5 feet and more people were entering the store and getting in line than were leaving. Feeling discouraged, thirsty, hungry, and tired, myself and the people around me asked some employees what was going on. We were told that Jim had started doing sketches for whomever wants one (I think for free) and that’s what the holdup was. We asked if they could change the lines, cut some off, so that people would be able to get their stuff signed, shop around the store, and leave. The employees told us that they were sticking to the system they had. Bummer. An hour after that, my line moved, and I rounded the corner I had been stuck behind for the past 3 hours. Jim Lee was in my line of sight, drawing inside and Absolute Hush, and my hopes were raised.

As I got closer to the front of the line, I realized that someone had listened to us an hour ago, and was rotating through the still existent 3 lines to move people through, as Jim was leaving at 6pm and there were still over 100 people in line, some with only one or two things to sign. As I got to the front of the line, I had all my books out, Absolute at the ready for a quick sketch, when the manager tells me, “You know he’s only sketching in the Absolutes for the people who bought them here.” What? Blast! So, I walked up to Jim Lee, handed him my books, told him how much I loved his work, inquired about how long he’ll be on All-Star Batman and Robin (till issue 20), and the DC MMO (which is still alive and “looks great”). After he signed all my books, and the inside of my Absolute, I left, put the books back in their bags and proceeded to leave the store. As my books were being counted, an employee asked me “Was it worth it?” I looked to him and lamented that my feet were tired, thirsty, and hungry, and that I thought it was unfair that they were limiting who got sketches in their Absolutes. He looked at me and told me I could get in the Absolute line now, and hope that Jim got to me. I looked at the still egregiously long line, looked at my watch, and then the employee. I said to him, “Dude, it’s 5 o’clock, I’ve been here since noon. The day is over,” and walked out the door as he said, “thanks for coming, come back soon!”

Jim Arrives

So that’s my story. Did I have fun? Yes, but only because I met this cool guy Josh (hi Josh!) and talked to him for the hours I was in line. Was this signing mis-managed? Hell yes. Before Jim arrived, the manager was telling me how long and hard he had to work to get Jim to come down. He’s in a band, Jim has his CD, which lead to e-mails, someone in the store donated Disney tickets, as well as pulling in some favors for a stretch Hummer limo to cart Jim and his entourage around from Thursday till Sunday, all free for Jim. Sounds like it took a lot of work right? So then why bumble the event with 3 different lines? If you want to give subscibers a jump ahead, ask Jim to sign for them only on a different night and time. Tell the subscibers that their line closes when Jim arrives, and after that they have to get in the regular line. I watched about 20 people with “subscriber cards” jump in line ahead of me for 4 hours, after I arrived. It felt like comic-book racism. They are better than you, so they get to cut in front of you all afternoon long and you can’t do anything about it.

I will say that there were people who walked in the store at 4pm, got in my line, which at that time was stretching out quite a bit around the store, and did not get their stuff signed, if Jim left at 6pm like we were told all afternoon long. If the lines had been worked quicker, then people may have had time or even the inclination to walk around the store and buy stuff, but instead, all of the traffic that this signing generated was tied up in line for Jim, and never at the register. Another thing that could’ve been clearer, at least for me, was the sketches. Is he or isn’t he doing sketches? Not letting everyone get a sketch that wants one is silly. If they had told Jim to sketch at the end and do signings till the line went way down, I would’ve been out of there at 2:30pm instead of 5pm, and maybe then I would’ve gotten in the sketch line. While I’m sure people will look on the wall, and say, “Wow, this store is cool because they had Jim Lee here,” the people who were in line with me will say, “Wow, they really mismanaged what could’ve been a cool event.” Next time they have a signing at Sci-Fi City, I’m going to call ahead and see how many lines they are going to have, before I kill my feet waiting for a minute of face-time with an artist I like.

Checking the books.

Spider-Man 3: A Retraction

On the Upcoming Marvel Year-End Wrap-Up show, I talk a little about how I think Spider-Man 3 was the worst of the Spidey films. I still think this, but upon a second viewing, it’s not as bad as I thought. Dammit! The same things that “bugged” me before (sorry, bad pun) still bug me, but what makes it better is that I see the things that work well, although it took me a second viewing to realize it. So how good is a film if it takes you more than one viewing to realize it? Shouldn’t great films hit you on the first viewing?

The Good:
What I liked in this film was the interaction between the three main players, Peter, MJ, and Harry. On a second viewing, these things seem like a real progression from the second film. Harry is harboring anger for Peter, MJ is with Peter but realizing that he’s not always going to be there for her, because he’s Spider-Man, and Peter is just missing all the cues, like the loveable lug we met previously. Yes, the bump on the head for Harry is silly, but when he forces MJ to break up with Peter and forces Peter to come to him to vent, and then ruins his day again, it just seemed brilliant. And after that, Peter shows up at Harry’s house to beat the crap out of him! Harry wanted to make Peter angry, to lash out in rage, and he succeeded. You could almost say that Peter hitting MJ in the Jazz club is also Harry’s fault. Harry fought Peter in his house, while Peter was under the symbiote’s influence, gave him the rage to win, and go out and be bad, wanting revenge on MJ now. Peter lost control, hit MJ, and then freaked out when he realized what happened. Harry’s actions caused Peter’s heart to break three times, when MJ broke up, when Harry was the other man, and when Peter hit MJ. As Harry said, “sooo good.” That really worked for me the second time around. Because of this, Harry’s redemption at the end of the film really came through, even though Raimi and his writing team had to resort to the Deus Ex Machina of the butler, which is still lame a second time around. Harry, even though he’d been a reak jerk to Peter in the recent past, saved his friend from the spikes and Venom, showing Peter the ultimate act of friendship, self-sacrifice, even if it was impulsive.

MJ’s scenes worked for me on the first viewing, and here as well. I really got the sense that she was feeling left out. Peter was so high on being Spider-Man that he couldn’t see her being so low. Peter couldn’t be there for her, and so she reached out to Harry. Peter’s growth worked a little better, and I even smirked a little during the emo-dance scene. I think I got it this time around, seeing how Harry’s machinations were inadvertantly at work.

The Bad:
Too many villains. Harry, Sandman, and Venom. This is where the film really fails. None of these villains, other than Harry, were really developed characters. We only got a few scenes of Eddie Brock before he became Venom. Sandman was a total joke, being a victim of too little screentime, and the fact that just like Doctor Octopus, he had to be redeemable at the end. Doc Ock’s redemption worked, because we got to know him before his arms went nuts, there was a reason that he was acting weird. Sandman, had no real motivation to be Sandman. His little girl is sick. With what? A cold? Tell me what’s wrong with her, how much does it cost? How long does she have to live? If she has cancer, make her bald or something to show that she had radiation treatments but had to stop due to money problems.

What was Flint in prison for in the first place? Has he tried to get a regular job? Play the lottery? A scene or two showing us this would’ve gone a long way. Also, a giant sand-monster, really? Why did Flint lose his speaking ability when he enlarged himself? If they had kept him normal size but just let him enlarge his hands, feet, head, one thing at a time (like in the comics) then I think that final battle would’ve been more personal. Once he became a giant sand-monster I lost all respect for him as a character, he just became lamer. They had already shown how much of a threat Sandman was in the armored car robbery scene, so we know he’s hard to fight, just give the man more motivation to fight and he’d have been awesome. Some other things that really killed me were the kids. “Wow! Spider-Man!” Shut up kid, where’s your mom and why aren’t you in bed? It’s a school night. Sam, you can put your kids in the film, but they don’t need speaking parts to break up the action, it just takes away from it. Speaking of taking away from the action, the news reporters didn’t need the second sequence. Them setting up the danger was fine but once they entered in with the “Oh, the brutality” and “This could be the end… for Spider-Man” they robbed the final battle of all the tension. I know it’s brutal, I’m watching the battle happen, I don’t need your commentary.

So all in all, I’d give Spider-Man 3 a C, on a second viewing. I still think that it not working on a first viewing says something about the film, it’s nowhere near perfect, but it does have some redeeming qualities, mainly our three main actors and their plotline. If you were dissapointed with the film when it came out, go rent it and try it a second time, let me know what you think.

Triple Daredevil Review… Yellow, Father, and the Man Without Fear

I’ve been on a Daredevil kick for the last few weeks, so having read 3 six issue arcs, I’d figured I’d review them here, from worst to best. What’s weird is that in some way, all of these stories have to do with Daredevil’s origin and his father, Jack Murdock.

Daredevil: Father
Writer and Artist: Joe Quesada

Ever remember people saying that Joe Quesada had forgotten how to draw at one point? After reading this abysmal story, I now believe them. Joe Quesada’s Daredevil here is a bulky, grimacing beast, unlike the one he had drawn with Kevin Smith 10 years back, and every other interpretation of the character. The story here is that there is a serial killer going out and cutting out people’s eyes, while Daredevil does nothing, and in the end, it’s all his fault. Well, partially anyway. Quesada introduces some new super-team called the Santerias who do nothing but fight with Daredevil in the two issues they appear in, and their inclusion in the story has nothing to do with the ongoing plot. There are some asides to a young, media-mogul, who has daddy-issues too, and he funds the Santerias and asks Daredevil to look into this serial killer. Daredevil refuses because the killer is not striking inside Hell’s Kitchen, so it’s not his problem, that is until he finds out that all of the victims are his former clients, and that the killer is someone he knows. All of these plots converge in issues 5 and 6 of this mini, showing me that issues 1-4 were pretty unnecessary and that you could’ve picked up issue 5, read the recap page and finished the mini. That’s not good for a story. Quesada seems like he’s reaching out in every direction here, which leads to a sloppy plot, and an even sloppier finish, leaving me to close the last issue with disgust. I went into this thinking it was going to be a story that hearkened back to Matt’s Father, Quesada tried to do this, but got so wrapped up with everyone else’s daddy-issues that he forgot that Jack Murdock was supposed to be the centerpiece of the story. It’s because of this that the story gets lost. If Quesada had kept everything in check, this might have been a mediocre story, instead of an abysmal one. Quesada is trying to do too much here, and it all gets lost in the shuffle. As for the art, People weren’t kidding that his “One More Day” stuff was his best in awhile, because the stuff here looks more cartoony and less detailed than any of his previous work or his new stuff, and that’s bad for an artist who is known for a dynamic, detailed style. I don’t know if Quesada was so loose to try and get a nostalgic feel in the art, or because his Editor-In-Chief job at Marvel got in the way of the quality. Richard Isanove does the colors here, with his digital painting style, and I almost wish he didn’t. Every panel has some wierd color filter. Flashbacks are all yellowed, like on old paper, Daredevil scenes are bathed in red, and the Matt Murdock scenes have a blue hue. This doesn’t work well across the board, because it makes the book look monotone. There is nothing to keep me looking at the page, since, because of the coloring, it all looks the same. I want the coloring to make me stop and smell the roses, this stuff didn’t. All in all, don’t spend your money on this book because you’re wondering what the hassle was all about with the delays way back when, grab it in a bookstore, take 20 minutes and skim through it. You won’t be thoroughly impressed to buy it after that. D

Daredevil: Yellow
Writer: Jeph Loeb
Artist: Tim Sale

One of many “Color” books by Loeb and Sale, this one focuses on Dardevil and his time at the beginning of his career, in his Yellow costume. A majority of the book focuses on his origin, slightly altering it more than I’ve ever seen. In this book, Jack Murdock is killed while Matt Murdock is studying in Law School. Everywhere else, Jack Murdock is killed while Matt is a young boy. It doesn’t do much to serve the story, other than place it within the first year of Daredevil’s first appearance. Anyway, Matt fights some gangsters, it’s all pretty standard stuff. The real star of the book is Tim Sale, who’s work is phenomenal in whatever form it appears, whether for DC, Marvel, or on the Heroes TV show. If you’re looking for a book that cover’s Dardevil’s origin without feeling dated or tying into any continuity, this is the book for you. If you’re looking to introduce someone to Daredevil, this might be the book to do it. A solid comic story with some fantastic art. C

Daredevil: The Man Without Fear
Writer: Frank Miller
Artist: John Romita JR

Out of all the Dardevil stories I’ve read, which really is limited to these three, plus Kevin Smith and Brubaker’s first arc, this was the best. Like Daredevil: Yellow, this is an origin story, though it ties in the origin everything Loeb left out, mainly Stick and Elektra. Elektra has been trained by the Hand and is addicted to killing people, but must start confrontations to with thugs to do so. Stick, here is a mysterious janitor who trains Matt in his dad’s gym at night. It’s not clear why he trains Matt, what is clear is that he’s disappointed in Matt when he uses his skills to fight crime, though his black-silhouetted boss is not. This is like Batman: Year One, but for Daredevil. I think it might not be as revered as that, because, essentially, Miller is applying his Year One formula to Batman. It introduces a young boy, his dad dies, he trains, meets a female villain, and fights crime. The Kingpin also makes his first appearance here, and his rise to power is quickly established in a few, pages, and that’s all we need to know, we can fill in the blanks ourselves. That might be what makes this story so great, is that we’re able to fill in the blanks ourselves, with whatever we want the blanks to be, or whatever continuity we know and love. This is pre-Goddamn Batman Miller, so it must be good, right? Fear not, it is. John Romita JR, does a formidable job on art here. I’m not quite sure whether it’s because of his love for the character, or because the acrobatic Daredevil is slightly similar to the lanky and acrobatic Spider-Man, which he so greatly draws. And, it’s not heavily inked by Klaus Janson, so there is no muddiness to the art, like on that last issue of World War Hulk. This is good quality Miller and Romita JR, and should not be missed for any comic fan, even if the Daredevil costume never appears in the actual story. A