Atlanta Comic Con, a recap

A few days ago I was reading Athens Georgia's Premiere Indie Music and Comic Blog, and came across the tip about the Atlanta Comic Convention last sunday. I've never really been to a comic con, other than DragonCon, which doesn't really count, as I never really end up looking at comics while there. The reason I've avoided them is because I'm what you might call an easy mark. Tell me a comic has a 9.4 grading and I'll stare at you blankly. Tell me that it's got a caveman fighting a Nazi and I'll pay whatever price you ask. In fact, I spent $10 on just such a comic. My point is that I'm not a real collector, I pick my comics based on how much fun I think they'll be. In other words, I buy shitty old comic books.

But, I figured with admission being only $3, I couldn't really get myself in too much financial ruin. Also, I took this as an opportunity to finally get my hands on a copy of Punisher meets Archie, which has eluded my grasp ever since the first time I heard about it. Well, as our president once said, Mission Accomplished! Amongst other many other things, I finally got my hands on an issue. And, since I know you're wondering, it is the greatest thing ever written. Let's see what else I bought.

Action Comics #289 - Superman's Super-Courtship
Action Comics #317 - The Rainbow Faces of Superman
Action Comics #418 - Who can beat Superman? More Supermen!
Action Comics #420
Action Comics #422
Action Comics #428
Action Comics #430 - Bus-Ride to Nowhere!
Action Comics #431
Action Comics #456 - Jaws of The Killer Shark
Action Comics #551
Action Comics #552
Fantastic Four #92
The Incredible Hulk #173
Lois Lane #76
Lois Lane #106
The Life of Pope John Paul II #1
Punisher Meets Archie #1
DC Special Presents: Super-Heroes Battle Super-Gorillas #16
Unknown Worlds #7
What If? #1
What If? #3
What If? #4
What If? #10
What If? #12
World's Finest #159

As you might imagine, they all look hilarious. But, the real highlight of the day was the opportunity to chat with Atlanta-based artist Jason Flowers.

Jason, along with Atlanta-based writer Jay Busbee, has a new graphic novel coming out soon called Ripped. Not to get into the deep plot points we talked about (mostly because I'm not sure if I'm allowed to or not), but the book is a time-tripping adventure to save history. From what we discussed about the book, it sounds like it's going to be a really fun read. Details on the release date are still up in the air, until the final touches are put on the book. But you had better believe I'll be grabbing a copy when it comes out and writing a review.

But, back on topic, this Jason guy is quite the nice dude who apparently draws one hell of a comic book. Oh, and also, he drew this...
Yeah, be on the look-out for more of those...

Dear Burger King

Did we really need a hamburger with Bacon, Friend onions, and a full serving of mashed potatoes on top?

Did we really?

New Comic Day - 07/09/2008

After an extra day's wait, it's finally new comic day! Unfortunately, it was a week with a lot of crap books. Let's take a look-see at what I purchased.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN # 565
My interest in this book has always been a bit sporadic. I’ll pick up an issue here or there if they start a new story arc that sounds interesting, but I generally never get more than one issue in at any given time. That said, this is a really good issue. I bought it because I heard there was some Spidey and Daredevil team-up action. That’s probably the best part of the book, but the story in general just really makes me want more. I’ll give this book a few more issues, if they stay this good.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI: 13 # 3
This is, yet again, one of the consistently best books on the shelves. Honestly? This is the only Secret Invasion tie-in I’ve been following that I am really enjoying.







GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY #10
Another win for this book. I’ve heard some people complain that this series was running too slowly, and I think that this issue will be a pleasant change of pace for them. The whole book is pretty much one big fight scene, so you can’t really go wrong. Also, Plastic Man is there, so that’s a guaranteed fun book.






SECRET INVASION # 4


Sucks





ULTIMATE ORIGINS # 2
I didn’t pick up the first issue of this series. In fact, I’ve never read any of the Ultimate Universe books. But, well, this book had Captain America on it, so I figured it was worth a try. Surprisingly, it’s a pretty decent read. Bendis still hasn’t really impressed me with his work for Marvel, but this is far from his worst. I’ll probably give the next 3 issues a shot.




YOUNG X-MEN # 4
This series fucking blows. Aside from Rockslide and Dust, I couldn’t have less interest in this team of mutants. That said, the inspiration for Ink’s new tattoo is the funniest goddamned thing I’ve read all week. You’ve bought yourself one more issue, Guggenheim.

Dear Marvel

Dear Marvel,

Secret Invasion is getting boring. Please do something more interesting so I can keep throwing wads of money in your faces.

New Comic Day - 07/02/2008

It's new comic book day. Actually, it might be the Best New Comic Day Ever!?! Let's check the list!

AMERICAN DREAM # 5
Well, this is the last issue of the mini-series. I would say that I’m sad to see the character go, but after reading the last page, I’m not so sure that I’ll have to be. Looks like somebody at Marvel is picking up what I’m throwin’ down.

ASTONISHING X-MEN #25
I don’t care much for the art here, but Warren Ellis writes the best damn Emma Frost around. ‘Nuff Said.

BATMAN #678
Am I the only one who has absolutely no fucking clue what is going on? Opening this book, I feel like I’ve missed several issues since #677. That said, this book is getting just strange enough to make me want to keep buying it.

BLUE BEETLE #28
Yet another really entertaining issue from this creative team. I’ve noticed that a lot of my favorite comics these days are ones that are more accessible to younger readers. In my opinion, this is the best DC has to offer in that category. This book somehow finds a way to be action-packed and funny, with consistently great art, and still have interesting and clever twists and turns. Next issue will be Matt Sturges’ first issue as writer on the series. I’m not too familiar with his work, but I’m hoping that this book will continue to be fantastic after the change.

CABLE # 5
What can I say about this issue? Overall, I loved it. I think Swierczynski writes the best Cable ever, and (as always) Mr. Olivetti delivers the goods in the art department. The whole series has basically re-written the general attitude of Cable They’ve made the character much more enjoyable, and far less “90’s guy with a metal arm and big guns”. This issue, however, really redefines characters that have just been made within these first 5 issues. Seeing Cable’s new waitress friend in full battlesuit with guns blazing was classic to me.

What killed it for me was on the second page. We get a big close-up of the babies eyes. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, so I won’t. Let’s just say it looks like I’m going to be really disappointed with the series sometime soon.

THE JOKER'S ASYLUM: THE JOKER
When I first opened this book, I thought the art was going to be the death of me. It’s really rough. When I say really rough, I mean it looks like Howard Chaykin’s Cat took a dump on Leinell Yu’s art. The art was scary bad. But as I read through it, it kind of grew on me. The art did a pretty good job of reflecting the jumbled mind of the Joker. I’m pretty excited to see next issue’s take on the Penguin

THE WAR THAT TIME FORGOT #3
I’m pretty sure I’ve said this once before, but I’ll say it again. If you love things that are too awesome to comprehend, buy this damn book. There are dinosaurs and guns and cowboys and dinosaurs and explosions. It’s pretty bitchin.

In which Ryan reviews the movie "Bedtime for Bonzo"

Really the image above should serve as a review in itself. I mean it's a movie starring a monkey. That alone should conjur up memories of craptastic films as 1996's Dunston Checks In, or 2000's MVP: Most Valuable Primate. If the genre of 'wacky animal hijinks' was a city, the roads would be paved with straight-to-DVD movies starring monkeys. And then you throw Ronald Reagan into the mix, and you've got a movie that is pretty hard for me to take seriously at face value. So, going into this thing I knew that I was going to bear witness to the most shitty of shitty movies.

But, turns out it's a pretty good movie. Don't get me wrong, it's still pretty dumb and most of the plot revolves around "monkeys are crazy", but somehow Bedtime for Bonzo manages to avoid the slapstick gags and fart noises that are so characteristic of other monkey movies. They're there, but there's actually some semblance of a plot to connect them together. The plot revolves around Professor Peter Boyd (played by Reagan) as he attempts to convince his fiancee's father (who is the Dean at the university where he teaches) that he did not inherit the criminal traits of his father (who was a jewel theif or something). He does this by adopting the university's rambunctious lab test monkey and raise him to be a respectable and well-mannered monkey.

Ok, I know it sounds fucking stupid, but trust me.

The highlight of the film comes in the form of the supporting role of Prof. Hans Neumann, who is Boyd's bumbling German partner-in-crime. Neumann is played by Walter Slezak, who readers of this blog may better know as The Clock King from the 1966 Batman television series.

This character is funny in that way that all German characters in american TV and films were funny back then. Sort of like Sergeant Schultz from Hogan's Heroes.

Anyway, not to get too far into the minor plot points of the movie, the movie turned out to be a pleasant surprise. All in all, I give it 2 out of 5 Torgo's. It's still got that 1950's comedy badness to it, but done surprisingly well.

Uncanny X-Men #499 (also, there's some spoilers)

So, yesterday was New Comics Day, and you may have noticed that I didn't post any reviews. That wasn't to say that there weren't issues worth reviewing. In fact, it was a very good week for comics. Specifically, it marks the day when I actually found myself excited to read the next issue of Uncanny X-Men.

It should come as no surprise that I am a big fan of Ed Brubaker's work. I've written post after post talking about how much I enjoy his work on Captain America and Daredevil. He's right up there on my top 5 list of favorite writers. But, I realized recently that I've not talked a whole lot about his current run on Uncanny X-Men. Mostly just because I've been really underwhelmed by the storyline.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mean to say that it's been a bad storyline. Brubaker's plot on this book has been just as good as his work everywhere else. I especially liked the past few issues with the strange 1960's hallucination thing going on. My big problem with the whole thing was that, even though it was a cool story and had a bunch of mutants that are associated with the X-Men, it just hasn't felt like the X-Books I know and love. Something was missing.

That something is the whole team dynamic that has always run through the character's storylines and the battle scenes. With the X-Men split up as they have been, the book as felt less like "X-Men" and more like "Cyclops and Emma Frost do stuff, while Wolverine, Colossus, and Nightcrawler do stuff somewhere else". But, that all changes in this issue. And, to be honest, I couldn't be happier.

The X-Men are getting back together, there's a new HQ in San Francisco, what more could one ask for?

Oh, wait, you say that Matt Fraction is joining the writing team next issue? So it will be Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction writing a book together?

Oh fuckity-fuck yes.