Archive for February, 2007
As always, if you have the comic, no guessing…
(click image to use the tentaclize)
(previous weeks: 9/12/2005, 9/19/2005, 9/26/2005, 10/3/2005, 10/10/2005, 10/17/2005, 10/24/2005, 10/31/2005, 11/1/2005, 11/2/2005, 11/3/2005, 11/4/2005, 11/5/2005, 11/6/2005, 11/7/2005, 11/14/2005, 11/21/2005, 11/28/2005, 12/5/2005, 12/12/2005, 12/19/2005, 12/26/2005, 1/2/2006, 1/9/2006, 1/16/2006, 1/23/2006, 1/30/2006, 2/06/2006, 2/13/2006, 2/20/2006, 2/27/2006, 3/6/2006, 3/13/2006, 3/20/2006, 3/27/2006, 4/3/2006, 4/4/2006, 4/5/2006, 4/6/2006, 4/7/2006, 4/8/2006, 4/9/2006, 4/10/2006, 4/17/2006, 4/23/2006, 5/1/2006, 5/8/2006, 5/15/2006, 5/22/2006, 5/29/2006, 6/5/2006, 6/12/2006, 6/19/2006, 6/26/2006, 7/3/2006, 7/10/2006, 7/17/2006, 7/24/2006, 7/31/2006, 8/7/2006, 8/13/2006, 8/21/2006, 8/28/2006, 9/4/2006, 9/11/2006, 9/18/2006, 9/25/2006, 10/2/2006, 10/9/2006, 10/16/2006, 10/23/2006, 10/30/2006, 11/6/2006, 11/13/2006, 11/20/2006, 11/27/2006, 12/4/2006, 12/11/2006, 12/18/2006, 12/25/2006, 1/1/2007, 1/8/2007, 1/15/2007, 1/22/2007, 1/29/2007, 2/5/2007)
Clearing out the blog-o-links drawer. Enjoy!
- A not-so-nice review of the Steve Geppi Entertainment Museum in Baltimore. From the sound of things, the place is chock full of cool and rare memorabilia, but light on organization and proper layout.
- With Frank Miller’s 300 movie opening this summer, Dark Horse has a slew of Miller reprints. But the best news: the final chapter of Miller Dave Gibbons’ Martha Washington saga will see print.
- Writer Mark Verheiden talks about his work on Batman/Superman, Smallville, and Battlestar: Galactica. Also, what sounds like a cool new movie: My Name is Bruce, starring Bruce Campbell, about “a stuck-up, forgotten B-horror movie actor who gets kidnapped and brought out to this small town of idiots who think he is the embodiment of “Ash” from the “Evil Dead” movies.” Also of interest to my fellow C-bus residents, Mark recalls a weird fan experience at a Columbus comic convention.
- Most poorly constructed sentence ever, from the solicitation copy to Marvel’s The Irredeemable Ant-Man #7: “That is–until he realizes that the current subject of his perverted voyeurism is none other than CAROL DANVERS–otherwise known as BRIAN BENDIS’ AND FRANK CHO’S THE MIGHTY AVENGERS’ MS. MARVEL!” You know, just the other day I looked up the Ms. Marvel entry in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and under the “Known Aliases” it said BRIAN BENDIS’ AND FRANK CHO’S THE MIGHTY AVENGERS’ MS. MARVEL!
Rocket Science, the pop culture comic strip that Tim Fischer and I created for Melt magazine, sees its last episode this month. Appropriately enough, we bid farewell by trashing a trio of truly worthless “celebrities” in the Jan/Feb issue.
Tim and I will be working on a Xxxagnut Beefman webcomic next, while next month’s issue of Melt magazine will feature a brand new strip by yours truly and Tom Williams, entitled Brainbot Jr.
Stay tuned…
Well, we now have a release date for Hornschemier’s new work: March. Publisher’s Weekly ran an interview with Paul about it.
Paul: Each story is drawn in a different style, with different production methods, to the point where some of the pages have more than one narrative arc (and thus more than one art and production style)s. But hopefully it all works together to give one feeling, one tied-together experience.
So, you can see why I generally avoid summarizing the thing when people ask, “What’s it about?” I usually just say something like, “It’s sort of weird. But hopefully not completely depressing.”
That could pretty much summerize my work except nix the depressing and add disturbing.
Another positive review of PANEL, this time for PANEL: Myth at Optical Sloth.
Filling in this Monday is a story Tony& I did for Panel:Luck called The System. Vito’s still trying to work out his computer troubles. Looks like Stuck will post late on Wednesday. It’ll be interesting to see how much cross traffic Ferret will get.
Thanks Tony.
Another page from the early career of a well-known artist. Guess away!
(click image to use the terminate)
(previous weeks: 9/12/2005, 9/19/2005, 9/26/2005, 10/3/2005, 10/10/2005, 10/17/2005, 10/24/2005, 10/31/2005, 11/1/2005, 11/2/2005, 11/3/2005, 11/4/2005, 11/5/2005, 11/6/2005, 11/7/2005, 11/14/2005, 11/21/2005, 11/28/2005, 12/5/2005, 12/12/2005, 12/19/2005, 12/26/2005, 1/2/2006, 1/9/2006, 1/16/2006, 1/23/2006, 1/30/2006, 2/06/2006, 2/13/2006, 2/20/2006, 2/27/2006, 3/6/2006, 3/13/2006, 3/20/2006, 3/27/2006, 4/3/2006, 4/4/2006, 4/5/2006, 4/6/2006, 4/7/2006, 4/8/2006, 4/9/2006, 4/10/2006, 4/17/2006, 4/23/2006, 5/1/2006, 5/8/2006, 5/15/2006, 5/22/2006, 5/29/2006, 6/5/2006, 6/12/2006, 6/19/2006, 6/26/2006, 7/3/2006, 7/10/2006, 7/17/2006, 7/24/2006, 7/31/2006, 8/7/2006, 8/13/2006, 8/21/2006, 8/28/2006, 9/4/2006, 9/11/2006, 9/18/2006, 9/25/2006, 10/2/2006, 10/9/2006, 10/16/2006, 10/23/2006, 10/30/2006, 11/6/2006, 11/13/2006, 11/20/2006, 11/27/2006, 12/4/2006, 12/11/2006, 12/18/2006, 12/25/2006, 1/1/2007, 1/8/2007, 1/15/2007, 1/22/2007, 1/29/2007)
Children of Men. Wendy and I saw this about a month ago. Based on the P.D. James novel (which I have to admit I’m not familiar with), the story is set in a bleak, violent London of the future where an unknown global crisis has robbed women all over the world of the ability to conceive. With the death of the human race all but assured, the whole world has gone to hell in an orgy of depression, desperation, and lawlessness. Only England manages to hold on to some semblance of order, based largely in part on a draconian “homeland security” policy of detaining and expelling all immigrants and foreigners. Yes, the allusion to the current US political landscape is quite palpable, though not so much that it detracted from the main storyline of the movie.
Clive Owen does an admirable job in his role as a reluctant hero drawn into bloody clash between a radical revolutionary group and government forces. Michael Caine is awesome in his supporting role as pot-growing free thinker, and Claire-Hope Ashitey brings an innocent, simple quality to her role as a young, scared immigrant who possibly holds the key to mankind’s future.
But to me, the most impressive parts of the film were the sudden and shocking moments of violence. They interrupt some of the more quiet moments, surprising and assailing the audience with their unexpected arrival, perfectly mirroring the chaos and uncertainty of the world in which the movie is set. And the military clash at the end of the film is one of the most intense, realistic battle scenes I’ve seen, rivaling those seen in war movies such as Saving Private Ryan.
Highly recommended.
The Last King of Scotland. Saw this last night, and the some of the images still haunt me. The movie is inspired by real people and events surrounding the rise to power of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin (played brilliantly by Forest Whitaker.)
James McAvoy plays Nicholas Garrigan, a young, naive, roughish doctor from Scotland who travels to Uganda in search of adventure and escape from what he perceives to be his bleak homeland. His arrival coincides with the military coup that put Amin in power, and through a series of coincidences, he becomes the dictator’s personal physician and trusted adviser.
The film basically charts the evolution of Garrigan’s maturity, from his naive fascination (and admiration) for Amin, to his reluctant realization of the depth of paranoia and violence hidden beneath the surface of the charismatic leader. The film does a fantastic job of playing with the audience’s emotions, managing to make Amin admirable, pitiable, and loathsome by turn. Likewise, the ostensible “hero” of the movie, Garrigan, is shown to be self-centered, immoral, brave, and noble at different points. Amin has rightly earned a place in history as a brutal, oppressive dictator, and the movie doesn’t shy away from showing (often in graphic detail) why this is so. But it also doesn’t reduce the man to a two-dimensional “evil person” stereotype, rather taking the much more difficult path of representing all facets of his being, both the charming and the reprehensible.
Forest Whitaker, by the way, is an powerful presence on the screen throughout the film. Everything about his performance, from the accent, to the body language, to the ease with which he slips between jovial comrade and paranoid psychopath, is amazing to watch. The cinematography is also quite well done, especially in choosing to show the colorful countryside scenes with a subdued, grainy effect, always mindful of the darkness bubbling under the surface. There are a couple of short, yet very horrific scenes, that speak volumes about the evil that man perpetuates against his fellow man.
Highly recommended.
For the sake of Tim’s eyes I’ll post the graphic ‘behind the cut‘ as the LJ users say. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the output the Act-I-Vater’s have cranked out this year. I’ve been clamoring for Dean’s follow-up to Immortal.