‘Iron Man’ is solid!

Hey Folks, the review went up last night when I got home…

Check it out here.

It’s got some spoilers, so be warned! Here’s a tiny spoiler-free taste:

All the hype surrounding the Iron Avenger’s big screen premiere was well founded, because Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man” is one helluva ride that sets the bar high for competitor’s box office success—jetboots into the outer atmosphere high.

I’ll let the review do most of the talking, but I’ll say this: I went in with high expectations and left satisfied.

When iron boys become IRON MEN!

Hey folks, just wanted to leave you with one last blog post from the pre-”Iron Man” Jim Gibbons, because in a matter of minutes I leave Wizard HQ to head into the city for an early press screening of the ol’ Shellhead’s flick! I can only assume it will be a life changing and awesome experience (as I’m an optimist—and know that trailers as kickass as “iron man’s” can only mean, “Yo, get psyched! This sh– is for real!”), so savor the innocence of the post, as it’s my last I’ll write from a world where I haven’t seen Iron Man shooting repulsor rays on the big screen.

Check back later tonight for my review of the film on Wizard Universe, or just head back here later for a link to the review!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I’m blurb-worthy!

So, I was catching up on this week’s comics and was reading through on of my favorites from Image Comics, Jay Faerber and Mahmud A. Asrar’s Dynamo 5. After another another great issue, I flipped over to the back cover where I saw the following…

This quote comes from a Secret Stash review I did of Dynamo 5 back in Wizard #191, and while Mahmud mentioned me on his blog back when the review came out, and I’ve had blurbs of my reviews featured in press releases before, I believe this is my first blurb to actually grace the cover of a book—which is super exciting. I don’t write my reviews consciously trying to make them cover-worthy, I write them for readers looking for honest looks at books. But at the same time, it’s nice to know that something I’ve written—and honestly believe about a comics—was viewed by the creators and the people at Image as something that they thought was worth putting on their book. So, thanks to Jay, Mahmud and the good folks at Image for making one of my minor journalistic dreams come true!
——————————————————————-
Special thanks on this post goes out to my sister Lexie, who dug through a pile of my old Wizard’s littering my room back on the ol’ suburban Chicago homestead to help me confirm #191 featured my review. Thanks Lex!

Some rockin’ stuff from Marvel, check it out!

Hey Folks!
Let’s start with this absolutely hilarious variant Marvel just sent us to put up on the site. There’ll be a story up on WU.com soon, but I got such a giggle out of this that I had to come post it here first!

Yep, those are rainbows and puppies taking the place of the gallons of blood being spilled on the original cover of X-Force #1…Well done Marvel! Any company that can dish out some laughs poking a little fun at themselves is pretty cool. It ended up in a hearty chuckling session for me, so I’m grateful!

Also, make sure you go check out our exclusive preview of Captain Britain and MI: 13! Not only am I super-psyched for this book, but I’ve been a huge fan of everything Paul Cornell’s done at Marvel so far and more from him can only be a good thing. Actually, Marvel PR Honcho Jim McCann read me raving about Cornell’s Young Avengers Presents story this week in Thursday Morning Quarterback (scroll all the way down) so he sent us the preview…which I was extremely excited to find out about, because I’m all for getting more excited about something and these interiors have done it. If you read Cornell’s Marvel Max Wisdom series—which is nuts and you seriously should go back and pick it up if you haven’t—then you know he is a crazy, smart British writer, who writes crazy stories about crazy British heroes…and it’s bloody awesome! Take my word for it, you’ll be sorry if you don’t get this book.

Ok…I think that fills me quota of publicly nerding out for the day…

My NYCC purchase…

Let it never be said that Jim Gibbons isn’t true to his word! For I have delivered on my promise, I purchased something at New York Comic Con. Get ready to bask in the glory…

Yep, I grabbed up an old school mega-print t-shirt starring Cyclops and Jean Grey (for the record, they are my favorite couple in comic book history). So, just wanted to let ya’ll know I followed through.

I really dig this shirt. It feels like wearing my childhood.

Also, completely free, there’s a little view of my living room and my Criminal #3 poster framed on the wall underneath my armpit there. Is it an original piece of art? Nope…picked it up at Sean Phillips CafePress site…and so can you!

Have you seen this crazy sh–!?!

Check out this article Andy Serwin did this week…seriously, you do not want to miss this, it is fudgin’ nuts!

Here’s a tease…it’s got demon babies and decapitation! Intrigued?! I thought so! Read more here!

Quick NYCC sidenote…

So, I’m pretty sure Selma Blair has never looked better than she did at NYCC—see HERE for evidence.

Anyway, I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with how comfortable Kiel seemed around such a mind-numbingly gorgeous woman. Had it been me, I would’ve been drooling more than a bit between questions.

“I haven’t really had a successful living arrangement so far…”—Selma Blair

Um…sounds like an invitation to me. Darn you Kiel, darn you and your dapper bow tie!

Phew! NYCC is over!

So, it was one heckuva a busy weekend, but the big Con is finally gone!

We had over 70 stories covering the Con so make sure to check out our comprehensive link-a-thon of news and events (yeah, I linked it in the last post, so what?!).

And don’t forget to check out the Wizard TV page because Kiel, Dan Reilly, Jordan Hammill and Alex Kropinak worked their butts off to get you folks some of the best Wizard TV stuff you’ve yet scene! Get it?! Scene?! Like a movie or TV scene?! But, you…you’ve seen it?! Seen!? Scene?! C’mon, it’s hilarious!!!

…ok, no it’s not, I’m still just exhausted from the Con.

Anyway, check out the coverage and enjoy. I’m gonna grab some Z’s and be back blogging strong later this week! See ya’ll then!

P.S. Did you all check out Ethan Kaye’s blog from the Con? Head over to FeedMeAKitten.WizardUniverse.com, the man knows his funny!

Hey, I met Jason Aaron!

So, if you’ve been reading the blog, you’ve probably noticed that I’m a big fan of many of the Kansas City-based creators in the comics world. The ranks of KC talent who’s books I’m madly in love with include Jason Aaron, B. Clay Moore, Tony Moore and Matt Fraction as well as the up-and-coming Seth Peck—who co-writes the Image book ‘76 with Clay—and who I’m becoming more and more a fan of with each issue.

Why do I dig this KC Collective so much? Ever since my college days in Columbia, MO (a little over a 2-hour jaunt from KC) when I realized half the books I was digging were written by guys a short car trip away not deep in the urban jungle of New York or across the pond, well, it just felt kinda cool to know I was reading stuff by “local” talent.

I did an article on Midwestern Comic Talent back then where I talked with Clay, Jason and Matt and I’ve since talked to Jason about his current runs on Wolverine and Ghost Rider, but I’ve never met him in person. So, knowing he was going to be at NYCC, I made a note to seek him out.

Andy Serwin and I were both talking about how much we love Jason’s Vertigo series Scalped not to mention the Wolvie and Ghost Rider issues he’s done so far, and were kicking around the idea of approaching Jason to do a blog on WU….

…Quick aside…here’s a picture of sexy/deadly, naked Mystique by Ron Garney from Jason’s current Wolverine arc…yeah, it’s a freakin’ awesome book!…

…anyway, I sought out Jason on the show floor yesterday evening and found him camping out at buddy Tony Moore’s booth taking a break after a long day of Con action and finally got to shake the hand of Mr. Aaron. Yes, one of the same hands that typed Scalped! I know that’s extremely nerdy to say, but getting to meet a writer who’s work you really enjoy and admire—especially as a writer myself—well, its pretty darn cool!

I didn’t pester the man too long as it’d been a long day whether you were a writer sitting in on panels or an editor reading/editing/posting stories about panels (Seriously, did you see how many stories we put up yesterday?! Go check it out!) and I’m not guaranteeing anything by any means, but based on the convo I’m optimistic we’ll work out some very cool stuff coming up in the future on the site that will involve Mr. Aaron. So—again no guarantees, but—stay tuned!

And while the above is cool, I guess the main point of this post is just to say that I still totally nerd out about meeting some of these guys and I absolutely hope that never changes no matter how long I’m in this comics journalism game. I mean, if you can’t still get psyched to meet the minds behind your favorite books, what’s the point?! Glad I still do!

For love or money?

So, just a little Con anecdote in between the massive amount of stories to post…

I took a quick break to say some hellos and shake some hands out on the show floor, among them was Frank Supiot over at Iron Man statue premiere.

Anyway, we were chatting about some cool Koto stuff coming up on WU.com (stay tuned), the Con and comic books when a customer came up to ask about a 1/4 sized Final Fantasy Cloud statue.

Now, this wouldn’t have been that out of the ordinary—as almost everyone who came up to the booth asked about the statue—but this fella wasn’t just curious, he wanted it: he was a buyer. The price of his desired item? $400.

I stood and watched as Frank opened the package for the customer’s inspection.

The curious consumer liked what he saw, scrounged up $400 cash and bought the item on the spot.

Now, I’ll be straight with you folks. I find it hard to push myself over the edge to buy a $20 DVD and even harder to make the commitment to drop $50 on a video game. Sure, there’s a ton of great stuff for sale at any Con, but I usually wind up seeing loads of cool stuff and asking, “Do I really need or want that?” which is almost always answered by, “Ya know? If I really do, I’ll seek it out later.” So, to see someone step up, check out the merchandise and in the course of 15 minutes decide that he definitely wanted to drop 400 big ones on an item…well, it was kind of awesome to see!

It was a reminder that Cons can—and should—be a place for all of us with nerdy obsessions to go a bit nuts as consumers and buy stuff that may seem crazy to others but makes complete sense to us. It was almost inspiring to see someone so fully exemplify that mentality…in fact, it was inspiring!

Mark my words, I’ll forsake my I’ll-get-it-later-if-I-want-it-that-bad attitude and splurge a bit on something this weekend. Be it t-shirt, trade paperback or toy…I will make a purchase!