The Boys - Volume One - Name of the Game

Yeah, yeah, I know another comic review. Seriously this isn't turning into a Comic Blog, it's just all I've had time to do lately is read books. I probably should have tried to see Balls of Fury but then there's always tomorrow. I finally caught up to the phenomenon that is The BOYS. I had bought all of the Wildstorm issues but never got around to reading them, then the book got canceled and I was like maybe I should read them, then Dynamite Entertainment picked it up and I continued to put it off. Especially when they released an uncensored TPB of the Wildstorm issues, I thought why bother reading the single issues I'll just by the Trade. And I did! Great story huh?

Any who, The BOYS, for those who don't know, is a CIA Black Ops group that is in charge of watching the Super Heroes that go unchecked in the world. And why not? The world has a staggering amount of Super Heroes and it would only be a matter of time before someone tried to pull an Authority and take over the world inflicting their rules and rule upon everyone. And that's what The BOYS are there to stop from happening. The big English looking guy on the bottom left is in fact English and his name is Billy Butcher, he's the leader and has more than a personal grudge against Super Hero types. They don't for sure say which Supe it is that his grudge against but it's not hard to figure it out. The Bloke next to him is Wee Hughie, his girlfriend gets smashed into a wall by a Supe and he's left holding her arms wondering what the hell happened. He's new to the team since this is there second go round at this, but this time they don't have any red tape to worry about. Then there's the Female who likes to rip men's faces off and stuff them up their ass... you're not allowed to touch her and I'm pretty sure Hughie will end up having a relationship with her at some point just because they're some pretty obvious clues leading to it, but we'll see. She's there as muscle and it keeps her from killing people for the Mob. Next is Mother's Milk, or M.M. I can't wait to hear the story behind his name. He's a snob and a neat freak, and just a great character. Really he doesn't have enough pages and dialog which is a shame because he's written quite well and is an unusual character in comics today. Finally there's Frenchie, and yes he's French and crazy and that's about all there is to him other than all his dialog is in French and no it's not translated, welcome to the real world.

I would have printed some pages but this book is the most Mature comic book out there and hell it might just be the most mature comic ever written. After reading the Trade I blew through the 3 issues put out on Dynamite and my only complaint is that the inker and colorist was better on the Wildstorm issues. Wee Hughie and the Butcher are the stars of the show, and work well together as partners. Butcher being the Mentor to Hughie. Hughie is brilliantly conceived for the book. How else would you bring someone into this crazy world where Superheroes walk around fucking everything that moves and pretty are photocopies of our real world Celebrities. Well we enter the world with Hughie, who is innocent and has just lost a woman who told him she loved him from the minute she met him. Love is something everyone can relate to no matter how cold they appear to be. So we join Hughie as he learns the ropes, through his eyes we see just how F'd up this world of Super Heroes is. Butcher is an enigma, he's hard to trust from the get go. Even when he's getting the clearance to start up the biz again, the CIA director tells him that he's a bad mother fucker and not in a Shaft kind of way. Yet he's so honest and open with Hughie and he stands up for M.M. when his daughter starts mouthing off to him. Even Hughie can't figure him out, but that's the point. You want to know more about him, and frankly who doesn't like a bad ass dude? Guys want to be him, girls want to be with him no matter how poorly he may treat them.

The book was canceled due to the fact that it depicts Superheroes in a negative light. Really what it's doing is what WANTED couldn't get done, and essentially what Planetary did for the Marvel U, only The BOYS reflects the DCU. Frankly it's brilliant in saying, but not really saying, yes it's those characters. Yes that's Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, but also Beast Boy and the rest of the Teen Titans and the JSA. There is a bit of a problem with the Batman archetype since there's one on the JLA-esc team the Seven, and then in the newer issues another one that is an exact replica of Batman, only he fucks everything including his Butler's ear, a watermelon and a cup of coffee just to name a few. The dialog is fantastic and you really can hear the accents that each character has and get start to read what they're saying so naturally that you forget that everyone doesn't talk like they do. This may not be the book for you if you're not ready to venture out of the perfect world of Super Heroes, but if you are theres no reason you can't enjoy both sides. Without Superman and Spider-Man, we wouldn't be able to have books like this. Time will tell if this book is responsible for being another Watchmen, in which every book for years to come has to have an anti-hero. More than likely there will be a few copies of it with their own original take but this book really will truly go down in comic history for being just being that fucking good, and for just being fucked up.

Written by Garth Ennis and Art by Darick Robertson

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Indie Friday - Uptight

Something else I'm trying is an Indie spotlight article that would focus on all things Indie. Be it Movies, comics or music, each Friday I'll find something independent to bring to you. This week we'll start with a comic since I haven't watched any movies lately and I can't find the CD I want to listen to.

Uptight #2 - The book contains three short stories, by three different artists and writers. That means no preview pages because frankly I'd be post half their story and that's lame for them. The first tale is about a guy who's hitch-hiking to work because his car broke down. A man stops to pick him up, but really the man is stopping to get help himself. He's dying and wants to go home. Well our stranger doesn't know where he lives so he takes him to the Hospital where he's pronounced dead. Now the man's voice is haunting the good Samaritan, asking to be taken home.

The second story is a bit more like life, which kinda makes it hard to read. An Old man comes home early from a slow day at work. He's visibly up-set from the day and pretty much hates being at home. His wife yells out chores for him to do the minute he walks in, but when he informs her that the neighbor's dog crapped in the yard she spouts off, "No I'm fine thanks for asking." Isn't that just like life? She did the same thing but he's the bad guy for not asking how her day was before talking about anything else. Well the Husband and Wife's daughter come over bring their Grand-daughter. Apparently the Daughter is having marital problems of her own and has decided to take the night away from her husband. The Grand-daughter is the cutest part of the story, and of course she loves her "Gramp" above anything. Even though it hits close to home with it's real world scenarios, it's a beautifully written story, the writer described things that you typically don't find in comics but it worked so well that I'm truly hoping they'll write more and that others will adapt their style.

The last story is pretty simple, a guy's girlfriend goes to the video store and hasn't returned for an hour and he's running through all the different things that could have happened to her none of them being happy. Due to the short nature of the story it's hard to say if one of the scenarios truly happened or if she just left the guy that sat at home instead of looking for her.

Well that concludes the first Indie Friday, Jonzy's Jukebox Jewelery will be on in an hour I believe which is always a good listen check it out on the web if you don't live in LA.

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Comic Quick Hits - Another Dose

Welcome to another edition of Quick Hits. This week will be a little different since most of the books aren't really from this week... but hey whatever right? You probably still haven't read some of the books I have so on with the review.

Hack/Slash #4 (On-going) - I wish I had the time to review issues 2 and 3, but instead I've reviewed issue 1 and now 4. Issue 4 marked the end of the first story arc of the ongoing series. Unfortunately I didn't really like the issue. There was some great stuff with Vlad, but the sense of danger that the first and second issue had was lost on the last two. They spent so much time getting to the ending that by the time they got there, they ran out of pages to tell a well crafted ending. This Demon that's going to impregnate Cassie and this other girl, ends up just looking like a purplely gross tentacle that gets it's ass kicked pretty easily for a Demon. The appearance of Elvis was again humorous but also short lived. He and Sixx both had pretty lame endings to their lives, with Elvis taking one of the impregnating tentacles in the butt and blowing up and Sixx having to play his gig from the first issue over and over again in a personal hell... pretty boring actually.

The Whore, whose name slips my mind, becomes a dominate character all through the fourth issue and will pretty much wear on your nerves. Also I guess Cassie is lesbian, which kinda sucks since she's a strong sexy female and I'm sure most guys read the book because they thought she was hot and would get with her if she was real and now if she was she would be gay so it doesn't really matter. Yeah who cares right? I don't really I just think it's dumb when a character's sexuality is brought up in a comic that has no place for it. In typical Hack/Slash fashion, the next Slasher is introduced and will hopefully be a more successful outing. Here's some previews of this issue before we move on to the next.
























Bump #3 (of 4) - If you're a horror fan and you haven't been reading Bump, then you are missing out on one of the best horror books written to date. The overall story line is nothing new of course, but they "monsters" in it, and the way characters handle situations, is. Basically this sick bastard kidnaps a woman and cuts out their no-no's and locks them into these female bodies made of wood. Well the Sheriff and his deputy put a stop to it one day and leave the bastard to bleed to death and board up his house and pretty much go on each and everyday trying to live with what they did and pretending their best it didn't happen. Problem is the bastards back and he's up to his old tricks. His Mom helps him in his captures and what not, and some scenes have a strong influence of House of a 1,000 corpses, but you know what? It works! If you're a fan of horror in any shape or form, you'll be able to pick out the writers influences very easily, but that's what really makes the book great. It's taking all this cool ideas, meshing them together and not making it suck. I've been able to find every issue on line, and the first issue sold pretty well at the shops that carried it so you might find it in the back issues at a local shop. There's only one issue left of the series, but already there's a cross-over in the works with... you guessed it Hack/Slash! I'm actually really looking forward to that, and seeing what happens with it. Check out Fangoria's site as well!

Killing Girl #1 (of 5) - Let me sum this book up for you real quick. Girl gets kidnapped as a child. She losses her memory or just can't remember, Russian Mafia forces her into prostitution, kills a client, becomes their star assassin, runs into a man who thinks she's his wife, oops my mistake you're not, calls his wife and she tells him about the kidnapping, blah, blah, blah, the kid sister is about to kill the husband but he calls her by her real name. Well everything else in the story makes since except for the husband really just picking up on things way to quick. He's got a gun to his head and he just randomly tries calling her by the name that in all actuality, he never learns? Yeah I don't think so. Art's pretty good, but not strong enough to save the weak story.

The Chemist #1 - Sometimes it's hard to plop down $3.50 for an Image book. For starters you can never be certain that you'll see the next issue, or most of the time, issue 5. Also the story and or art may not be worth the 3.50 that they're asking. At the end of this book you'll ask yourself one question... "Who the hell is Jay Boose? And then, "why isn't he doing more comics?" Well the answer to the second one is because he is the writer, artist, colorist and editor of this book leaving him no time to do other great comics. The story starts off with the guy on the cover meeting a woman in a bar. He is selling pills, but what they are is unclear at the time. Things go bad and the people that hired him want him out of the picture. The woman that was working for the people trying to kill our guy ends up joining him and coming back to his house while they stay low. I'm pretty sure that she's going to try and kill him, which will end up with her having a change of heart, but pretty much I'm suspicious of her and I'm not willing to trust her 100% yet. That's pretty much the gist of the story. What I like about this character is that he's not a drug-dealer. He is an independent "Chemist" that reverse engineers medicine, to make it cheaper for those who can't afford it. Over all I really liked the story and the art was fantastic, making it a worthy buy after all. I liked it so much you get some free preview pages! Enjoy and more than likely they'll be another comic review or Quick Hit coming soon!

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Comic Book Day Reviews - The Mice Templar 01 with Preview

It seemed only fair to review The Mice Templar, after reviewing Mouse Guard last week. Let me start by saying that this is not an attempt to cash in on Mouse Guard's success, this is just one of those weird moments when two similar ideas hit the market at the same time and no one knows why. If you're unfamiliar with what I'm talking about check out Reaper vs Chuck in the archives.

Glass and Oeming craft a dangerous and mysterious world that has a Secret of NIMH feel to it, but with a lot more blood. Since this is Oeming's brain child, I have to wonder if they'll ever truly be enough blood and loss of limbs in a book for him. Either way I don't really care so long as he continues taking his unique style of art to the next level. If you are familiar with Oeming's style then you might be able to just look at the book and say, "Yeah that's him." but others still may have a hard time with it. It's definitely a step up in his artistic journey and really shows that he's not a one trick pony but that he's got some artist chops on himself.

The story opens with a brief history of the Templar's as told by Leito, a young mouse apprenticing with an exiled Templar. The Templar's are like the Musketeer's and have fallen from grace, having caused a war within it's own ranks and nearly destroying the Mice community. But when trouble strikes the exiled Templar (Now a Blacksmith) is there to the rescue. A spider that's been stalking the village makes an attack and the Blacksmith jumps into action flipping the spider onto it's back and chopping off it's legs. Whereas Mouse Guard shy's away from showing any actually blood or loss of limbs, Mice Templar embraces it head on.

The story however does not follow the Blacksmith, it is not about the Templar of old but the Templar that are to come. Karic is like any youth, easily excited, full of energy, and totally in love with the stories about the Templar and pretends every night that he is a great Templar. This is his story and how his dreams are going to come true, but he'll soon find out that they might come out a terrible cost. After all isn't that how the real world works? You might have noticed that I said night before, that's because the world the Mice live is from dusk to dawn. When I read that I thought it was brilliantly simple. It's enjoyable to watch Karic's Mother tuck him in as the sun rises. Since there's an Owl on the cover and an Owl at the end of the issue, I guess that Owl's will some how come to play within the story. As always I've included some preview pages, and since this book is a double sized issue and goes for 4 bucks, I don't think 6 pages will harm your reading experience. Enjoy and more comic reviews this week!

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Paprika Review over at UTAI

Someone wrote a review over at UTAI! Check it out, and all the other new reviews!

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Comic Book Quick Hits - 1st Instahlment

Black Summer #2
Ellis delivers another great issue. The only problem is that it's too damn short! Each issue get more and more action packed and interesting that really I'm having a hard time between choosing... do I want more action or do I want more story? I love the flashbacks that really add depth to the characters and make me more interested in THAT story then the current one. I'd love to read the teams adventures from the beginning and get some inside into the world that Ellis has created for them. The action is... it's freaking great! The art is top notch and I wish that action movies could do some of the things they're able to do. My only grip is that all the women are starting to talk the same, other than that it was a great issue.

Astonishing X-Men #22
So, Cyclops is dead? Um... what? If Cyclops is dead then I'm officially done reading X-Men since he's the only character I like or give a crap about. I'm hoping it's all BS but we'll see I haven't read anything on the internet yet so either no one cares or it's all part of the story and we'll find out more in the next issue. If he is dead though... then I am not friends with Joss Whedon! Cassaday's art continues to be the best in the business, seriously I can't wait to see what project he's going to work on next. Since Ellis is taking over after Whedon I wish he'd just stay on the book and reunite the team that made Planetary, but it's not going to happen. Other than Cyclops dying in a lame ass way nothing else happened in this book.

Amazing Spider-Man #543
It happened... Peter Parker's a criminal. This issue was good in the way that it made me uncomfortable. By that I mean I didn't like what was going on but I'm able to see that, that's what makes it a good issue. You're not suppose to like Peter's decisions, you're suppose to ask, "What's going on? Why won't this just stop?" this books is suppose to leave you wanting the old Spider-Man back and frankly you're not going to get it. This is Garney's last issue too hopefully he's got something good lined up though I think I've already read something he did. This is also the last issue before "One More Day" where Amazing takes over and becomes a three issue a month book. One More Day will also mark Straczynski's last arc on Spider-Man.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #23 - What a good issue, Jonah beats the crap out of Peter. Yup that's what happens. It was probably one of the most psychological mind fucks I've ever read and I blame Peter David for it. Basically Peter let's Jonah got nuts on him punching him in the face over and over until his knuckle was literally bare, and the best part was that Peter took photos of the entire thing. Then he gave the film to Jonah telling him to publish them and gave him the headline for it and everything. Jonah tells Robbie the whole story as he asks him to come back to his job, even though I guess there was clarification on whether he would or not I still didn't get the impression that he was. Again this is the last issue of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man which kinda sucks but we'll see.

The Sensational Spider-Man #40 - I can't tell you how good this issue is... wait yeah I can. Spidey's origin has been told countless times in the issue of Spider-Man but I have never read it like this, and the art has never been so beautiful. Clayton Crain's style is just fantastic, I wish he could do more issues and I will truly miss him on Spider-Man. So, um Peter talks to God... and it's very touching, and even though he doesn't just cure all of Peter's problems he does let him know that him being Spider-Man, is important. That the lives he's touched are countless and that his heart is good even though it's been crapped on countless times, and that anyone else would have turned to the dark but that Peter is the exception to the rule. Great issue here's a couple pages, enjoy!

Terror Inc. #1 - This book really surprised me, I don't know if this character every existed outside of the MAX line but if he did... I'm sure he wasn't as cool. The violence seemed toned down after reading Black Summer, but it was still pretty cool. Basically our rotting friend to the right there is a Merc for hire and when he's drunk and horny he tells his life story. His life story is pretty messed up and depressing, yet very interesting and in depth. Lapham did a great job of making me care about this character even though the character probably didn't deserve to be cared about. Mr. Terror (guy to the right) is cursed and his body needs new body parts to keep going since he can't actually die. He kills this one guy, and takes his head off and puts it on as his own. Then bam, he's got the guys memories... for the most part.

Halo Uprising #1 - Well after a lot of praise, I really have to ask if it's deserving? The books not bad and I agree that Bendis can write anything. But Halo means Master Chief and this book was seriously lacking in the Master Chief department. The art is great and fits the world perfectly, but I don't know what the story is doing and it's only four issues so I'm hoping to find out by the next issue. Really I'm calling BS on finding the Key of whatever, and that the guy I was forced to follow through the whole story knows wear it is. I bet that it's a made up computer game referance that the main character use to play or something like that. Really I hope I'm wrong but the clues given to us point to wear I'm going. Also Master Chief got his ass handed to him... I don't buy that... at all!

Birds of Prey #109 - I didn't know that Gail Simone's last issue was 108. Maybe it should have been 109. Not only is Tony Bedard handling the Black Canary mini-series but he's also doing Birds? Yeah I'm not liking this. In the first issue not only does he dis-ban the Secret Six (Gail's creation), but he kills one of them too! Knockout gets a hole blown threw her and Scandal thinks it's Barda, because Barda is standing over the body. Also DC copped out on showing a bunch of blood even though the scene screams bloody mess. Barda is also changing character dynamics already and frankly I don't know who's on this team anymore. Nothing Bird like happened, I kinda wish they'd work with Batman again but whatever. Canary told off Oracle, and vice versa, which did nothing for me.

Green Lantern Corps #15 - Sinestro Corps War Part 5! The Sinestro Corps attacked Mogo, who apparently mentally trains all the GL's and directs the rings to the next barriers. Didn't know that, that makes Mogo pretty cool and I hope they save his ass since they were drilling to his center where his ring resides. Some freaky children psycho's were heading to the center. Frankly the war is turning into more of a GL blood bath and it's getting a little lame. Kilowog kicks some butt, but nothing major. There's just to much going on in this book to really keep track of everything or to care about any of the characters. I'm behind in reading this book so some of the character's are still new to me, but DC needs to learn that a book like this needs to have a central cast of no bigger than five! It's got like ten.

The Flash #231
So All-Flash kinda impressed me... this issue didn't. I didn't like the fact that they returned to the original numbering picking up right where the other one left off, it was like the year long series with Kid Flash didn't even happen. The Flash kids are quite possibly the worst children character's I've ever read in a book. Also their powers suck and I don't really care how they got them or why the grew up super fast... get it? I'm not crazy about the art, I can see why Waid would choose it, but I don't think it works for this book. Even though I'm a fan of Acuna's style I don't think it works for most DC books. The dialog between Wally and his family is pretty flat too, and the Mom is the second worst character. Not a lot of "Flash" things happened either. Here's some pages.

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Devil's Due can't stop Mark Powers

It's probably safe to say that Mark Powers is one of the best things to happen to Devil's Due Press. I've enjoyed his work on and off over the last year or so, but lately it seems that he can't stop writing hits. The first issue of Drafted comes out some time next month, and even though the Preview issue isn't exactly "new" news, I felt that it really needed to be put in the spotlight again before the first issue. It's a good sign when reading a preview issue and you get to the end and you say to yourself, "Ah, come on. That's it?" I got to the end and really I was already wanting to read more of this story. Right from the start the story hits on topics that are happening today, because that's really what the story is about, how a global war would effect our society as a whole. Many people will yell, "Starship Troopers!" at the very site of this book, but they would be wrong. I already get the impression that this story is going to be much deeper than Troopers ever was. The preview isn't long enough to just give a full blown review but it interested me and that's what a good preview does.

Another Powers hit, is G.I. Joe America's Elite. I choose a great jumping on point with issue 25 which started the year long event World War III. As a kid I wasn't allowed to watch G.I. Joe, I don't know why and frankly my parents have never given me a good enough reason as to why either. So sometimes it's hard for me to get excited over the characters, but as Devil's Due has grown so have their character's depth making it possible for someone like myself that doesn't know the characters to learn who they are. This is in part thanks to Mark Powers and all those who wrote and worked on Joe before him. In issue 26th, the Joe's continue cleaning up anyone and everyone that's ever worked for Cobra. Snake Eyes and Scarlett have tracked down Firefly to Snake Eyes' old dojo. Now abandoned, due to Firefly killing Snake Eye's master leaving him the last of his clan. This is the action that drives the book, while the story is told. The team does a great job of cutting between Snake Eyes and Scarlett, then to the other story elements going on. Cobra Commander and Destro Jr share some great dialog, and Cobra takes off his mask and shows his face to Destro Jr as a sign of respect and asks him to lead an army for him.

One thing that kinda bothered me was that Snake Eyes was using a gun and not a sword, he was the only character that I had any familiarity with and so it bothered me not to see him looking as cool as I remembered him. It bothered me but not enough that it put me off from his character. I'm interested to see what his journey will be, and if he'll use the sword again due to the things Firefly said to him during their battle. Another mask revealing happened when Snake Eyes and Scarlett visited her father, and he told Snake, "Were family, you don't need to wear that mask anymore." and he took off the mask. Great moment and really had a lot of heart to it. In fact the entire book has a lot of heart, and that's what made me pick up issue 26. After reading the last issue I was instantly hooked on what was happening. Since I'm talking a lot about the story I think it's important to say that the art is fantastic and really some of the best G.I. Joe art I've seen the company put out. World War III has become one of the books I look forward to each month now, and I know that's true for my friends that are also reading the book.

Like I said, Devil's Due can't stop Mark Powers... from pumping out the hits! Look for Drafted in September, and you can still pick up G.I. Joe America's Elite issue #26 at a local comic book shop. The book just came out on the 8th of this month so it shouldn't be to hard to track down. Check out Devil's Due Press' site for other news and great books to read!

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Rilo Kiley - The Blacklight (2007)

I have been waiting for a new Rilo Kiley CD since the disappointment that was Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, and I have to say... sometimes it's hard when a band grows up. What I mean by this is that the sound and songs that made me fall in love with Rilo Kiley are no longer the same. Sure the core is still there, and even some of the song structure is the same. But that indie feel, that experimental feel... is no longer there. They've traded those handful of songs that you would skip to hear on the CD, for an album that you can easily and enjoyably listen to in one setting. In fact my drive to work is so long, and the CD so short that I can actually start it again before hitting the parking lot.

The band has a heavy electronic influence on this album, it works very well with the CD but again don't expect the same old Rilo Kiley. Lyrically there's many changes too, trading in songs with no chorus' for songs that repeat the same lyric again and again. That might put some people off and I can even see how some long time fans might be put off by this album. Myself, I have gotten past the point of hoping a band will never change and try to come into each album with no expectations otherwise all you'll get is disappointment. The CD definitely has a studio feel to it, losing that gritty basement recording sound the previous albums had; and pretty much sounds like the band is ready for radio adventures. Hopefully they'll continue making enjoyable music and not get lost in the hustle and shuffle of corporate radio. Like I said before it's hard when a band grows up, but at least from the sounds of it they're growing up right.

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Now playing: "Breakin' Up" by Rilo Kiley
via FoxyTunes

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Renaissance - So familiar but you just can't place it

Perhaps this movie snuck by you like it did me. I recall seeing all the internet ads for it, I had the interest in it, but then one day the ads were gone and no theater seemed to be carrying the product I was looking for. The style is hard to place, since it almost looks cell shaded and CG, at times the characters move just like a real person. I'm fairly certain that some degree of real acting was done by the original French actors and I'm sure the information is available at my finger tips but I'm here to review a movie not the making of the movie so really let's begin.

Renaissance, is a bare bones story with cool effects and a unique presentation. A research Scientist for a Avalon goes missing, and the police are on the case. It's a mystery as to why the Scientist (Ilona) has been kidnapped, and who the villain behind it really is. That's pretty much it, the story is so familiar you'll swear you've seen it before. Probably because you actually have, but I really can't place it. The cop has a dangerous past voiced by Daniel Craig (Bond!) and for some reason he gets really involved in the case, and the missing woman's sister. Avalon is the company of the future that takes care of everything for you and comes complete with Billboards that turn on when you walk by and stare at you and everything. Of course their evil, but there's an evil doctor involved in the mix as well, who ends up being the bigger bad guy? Well they're French so probably everyone! Nah, just joking I love the French.

The action is okay, there's some invisible trench coat ninjas (they're just security guards but by damn they act like ninjas), the gun play is okay as well. There's a car chase scene that really didn't work with the cell shading/CG, but the on foot chase scenes worked very well and helped counter the car chase scene. The city looked good, but at times it was difficult to tell what level of the city you're looking at and the sidewalks were clear so the first time you see it, it's a bit confusing. Other than showing the Eiffel Tower once, you wouldn't think it was taking place in France.

Watching the movie I could spot it's many influences. Obviously Bladerunner and the Matrix being key influences. The overall plot and how the it was directed reminded me heavily of a Japanese Animation that I had scene, but can't quite place my finger on. The storyline and overall plot truly remind me of a movie I have already seen, but again I can't place it. If you're into CG/cell shading, or like animations and action, then give the movie a rental. I think that movie took some bold steps towards making interesting movies in this style; if you enjoyed Sin City's look then you'll like the shading and lighting of this movie. If the same company were to venture another CG/cell shading adventure, then I would definitely see what it has to offer.

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Comic Book Day 08-22-07 - Mouse Gaurd Winter 1152

Here's another great book from Archaia Studio Press that I had the opportunity to pick up at Comic Con. Everything is done by David Peterson, who I must say is quite talented. Story picks up after the Fall of 1152 storyline. The original Black Axe has joined the Guard again, as the best of the Guard have been sent out to get supplies and necessities for the main city, whose name escapes me at the moment. One of their own is sick and they need to get medicine to them, the doctor's have given the sick guard a day and our troops are at least 3 away. The thing I like about Mouse Guard is that there's a lot going on, but not a lot of story at the same time. Really I've already ruin the entire issue for you and yet if you read it you'll still be, or should still be interested in it. This is due mostly in how it's presented. Archaia loves to break traditional comic book format, having books that are taller then current standards, or in Mouse Guards case being short and wide. Peterson's art and color are fantastic and just work so well with the format and story, that you have to wonder when someone else's is going to be bold enough to try it as well. Image Comics has a mouse book coming out as well, The Mice Templar, which hits a little too close for comfort. Mouse Guard has been great so far and with the new series out, it doesn't show any signs of letting up. The hardcover for Fall 1152, is out now as well and is a great read and full of extras if you're interested in catching up with the series. You don't need to but you'll probably want to after reading the first issue of Winter 1152. As always, visit Archaia's site as well as Mr. Peterson's site. Also buy the book after reading two of my favorite pages from the book after the break. Enjoy!

Oh I forgot to mention, this is a new weekly article/blog I will be doing where I review a book that's come out that week. So every Wednesday you can stop by and see what I'm reading that week and what's worth putting in your comic collection... or not worth putting in your collection. I'll still review comics from that week later on the week so look for updates all the time! Thanks for reading.

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A Simple Statement...

Lately my opinion has come under fire. My "Slang", swearing and over all feelings on things have apparently warranted attacks from "readers", I say that way since they are not true readers but people that have stumbled upon this blog and found something they didn't like and felt the need to state their opinion on my opinion. I say that again, their opinion on MY opinion... maybe I should change the name to reviews on reviewing the world. This is the one and only time I will say this... I do not get paid for this blog, I don't have adsense, I don't have sponsors, I don't have an editor, I don't even have other writers. I do this on my own time, and use my own resources to do so. I write how I want to write, for the most part I write the way I talk and I talk like most people talk. If I get excited about a game, then I'll probably swear and say dope, I'm excited about something after all. If I don't like a CD, then I'm not going to like it just because you like it, and just because I'm on the internet doesn't mean that I have to like it. I think that if people went through my archives they would find that I have a lot of positive reviews, and even if they're negative I always find something good in the product that I'm reviewing. I do moderate comments, to prevent spam postings which are annoying when I go to other sites and have to read them there. I've posted every negative comment, comment directing people to other reviews and sites, but I've also responded to these comments. I find it weird that people disagree with my opinion and the only way they can respond is to attack my opinion or my word choices. Here's a good rule of thumb, if it's not something you'd say to your Mom, then don't leave the comment. If you're not going to leave your name, then don't leave a comment. I will no longer post comments, be them good or bad, if they do not have a name attached. I have put myself out there for people to read my thoughts on things, and because I believe anything I have worth posting should have my name attached, because in the REAL world, when you say something everyone knows you said it. So please have a spine, and don't be a faceless coward. Brian Micheal Bendis once said something like this, if you're going to say something hiding behind a computer screen then have the guts to put your name on it, don't hide behind your computer. It's sad that people in our society facelessly attack others and speak in a way to others that they would not do so if the person was in front of them. Keep that in mind the next time you want to post a comment.
UPDATE: I've joined Amazon.com's Associate program, we see if I generate any revenue with this site, enough to take criticism from faceless strangers... maybe. More than likely I'll try it for 2 days like I did adsense and then quit but we'll see.

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Witchblade Takeru Manga OR Witchblade Underpants!

I made it a point to read issues 1-6 before issue 7 came out this week, that way I'd know if I wanted to get the next issue or not. I can say as a comic fan and as a manga fan, that I will not be getting this book anymore. I applaud Top Cow's efforts in taking the Witchblade franchise and trying to do something very Marvel like with it. Marvel of course having Spider-Man J which is the Japanese version of Spider-Man, and he takes on crazy Bumble Bee villains and it is very manga like, meaning if you picked it up from the manga area of Borders you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between that and another manga book. Witchblade Takeru Manga, succeeds in doing the same. They keep the same formulas that anime and manga have, this one being demon slaying (a common storyline in both anime and manga). Each issue a villain shows up and the Witchblade kills the demon, thus eliminating them from ever bothering her again and forcing a new demon to show up in the next issue. Another element that this story has, is that the Witchblade bearer (The woman wielding the Witchblade if you're unfamiliar with the Witchblade series) is a demon as well, when she uses the Witchblade she turns all demon like. She of course has a love interest, Kou, who is a decedent of Demon Slayers... I wonder if you see were this is going? He hasn't killed her yet and swears he never will, but in issue 6 she tells him to kill her if she goes full-blown demon.













The dialog and story are boring and typical; the artist and colorist are of course quite good which is the norm for Top Cow books. That's why artist should never run a comic company. They're great at finding artist, but they wouldn't know a good writer if he walked up and hit him with everything he's ever written. At this point Top Cow really can't even attract a decent writer with their reputation. They got Mark Waid, but pretty much screwed it up by delaying the book so much that I doubt he'll return with his busy DC schedule. I also think this book is really just an excuse to draw girls in their underwear, which yes is common in a lot of anime and manga. Typically you know when you're buying an adult book, and if it's happening somewhere else it's at least a bit more tasteful or at the very least funny. This book has a gross amount of it, and none of it's funny or sexy. It's just there! I've taken the time to scan every scene of it from issue 6, I was going to do the entire series thus far but, once you see how many shots were in just issue 6 you'll know why I gave up. Issue 7 comes out this Wednesday, so if you're just a die hard fan of demon slaying manga, or Witchblade, or drawings of girls underwear, then feel free to pick the book up. Other wise consider yourself warned!

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