Some announcements and some trade stuff

Since the last post was a comic related one it´s once again time to do a mixed public announcement / comic news / interviews post. And to start of there are two things that have to do with my last post :

Pimping the JSA a bit more


First I wanted to mention something in regards to my last post. I had posted links to the german amazon site because they sell the JSA THY KINGDOM COME trades really cheap. As I did the post on Thursday I also ordered the books myself and they arrived on Saturday. Usually comics I order don´t arrive when I´m home but Yesterday my order from amazon as well as from BlackDog arrived. Strange.

The JSA books are indeed the hardcovers, all printed on nice, glossy paper. The books include all alternate covers by Dale Eaglesham as well as the regular covers by Alex Ross and part 1 and part 3 include some sketchbook material from Alex Ross. The three books contain the whole story with all the specials and annuals. I´m just mentioning it again because there are only 5 copies left of part 1 and part 2. I don´t know if they will be as cheap when they will be in stock again.

Is amazon in Germany crazy ?

I don´t know about you but I won´t be buying a lot of trades from my comic shop in the near future. Especially no hardcovers. Because I´m going to compare prices a bit more from now on. As the prices for comics have gone from 3 to 4 bucks you have to watch out where you order your stuff.


I was already comparing prices between my comic shop and the two internet shops from which I ordered my books and now amazon. This way I could save ten bucks on the last two volumes of FANTASTIC FOUR VISIONARIES : JOHN BYRNE. It seems that amazon in Germany is offering a lot of bargains especially with the hardcovers. A quick research at amazon today had the following results ( regular US prices in brackets ):

Captain America Omnibus 1( 74.99 $ ): 45.95 EUR = - 29.04 EUR
Man without Fear HC( 74.99 $ ): 42.90 EUR = - 32.09 EUR
X - Men Inferno HC( 75.00 $ ): 42.40 EUR = - 32.60 EUR
Avenger Disassembled HC( 49.99 $ ): 29.40 EUR = - 20.59 EUR
X - Men Manifest Destiny HC( 39.99 $ ): 16.40 EUR = - 23.59 EUR
Superman and the Legion HC( 24.99 $ ): 17.89 EUR = - 7.10 EUR
Dark Avengers 1 HC( 24.99 $ ): 16.95 EUR = - 8.04 EUR
Sub Mariner The Depths HC( 24.99 $ ): 14.90 EUR = - 10.09 EUR
Civil War Trade( 24.99 $ ): 16.95 EUR = - 8.04 EUR
Madman Atomic Comics 1 Tpb( 19.99 $ ): 8.90 EUR = - 11.09 EUR

Now I won´t buy them right now because I have spent too much on comics in the last two months already. And I´m not trying to tell you you have to go to amazon to buy comics. Yes, I´m pimping amazon but I´m only putting up links for stuff I review and which I can recommend. If I think it´s crap I´m not going to put up the links. The only thing I want to illustrate is : if you are in Germany and you are thinking about buying a trade or hardcover be sure to check out amazon. You could save up to 30 bucks.

A Comicbook Orange Season 4 is coming


Everybody´s favorite comic videocast A COMICBOOK ORANGE is currently on vacation. But don´t fear it will return on September 23rd and in the meantime you can catch up on the episodes you missed or watch your favorite ones again. You can also check out the bonus material on their website like full length interviews with the big creators in the comic book industry.

Trade of the Trick

Since I have mentioned collections amd trades a lot - I think the trend of comic buyers will go in that direction - here are some links with insightful articles about the matter. Over at the blog of The Comic Chronical John Jackson Miller sheds some light on how the pricing of trades paperbacks have changed from 2004 to now  : the change of trade pricing

The next one is an interview ( in 3 parts ) with DC´s Paul Levitz about the future of trades and graphic novels, digital, comics, price increases and comics in other media.

Judging from what I have read the Manga " boom " seems to be fading, as sales of Manga have drastically declined which is something that has also ocurred in Spain ( more about that later ) and in Germany. Which is not surprising but I keep thinking if it really was a boom that ocurred naturally or artificially.


Because of the success of Mangas every publisher wanted in on the party and started flooding the market with Mangas not all of them always the best quality. It is an old cliche that the best will always succeed but most often it´s the book that´s the best there is at catering to the lowest common denominator. What happens with Mangas is - they end. It doesn´t matter if the Manga is great or just drivel when you reach issue 28 of LONE WOLF AND CUB or issue 13 of DEATHNOTE or issue whatever of ONE PIECE - that´s it. End of story, everybody packs up and goes home. And the reader has to go look for another Manga.

With superhero comics you just wait for the next creative team to take over or you follow the creative team onto the next title. Or when AVENGERS doesn´t interest you anymore you can read AVENGERS THE INITIATIVE or MIGHTY AVENGERS or NEW AVENGERS or DARK AVENGERS. Or you can follow the adventures of your favorite member in SPIDER - MAN, THOR, IRON MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, MISS MARVEL andson andson. You can read a title for 30 or 40 years which is not that easy with Mangas. There are some that last a long time but sooner or later they will end.


Another reason - at least in my opinion - that sales of Mangas have gone down is the formulaic structure of them. One of the big appeals for young readers and especially girls is that it takes place in an environment they know - mostly in shools - deal with stuff they can relate to - either school stuff or at least they have recurring tests for which the main character has to prepare and train - and always have a cool main character. And lots of readers service.

The problem is if you read more than three Mangas chances are high that the stories are not so different from each other. And really - how many versions of the tale about the prodigy who´s the most talented there ever was do you need ? I think one of the big reasons why a Manga like Naruto has been so successful is that contrary to other Mangas the main character is not the best at what he does. In fact at the beginning he´s the worst ninja there ever was.

But thanks to balls the size of pumpkins and an undomitable will he reaches his goals. He has to train like a maniac but in the end he always wins. And of course there are some hot chicks like Tsunade the booby Hokage.


Another reason for the drop in demand for Mangas is that for one the coolness factor is fading and because some of the readers are probably still reading regular comic books they realize that while a Manga may have more pages than a floppy the reading time is about the same. Add to that that the price of Mangas have gone up from 5 bucks to 7 EUROS here in Germany and it´s not that surprising. As in all comic sectors the really good titles will survive while the rest goes down the drain.

Another thing Paul Levitz mentions is that DC is trying to put some extra value in the 3.99 books they offer. Which is something I said from day one. Marvel is getting a lot of bad reactions for the increase because on some books it´s the same content as before. And it is kind of difficult to explain why you want your clients to pay one buck more for a comic that you sold for the regular price just a moment ago. Or even less if you go to your comic shop and have two issues of a title waiting for you and one is priced at 2.99 and the other at 3.99 with exactly the same content. Or if the first issue of a title is at 3.99 with 30 story pages and the next has the regular 22 pages while keeping the 3.99 price tag like on DARK AVENGERS.

Although I´m a bit of a hypocrit in that departement. Because I bought all six issues of DARK AVENGERS. Here I am telling you to vote with your wallet and then I go and buy DARK AVENGERS and HULK and CAPTAIN AMERICA REBIRTH and X - MEN UTOPIA ( although I get a free pass on that one because who could resist panels by Terry Dodson like these ? )


and WAR OF KINGS and ULTIMATE AVENGERS. Okay, I also buy some of the DC titles with back up features like TEEN TITANS, BOOSTER GOLD and DOOM PATROL. Which in the case of DOOM PATROL is only because of the METAL MEN feature by Giffen, DeMatteis and Maguire.

But I should really follow my own advice. Although I have to say I also said that I was willing to pay the extra money for my favorite creators like Ed McGuiness on HULK or now Carlos Pacheco on ULTIMATE AVENGERS. Which is only a five issue series and which for most readers is only AVENGERS because the word " ultimate " is almost invisible to the naked eye. Which may or may not be Marvel´s intent from the get go.

On the other hand I have to say that DARK AVENGERS is off my reading list right now. The storyline ended with issue 6 and I´m not inclined to begin a new one. The story in the first six issues was really incredible but I don´t want to follow Bendis on another 20 plus issue longwinded storyarc. Especailly if not all of them are drawn by Mike Deodato Jr. That´s something for the trades.

And I think I´m not the only one who thinks so. As SECRET WARRIORS also gets a new artist with issue 7 as well as several others I predict that Marvel is going to experience the fallout from the 3.99 tag in the next few months. Right after the jump Marvel scored with the big artists and the big writers but now that they think that readers have grown used to the new price they will be in for a big surprise as everybody is going to change to the trades. Or stop reading the title.


But where I am much more selective is what gets on my pull list. I think I haven´t added a new title from the catalogue since the price increas. The way it works now is that if a title is interesting like ULTIMATE AVENGERS or BLACKEST NIGHT I can get the issues at the comic shop and take a look at them or order them from my usual online comic stores.

That way if I loose interest in a title or the artist leaves the book I can nix it in an instant. And if a title has won me over it goes to my pull list. There it stays till there are reason to kick it like FANTASTIC FOUR where Brian Hitch´s run ended. The titles that still bring good quality like JSA stay on the list as long as they are in the 2.99 section.

An open letter from PANINI Spain

Something I thought I posted but I´m not 100 percent sure is an open letter from the boss of PANINI ( the company that edits the Marvel stuff over there as well as in Italy, England and Germany and the DC stuff in Germany ) Spain Jose Luis Cordoba that was posted on fellow blogpartner YO DIGO NO. He also tells that they are making more money with the superhero stuff than with the Mangas because of the reasons I explained above. The Manga comics arrived in Spain roughly ten years before Germany so it is already at the end of the cycle there.

What´s even better is that he publishes a few sales numbers something that the folks in Germany still won´t do under penalty of death. Of course it´s in spanish.


By the way YO DIGO NO is currently examining - or better destroying - Jeph Loeb´s work. If you also don´t like the man go on over and share the feeling. And if like me you like his work - well, go there too ( if you can read spanish ) because even if you don´t share his opinion it´s still pretty funny and highly entertaining.

Don´t judge an old book by a new cover

And since we´re on the subject of trades Brandon Graham ( I think that´s his name ) over at The Negative Zone ( at least I think that´s the name of the website ).....damn, when did this become so complicated ? Anyway, here´s an article on the repackaging of comic trades that touches on a few interesting points.

Goodbye and good riddance

You may know that I bought a few comics from other comic fans from the internet while at the same time I´m trying to sell a few of mine. Everytime I go to the comic shop I take a bunch of them with me to get some extra cash that´s directly re - invested in the comics that have accumulated in my bag. Then when I get home I select the next batch of comics for my next visit. I have two threads where I try to sell the comics and the ones I have selected for the comic shop are shifted from whatever price they are to the 1 EURO section.


Because at the comic shop I will probably get less. So all the comics I can sell over the internet are tken from the list and when it´s time to visit the comic shop again I take the remaining comics with me. I also take the comics that are in such a bad condition that I can´t sell them to other people with a clear conscience. aside from that I´m making a pile with the comics that won´t sell for much but are to good to practically throw them away for nothing and which will end up as presents one day.

And this was my kind of longwinded segueway to Mike Romo on iFanboy who writes about his reasons to get rid of comics and the reasons to keep them. In a time where everybody has to think twice about which books to buy it is advisable to realize how temporary interest in comics can be and that today´s bestseller might be tomorrow´s trash.

As usual here´s our top list section to close us off. Over at Comics Should Be Good there´s a list - in - progress about the 70 most iconic Marvel panels while Topless Robot has a hilarious post about the 8 most insane non comic WTF moments involving Spider - Man. A really hilarious read.

And that´s all for today. I think I have taken up enough of your time with my usual rantings and hope there was some interesting stuff in it. As always the comment section is open to put down your thoughts.

 
New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN : top ten posts / more posts of interest


He´s a hero. I´m Ray Palmer. Welcome to pain.

I blame the society

I haven´t posted much since my last post ( which now that I write it down sounds stupid and redundant ) because I started to work again. And even if I don´t work every day on the other days I´m just catching up on my sleep or have to buy stuff or do something else for the job.


On the other hand I really like that I can work again because now that I don´t work for the rest of the week I am kind of disappointed. Especially since I bought some new shirts for it. Yesterday I didn´t do much of anything even if I have a thousand things on my plate. I recently did a translation for THEM OR US in spanish and have send the first version in. I´m not sure if I should do the second story they sent me right away or if I should do the english version of the first story.

Right now I haven´t heard anything new from Karl Nagel who wanted to send me a full version of InDesign. Right now I´m using a free version which has some problems. Anyway, the translation was more difficult than I thought because some words were very specific. But I think the next story will be a bit easier.

It seems that I had forgotten to put up the download link for those who still haven´t got issues 0 and 1 of THEM OR US. I have put the link in the post with my last update about the magazine but you can also download the pdf versions for 99 Cent each here - THEM OR US download

For this post I wasn´t sure what I should talk about since I have read so much stuff in the meantime. A few weeks ago I was at the comicshop in Ludwigsburg FANTASY STRONGHOLD but couldn´t buy the ones that seemed interesting because I knew that sooner or later I would see them for half price on conventions. So instead I went to the PANINI message board where I got three of them for half price. I also wanted to get the first TRINITY trade but since my brother got the first trade from the comicshop a few days later I skipped on that.


But more about that in some other post since I have decided to write a bit about the latest comics I read. Some of this stuff was destined to go into a new SOLICITATION post but since I have read most of the comics I have saved for the solicitation posts I´m going to put it into the relevant comic section. This way I can even include some links - which may be a bit old for some readers as I haven´t doen many news link posts lately.

MAGOG TO SOCIETY

One of the consistantly best written titles at DC is JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA and I´m not just saying that because Power Girl is on the book.


When the book restarted with a new number 1 one of the main reasons to keep it on my pull list was artist Dale Eaglesham. I really liked him on VILLAINS UNITED and the fact that he wasn´t on the following incarnations of the title is probably one of the reasons why I sold all of the issues. So I was pretty sure that the art would be great but I wasn´t so sure about the stories. Not that I thought Geoff Johns would slip up since he already had done a pretty decent run of the title.

Which is kind of an understanding since he´s one of the guys who reinvented the book. But he´s also heavily invested in writing the GREEN LANTERN franchise and preparing ( now it´s in full effect ) BLACKEST NIGHT so I thought he could be stretching himself too thin. So far JUSTICE SOCIETY was the one title who outdid JUSTICE LEAGUE even when Grant Morrison was on JLA. As it turns out all my worries were in vain. After a few done in one issues that were among the best standalone issues I read in a long while the supersaga THY KINGDOM COME just blew my mind.

I really like all the stories that have come out so far and it´s difficult to pick a favorite but THY KINGDOM COME is one of the classics for future generations. Especially since the story has been collected into three trades. I really would like to get a complete edition but I´m not sure if it will ever be done. On one side because I´m not sure how high the demand is on the other because the sheer size of it - it had to be collected into three trades after all.


Regarding the story I don´t want to say too much since I don´t like to spoiler stuff but I´m going to reveal a few things. If you don´t want to be spoilered just jump ahead to the links after the JSA THY KINGDOM COME trade reviews from my fellow partner blog COLLECTED EDITIONS.

The story begins when Starman - Starboy Thom Kallor from the Legion of Superheroes - opens a black hole through which Superman from KINGDOM COME is sucked into our universe. KINGDOM COME is one of my all time favorite stories and not only does THY KINGDOM COME build upon the events of the story - although it is more of an altenative ending - but comic legend Alex Ross provides some art for the issues. He even does one of the specials all by himself which of course is beautiful and it is also his first penciled and inked issue.

Now the funny thing about reading Starman´s dialogue is that you can´t understand it when you are reading it. Because it sounds like the usual stuff crazy people say but in the case of Starman it´s a result of his journey through the multiverse and it only makes sense later on. Everything he says is true and he practically spoils a lot of stuff. But because you only learn the context a few months down the line it´s more like prophecies than anything else. Back to THY KINGDOM COME : the news of an alternate Superman brings in the Justice League and leads to a few interesting scenes as the Superman of our world meets his older twin - well, kind of.


It is also nice to see the interaction between this other Superman and Power Girl who lost the cousin of her world during CRISIS ON INFINITE WORLDS and again at the end of INFINITE CRISIS. She´s one of the few who really knows what it´s like to loose your entire universe ( Superman from our universe has also lost his whole home planet but Power Girl lost her whole universe ) so there is a kind of older brother - sister relationship forming between the two which isn´t very surprising since the Superman from the KINGDOM COME story is more like the Superman from Power Girl´s world.

Of course it wouldn´t be connected to KINGDOM COME without a villain called MAGOG who goes around killing superheroes but once again not everything is as you expect it. But I have already said too much so I just want to add that during the story many new characters join the Justice Society - thus really deserving the name society - and they are just in time for the big battle royal finale. The special thing about the Justice Society is that it is always about legacy as three generations of superheroes fight and live alongside learning from each other and it´s not always the older heroes who are the teachers. What is so great about the story is that there are some specials thrown in before the big brawl that shed some light on the pivotal players like Power Girl or Superman from Kingdom Come done by such great artists like Alex Ross or Jerry Ordway.


Of course the society wouldn´t be the society if there was no dissention in the ranks that this time goes so far that they split up and fight against each other. It has often been said that superhero comics are trite but with the way Geoff Johns shows the different faiths and philosophies of the characters that argument is undone. Naturally there are also the big fights but I think the story achieves a good balance between action and quieter moments. A really big saga that I can´t recommend high enough to everyone who loves comics especially since you can get part 1 for 14.99 instead of 19.99, part 2 for 14,44 instead of 24.99 and part 3 that normally goes for 24.99 for a measly 9.40 at amazon right now ( amazon.de ). Which means that instead of 69.97 you pay 38.83 which is 31.14 bucks less. I´m talking about the hardcovers here. And there are only 5 copies left of part 1 and 2. If you want to know more here are reviews to all three trades from COLLECTED EDITIONS :

thy kingdom come first trade / second trade / third trade



some preview pages :

preview issue 18 / issue 19 / issue 20 / issue 21

preview issue 22 / kingdom come superman special


Well, as great as THY KINGDOM COME was it was also sad news because after the BLACK ADAM story by Jerry Ordway that followed it Dale Eaglesham finished his stint on the book with an issue about Stargirl´s birthday party. He is now going to be the new artist on FANTASTIC FOUR ( as most of you already know having read the first issue ) but I´m not sure if I´m going to follow him on the book. After Brian Hitch ended HIS run on Marvel´s first family the title is off my pull list and i´m probably going to check out the new issues before deciding if it goes back to the pull list. Anyway. here´s an interview with Dale Eaglesham about the end of his run on the Society - Dale Eaglesham ends JSA

Of course the big question was who was going to be the new artist on the book. I feared it might be Pasarin since he did so many of the issues and specials during the THY KINGDOM COME story and I also hoped it would be Jerry Ordway. Instead fellow paisano Jesus Merino is now the new artist and after having read his first issue I have to say they couldn´t have chosen a better one. In America Jesus is mainly known as Carlos Pacheco´s inker on all the good looking stuff but in Spain he´s also known as an artist on such books like TRIADA VERTICE that followed the popular IBERIA INC by Fonteriz both penned by none other than Carlos Pacheco. He also did JAQUE MATE and HANNIBAL GRIS for Laberinto Comics.





As someone who has done a few team books he can pull off the dozens of characters of the Justice society and make them look good - even Power Girl who wears her regular simple oval cleavage window instead of the new strangely formed one she has in her own series and which must be hell to draw. And it´s good that Jesus can draw so many characters because the first issue of the new writing team of Bill Willingham and Matt Sturges does not only have every member of the Society it also introduces two new members.




more preview pages from issue 29 :





The issue has a battle royal with as many - if not more - villains as heroes and ends with a bang.


Just the right way to kick of a new era of greatness that will also lead into two new tie - in titles JSA ALL STARS and the new MAGOG title. Together with Power Girl´s own book that are now four JSA related books. I´m not sure if that is a good thing but as always with the society I´m willing to stay my final verdict till the books come out. So far I haven´t been disappointed even if I´m a bit worried about Freddie Williams as the artist on JSA ALL STARS. And even if the new book is not that good we still got Jesus Merino on the regular JSA book that still goes for only 2.99. Eat this, Quesada. You can have top notch writers and spectacular art on a 3 Dollar book.

There is also a JSA VERSUS COBRA series coming out but since I prefer Gene Ha to draw the more realistic stories I don´t think I will buy it. Although I have to say that he draws a really nice Power Girl.


edit : Gene Ha doesn´t draw the interior but only the covers. Interior artwork is done by longtime Justice Society artist Don Kramer. I must definitely check this out.

new jsa all stars title / giffen and porter start magog title

magog 1 preview / jsa society panel

Wow, that was quite a lot about the JSA and initially I hoped to cover a few other titles like TEEN TITANS or BOOSTER GOLD now that the first issues with the back up features have come out. I guess that will have to wait till another post.


New to the blog ? Everything you need to know about TALES FROM THE KRYPTONIAN : top ten posts / more posts of interest

If it involves you, the Huntress, Lady Blackhawk and a bottle of grappa Dinah alrady told me. And all I have to say is : Well played, Sir.

DC movies : the good, the bad and the ugly

Lately I haven´t had the time to write as much about the comics I´ve read because of the new job I´m trying to get.

I have finished with the DAREDEVIL trades and the last issues of 100 BULLETS but that´s material for a longer post than I have the time today. Still I want to write about something to get some new content on this blog ( to show my readers I´m still doing it ) so I thought that I should write about comic movies.


There are a lot of movies - comic related or not - that I have seen and not commented on - yet. But for this edition I am taking a look at the latest DC animated movies that go directly to home video since I have just seen the Wonder Woman movie this week.

One of my brothers just returned from Spain this week and had a lot of movies in his luggage as Spain is one of the few places where you can buy uncensored movies. Here in Germany I almost never buy DVDs because everything gets censored here....even LILO & STITCH. So the three movies I going to talk about are WONDER WOMAN, SUPERMAN : DOOMSDAY and BATMAN : GOTHAM KNIGHT with which I´ll start.

THE UGLY - BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHT


Batman Gotham Knight ( or BATMAN GUARDIAN DE GOTHAM how the spanish version is called ) is a 73 minute film made up of six short episodes from different creative teams. On the disc it says " done by the world´s greatest animation visionaries " but I´m not sure if that´s really true since most of the episodes have a manga look or at least a manga - influenced look. You would think that if you collected artists from all over the world they would look more different. But maybe it´s the same as with the german scientists. After World War two the Americans had their german scientists, Russia had their german scientists and so on. And maybe they asked the french anime artist and the english anime artist and so on.

Now the idea of such projects is nothing new namely to take the best of the best and let them do their interpretations of one subject. However the end result vary from pure genius to rather meeh or disastrous. Sometimes you get something like Marvel´s SHADOW AND LIGHT, sometimes something like BATMAN BLACK AND WHITE and on very rare occasions you get a real gem like DC´s SOLO. The problem with this movie - at least for me - is that while the artists involved may be the best there is in animation but I´m not sure if they really had a Batman story to tell.


Just because someone´s a good animation guy doesn´t mean he also has a good Batman story to tell. Now everybody has a different taste but for me the whole movie just looked ugly. Some people may find the Mangabatman exciting but I was rather turned off. As for the stories they range form " I´ve seen better " to " boring " all the way to " I can´t for the hell of me remember what the story was all about ".

The idea behind the movie seems to be to get more background information to people who saw BATMAN RETURNS and THE DARK KNIGHT and help them submerge more deeply into the world of the caped crusader. And to hopefully get them to read some comics. Since I´m not one of those comicmuggels I can´t speculate how successful it is in that departement. As a comic reader who has followed Batman over long periods of time I have to say I have seen better stories and ideas in the pages of the comics.



If you buy a movie it seems to me that you should have either something that is unique or that collects at least the best ideas. This movie does neither and the fact that the makers of the movie didn´t even bother to connect the random short stories with a overlaying story makes it seem as they were just too lazy. As it is it just presents a collection of short stories that have no connection and of which the first one has a story idea that was done better in the pages of the 70s comic that I read as a kid in which it first appeared.

As for the extra content there is one documentary about Batman creator Bob Kane that´s very interesting as well as one about the foes of Batman which just adds to the feeling that with all those great characters to choose from the producers could have come up with something better.

But there is also something good about this DVD which are the four episodes of BATMAN ADVENTURES handpicked by Bruce Timm one of which adapts the first story on Batman Gotham Knight in a much better way. Maybe they should have watched the episodes before doing the other stuff. Oh, and they have resisted to show Deadshot without the costume. Kudos for that.


My resume : if you like japanese animation or must have every Bat - item for your collection you should get the disc. To comic readers and all others I recommend to watch it first and then decide if you really have to add this to your collection. As A COMICBOOK ORANGE would say : one orange. And that is for the BATMAN ADVENTURE episodes.

THE BAD - SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY

As you may have noticed I´ve turned around the " good, bad and ugly " theme so that I start with the worst one and end with the best. I just don´t like to end on a sour note. Now SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY ( or LA MUERTE DE SUPERMAN ) is not as bad as BATMAN GOTHAM KNIGHT which may have something to do with the fact that it tells one story but there are still some things that keep it from being a really good movie. There may be some spoilers for those who have not seen the movie ( even if I tried to stay away from them for the most part ) so be warned.



The first thing that springs to mind are the weird lines in Superman´s face throughout the whole movie. I don´t know what that´s supposed to be - a hommage to the look of the old Superman comics - but it just looks weird. But that´s just a visual thing which most viewers probably won´t even notice. No the main problem is that they changed the story.

I don´t think that I will live to see the day when guys in Hollywood stop thinking they know better then the people who write comics their whole life. I don´t even know if that will ever happen. And I know that to turn a storyline into a 78 minute feature film you have to keep a few things out and to make some changes. My only problem is the kind of changes they made.


The fact that they have eliminated the whole DC universe may make sense from a business standpoint. But keeping in mind that it is from the same guys that had this huge success with JUSTICE LEAGUE it just makes you wonder what they were smoking. It´s just too weird that Superman dies ( that´s no spoiler it´s right there in the spanish title ) and no other hero shows up to his funeral. It just diminishes the story.

In the comics the SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY / WORLD WITHOUT SUPERMAN / REIGN OF THE SUPERMAN epic had huge ramifications and showed who Superman really was and how important he was to the world and the superhero community. Okay, maybe they didn´t want to distract from the main story by inserting more heroes or Superman was afraid of someone like Blue Beetle stealing his thunder. But they could have mentioned the other heroes in the news or through some soundbites on tv. This way it seems that Superman dies and nobody outside of Metropolis seems to care. I guess Superman´s not very popular in the rest of the world.


Another problem is that they brought him back too soon. It seems that he´s just been laid to rest a few days ago before he returns to the land of the living. Would it have really been so much effort to do a " a few months later / one year later " sequence that would have lasted like....I don´t know.....ten seconds ? And what´s up with Lois ? I mean she can be a bitch in the comics but here she takes the cake. When Jimmy Olsen moves on with a life and becomes a successful paparazzi ( okay, that kind of people are scum but it was his decision ) she´s like totally pissed off at him and nags him constantly till he becomes her gopher again. Lois, you suck !

On the other hand Jimmy doesn´t offer too much resistance so he probably deserves it. Now reading all this stuff it may seem that I didn´t like the movie at all. The truth is that there were a few things I didn´t like - the things I have mentioned above - but there are also a lot of good things. While they have kept the movie from reaching it´s true potential and grandeur the changes give you a story you haven´t read before and there are some interesting scenes that explore facets of what it means to be Superman.


The fight between Superman and Doomsday is a drag out slugfest that´s just fun to watch.



And we even get " black bodysuit hippie Superman ". Who shoots a gun with kryptonite bullets which is always a plus.



The are some funny scenes, some really touching scenes and even some that show the relation between Superman and Lois in a very realistic way. All in all a good way to spend 78 minutes.

The extras on the DVD include a documentary about the whole storyline in the comics that just shows you what the producers missed when they decided not to go with the original story. It has some weak spots but all things considered it´s okay. This movie gets three oranges.

superman doomsday review by screenrant

THE GOOD - WONDER WOMAN


Now I have kept the best of the three movie for last. WONDER WOMAN ( la Mujer Maravilla ) also is a full length movie ( 71 minutes ) that tells the origin story of Wonder Woman.



The life action Wonder Woman movie is still in the works and I think one of the reasons is that it´s hard to cast someone as Wonder Woman after Lynda Carter cemented the character for generations of tv viewers. With the animated version there are no such problems although I don´t know why they went away from the Wonder Woman look of the JUSTICE LEAGUE cartoon


and opted for a look that is reminiscent of AEON FLUX.


There may also be some spoilers in this review so be warned.

The story uses the best elements from Wonder Woman´s various origin stories throughout the decades as well as the best of George Perez´run on the title when he re - imagined it after CRISIS ON INFINITE WORLDS. The general idea behind CRISIS was to restart all the DC titles and do a much better version with less baggage than before. But only a few writers really used that opportunity like Byrne on SUPERMAN or Perez on WONDER WOMAN.

Beside the typical story of Wonder Woman winning the tournament to become Themiscaria´s ambassador in the world of men and the love story with Steve Trevor they have also included a story about Ares trying to conquer the world with an army of zombies which is always a plus. The zombies I mean. In the original story it was Herkules who had a fling with Hyppolita thus becoming a potential father for Wonder Woman but here it is Ares and instead of just turning the amazons into slaves he wants to conquer the world. After killing everybody of course. There are various elements from newer stories like the character of Artemis intertwined with the classic aspects of Wonder Woman lore which makes the movie not so connected to a certain period. It seems some people learn from ALL STAR SUPERMAN.



The movie has a lot of action, some interesting clashes of cultures that provide the funny scenes ( I mean what would your reaction be if you crashlanded on an island full of amazons who look like centerfolds ? ) as well as some commentary on our society or societies in general. A Wonder Woman story always has the opportunity to take a look at the strange things that go in in man´s world as well as what happens when feminism is taken to the extreme.


Both Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor are interesting characters especially Wonder Woman who has a few prejudices about men which stem from the things her mother told her after her relationship with Ares. Too bad the movie doesn´t take the time necessary to really explore them. I don´t know if I´m just more used to the pacing of JUSTICE LEAGUE but for my taste some things felt rushed in the movie. Not as bad as the resurrection of Superman in SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY but in a few scenes things whappened to quickly. Like in one scene Steve is drinking Tequila after Tequila till he can barely stand but five minutes later he´s sober all of a sudden. Or maybe that´s just business as usual for Air Force pilots.

Apart from that I really liked the movie that has some decapitations and also Alfred Molina as the voice of Ares. And the greek environment does look greek not like in the HERKULES tv series. This movie gets four and a half oranges because there are some scenes in which I whish it had a more adult rating.



The edition I saw was the normal one that has just a short special about the making of the movie. All in all this is the best of the three movies and if the first look at the GREEN LANTERN FIRST FLIGHT movie is any indication the next DC movies are just getting better.



Now they only have to manage to do some good real life movies about Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. And maybe they will even do a Superman movie that doesn´t suck.


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Fanboy rant - german original version

As usual with my translation ( click here for english version ) of previously written posts here´s the german version for my readers in Germany :

So, wieder sind einige Tage vorbei und ich wollte mal wieder meine Gedanken zu Papier bringen. Die letzten paar Tage war ich mit verschiedenen Dingen beschäftigt.


Zuerst einmal werde ich wahrscheinlich meinen Computer neu formatieren müssen und habe deshalb die letzten paar Tage alle meine Dateien auf CDs gebrannt. Gestern habe ich alle Musikdateien gelöscht die ich schon auf anderen CDs habe so dass mir nur noch an die 300 MB mp3s zum Brennen bleiben. Ausserdem habe ich nun endlich die Dienstprogramme gefunden und konnte gestern erfolgreich meinen Computer defragmentieren. Dann bin ich immer noch mit dem Sortieren der Videokassetten im Wohnzimmer beschäftigt. Heute habe ich auch wieder eine Menge alter und unbrauchbarer Videokassetten entsorgt. Und ich habe wieder einige unserer alten Catchkassetten gefunden, die mein alter Herr teilweise mit seinem Telekollegzeug gelöscht hat. Dabei ist mir eingefallen, dass einer meiner Exkollegen noch eine ganze Tasche Catchkassetten haben muss. Aber alles zu seiner Zeit. Und ausserdem bin ich ausserdem mit dem Anhören der Sendungen von comicgeekspeak beschäftigt. Bis jetzt habe ich die Folgen 31 bis 49 angehört. Eine wirklich tolle Show. Was mich am meissten überrascht hat war, wie viele e-mails von Zuhörern kommen die vor einiger Zeit aus Frustration mit Comiclesen aufgehört haben und dank der Show wieder damit begonnen haben. Es scheint fast so, als gäbe es tief in jedem Menschen drinnen einen Comicfreak der nur darauf wartet entfesselt zu werden.


Worüber ich mir in letzter Zeit einige Gedanken gemacht habe ist das Image der Comics und besonders der Comicfreaks. Wenn man sich mal andere ehemalige Randgruppen anschaut so steht fest dass die meissten anderen inzwischen sich entweder erfolgreich in die Gesellschaft integriert haben oder gar die breite Masse gezwungen haben sich anzupassen oder an die Wand gedrückt zu werden.

Waren die Computerfreaks früher dürre, pickelige Weicheier die nie eine Freundin abkriegen sind sie heute die megacoolen Oberchecker die den Tag retten wenn es am Schlimmsten steht. Früher war man ein Aussenseiter wenn man von Frogger oder Space Invader geschwärmt hat, heute ist man der Oberloser wenn man RESIDENT EVIL, SILENT HILL, METAL GEAR SOLID oder DEVIL MAY CARE nicht kennt. Wurde man früher noch als Spinner angesehen wenn man sein Taschengeld in eine Spielekonsole investiert hat so gehört man heute zu einer vom Aussterben bedrohten Art wenn man keine Splaystation 2, Dreamcast oder Gamecube sein eigen nennen kann. Es gibt Leute die werden nur für´s Spielen bezahlt - total unabhängig davon ob sie gewinnen oder verlieren.


Das Image der Comics und der Comicleser hat sich hingegen innerhalb der letzten 20 bis 30 Jahre nicht geändert. Und das schlimme daran ist dass die Comicfreaks nicht nur von aussenstehenden keine Liebe fühlen - auch innerhalb der Comicszene werden sie nur abschätzig behandelt und als Fanboys beschimpft. Das ist auf einigen Comicinternetforen schon so weit fortgeschritten, dass Comicleser die mal Kritik äussern oder von den Comicmachern verlangen sich etwas anzustrengen für die hartverdienten Mäuse die man sich vom Munde abspart gleich als Fanboys abgewertet werden. Wenn ich bei einer Serie mit einer weibliche Hauptperson gerne einen Zeichner hätte der auch Frauen zeichnen kann - bin ich ein Fanboy. Wenn ich bei einer Serie nicht nur gerne einen guten Schreiber sondern auch einen guten Zeichner hätte - bin ich ein Fanboy. Wenn ich es nicht mag wenn sich ein Charakter nach 20 Jahren plötzlich ganz anders verhält und total unlogisch handelt - bin ich ein Fanboy. Wenn ich nicht nur die Serien lese die von Comickritikern gelobt werden sondern mir das gerne selber aussuche weil, hallo, für mich Allan Moore nicht das Alpha und Omega des Comicschaffens darstellt da schon vor ihm gute Comics geschrieben wurden - bin ich ein Fanboy. Wenn ich in einer Diskussion mal eine andere Meinung habe und für mich Schwadron Supreme die innovativere Serie ist und nicht Watchmen - dann bin ich ein Fanboy.


Wenn ich es lieber habe wenn Schreiber mit der Continuity arbeiteten statt dagegen oder sie einfach total ignorieren - dann bin ich ein Fanboy. Wenn ich nicht der Meinung bin das alle im Silver Age Schrott war und man einiges davon in den heutigen Comics verwenden könnte wenn man es interessant macht - bin ich ein Fanboy. Wenn ich Hal Jordan als Grüne Leuchte besser finde als Kyle Rayner - bin ich ein Fanboy. Wenn ich mir nicht ständig einen Kopf machen will wo welche Geschichte jetzt reinpasst wie All Star Superman und einfach nur eine gute Geschichte geniessen will - bin ich ein Fanboy. Wenn ich der Meinung bin dass die Marvelgeschichten in den 70ern besser, innovativer und politsch aktueller waren als vieles was heute erscheint - bin ich ein Fanboy. Wenn ich gern den Wizard lese weil ich in der Lage bin zwischen Artikeln die lediglich zur Unterhaltung dienen oder der Werbung und informativen Artikeln zu unterscheiden und weil ich Zeitschriften mag, die ihre Kunden kennen - bin ich ein Fanboy !

DANN BIN ICH HALT EIN FANBOY !!!

Und wisst ihr was ? Ich bin stolz darauf ! Was die meissten Comicleser immer wieder vergessen ist die Tatsache, dass es ohne die Fanboys heute wahrscheinlich keine Comicindustrie mehr gäbe. Wer hat denn die schlecht geschriebenen Comics die so mies gezeichnet waren gekauft und eisern ihren geliebten Comichelden zur Seite gestanden als die Comicspekulanten den Comicmarkt fast total zerstört haben ? Wer hat denn die Comicverlage durch die harten Zeiten gebracht ? Bestimmt nicht die paar Comic - Möchtegern - Intullektuelle die alle paar Jubeljahre ein Comic gekauft haben. Es war die breite Masse die es Comicverlagen durch den Verkauf von ihren von den Comickritikern so verachteten Serien wie X- Men oder Spider - Man ermöglicht hat so Juwelen wie Starman oder Preacher zu veröffentlichen.


Und die breite Masse das sind die Fanboys. Die Fanboys sind in der Comicszene das was die Alphaprimitiven in der Comicserie THE INHUMANS sind. Missgestaltete, hässliche Untermenschen die unter der Erde wohnen und ohne deren Schweiss, Blut und Tränen die grossen Maschinen nicht laufen würden die es den Inhumans ermöglichen in ihren schillernden Utopia zu leben. Sie werden dafür auch noch verachtet und sind Ausgestossene. Aber wisst ihr was ? Dieser Ausgestossene geht nicht still und friedlich in die Nacht, nein, dieser Ausgestossene verlangt seinen Platz am Tisch und nimmt sich sein Stück vom Kuchen.

Aber es gibt ja nicht nur Fanboys unter den Comiclesern. Auch viele der Comichändler sind Fanboys und hätten schon längst ihre Läden dicht gemacht und sich finanziell ertragreicheren Gewerben zugewandt wenn sie die Comics nicht so sehr lieben würden. Denn seien wir mal ehrlich, wieviele reiche Comichändler gibt es ? Und was ist der Dank für all die Aufopferung und Entbehrung ? Sie werden bei den Simpson als Witzfigur verspottet. Na, danke !

Doch auch in den meissten anderen Bereichen findet man Fanboys. Egal ob in den Chefetagen der Comicverlage oder bei den Zeichnern und Schreibern überall wimmelt es von Fanboys. Der Chef von Marvel ? Fanboy - man braucht sich nur mal das Büro anschauen - das Mekka für alle Fanboys.


Die meissten Starzeichner ? Fanboys. Die meissten Schreiber ? Fanboys. Hollywoodautoren oder Fernsehautoren wie J.M.Straczinsky, Allan Heinberg, Reginald Hudlin, Joss Whedon oder Bestsellerautoren wie Brad Meltzer ? Fanboys. Es wimmelt überall von Fanboys die sich nicht trauen an´s Licht zu kommen und ihrem Comicfreak freien Lauf zu lassen. Und deshalb breche ich eine Lanze für die Comikgeeks und Comicfreaks und Fanboys in aller Welt und sage : Wehrt euch ! Verbündet euch ! Seid aktiv ! Macht eine eigen Webseite, einen eigenen Comicblog, eine eigene Comicradioshow. Hört euch Radiosendungen wie Comicgeekspeak, I read Comics oder Fanboyradio an denn ihr seid nicht allein. Comicgeeks aller Länder vereinigt euch !!!

So, ich glaube damit hätte ich mir erst mal etwas von der Seele geschrieben was mich schon seit längerer Zeit nervt. Ich hatte mir ja schon seit längerem überlegt anlässlich meines 3 jährigen Jubiläums im April diesen Jahres einen eigenen Comicblog zu eröffnen und suche nach einem guten Titel. Die besten Namen wie Fanboyrampage sind ja schon vergeben aber angesichts der Tatsache wie die meissten Comicleser gerade auf die Fanboys ablästern schwebt mir etwas wie WHEN FANBOYS RULED THE EARTH oder FANBOYS UNITED vor.


Mögliche Titel wären auch FANBOYS AN DIE MACHT oder ACHTUNG ! FANBOY ! Ich weiss nur noch nicht ob ich es auf deutsch, englisch, spanisch oder gleich mehrsprachig machen soll. Auf jeden Fall werde ich einige meiner bisherigen Artikel zum Thema Comics posten und wahrscheinlich als allererstes die DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE OF FANBOYS die ich bis dahin hoffentlich fertig haben werde.

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I have lived almost a hundred years Mikaal....I can do all sorts of things.