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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Superbad - The review everyone couldn't wait to write

I'm going to start off by bad mouthing someone else's review of this movie by calling them an idiot and telling them they shouldn't write movie reviews ever again. I don't know the site of the person I'm directing this towards by if you search Digg you should be able to find their review that posted last Thursday, I believe. Ah hell I'll find it, hold on... there! Anyways, this review doesn't even matter because there's probably a hundred reviews for this movie already and most of them are going to say the same thing. Just like in the other review, you already have your mind made up about this movie. So I'm just going to tell you what I liked about it, I'd tell you what I didn't like too, but there wasn't anything really worth mentioning.

I guess this movie is Jonah Hill's vessel, but really I didn't get that feeling at all. He pretty much has equal screen time with Micheal Cera (forever known as George Micheal from Arrested Development) Christopher Mintz-Plasse (forever to be known as McLovin) and Seth Rogan and Bill Hader. Seriously they're all on the screen so much that there is no star, which works really well for this movie. Now the review linked above, is pretty much in love with Jonah Hill and didn't get George Micheal at all, which is really sad because basically they said they didn't get any smart jokes only the obvious ones that everyone was laughing at. Both of them actually do a great job and make a good comedy team. McLovin was actually quite good. I didn't worry that he would be a "Shermanator" like the "other review" said, but I did think it was going to be difficult to watch him. Well it was actually enjoyable and the damn kid made me laugh, so he did a good job. I don't see how anyone could type cast him since the McLovin character name is just there so that the cops can say it over and over to make you laugh.

It was a good High School movie, which there hasn't been too many that I can think of. The girls of the movie were nicely handled, not to much screen time to make them annoying, and they show up at the end to make for the perfect ending. The cops made me laugh... a whole bunch! Seriously every time they said McLovin, I had to laugh. Even though I had heard, "Sounds like a sexy hamburger" thirty times in the trailer, I still laughed when I heard it said again. If you're a guy, don't see it with your girlfriend... although you'll probably feel a little gay if you see it with your friends. I think most guys that are like these two characters went through a much more toned down version of what their friendship is going through in the movie. There really isn't much else to say about the movie, I mean it's a comedy so it's not like there's some surprise twist or something so if you're going to see it then more than likely you'll enjoy it. I laughed my ass off through the whole thing. The movie really has a strong opening that just trucks on through the rest of the flick never missing a beat.

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Sinestro Corps Wars and Uncanny X-Men Update

It had been a few weeks since I picked up books, so when I went in I discovered that another issue of Uncanny X-men had come out. It was actually pretty interesting, except for a scene with Johnny Storm and War Path. Xavier abused his powers more to Nightcrawler's amazement, but we did get to see Magneto paying his respects to one of his dead henchmen. There's a show down between the X-Men and the O.N.E., and the cliffhanger to the book is that one of the Morlock's is actually a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, undercover. Storm has some more pathetic dialog that fit the new persona Marvel's chosen for her. It's sad that Marvel had this great idea of putting her and Black Panther on the Fantastic Four, and not a single writer has done anything interesting with it. Not in X-Men, not in the FF book and definitely not in Black Panther! Reed and Sue were gone for like 4 issues and already they're on their way back, so it was a total waste of a great idea. Check out that cover though! Larroca is just gotten better and better, you can totally tell that he took a break and came back with a fresh prospective and really had taken his art to the next level. Still haven't read the Endangered Species storyline but Bangley's art stinks, hopefully he doesn't take over an X-Book.

Sinestro Corps after the break!

The War continues on in Lantern 22, and boy howdy was it exciting. One of the Lost Lantern's get's smoked, sadly he was pretty cool but that's Geoff Johns style, kill them while their cool! Superboy Prime hangs out for another issue and so does the Anti-Monitor and Cyborg Superman. AM promises CS that he'll kill him once they fulfill his real motives (Which were not revealed). Can I just say for a moment how bad ass Hal Jordan is? Oh I can? Hal Jordan is a bad ass! Not only does he still not take any crap from the Lost Lantern's, but he pretty much tells the entire Sinestro Corps Army to suck it. Going back to Superboy Prime, he's already eying the Earth which was cool, but he's got Superman's powers and a Sinestro ring... if he's not kicking and killing a lot of people by the next part I'm going to call Bullshit on him being in the book. Parallax is the bomb as well, he cuts down so many of the Lost Lantern's with just his words and playing on their one deep fear. The best is when he's saying it's as easy as the first time he and Jordan took down the LL's, and asking Jordan if he remembers screaming on the inside unable do doing anything about it. Great stuff. I can see what Johns' is going to do next though, he's going to go into the fear tanks and over come his one great fear so that Parallax and Sinestro have nothing over him and then beat more ass then ever before. Which will be cool, but I see it coming.

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All Star Batman and Robin The Boy Wonder #6

Wondering what's going on in this book? Yeah I think most people do too. It's not that the story and art aren't good, it's that each issue takes almost 6 months to come out and by the time it does who the hell remembers what's going on with it? That and Mr. Miller seems to be jumping slightly forward in time with each issue. It's taken 6 issues now just to the next night after Robin's family's murder. Most of the characters are crazy. Black Canary is freaking cool, but nothing like the Black Canary anyone's come to know in the last few years. Batman really, truly, is psychotic and I'll be damned if I don't love it. Other than Frank Miller's crazy story that's made so many fans scream bloody murder, Jim Lee's art is top notch. He loves having the characters kick through windows and peoples teeth on full splash pages. This issue has two splash pages, one for Black Canary (Kicking teeth with her left foot) and one for Batman (Kicking through a car window with his left foot). Most comic fans love to hate this book, yet every time it comes out it sells out in an instant. Frankly I love the craziness of the book and it's the only book that I'll let the Superstar attitude fly on. Other book's like Ulimates and such have had too many strikes, so if the books stops coming out on time... I stop reading it. But Miller and Lee get a free pass due to their track record. If you're not reading this book then you probably shouldn't. It's not going to make any new comic fans but it'll probably keep them talking for a long time.

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Uncanny X-Men - Uncanny Once More?

It would be an understatement to say that I was a little behind on reading Marvel Comics' mighty mutants. So I sat down and read eight issues of Uncanny X-Men starting with issue 481 and going to the most recent issue, 488. Finally someone freaking expanded the X-Men universe brought back some of the cool elements that Claremont did on X-Men before trying to ruin them. Burbaker and Tan brought back all that cool crap from the Phoenix Saga, and Shi'ar empire and made you go wow this shit is really cool! Now Vulcan may be the worst excuse for a character ever, but he's really the only reason to have as dope of a story as they did. I just wish everything he did wasn't predictable and boring.When he started off it was cool because you didn't know what his deranged mind was going to do, but then his mind kinda kept doing the same thing over and over... Kill, kill, kill some more and strangely fall in love... with Deathbird. Another thing that felt tagged on was the relationship between Vulcan and Deathbird, really it was just there because it needed to be there in order for parts of the story to happen.

I loved the fact that Burbaker brought back D'Ken... then he killed him, I should say Vulcan did but you probably were able to guess that already. What was extremely lame about D'Ken's death was that Vulcan brought him back from his coma, and he was about to become one of the best villains in the Universe again... oh well right? It was cool that they brought Major-General Ka'ardum back and the whole rich history of the Shi'ar, and their history with the X-Men. I do wish there was more with the M'kraan crystal. Darwin wins the award for cheesiest mutant powers beating out Wolverine. Nothing could stop him, nothing! At first it was cool but then it was just like, "Come on, what can't this Macgyver of mutant powers not do?" Something that was also total bullshit, was Cosair dying... now I was bummed when Cap died, even though I know there will be a conspiracy where he'll show up later and tell the world he's been working with Stark the whole time, but whatever. But Cosair was a total waste and of course guess who killed him? Yup, his bullshit third son Vulcan't, Vulcan't stop killing everyone that's not a major character in the book! The only redeeming factor was Cosair's lover getting super pissed and wanting blood, but Brubaker was already writing the next love story between her and Warpath. It was cool where they buried him too, but that was about it. Speaking of Warpath, he's pretty cool now. I was going to say very cool, but then I remembered all his shitty dialog and was like nah, he needs to be less whiney!

Nightcrawler is just boring, he doesn't date, he doesn'tSo are the Uncanny X-Men, uncanny once more? I'd have to say a little bit. The quality of the art is there again and hopefully it won't become the revolving door it's been in the past. Good comic book story-telling comes from a team. A writer that knows their artist, and an artist that can keep pushing themselves to impresses the writer, thus constantly putting out the best work of their life. Brubaker does a lot for the Mighty Mutants, but there was too much Fanboy cheese for my liking. Darwin's powers, Xavier getting his powers back, anything Storm said, Rachael's character in general, Vulcan killing everything not screwed down and the waste of characters that could have been. It was almost as if the idea was bigger than the amount of she mind-wiped Batman, I just view her as a wolf in sheep's clothing. The "cool factor" of Xavier is gone and I'm tired of him talking all the time and saying nothing. issues allotted for it. Two character's that I think have been over used and that I've just gotten tired of in general, is Nightcrawler and Xavier. Xavier didn't have one thing to say that was worth a damn and now that he's pretty much shown his true color's it's not really cool to watch him do any of his mind stuff anymore. It's like Zatanna in DC Comics, ever since lead, he doesn't do much of anything other than freak out and pray. Really only time will tell if Brubaker can restore greatness to the X-Franchise again, but Marvel has already started the revolving door artist policy for the book. For now at least Tan isn't doing the book and Larroca is on for at least another 2 issue before he starts working on Amazing Spider-Man, so who knows who they'll throw on it next.

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Beautiful Katamari - 360 Demo

I know, I know, another demo? I'm sorry but Xbox can't stop giving me demo's to play, so I'm going to keep playing them until one of these damn games comes out to buy or rent! If you don't know what a Katamari is then... you are out of luck! Really though it doesn't matter what a Katamari is, or if you haven't played the first game... or the second... on the PSP version, none of that matters. All that matters is that this is the most addictive game I have ever played, and I played Halo 2 online for 2 years straight! I have canceled dates because of this game, I have gotten into fights with my Girlfriend because of this game, I have stayed up when I knew I had to work really early the next morning just to play one more level!

You know that commercial where the guy falls down a hill and just starts bumping into stuff and the stuff sticks with him getting bigger and bigger until it's picking up cars and finally hits a building? Well that's what Katamari is and they totally stole the idea from that commercial from this game series. In Katamari you play the Price of the Cosmos, and depending on the story, you need to roll up stuff to make other stuff... so the story doesn't really matter either! Who cares about why you have to do it, just that it's so much fun to roll crap up and get your Katamari bigger and bigger until you can pick up people and houses and such.

In the demo you get to play one level that looks to be advance since the starting Katamari is pretty big, you have two minutes to roll up stuff... that's it! Download it, play it, and see what the hell I'm talking about. Like all the demo's it gives you some selling points of the game, and for the Xbox 360, there will be online multi-player. This could be fun depending on what it is and if there are more than one game choice. With the price tag of 39.99 there's really no reason not to get this game and play it for all it's worth. If you do get it, send a email to ReviewingtheWorld@gmail.com and I'll send you my gamer tag so that we can play online. And yes there will probably be more Demo news in the future! Oh and I've included a thumbnail of the Price of the Cosmos, that I found if anyone wants it for an Avatar.

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Reaper vs Chuck

It's funny how two shows that are pretty similar will come out at the same time. I'm sure we all notice it, it even happens with movies, and I like to think that secretly everyone chosen the one that they want to back. Either it was the first one you saw or you like the actor's in the other better, whatever the reason typically one is a success and the other is canceled or moves it's release date. I thought that would be the case with Reaper and Chuck. I saw both of them at Comic Con (no I'm not going to hyper link you can search the archives!) and have been waiting for the second episode of each, but I'm torn on which I'll like better. With Reaper, Kevin Smith directed the first episode, and even though I'm no longer a die hard fan of his I still enjoy his work and his ability to make people (even Ben Affleck) funny. Also he was hilarious to listen to and frankly the experience was rather enjoyable. With Chuck, I still thought it was funny, there was a major hottie in her undies (twice!) and I rather enjoyed the main character. Also with Chuck, they've filmed segments at two of the shops in my plaza at work. Again, sometimes it's these little things that get our loyalty, especially with Nerds, it's just how we are and its why they show these shows at Comic Con to rope us in. I'm actually pulling for both shows, and I'm glad NBC decided not to compete directly against Reaper with Chuck. Not that it would make any sense to do that since they're both made by the WB and that would just be bad business. My only worry is for Reaper which is on the CW on Monday's and with football season coming up it will more than likely have a harder time then Chuck. Enough ranting there's some Youtube trailers after the break!

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Killing Pickman - Archaia Studio Press

Indie Comic Time! Sometimes we all get caught up in what the big 2 are doing and forget about the little guys. The big 2 if you didn't know are Marvel and DC comics. Well the always impressive and groundbreaking Archaia Studio Press has a couple of new books coming out, or they may already be out I don't know I got this one at Comic Con so I'm not sure when it was released. The when is not important... okay I'll look it up hold on... okay it came out on the 1st of this month, there you go.

Anyways it's a pretty quick read and a simple story. The art is the selling point since it pretty much has an indie look to it that the big boys can't get away with. The story starts with a Cop going door to door asking about a missing girl. When he arrives at door he was looking for, Pickman answers. He doesn't know his name at this point but I may as well inform you, the reader that it's Pickman. So the Cop asks his questions and Pickman says yeah sure I remember seeing her and invites the cop in. The usual, "Can I get you something to drink?" happens, even though I have never offered a stranger that's entered my house a drink before yet movies, TV and now comics do it all the time, and of course the cops says yes so that he can look around the house.

I've included the first 3 pages so that people can get an interest in the book and not make it so damn difficult for me to find all these indie books, so read them and buy the book. Without going into details, the ending to the first issue totally starts to go typical movie setup and you're expecting the Cop to give the typical cop answer but he totally throws you a curve ball. It'll be interesting to see what twists the author and artist can add to this Cop/Serial Killer story.

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BioShock - 360 Demo

Yet another Demo for the 360, and yet another Demo featuring the oh so popular Unreal Engine. BioShock really is like no other FPS that I've played before. The world is creepy as hell and the bad guys are just regular people that have gone insane due to a drug. It takes place during the World War II era, the buildings, fashion and music all sport the era's classic theme, the music being the most enjoyable for me. In the demo your boat sinks, and you're swimming to find land. The fire on the water, and the water itself, are graphically insane they look so good. You find a lighthouse type building and for some damn reason (probably because it's a video game) you head down in this escape pod looking thing. There a man comes on introducing the city you are heading to, the city of Rapture.

I don't know why you won't to hear more of the story and have it ruined for you, which is why I mostly give vague details, if you own a 360 and have Xbox Live then you can download the game for free for the download menu!. 2K has had a lot of success this year (Darkness, the sports line, now BioShock for sure) and some failures (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) it's hard to say what this company will do next as they try and beat EA and become one of the biggest companies in Video Games.

The Demo is pretty lengthy and it introduces you to your "Bio" powers, or whatever they call it. Pretty much it's the cool shit that makes you want to play the game. Since I hadn't been following the game as close as the rest of the internet I was pleasantly surprised by the demo and now look forward to buying the game. From the demo trailer that plays at the end of the game, the powers and what they can do look really freaking cool. Added with a story that is very interesting and in an era that's always fun for video games, and maybe 2K Boston and 2K Australia might have a very successful game on their hands. Xbox Live on the other hand can't stop pumping out the great demo's and hopefully that will continue as we go into the holiday gaming season.

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The Bourne Ultimatum - Is the Trilogy Over?

Well it's a week late but I finally saw Bourne, most hardcore movie watchers have probably already watched this movie; and some have probably downloaded it further hurting the hand that I hope will one day feed me. It was a good end to the series, I've heard a lot of people say it "fit" very well. I'll admit that I was not excited when I first heard about the Bourne Identity and it's star Matt Damon. In fact I had waited till it came out on DVD to check it out. I was impressed, and further more was excited when Supremacy came out. Ultimatum on the other hand was a tuff sell for me. The trailer offered nothing new, the story definitely offered nothing new, the cast almost the same except for one bad ass CIA agent that pretty much saved the show. David Strathairn plays Noah Vosen, a CIA man who runs the black ops in the CIA. Pretty much he can do whatever he wants. His new job is to of course take down Bourne and pin the Ops that created him on Landey, played once again by Joan Allen, or kill Bourne... well do they?

The story really is nothing new, the acting is actually quite nice, and the symbolism that connects the series is a nice touch that is missing from typical action/suspense movies these days. Damon actually gets to give a performance in this film, which was missing in the last film. No I was not overwhelming touched by his emotions, no I didn't really feel sorry for his character anymore, I really just liked him out smarting the camera systems in trains stations, talking sassy over the phone and overall just messing with the CIA. Damon has already said, like all actors, that he won't be back for a fourth. Which frankly is really dumb on his part since the fourth one has the potential to do something new in the world of Bourne and actually start adding depth to his character... that and it's a blockbuster money making franchise, so really it's just dumb, but whatever. Julia Stiles is also back and I know your wondering, "How and why, did they bring her back again!", easy answer is that she's in love with Bourne and was too close to the Op from the beginning so the big boys couldn't ever let her stray far. Then there's David S.'s character, who really is just evil as fuck and of course only cares about "protecting America". When did protecting America start meaning "Kill people that have money outside of America"?

The style from the first two films is maintained in this film as well. It just goes to show that shakey cam can work when done properly. I've always liked the dark grainy look that the films displayed, it works really well in the spy film genre. The main symbolism in Bourne has always been water. The series started in water and it ends in water. In the first film, Bourne is pulled out of the water and doesn't remember who he is. This being a symbol of rebirth as water often is. In the second flick it's used as a symbol of death as Bourne's girlfriend dies in water. In the latest flick water is used in two ways, but ultimately for the same reason... rebirth. As Bourne is being brainwashed, he is dunked over and over into water until finally he is Jason Bourne. Then at the end, yes I'm ruining the ending for you since really it doesn't even matter in the scheme of things, he falls into water and then swims away, giving his character another fresh start and symbolizes the death of Jason Bourne super killing machine. Something this series did great was not making them seem like a trilogy, each film stands alone on it's own and doesn't require you to have seen the previous films to enjoy any of the others. It's just a nice treat if you have. The rest of Hollywood should take notes from Bourne, since all the sequels seem like after thoughts and so were forced to stand alone. Just green light the second movie and see if it swims before green lighting the third, otherwise you get another Matrix and Pirates franchise.

Since I can't condone anyone seeing Rush Hour 3, due to the fact that Jackie Chan is so much better than buddy comedy's and really has soiled his career and joins the list of "people who use to be great until they made a bunch of crappy decisions on the bases of money", which includes Stan Lee... for now! So I would recommend this movie if you want something decent to watch, but hey if you want to watch crap by all means go for it!


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Now playing: "I Don´t Know You" by Kate Havnevik
via FoxyTunes

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Fatal Inertia - 360 Demo

If you're a fan of the Wipeout series, this game is not for you. It is trying very hard to be Wipeout, but it is not. I downloaded the free demo from the XBox Live Dashboard and was actually pretty excited since I liked Wipeout on the older console systems (PSP and newer versions have all been pathetic and visually impossible to appreciate on a PSP). Then the "Made with Unreal Technology", screen came up and again I got excited about it. Since the Unreal engine has had quite the track record lately. But then I remembered a comment that someone left on my article about Stranglehold, "Best gaming engine = most overused." Sadly they were right. Not only does this game control like crap, but for using one of the best engines out there the only thing that looked good in the game were the rocks busting apart! The weapon system was a joke, when you're racing, you don't have time to see if you picked up a secondary or primary weapon. If you do you're probably in last place and suck anyways. The "cars", or whatever they call them, all look the same... a floating triangle. I couldn't get mine to stop hitting bumps, I was like, "Hey hover car... HOVER!" Playing through each game type they gave on the demo, it became increasingly clearer to me that this ship is sunk before ever leaving the dock. As far as demo's go it only gave one level which was really boring, and one game type put the level at sunset which made it pretty hard to see where you were going. Koei (The Developer) always a lot of good ideas, or at least attempts to improve upon other's ideas. To bad the never get the job done.

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Daredevil - Riff Trax (like Mystery Science Theater 3000)

If you haven't heard by now Riff Trax is the creation of Micheal T. Nelson, one of those crazy guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3000). He's created a site where for $3.00 you can download a mp3 that syncs up with a movie and enjoy hilarious commentary in the MST3000 style, once again. It may seem difficult but if you watch a lot of movies at your computer is very easy, and if you're like my friend and have your HDTV hooked up to your computer then it's even better. Basically my review is just to tell you how damn funny Riff Trax is, and hopefully bring the spotlight upon it for anyone that loved or like MST3000 as much as I did. I bought Daredevil because it was already in my collection and really it made the movie so much better. That's all I really have to say about it. Here's a sample to check out and don't forget to check out the site.
Rifftrax.com

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TMNT (2007) Holding it's own against the original

We've come a long way since the first Ninja Turtles, I remember as a kid not being able to wait to see the movie. When I saw the poster I freaked out, and still to this day whenever I randomly see it, I can't help but smile. Originally when I heard about the new movie I got that same kind of excitement... until I saw that it was CG. The Turtles need a break, they've been franchised out too many times since the height of their popularity and every installment since has been worse and worse. This movie might be a slight improvement though. The CG was actually very very good and rivals that of Pixar and other CG studios.

The story on the other hand was not very good. It was short and bit off more than it could chew. It did stand on it's own which is rare in a sequel. Essentially the store picks up after the first Live Action movie, Leo has been sent to the jungle to train and become a better leader. He hasn't returned after being away for a year so the other Turtles have taken up other activities to fill their days. They'll show you in the first 20 minutes of the movie so I'm not going to bother stealing the fun of the scene. The movie centers around Raphael and Leonardo, as the butt heads over leadership and everything else brothers fight about. My problem with the characters, is that while Raphael learns and grows, Leo doesn't and actually comes off pretty pompous. Michelangelo has a decent presence in the movie but Donatello is lacking from the film, I could count how many scenes he was in. It's fine if the Director and most of the other fans don't think Donatello is a strong character, but when the movie is about the bonds of brotherhood then you should probably include ALL of the brothers. The ending was convenient and quick, with the last of the 13 monsters running in and taking down the General's for the Turtles. I'll never understand why they didn't just turn off the General's electronic activators that allowed them to move and talk, but hey that's just me.

I have to fall back on the story and how rushed it felt, when I got to the ending I had the overwhelming sensation of being incomplete. In typical Turtle Movie fashion it was left wide open for another sequel, and ended with a rap song about the Turtles. Unfortunately there's not a lot of action/fighting scenes to speak of, and the jokes were pretty far and in-between as well. I did laugh at the end when Michelangelo wanted to retire his over sized turtle head costume, but other than that the most I crack was a smile. The voice acting was actually really good, with of course one exception... Splinter. His dialog was so weird and acted poorly. With Cartoons and CG movies it's all about timing and Mato, who was the voice of Splinter, just didn't have the timing to make it work. Everything sounded like a line being read, rather than acted. The movie did earn my trust enough to watch a second outing if it was made, and guessing by the $93 million it made world wide I'd say another is already in the works.



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Now playing: "I Just Do" by Dear and the Headlights
via FoxyTunes

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30 Minutes of Shaolin vs Evil Dead Ultimate Power aka we added Ulitmate Power so we wouldn't get sued!

While at Comic Con I attended a panel that showed the last 30 minutes of this flick... there's really nothing else to follow that awkward sentence, except that one. So in the final battle fighting happens, I guess it's pretty good, but I had seen better. The film quality was cheap, the graphics were crap and the sound was pathetic. My roommate said it best, "Maybe the first hour of the movie would have made the last 30 minutes more enjoyable... but then I probably wouldn't have watched the last 30 minutes." This is the truest statement anyone could make about the movie. We watched waiting to see something, anything cool happen in this movie and were surprised by how much of it they showed. The best part of the movie was the crappy posters that they gave out. One of them now proudly hangs in my bathroom which is pretty much why I'm writing this. I guess the best part of the movie, for people that saw the rest of it, was the ending where a bunch of vampires show up out of no where. No where else in the movie do they mention vampires, but the characters respond in a fashion that makes you think they were expecting them any minute. If you can rent this movie, then do so, but only watch the last 30 minutes.

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Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga aka the five Gag Me's

Spoon - Ga x 5

This will be quick, I didn't like the album. I wasn't to sure what I was going to get having never heard a full Spoon CD before. I bought this because the 2 or 3 songs they have on the Stranger than Fiction soundtrack. I enjoyed those songs so much I figured this CD would have at least one hit. Now I'm very good at picking out the single(s) on a CD, obviously I mean before I've heard the CD. But with The Five Ga's and Me, I couldn't find it. I also could listen to a couple songs due to how lame they were. It was almost as if they decided to be all experimental, to be one of those daring bands that makes it work... well it didn't work. There was one song that repeated the same lyric over and over. Now i don't have a problem with this, when it works. When the music is so catchy and the lyrical hook is just great, but when the music is dry and the lyrics aren't caring the song then really it's just a waste of time. If I cared enough to go back through the songs again I'd figure out exactly which one it is but I'm pretty sure it's either "Got yr. cherry bomb" or "little Japaneses cigarette case". Go listen to something else, because this CD is unbearable!


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Now playing: "prescilla" by Bat For Lashes
via FoxyTunes

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John Woo's Stranglehold - Xbox 360 Demo!

I played the demo for Stranglehold for the 360 today. Let me say that Sony was dumb as hell for not keeping this game exclusive to the PS3. Not only do the graphics look dope as hell, but it uses the Unreal Engine (last seen in Gears of War) which is by far the best gaming engine out there right now. As my roommate said, "It'll have you saying Max Payne who?" and I'm really inclined to agree with him. The bullet time, or "Tequila Time" is impressive as hell. You can slow down time with the Right bummer, then dive and automatically slow down time with the left trigger and then the D-Pad has more options. There's healing which of course is useful (Especially in Hard-Boiled Mode), then a sniper bullet which zooms in and allows you to make a perfect shot anywhere you want. Next is the barrage, where Tequila goes berserk and just keeps bucking shots one after the other. Lastly is a slow motion spin, where you turn rapidly in a circle and gun down all in your way. The game's for sure going to get a Mature rating and frankly I'm really happy about that. Fear not Xbox Live junkies, there's a multi-player, and it looks sick as hell. If you can stop playing the campaign and it's 4 different difficulties, you may get excited at the chance of playing as John Woo against other's online. I know I can't wait. I'll leave you with my favorite thing about the game; if you shoot signs or AC units they will fall and crush whoever is standing beneath them. It's hilarious! Looks like they'll be plenty of secrets to find through out, including some "Golden Guns", straight out of Face/Off. If Woo makes a movie as good as he's made this game then my ass will be in a seat instantly. I shamefully took this picture from IGN since I'm just a little site I don't have the ability or the hook up to post my own pictures from the Demo, but the game looks great.

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More Black Diamond Covers!

Who says writing comic reviews doesn't pay? Well they're right but I did get permalinked on AIT Planet-Lar's website and Larry Young (Creator/Writer of the Black Diamond) was nice enough to post the covers for Issue Four: American Look, and Issue Five: Turn About Man. I'm hoping for wallpapers next since I absolutely love the cover of issue five. Show some support for this up and coming company by buying an issue or two. I've boughten a couple from MidtownComics but after digging for more and more content on Planet-Lar's site I found another great online store that can help you out too. Head on over to Khepri.com, they've got a lot of deals and liquidate books all the time!

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Skinwalkers... a werewolf story?

It's not often... no wait, it is often, that a movie comes along and has a bad ass poster but no bad ass movie to go with the poster. Skinwalkers is about werewolf's, really lame werewolf's. If you've ever wanted to have decent strength, the ability to scale scaffolding, and constant sniffles then you too will want to be a skinwalker. The movie stars... well there's people in it, you could argue who the star of the movie is, but it sucked so why bother? It did have Sarah Carter and Natassia Malthe in it, both were in DOA and basically there careers aren't taking off. Probably because both DOA and Skinwalkers were in the can waiting to be released for over a year. It also "stars", Elias Koetas (Casey Jones from Ninja Turtles) and Rhona Mitra (the neighbor babe from Hallowman) who were also both in the Shooter. I just thought it was kinda weird that 2 sets of people had worked together on different occasions, I'm sure it's happened before but I don't really care.

So the "werewolf's" have this prophecy that if a kid born half werewolf (I use that term lightly) and human (again lightly), that if the kid lives to be 13 (get it?) that he'll cure the werewolf's... somehow. I'll tell you right now, it's his blood! Trust me, if you actually watch this movie you won't even care how it ends, just that it does end. There's nothing spooky in the movie, there's no "boo" moments, and there's no sense of danger or reason to care about any of the characters. The kid in the movie is so dumb that you'll want them to kill him, he couldn't act his way out of a wet paper bag with one side missing. You could pretty much count on him doing the exact opposite of whatever he was told. "Don't open the door!" he opened the door, "Don't move!", he'd move and knock something over. I wish they had told him, "Don't act!", then maybe he would have done a better job, or actually stopped acting. The mom (Rhona) was almost as annoying, every time the kid was in bed (Like 3 or 4 times) shes practically sitting on top of him getting right into his face. She too does dumb stuff, like taking the kid to the hospital, even though they know he's turning werewolf or whatever and they have 4 other werewolf's that don't want to be cured trying to kill him. They literally have like a 2 hour lead on these assholes and they stop at a hospital... seriously what was anyone thinking?

Let's talk about the make-up, and things that broke the rules set forth by the movie, or rules that didn't even make sense in the movie. Did you see Dog Soldiers? Well if not they take the weird chest plate thing they do in that movie and put it on the actors chest. The actor's themselves played the werewolf's in full make-up, no puppets or cg. The faces were actually pretty creepy, especially on the hot chick. But that was it, they wore the same clothing, and even gave one guy facial hair. Overall though, I'd say the make-up was the best part of the movie. Now the "good" werewolf's, lock themselves up at night so that they don't feed on anything, especially people. For some reason, if they feed they loose control and can never regain control. Which makes like no sense, literally Elias's character feed for like two seconds and then "lost control" and the mom "Rhona" had to put him down. It didn't break the rules of the movie, although they did tell you word for word that it was going to happen so there was no big surprise, but it just doesn't make to much sense is all. One rule they broke was at night they are werewolf's, well one night the hot chick and the main "bad" werewolf dude turn back to human form while doing it. No you don't get to see anything so don't bother using her frontal fun stuff as a reason to see this movie. In fact you see the guys bad tattoo and flexing arm more than anything, I thought they started filming a Bowflex commercial midway through. In the end the "evil" werewolf ends up being the kids dad, everyone BUT the annoying mother, annoying son, and evil dad die. So they, um, they, go traveling... looking for other werewolf's... to cure them... with the boys blood... by drawing his blood and placing drops of it on bullets... yeah, it's pretty lame since the blood would burn off before hitting the person!

The best part was when that stuttery guy from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (no you don't get a hyper link for that!) showed up at the end wanting to be cured. Good for him, he'd probably look really dumb in the were-make-up. PS, there's no gore and no blood really, but there is a bad ass granny who takes like 20 rounds, blows up a gas station and still keeps going. If they didn't kill her, I would have liked to have seen a sequel starring her!

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Countdown - The Next Six

DC's Countdown... to Final Crisis!

At Comic Con this year DC announced that with issue 30 something, they would be officially changing the title of Countdown, to Countdown to Final Crisis. I know, I know, about a thousand petty little jokes just roll off the tongue. Like, "how original. Where'd ya come up with that one?" That's not what this is about, this is about the next 6 issues of Countdown. If you didn't read about the first 6, then click away!

Going through each issue is frankly very boring and since there's not a whole lot happening in this book yet, and some issues feel completly tacked on, I'll save you the details and just hit key points of issues, and overall story lines. One major inconsistency that I don't think a lot of readers may have picked up on; Mary Marvel only has half of Black Adam's powers, even though in issue 46 she receives all of Black Adam's and his wife's powers. In one of the issues she meets Billy, now the Wizard Shazam! and her powers are now half of what they were... The only foreseeable reason DC would have to do this is if they decided they couldn't get rid of Black
Adam. After all they did make him a big deal in 52 so why end his Villainous career? Several people already pointed out the fact that Piper and Trickster claim no responsibility for Bart Allen's death, even though in All Flash (I think someone reviewed that) they clearly participated. Again one of my major grips with this book is that Paul Dini is only plotting a lot of it and guest writers are doing their best at making the characters inconsistent from issue to issue. Probably one of the worst comics I've ever read was issue 43. This issue is a memorial for the late Bart Allen; several boring speeches are giving that do nothing more than fill the page. They have no heart, they have no meaning and they don't do Bart's character any justice. The worst speech, which I was hoping would be really good, was given by Robin. Now I thought that Batman had remained out of the spotlight of the JLA in order to keep the villains of Gotham guessing if his existence is real or not. In fact it's part of his character archetype. Well Robin pretty much announces his existence to thousands of people in attendance and to who ever may be broadcasting the funeral service, then Bart does it himself when Robin puts on a lame ass DVD where Bart speaks from the dead. So the Robin speech was a disappointment, but then Bart's on, and you're thinking, "Hey this will be alright". Nope! Not a damn chance, his speech sucked so bad and had no point. The worst part is that it really left his character feeling shallow and one dimensional. Also in the same issue the Monitor for New Earth proves to be the worst and most annoying character ever! He says the same line over and over for like three issues. Also there's a female character, I have no idea who she is, why she's on the run or what she has to do with anything. Frankly even if I did know anything about her I probably still wouldn't care because she hasn't done anything the entire book.

Here's a quick hit list of the good that happened: Darksied showed emotion, Jimmy Olson became a superhero, Forerunner took over and Army, The Bleed was featured (Even if DC had no right to use it), Batman told off Karate Kid and had a bad ass line, "What were you expecting? A sidekick job?", Comments on Mary Marvel's new outfit, Clayface getting thrown into space, Deadshot... doing stuff. I just like Deadshot even if he shows up and just smokes, he's cool. (But no smoking is not cool... unless you're Deadshot of course). Harley Quinn shows up as a Amazon woman's rehab manager... or something like that.

For me the book really isn't doing much, I know a lot of DC's history and what not, and I'm very up to date on what's happening in the DCU (Since I read almost everything they put out (You think there's a lot of comic reviews? Just think of how many there could be!)) so I have to say I'm disappointed so far. I can only hope that the next 6 issues will pick up. I will say the the quality of art was much better than some of the first 6 issues, but not by much. Maybe a title change is just what the series needs... nah!

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This Is England

This movie surprised the hell out of me. I had watched the trailer about a month ago, and was very impressed by what I saw. So I made a long trek, to a far away theater to watch this film, and I came away feeling it was well worth it. Movie follows Shaun, a young boy without a Father and a huge chip on his shoulder. He's picked on for minor things, like his pants, that then escalate into fighting. Shaun, played by Thomas Turgoose, is only eleven... but he is hands down brilliant in this film. If continues getting quality, and mature parts like this movie he will be huge in the world of film. He literally acted like he had been doing it for twenty years. One scene he kisses a girl, and they really kiss no Hollywood B.S. and he looked like a pro. The girl he kisses even says, "You look eleven but you kiss like your forty." It made for a great movie experience to watch such a natural talent be on screen. Not to say that there weren't other strong performances in the movie, but since the focal point is centered around Shaun, his performance shined the most.

Basically the film is about Shaun joining a group of Skinheads, in 1983 England. The ones he befriends are all around nice people. The stick up for each other, they talk out their differences and don't show any indifference to others. Then Combo, played by Stephan Graham, gets released from jail. His return changes and splits the group apart. His first night out of the slammer he's telling a prison story to a bunch of teenagers, and he's using a lot of racial terms. There Skinheads, is what your thinking, why would they care? Well this group happens to have a Jamaican member. This is one of the most powerful scenes of the movie, the leader of the group Woody, looks over to his girlfriend Lol. They mouth to each other about wanting to just go, but of course Woody just can't. You can tell in that scene that things are not going to be the same. Shane Meadows, the writer and director does a fabulous job, not only with the actors and story, but with his overall ability of story telling and camera work. It's very rare anymore to watch a movie and to be left wanting more. More interaction with the characters, more dialog, and resolution. What happened next, where did everyone go from there? I couldn't stop thinking about the characters lives and what dynamic they would be living in if the movie had continued. My hat is off to Mr. Meadows for accomplishing such a feat. Bravo.

Here's where I must stop, because I really don't want to tell you too much. If you're interested in seeing the trailer then look no farther. If you're lucky you'll have a theater that has this movie, or you may end up driving. Hopefully it will get a bigger push and pick up some more theaters, if one happens to be closer to my house I'll definitely slap down the money to see it again.

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All Flash - DC kills one Flash to bring back another

I feel the need to mention first that there were two covers to this special... click here to see how bad the other cover was. The special marks Mark Waid's return to the Flash, and I'm sure a lot of Fanboy's are excited by this. Even though in his 5 years of writing Flash before, he couldn't get the book to be a top seller. In fact not even Superstar Geoff Johns was able to, although it was before he became known as a Superstar. Waid's hot off of 52, which I'm not going to explain what 52 is you can google it, so maybe he'll be able to re-new interest in the Flash. The story was pretty good I must say, wrapping up the crap-tacular ending of Bart Allen's run as the Flash. Bart died by the way. I recently read all 13 issues of the Flash and was actually enjoying it up until they killed him, but as I read All Flash, I couldn't help but wonder if this was really DC's plan all along? I just wonder if they had handled the re-launching of the Flash, or maybe had chosen a new person to be the Flash, if things wouldn't have turned out differently. Frankly I think some one lost their editor's position after messing this one up. We'll see what happens with the next issue of the Flash which returns to the original numbering of the last volume. The future images they showed for the Flash at the end of the special looked stupid by the way, he and his much older kids, are like a superhero family or some crap. If you're not into the Flash, this book won't get you hooked. If you were a fan of Wally West, you'll love his return, and if you weren't you secretly wish that Batman's choice for which Flash to return, had come true. Lastly if you were a fan of Bart Allen, just be glad to know that his death meant nothing and did nothing other than get him out of the way for DC to return to the run of the mill Flash everyone's use to.

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Catching up with The Black Diamond

Not to long ago I was blown away by the first issue of AIT-Planetlar's comic The Black Diamond. Well after attending this years Comic Con I picked up issues Two and Three of the series, along with the preview issue "On Ramp".

In "On Ramp", we are introduced to the world of the the Black Diamond. Were starting the day with Doctor McLaughlin, as he wakes up without his wife Kate. Splashed in between McLaughlin's narration we have several action pages of two cars chasing each other on the Diamond. After the Doc gets going he wishes his neighbor a "good morning" in their own playful way, and he's off to the office. Unfortunately for his neighbor who's walking her dog, she is just in time for one of the two cars we saw earlier to go crashing through the barrier of the Diamond, and land directly on her... welcome to the world of the Black Diamond.

Issue Two: One More For The Road
This issue is not only my favorite issue thus far, but it's also the big reveal. The government wants the oil being supplied to the Black Diamond. You see there's One guy who owns all the oil, and he's on a hunting trip with a military rep. There conversation is rich with social commentary about what's happening in our world today. If it were a movie, I'd have a hard drive full of sound bytes from their conversation. In fact this issue is a lot of dialog and great art work. Kate, Doctor McLaughlin's kidnapped wife, shares the best conversation between herself and her kidnappers as they do a crossword puzzle. You can sum it up by saying it's about those random words you learn and never have another use for outside of crosswords and telling other people. Also how does Jon Proctor make women beautiful, sexy and intelligent with his pencils? Larry gives them personality and Jon makes them live up to it, making them a great team. The third act of the issue takes place in a diner off of the Diamond, and we're introduced to another sexy female lead. Each issue ends with a humorous back up story to add depth and history to the Diamond, and this issue is not exempt. The back story is basically a Pirate Radio show interviewing a Black Diamond Preacher. You'll find more social commentary and humor, in this short but good story, that wraps the issue up nicely.

Issue Three : The Bottle and the Throttle

If the last issue was a dialog issue, then this issue is an action issue. Remember that sexy female lead I barely mentioned before? Well she quit the diner and dumped the owner, her boyfriend, in the last issue. She also took with her a, "treasure" that the Ex wants back. And who would have just happened to pull up to the diner in the last issue? That's right the Doc Don. She jumps in the car and the two speed off, yes they exchanged dialog about it but that's not important. Great, great action pics of the cars and bikes chasing each other. The sexy hitch-hiker starts fire bombing the bikes and Ex's car, and boy howdy can Mr. Proctor draw some pretty fire! I don't really want to keep giving away a lot of the story at this point because that would take away from the fun of reading the issue. Just know that sexy-hitch-hiker and Don share some good dialog that makes the chase scene that much better. Kate also confronts her kidnappers on the ridiculousness of her being kidnapped, telling them that pretty much the government won't give a crap that they took her. She doesn't know how right she is. In the last pages the Army starts "cleaning" the Diamond with extreme force. Picture protesting in China, and you'll get the idea. Interesting enough, they're six pages of script for you to read. I myself, seeing different comic book writers and how they craft an issue since it's so different from writer to writer. The back story is... funny, and dark. That's all I'm going to say :)

After reading the first issue of this series, I have to say I'm hooked. In fact, why haven't you picked up a copy yet? You are literally missing out on one of the best comics being made right now! I can't literally can't wait for issue four to come out, and wait, desperately for more projects from Larry Young and Jon Proctor, but also AIT-Planet Lar as well. Larry also does a column for CBR, check it out and pick up an issue. With increased sales I wouldn't have to fight people to get an issue of the book.
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Now playing: "Stay Put!" by The Blood Arm
via FoxyTunes

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Doktor Sleepless: Future Science Jesus - Avatar Press

Doktor Sleepless is a Grinder. There, I said it. You'll get that after you read the book, which is about the future... and how everyone in the future doesn't realize that they already are living in the future. Kinda like us, huh? You'll need to read these pages first before we continue so instead of my usual pages at the end I'm going to post them right at the beginning. Now click this link. you but basically the shirt and the people in the comic are saying the same thing. As you continue reading the comic you'll find that this is really a social commentary about us, everyone wants what the future has to offer but no one realizes that they're living in the future now! Just because it didn't turn out how you wanted, doesn't mean it's not happening all aroundNotice anything? Well I'm not going to spell it out for you. The book isn't hard to explain, but it is. There's simply not enough information about the world the story is taking place in, to simply say, "And that's what it's all about". Basically it's about Doktor Sleepless, who hasn't slept in 3 years, and he's on a pilgrimage to save Heavenside. Yes there's a Hellside too, but it's long gone and will be explain in the first issue. You do want to read the book don't you? Then why would I tell you everything? The book also follows Doktor Sleepless old friends, one woman in particular, and I'm sure the second issue will deal with that more. There are some humorous moments provided by The Nurse, she's paid extremely well, but like most people, she hates her job and all the variety of things she must do for Doktor Sleepless. The book is Written by Warren Ellis, who apparently started Avatar Press, check out the website and also Ellis' other book out now from Avatar, Black Summer, which is also a great read and will probably be copied as a new superhero archetype for years to come. Also Doktor Sleepless has it's own Wiki page that can be found here, Ellis will be updating it but you the reader can also take part in added info about the comic to the site. Enough links for you? I though so!

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Spider-Man - Amazing, Friendly and Sensational - Review and News

Spider-Man - 3 Comic Review!

Back in Black is almost wrapped up, pretty much all we have left is to watch Aunt May die and Peter's world to unravel that much more. In Amazing Spider-Man #542, Peter squares off against Wilson Fisk, The Kingpin. Kingy gave the kill order on Peter and Family, paying for the bullet that put Aunt May in the hospital. I'm just going to tell you right now that Spider-Man hands the Kingpin his ass and it tops the last time Kingy got his ass handed to him in the pages of Daredevil. Tell you the outcome will not ruin the book for you, because the dialog is what's important. Straczynski drops some crazy lines that I will quote in the years to come in my own day to day, less adventures life that I lead. I'll leave you with one of those quotes from Peter, "What this suit stands for what it means... is something you can never understand. It represents a promise about all the things I said I would do... and all the things I said I would never do... all the lines I said I would never, ever cross because doing so would destroy everything this suit stands for. And that, you see, is why you're confused." Here's some pages, not they are not in order so don't freak out!

In Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #22, Ero's dies... again telling you the end is not going to spoil the book for you because it has some great one-liners and the way it happens is sweet as hell. Also Robbie, who got fired from the Daily Bugle in the last issue, went home to tell his family. Honestly the dialog there was pretty lame and his kid (Yeah he's got a wife and kid, who knew that sub-sub-sub characters had lives outside what writers wrote) blames Peter for Robbie getting fired. Robbie stood up to Jonah about Peter, and his son fells that if Peter had never "Un-Masked" that Robbie would never have lost his job. Flash has a couple funny lines... yeah that's about it. In the next issue Peter and Jonah go head to head, hopefully Peter David will leave the chessey dialog some where else rather than polluting it throughout this book.

Lastly, or at least I read it last, is Sensational Spider-Man #39. Peter and company have a seance to find Aunt May's spirit, they succeed and she tells Peter to let go, live a long life with MJ, and have lots of kids to bring them joy like he brought her. Really I can't do it justice, it was a nice moment and set up the bigger stage for Back in Blacks inevitable conclusion. Eddie Brock goes totally ape-shit, killing a nurse that use to wake him up in the middle of the night and occasionally missed his vein when drawing blood. It was brutal, yet very interesting. Apparently he either has a connection to the symbiote or he's crazy and has deep psychological problems... either way it's cool for his character (who's dying from cancer). In the end Eddie cuts his wrists... a lot, and dives out a window. He was trying to kill Aunt May by the way, but decided not to, so he cut the symbiote out. Low and behold when he wakes up the symbiote is still there but now Eddie is the one in charge!

If I remember correctly Spider-Man : One More Day starts next and after that all the books but Amazing are canceled. Amazing then goes into three printings a month with 4 count them 4 different teams on the book. Marvel is nuts, but I really hope they pull it off. For the whole scoop and the list of teams check out Marvel's page. Frankly speaking I'm looking forward to the art more than the writers, but I have to wonder what happened to Geoff Loeb and J. Scott Campbell's Spider-Man?

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The Sinestro Corps War - Parts 1-3

I was able to sit down tonight and finish reading all three parts of the Sinestro Corps War. Written by Geoff Johns and Gibbons, with art by Van Sciver, Reis and Gleason. I've included all of the covers (plus variants for you cover hungry Fanboys). Quite frankly it is one of the best Crossovers I've ever read and literally has me counting the days until the next issue comes out. Basically Alan Moore set the stage for this entire thing, he wrote an issue about Hal Jordan's predecessor going to a forbidden planet. On the planet he was given a prophecy about his future, this is the last part of that prophecy coming true. If you didn't pick up the Sinestro Corps Special, don't worry they did a second printing of it... that being said if you missed out on the second printing, don't worry they're doing a third printing of it. So right now there's the Green Lantern's that represent Willpower and the absents of Fear, then there's the Sinestro Corps that represent Fear. Back in the day the GL Corps' rings didn't work on yellow, because Parallax (The Embodiment of the emotion Fear) was trapped in the central battery for the GL's (The Central Battery is what charges all the GL's rings) and his presence made their rings useless on yellow. I know that was way to nerdy for anyone to follow but hey it doesn't matter, you can't still enjoy a good story.

So here's some basic info for you, Sinestro was Hal Jordon's teacher. Jordan caused Sinestro to fall from grace as the Greatest GL ever, and Jordan took his title. Sinestro's back and he's not happy with Jordan or Kyle Rayner (Ion the Torchbearer aka the embodiment of Willpower) I'll just let you read the first 3 pages of the Special and it will pretty much tell you why. Like I said it's only three issues into this crossover and I'm not even sure how many there are. Love has it's own Corps starting, as was learned in issue 20 of Green Lantern and there's still 4 more emotions out there. Each of these emotions may or may not have it's own Corps, but only time will tell. Over all I'm giving this crossover a solid 10.0. The writing is top notch and with Johns working with his 2 best Green Lantern artist, it will be hard for it not to look as good as it's written. I'll do an update on the Crossover and if the scores changed I'll let you know but right now it's sitting on Pretty St. riding it's perfect 10. Enjoy the first 3 pages of the Special and oh yeah the last page too! SPOILER ALERT!

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PaRappa the Rapper - PSP

PaRappa The Rapper

As the cover states, "The Classic Returns!" and with nothing new to offer. When I saw a PaRappa game for the PSP I was quick to jump at it, having been a fan of the series and it's off-shoot Um Jammy Lammy. Little did I know that "Classic" also meant "Nothing New". This was literally the same game I played back in 1997 on the original Playstation... I was disappointed to say the least. Granted I still played through it and it still had it's moments and songs that I will always enjoy, but I was looking for tricks up the sleeves the whole time and found none. It would have been nice for a company that had three hits doing this type of rhythm game to do an up date of the series and why not on the PSP? Graphically it's far superior to the Playstation and PS2, and since the game play is so simple a portable version is actually a great idea. But don't sell me the same game twice, because now if you do make a new version I won't buy it and I won't care. I would be ashamed of myself if I was on the programing team. "You want me to re-program a game I made 10 years ago?... Okay!" I hope that's not how it went down, but you never know. Graphics were starling good and that's about all I can say for this game. SCORE 5.5

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