Hello again, fair readers! It’s time for a little less looking at words and a little more watching of videos! Straight from Wizard TV comes the newest of—what I like to call—The Alex and Jordan Adventures (actually, I think they called them that to me once and I just went with it…anyway…)! Watch till the end for a cameo appearance by one large, hairy, blogging simian-like someone you may recognize! Or, you could just watch it because it’s pretty fudgin’ funny!
Now that you’ve seen the hilarious might of Wizard TV, I’m sure you’re all aching for more. Well, fret not, Alex and Jordan have been cooking up some seriously comedic videos for a while that you may or may not have seen.
Basically, you may have been checking out Wizard TV for our great interviews, but there’s some serious funny going on over there as well. And speaking of funny on Wizard TV, if you haven’t seen any of the animated Twisted ToyFare Theatres…well…get your butt over there and check’em out or you’re fired!!
If you haven’t been paying crazy attention to my blogroll updates (and hey, I wouldn’t blame you…but seriously, some good stuff in that there list, check it out!), you may have missed the link to one of Wizard Universe’s newest blogs: Kickin’ It Old School!
Manned by ToyFare associate editor and frisbee enthusiast TJ Dietsch, Kickin’ It Old School takes a look at the hits and misses of yesteryear in comics, movies, books, music and the like. I don’t know how often I’ve said “It’s a darn good read” in this blog (a lot, I know)—and I’m always serious when I say it—but go check out TJ’s blog if you need a review of some old classics in comics or movies, or you just have a fetish for things that happened ten or more years ago…it’s a darned good read!
Anywho, the main reason I was reminded to pop up this little blog shout out was because TJ reviewed the Steve McQueen classic “Bullitt” in one of his earlier posts and I just saw that flick for the first time last night. I’d never seen “Bullitt” and had recently added it to the NetFlix queue right before TJ’s review ran, so I checked the review and was surprised to see the film get a “generally kinda boring” review. However, after sitting through it and hoping I’d get caught up in it, I couldn’t agree more. For a type of film I normally love, “Bullitt” is kind of a snoozer. So, long story short: “Bullitt” is boring and TJ’s got some wisdom to share on his blog, so go check it out!
By now you’ve probably seen staff writer Kevin Mahadeo’s review of “The Incredible Hulk” over on Wizard Universe proper, but what you may not know is that I too—yes, the loudest of monkeys himself—was also in attendance for the screener that Monsieur Mahadeo viewed. However, our plan to run dueling reviews (cue banjos) was foiled by the massive amount of work needed on the War Heroes Cover Competition voting and I was prevented from writing a timely review.
So, because being a “monkey” of a certain vocal distinction means I must voice opinions on certain things, I’ll opt for a later—and more casual—review of Green Genes return to the big screen…in the blogosphere!
And away we go…
And of course, heads up, ’cause there be spoilers ahead!
Straight to the point, “The Incredible Hulk” is a darn good flick that doesn’t just dig the Jade Giant out of the hole Marvel’s first gamma-charged flick dug for it (spoken from a guy who enjoyed Ang Lee’s take), but rockets it a Hulk hamstring-powered leap into the territory successful film franchise. The film kicks off with loads of nerd-nods to S.H.I.E.L.D. and Stark Industries, followed throughout the film by the original Hulk theme song, cameos from Lou Ferrigno, Stan Lee and RDJ as Tony Stark, not to mention teases about Captain America, The Leader and the Avengers. If the movie was simply a preview of the greater Marvel Universe being setup with this summer’s Marvel movie fare, it’d be worth the price of admission, but luckily, the flick delivers some heart and a classic Hulk story as well!
All in all, there really isn’t much to pick at in “The Incredible Hulk.” It’s maybe got a few more gags than harsh critics can go for, but it’s a comic book movie summer blockbuster—some comic book cheese isn’t just nice, it’s necessary! You throw a gag about giant purple pants into a Hulk film and, as a big Hulk fan, I’m going to love it.
And hey—much as I liked it—it wasn’t a perfect film, but if my two main critiques are any indication, this film is going to be a crowd-pleaser.
My critiques?
First: not enough punching. Oh, there’s Hulking out aplenty and, yeah, the Hulk turns a police car into a pair of boxing gloves, but I could have gone for a bit more fist fighting.
Second: Hulk and the Abomination weren’t strong enough. I’m a fan of the Hulk being more like a natural disaster then a wrecking crew, and I wanted to see him and the Abomination tossing around taxis like dodgeballs and toppling towns like they were tidal waves! They’re strong and they do some damage, but I want a Hulk-level event, not just a jumbo-sized streetfight. Ok, I’m splitting hairs, because the final battle is a f—king awesome fight scene, I’m just greedy and wanted more!
Lastly: I got a “Hulk Smash!” but I really wanted this scene…
Abomination: [Hulk in headlock] “You think you’re strong?! You’re nothing!”
Hulk: “No! Hulk is the strongest one there is!” [Three punch combo puts the Abomination down before Hulk grabs him by the legs and slams him repeatedly into the pavement]
…oh, or a “Puny Human…”
In the end, I’d give “Incredible Hulk” a B+ to “Iron Man’s” A. Marvel’s two for two this summer and I can’t wait to see what they roll out next year!
Hey folks! The time has finally come…the War Heroes Cover Competition has entered the voting stages! So, head on over to THIS AWESOME LINK and select your pick out of the 11 “heats” of covers to narrow the field!
Speaking of voting on contests, with the deadline for submissions for the First Semi-Annual Loudest Monkey Coloring Contest past, I figured a fun way to award a runner-up prize would be a fan poll! No, the winner hasn’t been selected by me yet, but heck, I feel like giving two prizes away! I’ll choose my winner for the grand prize, but it’s up to you kind readers to pick our other prize winner! So, get your vote on below…
And lastly, if you just feel like voting on some stuff, head on over to our Spider-Man poll and make your voice heard in a number of Great Debates involving Marvel’s wacky Web-slinger!
And the coloring train keeps on rolling down the tracks!
Two new entries came in, both from the good people over at the WUMB, this first one’s from WUMBer Tomer Soiker a.k.a. Spidey_82, the first (ever!) international entry in the Loudest Monkey Semi-Annual Coloring Contest (all the way from Israel!)…
I love that Scalped cover!
And, from Clay Stooshnoff, better known to WUMBers as (._Y_.), another rad entry…
Keep’em comin’, folks!
Also, the first entry for the War Heroes Cover Competition is in…and it’s pretty freakin’ awesome! Head here to check it out!
If you haven’t check out Wizard Universe today—first off, I’m shaking my fist at you—then you’ve missed the announcement of one of our coolest contests to date!
Mark Millar (Yep! Civil War writing, Fantastic Four penning, totally Scottish Mark Millar) approached us about doing a Cover Contest for his and Tony Harris’ (Yeah! Ex Machina Mayor Hundred drawing, Starman scribbling Tony Harris!) new Image superhero series War Heroes.
So, get your pencils out kiddies! This is your chance to land your work on a Mark Millar/Tony Harris book as a variant cover!
Need some visuals to work with? Check out our preview of War Heroeshere, with more from Millar and Harris on the mini as well.
All this excitement is getting me pretty jazzed about this book…so…I think I’m going to grow a handlebar mustache! ‘Cause that’s what I do when I get pumped…I grow a mustache!
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.
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…
So, in case you suckas (and by “suckas” I, of course, mean “distinguished readers”) didn’t notice it yet, Rickey Purdin’s Diary comic strip is back in action!
You can head over and view it at Diary.WizardUniverse.com—a new blog to house all the crazy cartooning of Wizard’s entertainment editor—so make sure to check that out!
I just scanned in a new strip and a whole buncha other images for Rickey, so expect that blog to be rockin’ a butt-ton of new stuff in the very near future!
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Ok…literally minutes after my post, Rickey’s new strip went up, so go and check it out and catch a glimpse of The Loudest Monkey (Me!) in Picture Perfect Purdin-Vision!
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Kickin’ it Old School - What’s old is new again under the curious eye of ToyFare assistant editor TJ Dietsch.
Mid-Missouri Comics Collective - MidMoCoCo is THE place to go for all the news, event announcements and notifications on comics and cartooning news coming out of Mid-Missouri
