[REVIEW] ‘Captain America: The Man Who Bought America’

I’m doing the occasional Trade Show review for Wizard Magazine these days, so I figured I’d post them here as well.

This issue (#206), I reviewed the new Cap trade. Here’s what I had (and still have) to say:

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE MAN WHO BOUGHT AMERICA
MARVEL

Continuing possibly the greatest Cap run of all time, Ed Brubaker puts his new Captain America up against his first real physical challenge: another Captain America! It’s all action and intrigue as Bucky comes head to head with a brainwashed Grand Director, who’s out for revenge after learning it was a brainwashed Bucky who killed killed his former partner, Jack Monroe (a.k.a. Bucky/Nomad). Meanwhile, the Red Skull continues to dig his hooks into the U.S., and Sharon Carter’s still fighting Faustus’ hypnotic power! Though amazing and still one of the best comics around, this Cap TPB isn’t quite as sensational as past arcs, but that’s only because Brubaker and company set the bar so high.

NOV 26 | $19.99

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‘Quantum of Solace’ meets The Flintstones

So, I saw the new Bond flick, “Quantum of Solace,” this weekend. While reviews calling it an “extended epilogue to ‘Casino Royale’” are mostly correct and my initial criticism of the movie based on trailers (”What is this?! The ‘Bond Ultimatum!?’ This shakey-cam, fast-action overload looks more like a Bourne movie than Bond!”) followed through to my actual viewing, I noticed something that I haven’t seen written about elsewhere. What was this movie’s weird Flintstones fascination?

First, Bond kills a geologist named Mr. Slate. Bad “Slate’s a rock, he’s a geologist, get it?!” joke aside, that’s Fred’s boss!

Secondly, the redheaded Bond girl, Strawberry Fields, played by Gemma Arterton shows up at a party with Bond seemingly dressed as Wilma Flintstone.

Oh, and then there was the part where Daniel Craig offed a guy and yells, “Yabba-Dabba-Doo!”
Ok, that last one didn’t happen, but seriously, what’s up with that? Is director Marc Forster just a big “Flintstones” fan, or what?!

[DVD REVIEW] “Hellboy II” Three-Disc Special Edition

“Hellboy II” had a lot to live up to after Big Red’s first theatrical outing, as well as being Guillermo Del Toro’s first film after “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and it definitely delivered more imagination and impressive effects than most of the summer’s movie fare combined. Appropriately, the “Making of” documentary of this film—one with tons of effort put into each tiny creature it contained—is longer than the feature presentation, and that’s without the deleted scenes, troll market set tour and commentary by Del Toro.

While the copious amounts of features offer a great view behind the scenes, the features are comprised mostly of long, rarely-cut shots of Del Toro directing occasionally mixed in with interviews. This style, at times, feels like a very natural look at how the movie was put together, but mostly leaves you wishing they put as much effort into the production of the special features as they did the movie. Still, it’s a look worth having when the movie has so many “I wonder what went into that shot” moments, especially to see Mignola and Del Toro riffing ideas about monsters for the flick.

Still, the whole two-disc set is pretty much worth purchase for the amazingly cool hologram on the cover that morphs from the live-action Ron Perlman Hellboy to an illustrated Mike Mignola Hellboy. At the very least, head to Best Buy and just watch that thing work its magic for a while!

The best this amateur photog/blogger can do to capture the magic.

That Herc’s one mean CRAKKAJAMMA!

Hopefully I am preaching to the nerd choir when I confess my affection for Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente’s Incredible Herc—easily one of, if not the most, fun book on the shelves right now! Following the Lion of Olympus and is ward, boy genius Amadeus Cho, after the events of “World War Hulk,” this book has been a nonstop thrill ride and the best buddy comedy in comics, hands down!

This last issue (#122), Clayton Henry—with Salva Espin on a flashback sequence—continues art duties, and the book looks great! In this reader’s humble opinion, it’s the best his art has ever looked, and Herc is the perfect title for his style! I loved Khoi Pham’s kinetic action sequences on this title and Rafa Sandoval’s Secret Invasion tie-in was beautiful, but I think Henry may be the best artist to illustrate an arc of this sex-filled, bar-brawl of a book! The humor of this book is amplified so much by facial expressions, and Henry’s proving himself to be some sort of amplifying machine of an artist with each expressive panel (Not too mention Espin’s humorous insert into the issue)!

Here are a few examples of just how fantastic this book looks:

Without a doubt, the most hilarious sound effect ever! And, alongside Herc’s anger, courtesy of Henry, it’s that much greater!

Here’s Herc escaping the Amazonians after seducing Hippolyta. Espin delivers an example of some of this series’ epic comedy.

Back to Henry, we see Herc with the thumbs up for his sidekick, who he presumes is about to get his schwerve on. And in response, Amadeus looking none to pleased that Herc may ruin his chance to score with a mythic beauty.

Not only can Henry do teeth-gritting anger and comic mugging, but the guy can also capture Herc dumbfounded and melancholy upon finding an Amazonian head on a pike.

I’ve got more praise for this book than Homer had epithets for Greek and Trojan warriors! Save me the trouble of typing them all out, go read Herc and construct some descriptive phrases of praise for it yourself!

[DVD REVIEW] “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All!”

As a reviewer of DVDs, “A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!” was really a treat. I had no idea that a Colbert Christmas special was even in the works, let alone ready to be reviewed on DVD before it’s TV air date of November 23 at 10:00 p.m., so imagine my pleasant surprise when a review copy was mailed and I got a chance to check out what one might call a bit of “Christmas come early” (…and one’d be right! The review copy was sent to me in early November, far before Chrstmas!).

As a big Colbert fan, (Yep, it’s been blogged before! Check it here, here and here!) I was pretty excited to get my hands on this disc and started laughing from the second I saw the DVD cover where Colbert is wrapping dozens of copies, and holding, the very DVD case that holds the Christmas special (not to mention the TV screen fireplace on mute behind him).

The cover pretty much sets the tone for the delightfully ludicrous spoof of Christmas specials that features plenty of “in jokes” for members of the Colbert Nation. Including musical numbers by Colbert himself (one solo, one alongside “The Daily Show’s” Jon Stewart and featured parts in each of the other guests’ numbers), Toby Keith, Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson, John Legend and Feist, the hour TV special (about 45 minutes on DVD) plays off the overly musical specials of the past while delivering a playfully satirical view of America and arguably it’s biggest holiday. Elvis Costello is drop dead hilarious throughout as he dons numerous pageant costumes and delivers deadpan humor at its finest, while fans who miss Colbert in a less pundity format will enjoy getting to see a bit more of his comic acting (i.e. “Strangers with Candy”) within the world he’s established during his run on “The Colbert Report.” Comedy-wise, it’s a must-watch for the Colbert Nation and humor enthusiasts alike. Well worth the time for anyone out there with a pulse!

As far as special features go, the single disc has some real fun additions to the hilarious headlining program.

Three alternate endings are included. After watching the special, you’ll almost see a few times where you think, “Huh? I thought they were going to do something else there.” A few of those moments are shown in the alternate endings that are a silly little addition, but certainly an entertaining one! Another bonus feature has Colbert doing a country-western tune called “A Cold, Cold Christmas,” which will definitely garner laughter, but doesn’t touch the DVD’s best special feature. Going by the name of “Video Yule Log of Burning Books,” this 20-minute feature is a spoof of that silly channel that pops up everywhere around Christmas that just plays footage of a fireplace. The Colbert crew do the same, but toss books into the flames throughout the duration. When a copy of “Fahrenheit 451″ hit the blaze, I lost my sh%t! I just can’t wait to slip this in the DVD player at a holiday get-together and watch as people unaware of the joke slowly go from confusion to disgust. Just one more genius bit from this DVD that should get you out there grabbing a copy (it’s on sale now!) even before you catch it on TV.

Forget Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang, I’m spending my Christmas with Colbert!

[DVD REVIEW] “Kung Fu Panda”

If you haven’t seen “Kung Fu Panda” yet, you really need to go buy it and see it as soon as possible. Now, I know what you’re thinking, “Buying a movie I’ve never seen? That seems risky!” Normally, I’m of the same mindset, but after seeing this flick, I can safely say that only those completely lacking a sense of humor or with hearts of stone won’t like this; or, in other words, it’s a great film for everyone!

I missed this computer-animated adventure when it hit theaters and got my first look when I was reviewing this DVD. Why I didn’t see “Panda” before is a confusing matter to look back on, considering the cover features three things I absolutely love in movies or otherwise: Kung Fu, Jack Black and Pandas! However, seeing the movie alongside the shorter DVD-companion film “Secrets of the Furious Five” made waiting for the small screen more than worthwhile. My initial enjoyment of “Secrets” came from the multitude of adorable and hilarious kung fu bunnies, but the different styles of traditional animation used (similar to “Panda’s” opening sequence, for those who have seen it) was really a treat. Plus, more time with Jack Black as Po the panda is great, too!

As far as the rest of the special features on both discs (”Panda” and “Secrets”), the people at Dreamworks really put a ton of effort towards making this DVD set an all-out experience. Between the “Making of” featurettes, “how to draw” tutorials, DVD games, historical information of kung fu and the chinese zodiac, not to mention a feature about how noodles are made hosted by Food Network’s Alton Brown, these DVDs give you everything except a whole other movie…oh wait, they did that, didn’t they?! Given, many of the activities are geared towards children, but much like this “kids” movie can be enjoyed by people of all ages, so can these features.

If a final verdict is even needed after that rave review, the bottom line is that the whole DVD experience from film to featurette is a ton of fun. So get your Panda on and go pick it up!

R.I.P. Blue Beetle

Well, some of my worst fears have been confirmed.

In a Newsarama interview with DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio, the big cheese revealed that Blue Beetle is being canceled.

I’ve feared the worst for a while, as the online rumor mill has been churning with speculation that this book was headed towards an early grave.

Here’s what DiDio had to say about Blue Beetle’s cancelation…

“One of the books that I’m most disappointed about in that regard is a book like Blue Beetle, which we are canceling. That’s a book that we started with very high expectations, but it lost its audience along the way. Recently, we felt that it was standing on firmer ground, and was getting a more positive response. The problem is that the firmer ground and positive response is not enough to keep the book afloat. So unfortunately, we had to cancel that series.

“But with the case of both Manhunter and Blue Beetle, those characters did not go away – they will be essential to the DC Universe, and we hope at some point, we can look at them again and present them in stories where they can stand on their own. When it comes down to it, most of it is business – in the case of both Manhunter and Blue Beetle, it is solely about the sales, because these are books that are both near and dear to my heart, and we tried everything we could to keep them alive.”

I have petitioned and petitioned and petitioned for this book (in our review column, Thursday Morning Quarterback, and on this very blog) because it’s great, but—sadly—sales weren’t enough to keep the blue boy going even though the title was—as he told Newsarama—near and dear to DiDio’s heart, as it is to mine.

Time to head home and crack open a brew and raise a toast for yet another great, under-appreciated comic going to that big, back-issue bin in the sky! Here’s to you, Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle, you’re one helluva hero!

Chicks dig’em, demons got’em!

Sorry I’ve been a bit absent in the blogosphere, gentlefolk! I’ve got a plethora of DVD reviews (”Hellboy II,” “Kung Fu Panda” and more!) on the way, so stay tuned! But, to get this ol’ blog here warmed up after a while way, how about another hilarious comic book quote!?

This one’s courtesy of Keith Giffen from DC’s Reign In Hell #4 (of 6). Check out what Etrigan has to say after receiving a little battle damage…

So that’s how you drive the she-imps crazy! And here I was trying flattery!