A lot of times it's fair to say, sequels don't live up to the original. There are few number 2's that out do the original. Terminator 2 comes to mind. Empire Strikes Back and Evil Dead 2 are super success stories. A lot of people would argue that I should probably place Godfather 2 on this list as well. However, unlike ever fucking movie mark out there, I haven't seen any of the Godfather movies. "Sacrilege," you say? Nope, I just never really gave a shit about it. Kinda like I wish I hadn't watched Kill Bill, although it made me wanna Kill Quentin. But back to what we came here for, the Hardcore Review of the sequel to the Brian Woods/ Becky Cloonan opus, Demo. And I am so glad I waited to get all six issues of the mini before I read it. Money problems plagued me from obtaining them in a timely manner, but a few days after I picked up issue six, I have the series read and ready for the review.
Now the original of single serving 12 issue maxi series, Demo, was critically acclaimed by critics and retailers and fans alike. And for good reason. It was one of the biggest projects at the time that either Woods or Cloonan had worked on. And the difference in the business of writing twelve self contained stories that all had to do with one another. Then there was Becky's job, illustrating one of the most prolific writers in the business. But here's the kicker, she did it in 12 different styles. Lemme repeat myself TWELVE DIFFERENT STYLES! Now mastering the style you become known for is tough enough, but doing a dozen different variations that compliment the writing is FUCKING AMAZING! But that was years ago.... and this is the last six months of comics we're talking about here. And it has been a beautiful half year of comics. And for a book, that's not in color, that was not highly advertised and as a sequel to a really beloved 12 issue run DEMO volume 2 kicked FUCKING ASS! I was so drawn into the stories. Yes, all self contained, but still somehow connected. The stories all flowed beautifully. The line work was as good as I have ever seen in a comic book, and certainly a black and white comic. People may say, "what's the difference if the book is in color or black and white?" Simple, so much art can be "made" with color. But an old rule passed down to me during design college, "color cannot make something. It has to work in black and white." And it is true. Every panel should and must work in black and white if color is going to "enhance" it. Color should never be the defining factor of a comic. With all due respect to the amazing colorists who are out there right now, color should enhance, never "make." It's the same thing with inks. Inks should help shape the look of the line style, it should never fix the pencils. However, a great inker can make a mediocre penciler good, as a great penciler can make a mediocre inker look fantastic. But here, Becky does all the art chores, pencils and inks as well as layouts. She did a fabulous job and should get a fucking big time paying job as one of the elite in the business. And not just that, Becky is a pretty down to earth person. She's fairly humble in her work. She loves what she does. And she's damn good at it. Nothing can take that away from her. Some people might lay the whole, "but she's a girl," bull shit in there. Yeah, she is a female. But that shouldn't and doesn't detract from her ability on the pages.
I think, no, I know my favorite issue was, "Volume One, Love Story." The amount of creativity and thought that went into this, is fucking insane. A woman who can only deal with life by having constant written reminders surrounding her. From the instant she opens her eyes from sleep, all the way in her route to therapy and work. The line work complimented this story like few others could. As she begins to see someone else's notes in conspicuous places for her to see. She begins, after more than a year of therapy, to reevaluate things in her life. The notes continue from her mysterious new friend, who eventually invites her on a date. She accepts and arrives at the meeting spot and...... THE FUCKING ISSUE ENDS! GAHHHHHH! This single issue had me salivating for more than any other issue I think I have ever read. It fucking down right pissed me off, especially as I finished reading the other 3 issues in the mini series and none of them were Volume 2. Jesus. Woods and Cloonan had better do the follow up for this, or I'm gonna bill them for my therapy resulting from their work.
It's super hard to pick standout moments from this series. Just because each issue stood on its own and kicked ass as it did. "Pangs" was phenomenal. And you could kinds tell what was going on early in the story, but the ending was way off my radar. Cannibal, who can only eat human meat eventually tries to quite for of all things, a woman. HE even tried chicken, cause, "everyone likes chicken" (which was a fucking genius setup line). This causes an unforeseen reaction to chicken like I've never seen.... except that one time. He runs away from the date, and stays away from work, only to start eating human flesh again, but it's not like you think. Umm, he then makes plans again with his lady friend and utters the words (as he leaves the house), "I was thinking barbeque." And then as he thinks to himself, "You can do this. You like her." And hours after reading those words it fucking hit me. I know where the meat was coming from.
I'd review each issue separately, but I want you to spend some cash and buy this series. It was packed with extras, like Becky and Brian talking about the making of this second series; layout thumbnail roughs; penciled pages and alternate cover concepts. I say, go fucking buy this mini series. And if you haven't read the original, don't worry, you'll understand Demo volume 2. But I would strongly recommend buying volume one as well.
The grade, as you know, revolves around professional wrestling, and hardcore moments in wrestling history. And the more hardcore and violent the moment, the more this reviewer liked that which I am reviewing. Just a hint, Hulk Hogan is NOT HARDCORE! The pay per view event was ECW's Heatwave 2000. The place was the Grand Olmpic Auditorium in L.A. The first time ECW ventured to the west coast. The match was the scheduled 3 Way Dance which saw Tajiri versus Psicosis versus Little Guido. But before the opening bell, the Sinister Minister's music blared through the P.A. and out came Mikey Whipwreck. Mikey interjected himself into the match, making it a four way. Mikey flew over the top rope taking out his three opponents, but was quickly eliminated from the match. Guido, Tajiri and Psicosis went at it for about another ten minutes only to see Guido hit the "Kiss of Death" finisher on Psicosis, who bounced off the canvas and into a Tajiri German Suplex for the second elimination. From there, Tajiri and Guido went mano a mano. Guido looked like he was making a comeback, when Tajiri hit Guido with the green mist and a brainbuster onto the nearby steal chair of the 1...2...3. Tajiri, Guido and Psicosis or Super Crazy. You couldn't go wrong with that combination of Japanese style, English ground grappling style and the high flying style of Lucha Libre!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
Powergirl 1-12; A Hardcore Review
The 12 issue run by writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti with art chores handled by Amanda Conner. Variant covers were done for the first 3 issues by legendary pinup and cheesecake artist Matt Hughes. This run followed the successful 4 issue origin run in JSA Classified, with writing handled by Geoff Johns and pencils and inks by Amanda and Jimmy respectively.
The stint, showed Powergirl as her alter ego, Karen Starr building her new corporation Starrware Industries from the ground up. Starrware is a company that is helping the Earth go green by inventing products that can be utilized, but there's one problem, none of their inventions are being picked up by anyone.
On the other side of the cape, Powergirl hangs out with her new gal pal Terra. Who is not the reincarnation of Terra from Teen Titans glory and traitor-dom; but a whole new manifestation from the underground, literally. She is a being from the underworld. But she still has the same powers as the original Terra. The two fight a menace, not seen in quite a while in Ultra Humanite, who tears Manhattan from its foundations and lifts it into space. And it's a good thing Terra's around to watch PG's back, cause the entire JSA roster is busy.
The two celebrate their victory over Ultra Humanite, the new Dynamic Duo have a girls night out with a movie. But that gets interrupted with a meta human attack, that leaves Terra in her skivies. Afterwards, Powergirl lets Terra know about the importance of always wearing her uniform under her civies.
Powergirl takes on the likes of a universe traversing macho pig who's only hunting the best woman for the hope of a next generation on his planet. He attempts courting Powergirl, who rebuffs his advances. And after a whole issue, finds out no actual physical contact is needed in order to help his people have progeny.
Earth 2 Supergirl, Kara Zor-El fights the likes of Satanna, and Ultra Humanite yet again. Only this time Humanite has somehow transferred his persona into Terra. And after letting loose and taking out "evil" Terra, PG restores her friend he own mind, and effectively erases Humanite's hatred of her, not to mention helps cure Humanite so that he is no longer cursed to wear the permanent ape suit.
The coup de gras was of course a young man who snaps a few pics of Powergirl changing from PG to Karen Starr on a rooftop via super high quality camera lense. He blackmails Powergirl into doing his bidding. His first order of business is to have Powergirl escort him to his favorite comic book store? But that was on the cover, and something like that would never actually happen, would it? But after the pseudo- date, the kid becomes a local celebrity, and even gets asked out on a date by the cute girl who works at the comic book shop. So the remaining blackmail is averted and he surrenders the hard copies and digital files. This is the issue I had Amanda sign at San Diego Comic Con this year. I told her it was by far my favorite issue of the dozen. She was happy with my diagnosis and also said how disappointed she was when she was younger reading a comic and didn't get to see some of the cool things that were slated on the covers.
Powergirl 1-12 was a super fun ride, that was the first book I read every single month. And the grade I give to it is conversely hardcore. I give to you a match from Major League Wrestling. It involves the "Chairman of professional wrestling," La Parka (who is now known as LA Park) and the "Suicidal... Homicidal... Genocidal... Death defying maniac" known the world over as Sabu. This was the most hellish match in MLW's short history. And almost saw the unmasking of La Parka when Sabu repeatedly stabbed him in the face and head shredding most of his mask. Sabu was seconded by Bill Alphonso and help Sabu he did. Sabu seemed to have settled down a bit since his more suicidal days in Extreme Championship Wrestling, due in part to coaching by Alphonso. At least that's what Joey Styles said. He called the match. It was bloody, and high flying, with a lot more mat wrestling than you have come to expect from the two time former Heavyweight World Champion. But La Parka succumbed Sabu's famous finisher, the triple jump moonsault. Afterward, Sabu shook La Parka's hand and raised his arm in a show of good sportsmanship. But following that, La Parka attacked Bill Alphonso outside of the building, still clad in his shredded and blood covered mask. Fonzie screaming about how his arm was broken from the bottom of a pile of garbage cans.
See for yourself folks....
Sabu versus La Parka in Major League Wrestling
The stint, showed Powergirl as her alter ego, Karen Starr building her new corporation Starrware Industries from the ground up. Starrware is a company that is helping the Earth go green by inventing products that can be utilized, but there's one problem, none of their inventions are being picked up by anyone.
On the other side of the cape, Powergirl hangs out with her new gal pal Terra. Who is not the reincarnation of Terra from Teen Titans glory and traitor-dom; but a whole new manifestation from the underground, literally. She is a being from the underworld. But she still has the same powers as the original Terra. The two fight a menace, not seen in quite a while in Ultra Humanite, who tears Manhattan from its foundations and lifts it into space. And it's a good thing Terra's around to watch PG's back, cause the entire JSA roster is busy.
The two celebrate their victory over Ultra Humanite, the new Dynamic Duo have a girls night out with a movie. But that gets interrupted with a meta human attack, that leaves Terra in her skivies. Afterwards, Powergirl lets Terra know about the importance of always wearing her uniform under her civies.
Powergirl takes on the likes of a universe traversing macho pig who's only hunting the best woman for the hope of a next generation on his planet. He attempts courting Powergirl, who rebuffs his advances. And after a whole issue, finds out no actual physical contact is needed in order to help his people have progeny.
Earth 2 Supergirl, Kara Zor-El fights the likes of Satanna, and Ultra Humanite yet again. Only this time Humanite has somehow transferred his persona into Terra. And after letting loose and taking out "evil" Terra, PG restores her friend he own mind, and effectively erases Humanite's hatred of her, not to mention helps cure Humanite so that he is no longer cursed to wear the permanent ape suit.
The coup de gras was of course a young man who snaps a few pics of Powergirl changing from PG to Karen Starr on a rooftop via super high quality camera lense. He blackmails Powergirl into doing his bidding. His first order of business is to have Powergirl escort him to his favorite comic book store? But that was on the cover, and something like that would never actually happen, would it? But after the pseudo- date, the kid becomes a local celebrity, and even gets asked out on a date by the cute girl who works at the comic book shop. So the remaining blackmail is averted and he surrenders the hard copies and digital files. This is the issue I had Amanda sign at San Diego Comic Con this year. I told her it was by far my favorite issue of the dozen. She was happy with my diagnosis and also said how disappointed she was when she was younger reading a comic and didn't get to see some of the cool things that were slated on the covers.
Powergirl 1-12 was a super fun ride, that was the first book I read every single month. And the grade I give to it is conversely hardcore. I give to you a match from Major League Wrestling. It involves the "Chairman of professional wrestling," La Parka (who is now known as LA Park) and the "Suicidal... Homicidal... Genocidal... Death defying maniac" known the world over as Sabu. This was the most hellish match in MLW's short history. And almost saw the unmasking of La Parka when Sabu repeatedly stabbed him in the face and head shredding most of his mask. Sabu was seconded by Bill Alphonso and help Sabu he did. Sabu seemed to have settled down a bit since his more suicidal days in Extreme Championship Wrestling, due in part to coaching by Alphonso. At least that's what Joey Styles said. He called the match. It was bloody, and high flying, with a lot more mat wrestling than you have come to expect from the two time former Heavyweight World Champion. But La Parka succumbed Sabu's famous finisher, the triple jump moonsault. Afterward, Sabu shook La Parka's hand and raised his arm in a show of good sportsmanship. But following that, La Parka attacked Bill Alphonso outside of the building, still clad in his shredded and blood covered mask. Fonzie screaming about how his arm was broken from the bottom of a pile of garbage cans.
See for yourself folks....
Sabu versus La Parka in Major League Wrestling
Friday the 13th UNCUT; A Hardcore Review
Today I review one of my all-time favorite movies, the original Friday the 13th. This time UNCUT. And what exactly does uncut mean? It means 10 extra seconds of footage that was not in the original theatrical release back in 1980. It means a grizzlier death for the man who is so popular he inspired a game called "Six Degrees of Separation from..." Yup you guessed it. Like so many other people who are now pretty damn famous, some more deserving than others, Kevin Bacon got his big screen start in the original Friday the 13th. And with the uncut version, right after a post sex joint, Bacon gets goozled from under the bed by an arrowhead. It was a great shot of the abilities of Tom Savini, who at one point in his career denounced all the horror special effects he did and said it had been a waste. Then went back on that and started making movies again.
Anyways. For those of you not in the know, the killer in this movie WAS NOT Jason Voorhees. Had Drew Berrymore known this in Scream she'd still be alive today. I saw this first when I was about 12 or 13 and in Junior High. It was a magical time in my life. Being loathed by so many people at school. Even being made the butt of a joke that the entire school knew about, and I didn't. It was fun times. Especially when I would sit in class and remember watching all these horror movies and envision killing a lot of those who surrounded me in equally R rated kinda ways. But why I may ask myself, when but two decades later, they're all saddled with kids and wrinkled and flabby flesh and me, I'm better than ever. Stronger, smarter and tougher than they could ever think of. I think kids really need to go through some hardships in their lives to come to appreciate life more. We have way to many online high schools to avoid having to deal with bullies and shitty class sizes and faculty that are so underpaid they don't give a shit about you and your thoughts for six years of junior and senior high school.
But back to the movie. I watched this at my girlfriend, Christina's place on Friday the 13th with some friends, her brother Ron and her podcast cohort, Matt, who proceeded to entertain us all and scream like a little girl every time someone got killed. And not to mention when Christina's sister knocked on the door, Matt just about lost it. It was great. Eating "Spooky Meaty Chili" and drinking Kilt Lifters while Matt asked what was going to happen next every five minutes was a lot of fun. The fact that he had never seen the movie before made it a blast, cause it's always good to watch horror movies with someone who's never seen it before. The deaths brought out with dvd quality and sound. Kevin Bacon gurgling on his own blood. And then the voice..... "help meeeeee." Ah, I fuckin' love that part. Each time. It's so fucking eerie. "Help Meeeeeeee." And almost completely inaudible from the rain. Then you get to meet the killer. Expecting it to be some massive shape that tears through the camp counselors like cheap linens. But it's not, it's frail little Mrs. Voorhees. All one hundred ten pounds of her. Now in Scream they discerned that there were rules for surviving a scary movie. One of which was you couldn't drink or do drugs, another was you had to remain pure like Laurie Strode in Halloween. However if you watch closely, and listen to the cast and crew commentary, you'll notice sole survivor Alice, not only smokes weed and drinks a few beers during the course of the movie, there is also implications of her having sex with the new owner of Camp Crystal Lake. And when all is said and done, Alice, safe in the canoe in the middle of the lake, safe as can be. Being called to by the Sheriffs on the shore as she wakes from post massacre slumber....
THE TORCH IS PASSED! And wee little Jason Voorhees who would grow up to be a massive king of death, pulls Alice under. The final moments being Alice in the hospital being questioned by the Sheriff, asking her what she remembered. "Strip Monopoly." "What?" "Oh nothing. What about the boy, Jason. The one who pulled me under the water?" Only for the sheriff to look at her blankly and say, "We didn't find any boy." Adrienne King who plays Alice looks at the screen and says, "Than he's still out there....."
This movie holds such a special place in my heart for so many fucked up reasons. And not just fucked up reasons. But really good reasons too. The grade this movie receives is equally old school yet very hardcore in nature. Flair versus Funk in 1989, NWA Clash of the Champions. It started when after his third match in a series with Ricky Steamboat, Funk came into the ring to congratulate Flair. Clad in a tuxedo, as a judge for the match. Funk attacked Flair and then gave him a piledriver through a table. This brought upon an "I Quit" match at the next Clash of the Champions. The two, who may be the two greatest wrestlers in the profession go back and forth in the ring and out on the floor. Funk even piledrivers Flair TWICE. Once in the ring and once on the cold floor or particle board that was covering a hockey rink. After probably fifteen minutes of fighting, a table is brought into play. No one gets put through the table, but both Flair and Funk taste the wood. There was no blood, but plenty of carnage. In the end, Flair works on Funk's legs, who sells like no one else in the business. A Man who was all about business and what was best for the industry. Funk sold the Figure Four for Flair like very few else have done. And after being beaten and chopped, finally achingly shouting, "Yes I quit."
Anyways. For those of you not in the know, the killer in this movie WAS NOT Jason Voorhees. Had Drew Berrymore known this in Scream she'd still be alive today. I saw this first when I was about 12 or 13 and in Junior High. It was a magical time in my life. Being loathed by so many people at school. Even being made the butt of a joke that the entire school knew about, and I didn't. It was fun times. Especially when I would sit in class and remember watching all these horror movies and envision killing a lot of those who surrounded me in equally R rated kinda ways. But why I may ask myself, when but two decades later, they're all saddled with kids and wrinkled and flabby flesh and me, I'm better than ever. Stronger, smarter and tougher than they could ever think of. I think kids really need to go through some hardships in their lives to come to appreciate life more. We have way to many online high schools to avoid having to deal with bullies and shitty class sizes and faculty that are so underpaid they don't give a shit about you and your thoughts for six years of junior and senior high school.
But back to the movie. I watched this at my girlfriend, Christina's place on Friday the 13th with some friends, her brother Ron and her podcast cohort, Matt, who proceeded to entertain us all and scream like a little girl every time someone got killed. And not to mention when Christina's sister knocked on the door, Matt just about lost it. It was great. Eating "Spooky Meaty Chili" and drinking Kilt Lifters while Matt asked what was going to happen next every five minutes was a lot of fun. The fact that he had never seen the movie before made it a blast, cause it's always good to watch horror movies with someone who's never seen it before. The deaths brought out with dvd quality and sound. Kevin Bacon gurgling on his own blood. And then the voice..... "help meeeeee." Ah, I fuckin' love that part. Each time. It's so fucking eerie. "Help Meeeeeeee." And almost completely inaudible from the rain. Then you get to meet the killer. Expecting it to be some massive shape that tears through the camp counselors like cheap linens. But it's not, it's frail little Mrs. Voorhees. All one hundred ten pounds of her. Now in Scream they discerned that there were rules for surviving a scary movie. One of which was you couldn't drink or do drugs, another was you had to remain pure like Laurie Strode in Halloween. However if you watch closely, and listen to the cast and crew commentary, you'll notice sole survivor Alice, not only smokes weed and drinks a few beers during the course of the movie, there is also implications of her having sex with the new owner of Camp Crystal Lake. And when all is said and done, Alice, safe in the canoe in the middle of the lake, safe as can be. Being called to by the Sheriffs on the shore as she wakes from post massacre slumber....
THE TORCH IS PASSED! And wee little Jason Voorhees who would grow up to be a massive king of death, pulls Alice under. The final moments being Alice in the hospital being questioned by the Sheriff, asking her what she remembered. "Strip Monopoly." "What?" "Oh nothing. What about the boy, Jason. The one who pulled me under the water?" Only for the sheriff to look at her blankly and say, "We didn't find any boy." Adrienne King who plays Alice looks at the screen and says, "Than he's still out there....."
This movie holds such a special place in my heart for so many fucked up reasons. And not just fucked up reasons. But really good reasons too. The grade this movie receives is equally old school yet very hardcore in nature. Flair versus Funk in 1989, NWA Clash of the Champions. It started when after his third match in a series with Ricky Steamboat, Funk came into the ring to congratulate Flair. Clad in a tuxedo, as a judge for the match. Funk attacked Flair and then gave him a piledriver through a table. This brought upon an "I Quit" match at the next Clash of the Champions. The two, who may be the two greatest wrestlers in the profession go back and forth in the ring and out on the floor. Funk even piledrivers Flair TWICE. Once in the ring and once on the cold floor or particle board that was covering a hockey rink. After probably fifteen minutes of fighting, a table is brought into play. No one gets put through the table, but both Flair and Funk taste the wood. There was no blood, but plenty of carnage. In the end, Flair works on Funk's legs, who sells like no one else in the business. A Man who was all about business and what was best for the industry. Funk sold the Figure Four for Flair like very few else have done. And after being beaten and chopped, finally achingly shouting, "Yes I quit."
Friday, August 20, 2010
Atomic Comics Bizarre Bazaar & Sketch Cards!
So coming up on the 28 this month, I will be appearing at Atomic Comics Superstore in Mesa, Arizona as a part of their monthly Bizarre Bazaar event for local comic book creators. They will be holding it in conjunction with their Fright Night event which goes from Friday the 27th through to Saturday the 28th.
I will be bringing up copies of the much vaunted and talked about graphic novel, Fuzzyface: The Agnew Chainsaw Massacre 3, as well as Youth in Asia issues 1-5 and the trade which collects the first three issues. I will be signing and doing commissions for those who attend.
As a new part of doing commissions, I have "sketch cover" copies of Youth in Asia issue 4 and new sketch cards to do smaller sketches on. So be sure to check out Atomic Comics' website here www.atomiccomics.com for more details. You can also follow Atomic Comics on Twitter for updates and news 140 characters at a time, here Atomic on Twitter.
You can also follow Agnew on Twitter as well. He finally got himself an account and now you can follow his madness here, Agnew on Twitter. He would like to cull some new followers and hear from his constituents.
Atomic Comics
1120 South Country Club #105
Mesa, AZ 85210
(480) 649-0807
www.atomiccomics.com
See you guys on the 28th!
I will be bringing up copies of the much vaunted and talked about graphic novel, Fuzzyface: The Agnew Chainsaw Massacre 3, as well as Youth in Asia issues 1-5 and the trade which collects the first three issues. I will be signing and doing commissions for those who attend.
As a new part of doing commissions, I have "sketch cover" copies of Youth in Asia issue 4 and new sketch cards to do smaller sketches on. So be sure to check out Atomic Comics' website here www.atomiccomics.com for more details. You can also follow Atomic Comics on Twitter for updates and news 140 characters at a time, here Atomic on Twitter.
You can also follow Agnew on Twitter as well. He finally got himself an account and now you can follow his madness here, Agnew on Twitter. He would like to cull some new followers and hear from his constituents.
Atomic Comics
1120 South Country Club #105
Mesa, AZ 85210
(480) 649-0807
www.atomiccomics.com
See you guys on the 28th!
Monday, August 16, 2010
The Tick, The Complete Edlund; A Hardcore Review *SPOILERS*
Hilarious from start to end. I must first admit to not knowing much about the Tick other than him being a giant nigh invulnerable goof until Free Comic Book Day this year. I picked up the first issue as a freebie at Charlies Comics here in Tucson, AZ. Reading through it, I started to understand what all the fuss was about. So I inquired to Charlie about there being any trades of The Tick out. He stressed that the best one by far was The Tick: The Complete Edlund which contains the first 13 issues of the Tick, his super rare first appearance and a whole lot of dvd-like extras.
Edlund weaves a tale of Don Quixote-like proportions in "The City," the Tick's chosen stomping grounds. Here our big blue friend runs afoul of Clark Openheimer, a mild mannered reporter who wears.... hypno glasses as a disguise. Doing his best delusional hero thing, The Tick manages to somehow access Clark's Fortress thingee (careful to avoid lawsuits) and weaken him with a piece of green Otter Creekite, which turned out to just be a green eraser.
From there, the Tick meets Oedipus who looks a lot like a rick Greek who was trained by ninjas in Night of a Million Zillion Ninjas, where he has to beat up, literally a whole fucking lot of ninjas. And the Tick then declares that, "I thought they only hung around airports getting sucked up into jet engines." It is during this story that Tick meets Paul the Samurai, who smuggles his Katana blade through security at the airport in a loaf of French bread.
From here the Tick soon meets Aurthur. Actually it was during this storyline involving ninja and Paul and Oedipus. Tick moves in with Aurthur and the begin going out on patrol. The duo realize that there's little for them to do in The City so they strike out on the road to New York City to find their destiny of fighting super villains. It is during this road trip that they run across the Chainsaw Vigilante. Hilarious stuff like this should'a been a cartoon tv show. Oh, wait, IT WAS! In New York Tick meets Barry Hubris, who is also the Tick. The two fight a classic battle, where the Tick barely knows whats going on while getting pummeled. And only wins cause he's nigh invulnerable and Barry Hubris gets fucking tired. Turns out when you beat another hero who sports the same moniker, you get to keep the name and all of his crime fighting stuff. So the Tick inherits Hubris' Tick Cave, kitchen, dining room and one bathroom of his insanely Wayne-like estate.
The art is fantastic with just enough detail and splendor to make is pseudo-grimm and gritty, but to still have a ton of hilarity. Edlund is a master at comedy superheroism. So much so that I have considered changing the direction of my comic Youth in Asia to be more humorous. Still unsure about it. I know it would bring in more readers, but I dunno if it's the way I want to go. But I know it would be a lot of fun. I actually met Ben Edlund at Comic Con this year. Super nice guy. I didn't expect a comic book creator who has such a cult fan following to be so genuine and funny. He drew me a Tick head in my sketchbook and signed my copy of The Complete Edlund. I also gave him a copy of Fuzzyface, which sort of falls into the humor genre, although it's a horror-omedy.
In all, I have to give this story a deserving grade. I wanted to give it a funny hardcore grade, but I am seriously lacking on ideas for that right now. So, with last weekend, or the weekend before that, I watched TNA's HardCORE Justice ppv. The main event was scheduled to be Rob Van Dam against Jerry Lynn. But Lynn hurt his back while training so in stepped, the Suicidal, Homicidal, Genocidal Maniac known the world over, as Sabu. Sabu is a step slower than he used to be and the match was not as face paced as their wars in the past had been. But it still lived up to the memories. Sabu, spring boarding off the top rope into the crowd in pursuit of Van Dam, all the while Bill Alphonso lead the cheers in both directions. Sabu even hit a second rope spring board DDT, and a Super Arabian Face Buster. It was classic in every sense of the word. But in the end it was Sabu missing an Atomic Arabian Skull Crusher, where he went through a table. Van Dam capitalized hitting the Five Star Frog Splash and the match went home. These two men have had "respect" matches, stretcher matches, and World Television Title matches, but there was still gas in their tanks. And that gas was fucking combustible.
Edlund weaves a tale of Don Quixote-like proportions in "The City," the Tick's chosen stomping grounds. Here our big blue friend runs afoul of Clark Openheimer, a mild mannered reporter who wears.... hypno glasses as a disguise. Doing his best delusional hero thing, The Tick manages to somehow access Clark's Fortress thingee (careful to avoid lawsuits) and weaken him with a piece of green Otter Creekite, which turned out to just be a green eraser.
From there, the Tick meets Oedipus who looks a lot like a rick Greek who was trained by ninjas in Night of a Million Zillion Ninjas, where he has to beat up, literally a whole fucking lot of ninjas. And the Tick then declares that, "I thought they only hung around airports getting sucked up into jet engines." It is during this story that Tick meets Paul the Samurai, who smuggles his Katana blade through security at the airport in a loaf of French bread.
From here the Tick soon meets Aurthur. Actually it was during this storyline involving ninja and Paul and Oedipus. Tick moves in with Aurthur and the begin going out on patrol. The duo realize that there's little for them to do in The City so they strike out on the road to New York City to find their destiny of fighting super villains. It is during this road trip that they run across the Chainsaw Vigilante. Hilarious stuff like this should'a been a cartoon tv show. Oh, wait, IT WAS! In New York Tick meets Barry Hubris, who is also the Tick. The two fight a classic battle, where the Tick barely knows whats going on while getting pummeled. And only wins cause he's nigh invulnerable and Barry Hubris gets fucking tired. Turns out when you beat another hero who sports the same moniker, you get to keep the name and all of his crime fighting stuff. So the Tick inherits Hubris' Tick Cave, kitchen, dining room and one bathroom of his insanely Wayne-like estate.
The art is fantastic with just enough detail and splendor to make is pseudo-grimm and gritty, but to still have a ton of hilarity. Edlund is a master at comedy superheroism. So much so that I have considered changing the direction of my comic Youth in Asia to be more humorous. Still unsure about it. I know it would bring in more readers, but I dunno if it's the way I want to go. But I know it would be a lot of fun. I actually met Ben Edlund at Comic Con this year. Super nice guy. I didn't expect a comic book creator who has such a cult fan following to be so genuine and funny. He drew me a Tick head in my sketchbook and signed my copy of The Complete Edlund. I also gave him a copy of Fuzzyface, which sort of falls into the humor genre, although it's a horror-omedy.
In all, I have to give this story a deserving grade. I wanted to give it a funny hardcore grade, but I am seriously lacking on ideas for that right now. So, with last weekend, or the weekend before that, I watched TNA's HardCORE Justice ppv. The main event was scheduled to be Rob Van Dam against Jerry Lynn. But Lynn hurt his back while training so in stepped, the Suicidal, Homicidal, Genocidal Maniac known the world over, as Sabu. Sabu is a step slower than he used to be and the match was not as face paced as their wars in the past had been. But it still lived up to the memories. Sabu, spring boarding off the top rope into the crowd in pursuit of Van Dam, all the while Bill Alphonso lead the cheers in both directions. Sabu even hit a second rope spring board DDT, and a Super Arabian Face Buster. It was classic in every sense of the word. But in the end it was Sabu missing an Atomic Arabian Skull Crusher, where he went through a table. Van Dam capitalized hitting the Five Star Frog Splash and the match went home. These two men have had "respect" matches, stretcher matches, and World Television Title matches, but there was still gas in their tanks. And that gas was fucking combustible.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Remembering Lisa Berrie
I am taking this somewhat valuable time from working on my comic book projects to write what I consider a pretty important blog. A blog that sadly not that many people follow. And a blog that very few people will take to heart. Because two years ago a friend of mine was taken from this earth. Lisa Marie Berrie was just twenty-five years old. She was a mother of two beautiful children. A sister. A daughter and a friend to many.
Lisa was taken from this world and the people who loved her by a careless, thoughtless act of rage by someone who truly deserves all the horrible things that I hope happen to him. She was beaten and then strangled to death by her boyfriend and father of her second child, Paul Beam. As with a lot of "statistics" Lisa was killed, when she made the choice to leave a violent situation. Her bags were packed and at the door. Her car was pulled up to the apartment, as police reports indicated. And her two children were in the next room when she was murdered. It took nearly 15 months before her daughter began to speak again. But Lisa will never speak again. Her voice will never be heard by anybody again. Her beautiful smile will never be seen by human eyes again. And nobody will ever be able to hold her and feel her heart beat again.
Lisa was a quiet young woman with a lot of dreams and aspirations in life, including a college education and a new start. A new life far away from her abuser. Lisa will always be remembered by her friends, her family and her oldest child, Jeremy. Her youngest, Kaitlyn was sadly too young at the time of her mother's murder to remember her. But her son, Jeremy found the strength to face her killer last February and tell the world how angry he was that his little sister has no mommy. He clutched his mother's teddy bear closely when he read aloud his thoughts in the courtroom.
Lisa had the uncanny knack of hooking up with guys who really weren't good for her. Jeremy's father bailed when he found out she was pregnant. And Kaitlyn's father is the one who ultimately took her life. But somewhere in the chaos that was her life, Lisa found me. It was the Summer of 2000, and my right knee had already begun swelling and hurting for what would ultimately become what I thought would be my biggest life changing event. It turns out it was until one October night in 2009. I don't know why I logged onto that website that night. The night after Wonder Woman Day. The week after I got home from APE Con in San Francisco. Her sister contacted me and said she believed I used to know her sister, Lisa. Without thinking I responded in the positive and asked how Lisa was. And then it hit me. The past tense of the statement. I went to Suzi's myspace page and saw with sadness and horror what I had feared since she and I parted ways in 2003. Lisa was gone. A victim of domestic violence. Murdered by the hands of a man who was the father of one of her children.
It's been so long since I last saw her, and for some reason it still seems like yesterday. I can still hear her voice. I can still see her smile. And I still remember her quirky good nature.
No amount of bargaining, or vengeance will bring her back to us. No amount of money raised will make our lives whole again. Nothing can undo that fateful night. But I suppose everything happens for some cosmic reason. Domestic violence wouldn't matter this much to me if it had been someone I didn't know. Life wouldn't seem so fragile if we didn't feel this way about those we loved. And life matters. All life. And nothing will stop me from living my life. Nothing. I will always remember the girl with the big quirky smile who brought so much light to my life that Summer in 2000.
Everyone is somebody's child.
I miss you Lisa. Everyday for every day of the rest of my life.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Body Bags: A Hardcore Review
This Jason Pearson original from the 1990's, published by Dark Horse holds up like few others. Panda is in search of her dad Mack in an effort to join him as a body bagger, or bounty hunter. Mack, otherwise and better known as Clownface is a vicious, monster of a man, who's penchant for the violent and mostly irrational line of thinking in quelled to a degree by his mentor, Pops. After being without him for ten years, Panda hops a plane to Terminus, Georgia to join up with Mack and begin her training as a body bagger.
Obviously, this story is not without some cliches. Although they are really useful in propelling the story. Mack wants little if anything to do with Panda. He made his choice ten years ago and hasn't really looked back. Right before Panda's arrival, Mack and Pops are almost killed in a bombing by a rival body bagger and potential movie star, Janus. But Mack catches up with him and ruins his pretty boy good looks.
The ante is upped when on her plane ride into Terminus, Panda is groped by the son of Antonio Scorsese, obviously some fat cat crime lord. Panda responds in kind by knocking out five of "junior's" teeth and pretty much fucking up his weekend plans. His step mother, Maureen tries to broach the subject with Panda and offer her apologies for "junior's" remarks and busy hands.
Thing is Pops is dying, and he sent for Panda to join Mack. Mack doesn't want his daughter to follow in his footsteps. Not so much for the danger factor as much as the high annoyance factor that Panda brings. She's pretty high profile for being such a pint sized would be killer. And a pain in Mack's ass.
Next up is taking a hit job to get money to try and save Pops. Nothing is easy in the life of a body bagger, not even a tank like Clownface. It was all a setup, and everything that could possibly go wrong does, including losing Pops in the melee.
In the end, Panda and Mack have at it and go toe to toe. Father against daughter. Muscle and years of training against pugnacious ability and a mouth that won't stop. In the aftermath, Panda is left in critical condition with a bullet wound and Mack is left the make the biggest decision of his life.
Things I really liked about this book are the characters. A lot of black people complain that there's not a lot of blacks represented in movies, television, and comic books. Well to those who are complaining, think about this. There are even less representations of Hispanics in those three forms of media. With Body Bags, the two main characters, Mack and Panda are Mexican. But not in a stereotypical way. You might say that Mack abandoning Panda ten years ago is a stereotype of typical Hispanic males not taking responsibility for their children. But this is a totally different case. Mack is a body bagger. He hunts people. That's not really a family type environment, no matter what Duane Chapman might have you believe. Although there is a stereotype involved. That hot Latin temper. As it curses both Panda and Mack.
For years and years follow up stories of Body Bags have been planned. However due to certain personal setbacks, Jason Pearson scrapped plans for the sequel. However, re-releases of Body Bags have been printed, which include the characters appearances in Dark Horse Presents anthology. There was also a one shot comic involving mainly Panda released in 2008. Body Bag fans have been waiting patiently for years now. Hoping and praying for Pearson to release some new adventures of Mack and Panda.
The grade for this long thought dead property is fitting in it's pure hardcore feel and leaving the people clamoring for more. The year was 2001. About six months after ECW went out of business. People hadn't seen Rob Van Dam wrestle in half a year, and they needed their fix. But just as we thought we wouldn't get it. Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer appear on Raw is War helping to set off the "Invasion" angle. Rob set his sights on the Hardcore Championship which was held by Jeff Hardy. The only Alliance member who got a pop, Van Dam went into the Invasion pay per view as the crowd favorite. Hardy and Van Dam went all out, including bringing a ladder into play. In Hardcore rules, falls count anywhere and there are no count outs or DQ's. RVD brought out the steel chair and made Hardy pay by hitting a huge Van Terminator on the stage, sending Jeff tumbling to the floor. In the end, Van Dam placed the Hardcore Title on Hardy's chest, jumped to the top turnbuckle in one catlike motion and let loose the 5 Star Frog Splash for the first time ever on a World Wrestling Federation pay per view. The man known as "Mr. Monday Night" gelled his spot in the WWF and became a mainstay in the minds of wrestling fans who had never done the double thumbs or chanted, "he's the WHOLE FUCKIN' SHOW!" live at a pro wrestling event.
Obviously, this story is not without some cliches. Although they are really useful in propelling the story. Mack wants little if anything to do with Panda. He made his choice ten years ago and hasn't really looked back. Right before Panda's arrival, Mack and Pops are almost killed in a bombing by a rival body bagger and potential movie star, Janus. But Mack catches up with him and ruins his pretty boy good looks.
The ante is upped when on her plane ride into Terminus, Panda is groped by the son of Antonio Scorsese, obviously some fat cat crime lord. Panda responds in kind by knocking out five of "junior's" teeth and pretty much fucking up his weekend plans. His step mother, Maureen tries to broach the subject with Panda and offer her apologies for "junior's" remarks and busy hands.
Thing is Pops is dying, and he sent for Panda to join Mack. Mack doesn't want his daughter to follow in his footsteps. Not so much for the danger factor as much as the high annoyance factor that Panda brings. She's pretty high profile for being such a pint sized would be killer. And a pain in Mack's ass.
Next up is taking a hit job to get money to try and save Pops. Nothing is easy in the life of a body bagger, not even a tank like Clownface. It was all a setup, and everything that could possibly go wrong does, including losing Pops in the melee.
In the end, Panda and Mack have at it and go toe to toe. Father against daughter. Muscle and years of training against pugnacious ability and a mouth that won't stop. In the aftermath, Panda is left in critical condition with a bullet wound and Mack is left the make the biggest decision of his life.
Things I really liked about this book are the characters. A lot of black people complain that there's not a lot of blacks represented in movies, television, and comic books. Well to those who are complaining, think about this. There are even less representations of Hispanics in those three forms of media. With Body Bags, the two main characters, Mack and Panda are Mexican. But not in a stereotypical way. You might say that Mack abandoning Panda ten years ago is a stereotype of typical Hispanic males not taking responsibility for their children. But this is a totally different case. Mack is a body bagger. He hunts people. That's not really a family type environment, no matter what Duane Chapman might have you believe. Although there is a stereotype involved. That hot Latin temper. As it curses both Panda and Mack.
For years and years follow up stories of Body Bags have been planned. However due to certain personal setbacks, Jason Pearson scrapped plans for the sequel. However, re-releases of Body Bags have been printed, which include the characters appearances in Dark Horse Presents anthology. There was also a one shot comic involving mainly Panda released in 2008. Body Bag fans have been waiting patiently for years now. Hoping and praying for Pearson to release some new adventures of Mack and Panda.
The grade for this long thought dead property is fitting in it's pure hardcore feel and leaving the people clamoring for more. The year was 2001. About six months after ECW went out of business. People hadn't seen Rob Van Dam wrestle in half a year, and they needed their fix. But just as we thought we wouldn't get it. Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer appear on Raw is War helping to set off the "Invasion" angle. Rob set his sights on the Hardcore Championship which was held by Jeff Hardy. The only Alliance member who got a pop, Van Dam went into the Invasion pay per view as the crowd favorite. Hardy and Van Dam went all out, including bringing a ladder into play. In Hardcore rules, falls count anywhere and there are no count outs or DQ's. RVD brought out the steel chair and made Hardy pay by hitting a huge Van Terminator on the stage, sending Jeff tumbling to the floor. In the end, Van Dam placed the Hardcore Title on Hardy's chest, jumped to the top turnbuckle in one catlike motion and let loose the 5 Star Frog Splash for the first time ever on a World Wrestling Federation pay per view. The man known as "Mr. Monday Night" gelled his spot in the WWF and became a mainstay in the minds of wrestling fans who had never done the double thumbs or chanted, "he's the WHOLE FUCKIN' SHOW!" live at a pro wrestling event.
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