Apologies, but I've been travelling with family in joyous celebration of good things this past week, and thus, have not been blogging. This should be the last major interruption in the foreseeable future. Now, a few notes on my trip:
I got to see a Barnes and Noble Bookstore, which is the American Equivalent to Chapters. A few interesting notes:
Like Chapters, B&N stores have a built-in Starbucks. Unlike Chapters, you serve massive amounts of ice cream in the Starbucks, whereas Chapters has a variety of coffee flavours unknown to other beings and chains.
Where Chapters is vastly superior: A larger and wider array of non-fiction books, particularly those about history, politics and cultures other than the US.
Where Chapters is vastly inferior: B&N Science-fiction and Fantasy sections dwarf those of Chapters. Also, B&N have a larger selection of the classics (i.e. Heinlein, E.E. Smith, Verne, Wells) than is normally available through Chapters.
The comic shelves: Let me make this clear- MANGA IS SUPREME HERE. There were four shelves of the stuff, all of uniform shape; all the volumes perfectly ordered so there was no question where each series was, and easy to find what you were looking for. The superhero stuff was about two shelves, with no possible order, and they were lumped in with the RPG books and the "unofficial guides" to whatever comic/sci-fi/TV adaptation movies were hot the last couple years. If I were a Marvel/DC/Dark Horse/Image guy and went by these shelves, I would start thinking that I was in serious trouble. And by "Serious Trouble", I mean, the kind Detroit Automakers saw in 1988, when they saw that the Japanese were about to descend upon them like bloodthirsty hawks, and that they had no idea what to do.
Anyway, I had a really good time, and I'm glad to be back. More will be coming soon.
OK, Now, as you probably know by now, Captain America is, illogically, one of my favorite comic characters. So now, while I believe that the current storyline will be resolved (eventually) and that (also eventually) we will see Steve Rogers as Cap again, I'm going to take a moment to point out the rather unique way that Brubaker has made the Bucky-As-Cap a commentary on Modern America.
First, let's get this out of the way: Brubaker's interpretation of Bucky can be summed EXACTLY AS FOLLOWS:
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Which is fine. Superhero comics have a long history of swiping stuff from other popular culture (We all know Master of Kung-Fu was a response to the Kung-Fu genre and Bruce Lee. Let's not dwell, ok?), so this is nothing new. As someone else mentioned "Brainwashed minion of the bad guy gone good" isn't really new in comics. So, it's unoriginal, but is it any good?
Well, that depends on what you mean.
In the opening foreward of Kurt Busiek's Astro City Vol.1: Life in the Big City, Kurt goes on about how you can make comic characters stand for different things, and he explicitly mentions the idea of "How would Captain America look if he were conceived as a reflection of the post-Watergate 1970s America instead of the New Deal America?" . And I think that's what we have here with Bucky/Winter Soldier: A reflection of Captain America as a metaphor for Modern America: A country that remembers its past, but has been dehumanized by a long, cold war, in which it has been inactive, and occassionally entirely mislead, but one that is striving to live up to the legacy of those whom have gone before and laid down their lives for The Dream.
And damn, that's a Story WORTH telling. And a concept worth exploring. It'll be interesting to see where it goes.
(Again, apologies for not having any good Futurama images for posters. If any of you want to send me a link with some, I'd appreciate it. In the meantime, enjoy the Aaron Stack Goodness.)
For an animated franchise like Futurama or Family Guy, there are generally two approaches you could take to a direct-to-DVD feature such as this: 1) Tell a good story designed for maximum appeal in an effort to bring the series back to TV (which Family Guy managed to pull off), or 2) Appeal to the longtime die-hard fans and write them a love letter while trying to complete some of the unfinished character arcs from the show. Bender's Big Score definitely opts for the second approach (although I'd argue it doesn't really give us any real completion on the arcs. If anything, the DVD sets up a bunch of new arcs that will require more DVD features to complete).
The animation and the voice acting are all back with a vengeance: Billy West (the voice of about half the male characters) is clearly enjoying another descent into schizophrenia voicing all of his favorites, from perennially down on his luck Zoidberg, to the ever-sleazy Zap Brannigan, to series protagonist Phillip J. Fry, among others (including a few new characters altogether). John Dimaggio's Bender is a hoot, and the writers allow him to steal every scene he's in. The entire voice cast is rejoined and it's surprising how little has changed in the nearly five years since the series left the airwaves (jeez, it's hard to believe it's been that long). There are also several celebrity cameos via the "heads in a Jar" trick, including a certain former Vice president (who gets a great one-liner).
The story itself is great, tying together elements from the entire series and loaded with characters from previous episodes (my god, but I lost count of how many nods there were to episodes from the series run), and since the cover mentions it, I will tell you that the main plot hooks revolve around time-travel, which the writers use in a manner that would make Dr. Who fans proud. Trust me, if you are a fan of the show, you will appreciate the nods. The flip side of this is that it will be nigh-impenetrable to a new viewer, which may not help the series in terms of launching a longer-term revival effort.
A few other interesting things to note:
-Two of the series long-time recurring antagonists do not appear. I suspect partly because their appearances might have interfered with the overall plot, but I also suspect that there may have been some other issues with voice casting. Any information here would be helpful.
-The Leela/Fry and Bender/Fry dynamic is at the heart of this thing, although there is little actual development, but it's well done. Much less well done is Hermes' subplot, which comes off as stretched thin and rather repetitive. Amy was nearly entirely absent from the entire production, which is of course, really sad.
So, I highly recommend this to fellow Futurama fans, but you might want to sit down any friends who aren't familiar with the show to a few of the better episodes from the series proper before watching this with them.
(Apologies I don't have more appropriate images for tonite's subject. Doing the best with what I have).
Second up on reviews this weekend is Justice League: the New Frontier. Just to clarify: yes I have read the miniseries, and I thought it was a good attempt to integrate the DCU into a more realistic framework of the late-50s to early 60s. However, I'm probably not as in love with the comic as others have shown themselves to be. Yes, the art was beautiful: Darwyn Cooke can and does produce great stuff, no doubt. But I found the story to be a little disjointed and awkward, and this is something that is amplified in the DVD.
Simply put, there was no way to do this story justice in a 75 minute animated film, no matter how hard they tried. A lot of the better character moments (particularly those of the John Henry-stand-in character, Martian Manhunter, and especially Barry Allen) are sacrificed on the altar of the larger plot. Which I could almost forgive, if this movie didn't keep trying to point out that these tiny, underdeveloped and seemingly unconnected elements MATTERED in some meaningful way which you could only find out if you read the comic. So in that respect, the movie has a pretty fatal flaw in its characterization. The sole exception in this area is that of Hal Jordan, Green Lantern. His story arc from the original mini-series is carried over almost entirely completely, although there is still quite a bit of short-hand used to compact things down. So, if you are a Green Lantern fan, hey, you'll like this.
Now, if you are willing to get past the plot and character problems in this movie, I'll say this: The voice-casting is 100 times better than the "Doomsday" direct-to-DVD Superman Feature a few months back, and the animation is far cleaner and more vibrant. Cooke's contribution no doubt helped in this regard.
So, if you are a diehard DC completist, a fan of Darwyn Cooke, or Green Lantern, you should probably enjoy this. However, I don't think it's that accessible or that good for most viewers.
While Sims is content to waste his time on mere computer games and Campbell has retired from the field to serve his new master, Mickey Eye...Mouse, I meant Mickey Mouse, it falls to me to provide what you hunger for: a review of the Iron Man film.
First things first: yes, stay until after the closing credits. You will be rewarded. I was pretty much the last guy in the theatre and the cinema staff wasn't looking pleased at me for staying as long as I did.
Now, it has been mentioned that these types of movies tend to follow a certain formula. I'm happy to report that in this movie, many (but not all) of them are broken or bent. This is one of many good things in this film. Now, the science, as we've discussed in the past, is somewhat dodgy, but this is a genre that coined "Genetically engineered Super-Spiders", so we'll have to play the hand we are dealt with here. However, once we get past the fact that the science itself isn't top grade, the actual approach to engineering taken by the movie is far better. There is the sense of innovation is coupled with a fairly pragmatic approach to things like testing your new and experimental devices, albiet in a manner that provides slapstick at the expense of safety (I cracked up at several points during this).
The best part of this movie: Robert Downey Jr. OWNS Tony Stark, in a way that the trailers only really hint at. This is by far the best version of Tony to appear in any medium, period. Downey goes thru a real dramatic change from self-absorbed playboy to well-meaning but still slightly self-absorbed philanthropist. His charisma is so great, however, that not one actor in the movie can keep up with him, with the sole exception of Gwenyth Paltrow, who does a lovely turn as Pepper Potts. Their scenes together underscore a great chemistry that has been sadly lacking in these on-screen couples (I'm looking at you, Superman Returns). The focus on Tony's arc from reckless to responsible.
Now, one imagines a movie with this much logistical support from the U.S. Air Force, and one that is grounded in the modern Middle Eastern issues, could easily become jingoistic. Instead, while it shows off the USAF toys, there is the clear message in Tony's arc that these weapons hurt far more innocent people than they should. However, this is complicated by the fact that A) Tony really doesn't have a developed and proactive plan to deal with the problem, and B) there's the implied message that the weapons are only "Bad" when they are used by "Bad Guys" which is not something I'm comfortable with. This mixed message is likely the result of the balancing act the movie makers had to play with to get USAF support while still maintaining the core of the character. The fact that the movie even TRIES to address this issue makes it both topical, and far and away probably the most mature movie Marvel has put out in years, possibly ever.
The FX? Beautiful. The producers could have easily cheated by using very dark scenes to cover their CG work, but in this case, they provide some excellent stuff. And all iterations of the armor looking great.
Overall, this is a great summer action movie, and I highly recommend.
Most of the rest of the week a lot of the material I cover and review will be of a positive nature, but first, I want to do a little venting, if I may.
Now, I really like Jaime Reyes, the current Blue Beetle, but the question keeps coming up: if a character is sufficently original, then why are you even bringing it to the table at Marvel/DC's main superhero universe? This isn't to discredit guys like Rogers or any of the dozens of people who've been doing it for years now, but the question remains; after everything everyone has ever learned about how corporate comics steal and malign creators' rights, why the hell would you even consider giving them you "A" material?
If Rogers had made the character for another company, where he would have had more control over his creation (most independent companies don't do total control these days, as adaptations to other media are too lucrative to be worth passing up), and came up with his own name, well, he wouldn't have been able to mine the DCU for every penny it's worth. However, outside of the comics blogosphere (hey, we're great, but we aren't the universe) exactly whom would give a damn?
Oh, yes, going with a Marvel or DC increases the chances your comic will succeed in the Direct Market (Well, that's not entirely true; it's far from an ironclad strategy). Big Whoop. Isn't being on top of the Diamond Catalogue really that meaningful? Or is it just some sick nostalgia for the 90s when that actually had some (false) signficance? Who cares if it's 40,000 or 70,000 of your floppy first issue that goes out? Isn't about where you end up and what you can make of your intellectual property?
Putting this into some kind of semi-relevant context: If I own a patent on a Device, then it's MINE. Complete, unto itself and I will fucking cut you up (in court) if you try to use it without giving me what I want for it. Now, the truth is, depending on what it is, someone with a patent will either have to make a deal with a company, or try and become a business themselves. Going with a company is not unlike with Marvel/DC, except that usually, you get the deal UPFRONT, and not after the fact. Furthermore, with most patent rules, you still get money if a company uses what is YOURS, even if you are no longer working on it. Gerber (or his estate) isn't getting any money from Letham's OMEGA THE UNKNOWN to my knowledge, even though if Letham had something resembling integrity, he'd put a chunk of his paycheck to such a cause, and making sure future creators don't get the screws the way Gerber did.
Honestly, it makes me question why ANYONE with half a brain would get into writing comics for the mainstream guys. Yeah, I mean, there are probably concepts and characters I'd love to write myself (and one day, I will share them with you) but let me be clear on this: SO LONG AS COMIC COMPANIES DO NOT PROVIDE PROPER REMEDIATION TO CREATORS, PAST AND PRESENT, I WILL NEVER EVER CONSIDER WRITING FOR THEM FOR ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY.
These and other things, we all have Dave to thank for. and I thank Dave, because quite a few of the images I've used in my posters are from his 90s comic collection, among others. So, my hat's off to you. Godspeed.
You know, somedays I wake up and I find it impossible to believe that Western civilization has sunken so low that we use tools like this. I mean, there are some people who just want to privatize everything for the sake of privatizing it, but it just doesn't seem to work. Nevermind that in this case, the group in question is a literally all the worst stereotypes of Americans (Trigger-Happy xenophobic yahoos) amplified by all the worst parts of capitialism. I love Americans and I like capitialism (because it is better, so long as it is regulated and not given such total free reign as to amount to effectively feudalism), but seriously, to my American friends: Cut this crap out, please. You are making humanity look bad here.
Sorry about the lack of posting this week; Family came from out of town and things are gearing up for me at the lab after a dry spell. I'm also sad to say that I'll probably have some short abscences over the next couple weeks due to travelling. Should be back to full daily operation by mid-May. In the meantime, I will do my very best to keep my output high for you people. I have some upcoming DVD reviews and some rants on various items, comics and otherwise. I'm not going to do a lot of comic reviews because, hey, Chris Sims is the best and I really don't buy that much in singles these days. So don't worry, big content is coming!
Ah, proof that I am both an Engineer and a nerd: Mixing comics and science.
Before I go in further, I must give props to Dr. Jim Kakalios, Author of The Physics of Superheroes. This is a great book that goes into a lot of super detail about the science of various superpowers, without being so complex that you need a degree to follow it. Of course, if you have a degree, it makes it that much more fun. here's a sample video
Neat, huh? Now go buy his book!
Tonite, in anticipation of the upcoming Iron Man Movie, we will take a look at how Iron Man's suit allows him to fly...and how, it would probably end up with him driving himself into the ground like a tent peg.
Looks cool, no? I mean, just suit up, take off and leave all your earthly worries behind. Apparently, gravity would have to be one of these worries.
OK, for those of you who don't feel like taking a course in fluid Mechanics or Aerodynamics, here is the short version...when something moves through a fluid (Gases and Liquids are both considered fluids, albeit with vastly different properties) or a fluid moves over and under a surface, a pressure difference is created, and this force is known as Lift, which, as you can imagine, allows things to fly. The lift force is usually a product of the following elements: Surface area to generate lift, speed, and the properties of the object to generate lift. With aircraft,they have a huge surface area dedicated to generating lift, and that's the wings.
Do you see any wings on Iron Man's Armor? No? Oh, well would a humanoid body be able to generate lift? No, the human form is tremendously crap at that, otherwise skydivers wouldn't fall down quite so quickly. What about speed? In theory, but the problem there is that in the time it would take to get to that speed, you probably would have already crashed, unless your take off point was say, a really tall building. The other alternative would be to accelerate to ridiculous speed, and that would probably cause you to black out, and then crash. By the way, a crash of about 400 lbs going at several hundred miles per hour? It ain't going to be pretty, and once you get the can opener to open the armor, the pilot is going to be not much more than really chunky salsa due to the force of impact. Nevermind poor pedestrians and anyone who was on the ground when he impacted. This, by the way, is why you should be glad there aren't a lot of flying cars and jetpacks, because a midair collision would result in a rain of fiery bits that would look like the opening scene in Armageddon (the movie). Most of us can barely handle maneuvering in two dimensions at several dozen mph; adding another axis, gravity, and multiplying the speed will only worsen things.
None of these seem like good ideas. This leaves with an Iron Man who could only fly straight up and then slow his descent down in giant arcs like the Golden Age Superman, which is still sort of cool. Of course, just to keep himself balanced would require some really advanced gyroscopes capable of near instantaneous self-correction, which would be really neat, but hey, Stark's smart, so I can buy that.
Ah, but there is a way he could achieve flight; point a set of repulsors or engines down. This would give him a means of staying aloft the way a Harrier Jet does when it is performing a Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL). Of course, the problem here is that, using Newton's Third Law, for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction. So while he's providing himself at least 400 lbs of upward thrust, that means whatever is below him is being hit with 400 lbs of force. While at high altitude this might be mitigated, I'd hate to be directly below him when he's flying in the city as the force of his repulsors pointing down would turn me into a human accordion, nevermind crushing mailboxes, fire hydrants, pets, and denting vehicles and other property.
So overall, while the armor is nice, it's probably something that you should be glad doesn't exist in this exact form.
But always remember: Just because it's not realistic doesn't mean it's not fun. I don't know about you, but I'm jacked about going to see this movie.
Why? Because I believe in responding to questions from the commenters.
Lurkerwithout has a really good comment that is worth of it's own blogpost. Here's his comment
The worst part of "Doom-Gate"? The crappy dialogue is distracting everyone from the utterly stupid Deus Ex Spider-Woman save...
There hasn't been much discussion of this, and I think there is a very simple reason for that: it isn't a surprise anymore that Marvel doesn't know how to write super-fights.
A shocking and damning admission if you get right down to it; after all, Marvel practically INVENTED the super-brawl. But, it seems that the art of the big bad superfight has disappeared in this bygone age, especially as writers better known for emotional realism step in. And Bendis is defintely the weakest when you consider the following examples:
-The end of "Who Killed Retro-Girl?" in the first POWERS storyarc -Deus ex-Luke Cage in The Pulse (where he, not Spider-Man, brings in the Green Goblin) -Deus ex-Sentry (Several Avengers stories) -Deus ex-Dr. Strange (again, the Avengers) -Deus ex-Scarlet Witch (Avengers Dissassembled, again in House of M)
So yeah, it doesn't surprise me that Bendis writes a pet character of his to make "The big win" for no other reason than he likes the character and wants you to like him/her too, story logic be damned. It's also why I have such low expectations for "Secret Invasion"; I seriously doubt that ANY of the "70's versions" are going be the real deal, ESPECIALLY the ones of Cage, Jessica Jones, or Spider-Woman. Sorry, not buying it or caring.
A long and frustrating day at the lab prevents me from finishing my original blogpost, intending to respond to a few commenters. So you get this instead.
Also, in the comment threads, let me know if there's stuff you'd like to see from me in terms of posters or blog stuff. I appreciate feedback.
OK, how do we fix this? Well, Could do what everyone else is doing by redialoguing that scene, but really? Been done. So, instead, borrowing an old idea from Chris Bird, and doing Doom's version of the Gettysburg Address
"Fourscore and seven years ago a gaggle of halfwits and the rabble that followed them, rose up against their so-called royalty, an even dimmer collection of unimaginative buffoons, barely the equal of the Accursed Richards! Their conceptions were the meager scribblings of minds lesser than Doom's and thus not worthy of consideration. Even now they wallow in their own inferiority of a civil struggle; such a thing would never occur under the rule of a true leader as Doom! They will spout their mindless prattle like unenlightened apes unable to see the true wisdom of Doom are wont to, and will wail and bleat as the sheep they are as they inter the resources they waste, sacrificed in vain. It is a sad loss, for if all accepted the rule of Doom none of this needless loss would occur; all those whom have been killed would have instead found happy and content lives in the service of the greater good of Doom! But alas, until their leaders submit to the will and wisdom of Doom, they will choke their soil with their own fluids. Those lost souls will be given the greatest tribute of all: they have Doom's sympathy, for they cannot know how they are exploited and debased and made to suffer under such pathetic and pitiful leadership. Like the Accursed Richards, they will not be remembered, save as a minor footnote in the histories. But Doom shall not forget easily, and thus, it is Doom's struggle to complete his task; the creation of a world that knows not hunger, nor sickness nor suffering nor the slightest material discomfort. And surely, for this great work, some minor tribute would be paid to the rightful savior? Is it not good that the servants thank the masters for their generosity? Of course it is such, and of course, tribute WILL be made. The path before you is so clear that even the youngest child can see--that I highly resolve that a world under Doom shall give birth to a paradise, and that above all else, Doom shall endure."
