I tried to like it. I really did.
Loeb's writing was one of the few things that pulled me back to the Superman titles after my departure over the whole Superman Red\Superman Blue debacle.
God. That whole plot line was so derivative.
One Superman, the Red one of course, was an angry hot head who would charge into dangerous situations. While the Blue Superman was calm and collected, more of a thinker than a doer.
The 90's have so much to answer for.
But the start of the B13 virus plot arc right through to Supes big battle with Red Leather Fetishist Zod were high water marks for the Superman titles.
So I'm always willing to give Loeb a little leeway.
....aaaaand he's not doing much with it. When it comes to Wolverine #51 there's no reader more forgiving then I am. Maybe if something had actually happened I'd feel different. Instead it was thirty pages of fighting. Fighting left over from the last ish, flashback fighting with other X-Men, fighting on the Blackbird and then finally fighting in the wreckage when the plane crashes.
Fighting.
I get it.
It's the same thing we've seen Wolverine and Sabertooth do a thousand times before and while I feel like there might be a method to the madness its just taking to long for the story to get to the point. (And for some reason the back story Loeb is trying to weave into the ongoing narrative really grates on my nerves. So much about Wolverine's character is defined by his relationship to his past. I think when you start adding on to that pre-Origins history you're just trying to spin the character into something new rather than explore\examine what makes him great in the first place.)
Sadly I don't think Simone Bianchi's art helped much. I enjoyed seeing her covers on the recent Detective Comics run but I just wasn't warming up to her work in this ish. Maybe I just got tired of seeing the same thing (fighting, fighting, fighting).
Anyway this title is on the bubble. Loeb has to deliever something significant the next time out or I'm afraid I'm going to have to drop it.
No one wants him to suceed more than I do.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Wolverine #51
I tried to like it. I really did.
Loeb's writing was one of the few things that pulled me back to the Superman titles after my departure over the whole Superman Red\Superman Blue debacle.
God. That whole plot line was so derivative.
One Superman, the Red one of course, was an angry hot head who would charge into dangerous situations. While the Blue Superman was calm and collected, more of a thinker than a doer.
The 90's have so much to answer for.
But the start of the B13 virus plot arc right through to Supes big battle with Red Leather Fetishist Zod were high water marks for the Superman titles.
So I'm always willing to give Loeb a little leeway.
....aaaaand he's not doing much with it. When it comes to Wolverine #51 there's no reader more forgiving then I am. Maybe if something had actually happened I'd feel different. Instead it was thirty pages of fighting. Fighting left over from the last ish, flashback fighting with other X-Men, fighting on the Blackbird and then finally fighting in the wreckage when the plane crashes.
Fighting.
I get it.
It's the same thing we've seen Wolverine and Sabertooth do a thousand times before and while I feel like there might be a method to the madness its just taking to long for the story to get to the point. (And for some reason the back story Loeb is trying to weave into the ongoing narrative really grates on my nerves. So much about Wolverine's character is defined by his relationship to his past. I think when you start adding on to that pre-Origins history you're just trying to spin the character into something new rather than explore\examine what makes him great in the first place.)
Sadly I don't think Simone Bianchi's art helped much. I enjoyed seeing her covers on the recent Detective Comics run but I just wasn't warming up to her work in this ish. Maybe I just got tired of seeing the same thing (fighting, fighting, fighting).
Anyway this title is on the bubble. Loeb has to deliever something significant the next time out or I'm afraid I'm going to have to drop it.
No one wants him to suceed more than I do.
Loeb's writing was one of the few things that pulled me back to the Superman titles after my departure over the whole Superman Red\Superman Blue debacle.
God. That whole plot line was so derivative.
One Superman, the Red one of course, was an angry hot head who would charge into dangerous situations. While the Blue Superman was calm and collected, more of a thinker than a doer.
The 90's have so much to answer for.
But the start of the B13 virus plot arc right through to Supes big battle with Red Leather Fetishist Zod were high water marks for the Superman titles.
So I'm always willing to give Loeb a little leeway.
....aaaaand he's not doing much with it. When it comes to Wolverine #51 there's no reader more forgiving then I am. Maybe if something had actually happened I'd feel different. Instead it was thirty pages of fighting. Fighting left over from the last ish, flashback fighting with other X-Men, fighting on the Blackbird and then finally fighting in the wreckage when the plane crashes.
Fighting.
I get it.
It's the same thing we've seen Wolverine and Sabertooth do a thousand times before and while I feel like there might be a method to the madness its just taking to long for the story to get to the point. (And for some reason the back story Loeb is trying to weave into the ongoing narrative really grates on my nerves. So much about Wolverine's character is defined by his relationship to his past. I think when you start adding on to that pre-Origins history you're just trying to spin the character into something new rather than explore\examine what makes him great in the first place.)
Sadly I don't think Simone Bianchi's art helped much. I enjoyed seeing her covers on the recent Detective Comics run but I just wasn't warming up to her work in this ish. Maybe I just got tired of seeing the same thing (fighting, fighting, fighting).
Anyway this title is on the bubble. Loeb has to deliever something significant the next time out or I'm afraid I'm going to have to drop it.
No one wants him to suceed more than I do.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
On Smallville
I lost touch with Smallville after the fall hiatus last year. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with the show, it had been chugging along at pretty much the same rate for the past four seasons and season numero five wasn't much different. It just seemed like my life got increasingly hectic around the Christmas break and a lot of my TV watching habits went by the wayside.
Some was a genuine loss. (I'm looking at you Battlestar Galactic) Others I picked up again after a bit (and shouldn't have). Prison Break, take a bow. And others, like Smallville, just slipped off the radar never to be seen again. Well yesterday I got a chance to watch my first episode in a little over a year. And I could immeadiately tell that if any epi was going to bring me back to the fold it was this one.
The plot line dealt with an early incarnation of the Justice League (Green Arrow, Cyborg, Impulse\Flash, Aquaman and of course our man Kent). Being a huge JLA fan I was interested to see how this onscreen version would fair and as far as superhero shows go it was definetly better than getting kicked in the head.
It wasn't terrible, but that's what I've been saying about Smallville since it first aired. It's never been awful but it takes a dedicated fan to tune in on a weekly basis. I suspose that with all the other shows that have been cruelly obliterated by corporate decree in the last couple years I should be glad that there's something out there that I still like.
I was struck by an overpowering aura of sameness as I watched. Clark is still suffering the same do I, or don't I tell angst. Lex is a full on baddie now, just not bothering to hide it anymore, and still feuding with Lionel. Ma Kent has grown into her role as folksy Superhero Den Mother. (No sign of Pa Kent though. I remember, briefly, hearing that he'd shuffled off his mortal coil sometime last season. Presumably they'd told Clark that he'd gone to visit Grand Ma's farm to stretch his legs and run around with all the other disposable charcaters in order to soften the blow and avoid more teenage angst from out favorite protagonist) Even the teaser for the next show was exactly the same sort of stuff that I'd been watching before I left the series. Clark searches for lost Krpytonian artifacts that may or may not explain his lot in life.
But on the whole it was like I had never left the show. It seemed very soap operatic that way. That I could leave a show for almost a year and come back so seamlessly is a testament to the writer's ability to keep everything status quo for so long and make it just interesting enough to keep viewers sticking arouind. To be fair, I'm sure that all sorts of important things have happened in the last season but none of them of them had the ability to change the core philosophy of Clark and his sheltered existence.
So sadly I won't be coming back to Smallville. As always it's never been bad show but its always seemed to lack those flashes of brilliance that make for truly memorable television. Maybe it's just a victim of canon unable to break free of its comic origins and operate on its own steam. Or I could be on superhero overload. I'm little tired of rebirth, retreads, reboots and reimaginings right now. What I'm really looking for is some change and growth out of my heroes. Because, unlike Smallville, the real world doesn't stay the same year after year.
Some was a genuine loss. (I'm looking at you Battlestar Galactic) Others I picked up again after a bit (and shouldn't have). Prison Break, take a bow. And others, like Smallville, just slipped off the radar never to be seen again. Well yesterday I got a chance to watch my first episode in a little over a year. And I could immeadiately tell that if any epi was going to bring me back to the fold it was this one.
The plot line dealt with an early incarnation of the Justice League (Green Arrow, Cyborg, Impulse\Flash, Aquaman and of course our man Kent). Being a huge JLA fan I was interested to see how this onscreen version would fair and as far as superhero shows go it was definetly better than getting kicked in the head.
It wasn't terrible, but that's what I've been saying about Smallville since it first aired. It's never been awful but it takes a dedicated fan to tune in on a weekly basis. I suspose that with all the other shows that have been cruelly obliterated by corporate decree in the last couple years I should be glad that there's something out there that I still like.
I was struck by an overpowering aura of sameness as I watched. Clark is still suffering the same do I, or don't I tell angst. Lex is a full on baddie now, just not bothering to hide it anymore, and still feuding with Lionel. Ma Kent has grown into her role as folksy Superhero Den Mother. (No sign of Pa Kent though. I remember, briefly, hearing that he'd shuffled off his mortal coil sometime last season. Presumably they'd told Clark that he'd gone to visit Grand Ma's farm to stretch his legs and run around with all the other disposable charcaters in order to soften the blow and avoid more teenage angst from out favorite protagonist) Even the teaser for the next show was exactly the same sort of stuff that I'd been watching before I left the series. Clark searches for lost Krpytonian artifacts that may or may not explain his lot in life.
But on the whole it was like I had never left the show. It seemed very soap operatic that way. That I could leave a show for almost a year and come back so seamlessly is a testament to the writer's ability to keep everything status quo for so long and make it just interesting enough to keep viewers sticking arouind. To be fair, I'm sure that all sorts of important things have happened in the last season but none of them of them had the ability to change the core philosophy of Clark and his sheltered existence.
So sadly I won't be coming back to Smallville. As always it's never been bad show but its always seemed to lack those flashes of brilliance that make for truly memorable television. Maybe it's just a victim of canon unable to break free of its comic origins and operate on its own steam. Or I could be on superhero overload. I'm little tired of rebirth, retreads, reboots and reimaginings right now. What I'm really looking for is some change and growth out of my heroes. Because, unlike Smallville, the real world doesn't stay the same year after year.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Some thoughts on the Academy Awards...
Worst. Oscars. Ever.
An hour and a half into the Oscars and they've awarded only one really significant category (Best Supporting Actor)
I want to give them full credit for trying new things. But if I really wanted to hear Tom Hanks and Helen Mirren read the stage directions for the best adapted Screen Plays...well....I can't even imagine the world where I'm that desperate for such dismal entertainment.
I almost feel like bludgeoning myself with the remote control in the hopes that the blood rushing to my head wound will wake me up enough to care about what's going on.
All the worst (dull) aspects of Oscar shows years past are here. The greatest tragedy of all being the return the Interpretive Dance. I think it was truly a missed call to stack all the big categories at the end of the evening.
It makes me yearn for the Whoopie Goldberg years and I didn't think that would ever happen.
An hour and a half into the Oscars and they've awarded only one really significant category (Best Supporting Actor)
I want to give them full credit for trying new things. But if I really wanted to hear Tom Hanks and Helen Mirren read the stage directions for the best adapted Screen Plays...well....I can't even imagine the world where I'm that desperate for such dismal entertainment.
I almost feel like bludgeoning myself with the remote control in the hopes that the blood rushing to my head wound will wake me up enough to care about what's going on.
All the worst (dull) aspects of Oscar shows years past are here. The greatest tragedy of all being the return the Interpretive Dance. I think it was truly a missed call to stack all the big categories at the end of the evening.
It makes me yearn for the Whoopie Goldberg years and I didn't think that would ever happen.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Mind Warp
"Bubbly, bubbly, bubbly Eeee-No!"
There.
Now maybe it'll get out of my head. It's been on a loop for the past hour.
There.
Now maybe it'll get out of my head. It's been on a loop for the past hour.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Pull List: 28\2\7
52 #43
Batman #664
Justice #10
Wolverine #51
Short list this week. Justice has been a good read so far and I'm sorry to see that there's only three issues left. Always enjoy Ross' work. I actually got around to picking up Kingdom Come today. I was flipping through my pulls and I just really felt like getting something with a little meat to it. I've read it so many times, but I've never bothered to buy it for myself.
I'm hoping Morrison redeems himself with Batman this week because the last issue was so dissapointing from so many standpoints. As prose it wasn't the worse thing I've ever read, but having to read it in 16 pt font with so those cheesy computer graphics made it an obligation and not a treat.
52 is 52 and while I've enjoyed it so far none of the "big" payoffs it's been delivering in the home stretch have really been worth the time I've invested in it.
Wolverine probably won't make my reading list much longer. I like Loeb but the set up last ish didn't do anything for me and I was vaguely insulted by the "I Hate Canada" comment that Wolverine tossed off as his parting shot of the filler story. Not enough for me to give up on it quite yet, but its definetly on the bubble.
Batman #664
Justice #10
Wolverine #51
Short list this week. Justice has been a good read so far and I'm sorry to see that there's only three issues left. Always enjoy Ross' work. I actually got around to picking up Kingdom Come today. I was flipping through my pulls and I just really felt like getting something with a little meat to it. I've read it so many times, but I've never bothered to buy it for myself.
I'm hoping Morrison redeems himself with Batman this week because the last issue was so dissapointing from so many standpoints. As prose it wasn't the worse thing I've ever read, but having to read it in 16 pt font with so those cheesy computer graphics made it an obligation and not a treat.
52 is 52 and while I've enjoyed it so far none of the "big" payoffs it's been delivering in the home stretch have really been worth the time I've invested in it.
Wolverine probably won't make my reading list much longer. I like Loeb but the set up last ish didn't do anything for me and I was vaguely insulted by the "I Hate Canada" comment that Wolverine tossed off as his parting shot of the filler story. Not enough for me to give up on it quite yet, but its definetly on the bubble.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The Move
I'm contemplating make the switch over to Blogger or Blogspot (or whatever it's called) from L-Jay. Scottie's had his page here for a bit and I like the extended features that he seems to have. I'm bulldozing through the start up settings right now so we'll see how things work in terms of usability.
Faulk off.
Faulk off.
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