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Comic Rack: Hellblazer CANCELLED, Marvel NOW! On the Radio, & Image Teases ‘Arrow’?

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Welcome to Comic Rack! My pick of the top five comic news stories in no particular order…

Hellblazer is CANCELLED, but Constantine lives on in the New 52!

I knew this was only a matter of time once the New 52 came around. While I haven’t read Hellblazer regularly since Warren Ellis was last writing for it, I knew his character stood alone in his universe that was decidedly separate from the main old DCU. Once everything reset, and Constantine started showing up in Justice League Dark, I figured its days were numbered. I am pretty sad to see it go, since Hellblazer is by far my favorite horror comic of all time, and Constantine is probably the most badass and awesome character in the entire Vertigo lineup, and possibly in all of DC. Yes, even more badass than Batman. Suck it.

While the printing of Constantine as a new ongoing doesn’t surprise me, I’m probably still going to end up reading it, if only to get back into the John Constantine fray. He’s a character I truly adore, and despite being royally mistreated by one of the worst adaptations into film ever, I think he’s resilient enough to hold onto public interest. That’s not to say that Keanu Reeves Constantine* is a bad movie, it’s just a terrible adaptation of a nearly perfect story arc from Hellblazer. If you can divorce it from its source material, it’s actually pretty enjoyable. That being said, I hope this doesn’t mean the death knell for the possibility of any comic series actually getting high up in numbers before a reset is due, since everyone seems so afraid of high numbered issues now. Pretty soon we’ll get an ALL NEW WALKING DEAD #1, where Rick has an axe for a hand now, and T-Dog suddenly and miraculously has been in the comic all this time!

Find out more here.

*which is the title, everywhere you look on posters or DVD’s you’ll see the title is Keanu Reeves Constantine, which proves it’s not meant to be a true Hellblazer or Constantine movie. The movie should be literally titled “Keanu Reeves Constantine” which would be accurate, because it is definitely NOT John Constantine, or Hellblazer. Thus I still hold out hope for a Hellblazer movie. I know, I’m dumb. [ED. NOTE: I don’t agree with this statement, however I do agree that Adam is dumb.]

DC Is Looking to Scale Back Variant Covers. Fans Say Thanks. World Moves On.

Being a comics fan, I love me a good cover. However one thing I’ve never really been is a comics collector. I’m not that guy who will spend time trying to hunt down a single issue to complete a set, or find one particularly rare issue to add to a themed collection, nor have I ever collected for profit. While I personally may have never had any attraction to variant covers, I can understand the allure of them. Frankly, I always thought they were a bit of a waste, especially since I know the whole litany of trouble local comic shops have to go through in order to get some of those covers. I collect my comics because I want to read the stories, and I just end up storing them, not necessarily “collecting” them. Sure, I may have 2 long boxes and need about 4 more, but If it was up to me, I’d rather archive all of my singles into trade form. Even that gets to be a hassle, and I’d rather purchase all of my trades digitally. I know that sounds like sacrilege to some people, but I’m the kind of guy who’d like to reduce my need for shelf space.

An interesting side note, that along with “pulling back” on variant covers, DC is also going to be releasing 52 variants for Justice League Of America #1. Which aside from being insane, really seems to go against their entire point of “pulling back”. Whatever DC, shine on you crazy diamond.

Find out more here.

Marvel NOW! Is Advertising On the Radio. Also Teletype Machines, Telegraph, and Carrier Pigeons!

In a strange example of Marvel really trying hard to get the word out there for Marvel NOW!, they’re resorting to buying air time on radio in order to advertise for comics. First and foremost, who the hell even listens to the radio anymore? Almost everybody I know listens to podcasts, custom streaming radio stations, or their own mobile phones, which almost assuredly have music on them. The thought of advertising on radio seems so archaic, backwards, and desperate to me. It makes Marvel look desperate to try to one up DC’s success with the New 52. I imagine some upper exec asking about how they can advertise where nobody else is right now, and some timid advertising client quietly speaks up about radio. The Upper Exec’s eyes widen and he’s all KID YOU’RE A GENIUS!

That’s the only explanation I can think of right now, but I suppose it’ll be interesting to hear an audio ad for a comic book. Will they have voice actors play Marvel characters? Will Stan Lee be doing them? I guess it could be kind of cool if Stan Lee did them and interrupted whatever tripe Lady Gaga or Rihanna are ravaging the airwaves with, to talk for a few minutes about how much he loves the Avengers and Spider-Man and call you his own personal Spider-Friend. You could close your eyes and pretend you’re in the ’50s or something, back when radio was a viable medium to advertise in. It’d work perfectly right until some terrible throbbing club song came on and brought you back to horrible reality.

Find out more here.

Image Has a Teaser for an ‘Arrow’ of Their Own, Kind Of

Guys shooting arrows seems to be pretty popular right now. What with Jeff Lemire taking over Green Arrow, that whole Arrow show on The CW, and Hawkeye finding newfound popularity due to The Avengers, archery is IN. Not that I’m suggesting Image is following a trend or anything, because I’m sure the comic this ad is teasing was long planned, and by the nature of it’s title I doubt that arrows being shot at bad guys is the sole focus. The book is called Five Weapons, and from this teaser I think we’re meant to infer that it’s some sort of team book, and the bow and arrow toting “Darryl The Arrow” is one of 5 members who presumably each have their own weapon. That’s my guess anyway. Whether the rest will end up with a hammer, metal suit of armor, or a giant shield is yet to be seen. As it is, I’m intrigued.

Find out more here.

DC Digital Sales Up Close to 200% From Last Year!

I’m going to try to stay impartial, but it’s hard to not note the dichotomy between The Big Two when one is improving their forward thinking, dynamic digital sales plan that’s embracing technology and the future of the medium, and the other decides that they should advertise on f*%#ing radio. Regardless of that inanity, this doesn’t surprise me one bit. When it comes down to it, for a lot of people buying your singles digitally is far easier, convenient, and cheaper. Especially since most digital comics are now out day and date, and eventually decrease in price as time goes on, unlike a book on a shelf that always remains cover price unless the store holding it changes the price.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the spike in digital sales increased when DC released large groups of classic trades for download on Android platforms last year, and has continued to do so. I’ve personally bought trades digitally for $10 that I would have never gambled on at a physical store, simply because of the ease and convenience. Not to mention that if the trade I bought sucked, it’s not taking up precious space on my shelf. I see the future of comics as maintaining this direction, and while I WILL mourn the slow and painful death of the traditional brick and mortal Local Comic Shop, it’s something that’s inevitable. They’ll either have to adapt by allowing some sort of digital pass/keycode sale, or provide services that you can get from simply buying a digital file online. Either way, innovation is going to happen, and we’ll see how it ends up, for better or worse.

Find out more here.

That’s all for this week’s edition! We’ll see you next time at the Comic Rack!

Movie Trailers

Lincoln Logs In: Last Trailer Before Friday…

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Daniel Day Lewis plays the namesake in Lincoln, Steven Spielberg’s latest theatrical release, which seemingly has Oscar written all over it. [checklist]

  • Legendary director? Check.
  • Epic period piece? Check.
  • Daniel Day Lewis being Daniel Day Lewis? Check.
  • A ridiculously talented supporting cast? Check.
  • Sappy American back story that everyone thinks they are familiar with? Check.

[/checklist] If only there were some hookers or handicaps to round out the story you could guarantee the film would sweep the Oscars this year…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiSAbAuLhqs&feature=player_embedded

Let’s face it Daniel Day Lewis is awesome, and you know he is going to hit it out of the park when it comes to his portrayal of Lincoln, but it almost seems too easy. Lincoln is one of the most beloved and revered historical figures in American history so hopefully this film will not simply be a further exploration of what we already know, but instead a glimpse into the darker sides of the President’s life. Early indications from the trailer are that we will see Lincoln’s struggle to lead a nation through its greatest conflict and moral dilemma but you have to wonder if that is enough of a challenge for the great Daniel Day. He is at his best when portraying flawed characters and I’m not sure if Spielberg’s Lincoln will be more than a Patriotic shadow of the towering icon, but you might not imagine that Lewis would sign on for that kind of project.

This particular trailer is light on the battle action but it seems like there will be some spectacular recreations of the Civil War in a Saving Private Ryan-esque style. Lincoln clocks in at 149 minutes which is less than you might expect from a movie of this scope but does indicate that there will probably be some long boring court scenes to balance out the battlefields. As far as I can tell there will be no zombie killing in this retelling of the Lincoln story, but Spoiler Alert: Lincoln dies in the end!

Movie Trailers

New International TV spot for ‘The Hobbit’

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Oh, we are getting so close. So very, very close. The long-awaited and much-anticipated new film from Peter Jackson will open in theatres a month from today we’ve been treated to another little teaser.

Looks good! We’ve seen most of that before but as is customary with new spots, they added in a little bit more. This movie is nothing if not beautiful and given that the trailers and teasers just show a snippet, I can not wait to see it in its full scope. It was nice to see a bit of humor in this spot with Balin (Ken Stott) telling Bilbo (Martin Freeman) that what he is carrying around is not a sword, but rather a letter opener. Ha! Well done Balin.

If you are planning to head to the theatres opening weekend, it might not be a bad idea to go ahead and get tickets. They went on sale on the 7th and you can purchase them online or from your local theatre (obviously if they offer that, which they surely will because it would be foolish not to). If you order your tickets through Fandango, you receive a free download of the Howard Shore song, “The Adventure Begins”.

However, if you are like me and are a fan of film scores, you can head over to Empire Magazine where they have the entire film score available for streaming. There are some who won’t listen to it in order to experience the score for the first time with the movie, but I’m of the thought that you can never hear good scores enough. The score will be released on cd and digital formats on December 10th and can be purchased from both Amazon and iTunes.

So there you have it. All that’s left is to start the countdown until we join Bilbo Baggins on his adventure! The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14th.

POP CULTURE

Not So Big and Scary: My First Con Experience

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Despite touting myself as a geek for years and being proud of that status, I didn’t realize conventions were actually a “thing” until I saw The Terminal and realized Zoe Saldana’s character was a Trekkie who loved going to cons.  At first I thought it was a joke, a cute little character development the writers of the movie decided was a unique way to set her apart.  Yet the more I looked into it, the more I realized that conventions were indeed a thing.

I didn’t make it to my first con until this month.  Call me undedicated to the world of geekdom, but I preferred to be able to afford food, clothes, and a roof over my head instead of spending all the money on a temporary hotel roof, plane ticket, and convention eats.  Fortunately, I got a press pass to attend my first con, Anime Nebraskon, and I stayed with a cousin, so that helped my decision to attend by a significant factor.  I’ve decided I really like press passes.

Yeah, I am not 100% sure who that is, but the name sounds familiar. The character, not the state.

Anime is a realm I never got into.  Watching Avatar: The Last Airbender and marveling over the beautiful artwork in the Final Fantasy games were the closest experiences to anime that I had ever come.  And yet here I was attending a con based solely around this genre; I felt lost as I looked at the weekend program.  The only anime-related session title I recognized immediately was Legend of Korra (that saved my skin a bit), and after perusing the program more closely, a few more titles seemed vaguely reminiscent from what I’d heard friends and Internet people talk about.  I fortunately found other sessions to attend like one about Rooster Teeth hosted by a community member I’d met on their website, as well as a fantastic session by voice actress Stephanie Young about what types of female characters voice actresses often play when they have a lower vocal range.

The best thing about the sessions and panels I did attend was that Anime Nebraskon, though one of the larger conventions for this Midwest area, still boasted small enough numbers that each session I sat in on did not seem like there were too many people for the moderators or hosts to interact properly with them (unless you were talking about the celebs like Stephanie Young and Steve Blum, and then of course the rooms were packed to the brim).  One guy even hijacked the “How to Create a Podcast” session when the real host failed to show up after 15 minutes of waiting, and since the hijacker said he did a Brony podcast, he decided to just teach the rest of us 10 or so attendees what he had learned from his experiences.

Avengers cosplay group – I like the drinking Tony Stark.

Also, I was very glad I had decided to dress in appropriate attire, and by appropriate I mean at least one geeky item of clothing or accessory.  For the first day, I decided to wear my Star Wars Her Universe Han and Leia t-shirt along with my Imperial logo earrings.  The second day, I plastered on dark eye makeup, wore my old Freelancer Tex shirt from Rooster Teeth, and dressed it up runway-style, with skinny black jeans, black boots, black military blazer, and a maroon fedora; I called it my “If Tex Were a Bad-Ass Fashion Model Instead of a Bad-Ass Killing Machine” look.

Unfortunately, by the time I found out about getting a press pass to Anime Nebraskon, I didn’t have time to make a costume, and no costume I owned seemed fitting for an anime convention (a self-created Amazon warrior via slave Leia costume, or Galadriel from Lord of the Rings).  I was wrong.  Though the majority of attendees were indeed in anime-style costumes, there were more than a handful of gaming characters there like 2-3 different Master Chiefs, Marvel and DC characters (including an epic grey Spider-Man who told me it took him over a year to put the entire costume together), and even some very realistic Jedi Knights and Clone Troopers running around.  Next time I’ll have to remember that pretty much any geeky costume will do.

BEAUTIFUL Master Chief armor. It lit up and everything.

I’d have to say the best part about the entire Nebraskon experience was the way that the convention organizers created a positive experience for all the attendees.  All the Nebraskon staff were willing to help out when asked a question or two, and many even seemed energized instead of drained by the crowd around them.  Though most people roll their eyes at or even jeer security staff, none of this happened that I could see, and most attendees were very respectful when security asked them to move closer to the wall or keep moving so as not to block other attendees’ pathways.  In addition, the con organizers made sure to put this sign up all over the convention center:

That’s right, it’s not.

With all the issues surrounding sexual harassment of specifically female cosplayers, this sign was refreshing to see.  What was more refreshing was the fact that I saw it enforced by the staff and security and respected by the attendees; I never once saw a guy take a picture of a girl without her permission, even if she was in full armor of some sort.  From what I’ve read, many cons, especially the larger ones, only wish they could expect this type of civility amongst their costumed patrons.

Overall, Anime Nebraskon offered a wide range of sessions and panels to attend for its intimate size, lots of time-intensive costumes to admire, and a positive, no-hassle atmosphere that makes me ignore the fact that only pizza was offered as the on-site caterer (yes, there was only one).  Would I attend Anime Nebraskon again?  Yes, most definitely.  However, I’ve now been bitten by the con bug; the experience only made me eager to make it to some of the larger and most famous ones out there.  That means you, PAX and San Diego Comic-Con.

* PLEASE NOTE: ALL PICTURES ARE COPYRIGHT BREE BROUWER.  CONTACT HER WITH PERMISSION TO USE THEM ELSEWHERE.

Oh, yeah: there was “YMCA” dancing on stage at the cosplay contest, too.
TV

The Walking Dead: 3.05 – “Say The Word” Review

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“Say The Word” was an extraordinarily intense episode of The Walking Dead. Getting back to the standard format of the show, this episode picks up where episode 4 left off. After learning that his wife is dead, Rick is in a state of shock. This is not the Beth type of shock where you lay in a bed and become suicidal… this is Rick’s own personal hell. He becomes enraged and takes an axe to anything he can find in the prison.

He comes across a walker who…*shudders*…ATE Lori. Her body is gone with only scraps and a bullet remaining on the floor where she was left. It was devastating.

Back at Woodbury, Michonne got the award for best zombie kill of the week by unleashing some caged biters and letting her katana loose on them.

 

Michonne then had to have a sit-down with the Governor, who wants her to stay. He explained that she fits in. He then spoke with Andrea to try to get her to convince Michonne to stop being so aggressive and just embrace the town, as she is making other people uncomfortable. Andrea is being an idiot about it, but I cannot in any way blame her. If I had spent the past 8 months constantly fighting for my life, I would want peace and safety, too. After Michonne leaves without Andrea, who refuses to succumb to the ultimatum, the Governor asks Andrea to go with him to the event they’re having that night in the town. The event? ZOMBIE FIGHT CLUB!!!

This is one of the most interesting uses for these guys I have seen on this show.  The walkers form a ring around the two men and are chained to posts. The chains are loosened as the fight draws near an end. Merle wins this fight, of course.

We also saw that the Governor keeps his daughter, who is a walker, locked up. He was brushing her hair. Everyone in the room with me while I was watching this kept saying how creepy this scene was. I, for one, thought that it was just devastatingly sad. Here, this man has his daughter, his own flesh and blood, and she wants to kill him. We have seen it a lot in this show. Sophia had to be put down by Rick, Andrea’s sister Amy had to be put down by Andrea… it is so sad to see. Everyone is losing people closest to them, and I imagine that what happened to his family turned the Governor into this madman.

Maggie and Daryl went out and found supplies for the wee baby Grimes (Walsh?). They brought back formula and such, which lead to a sweet moment in the episode. Daryl was feeding the unnamed baby and smiling. As a woman, I am absolutely a sucker for this stuff. It was adorable.

At the end of the episode, after Rick has absolutely destroyed the walker who ate Lori, the phone in the boiler room rings. He picks it up, aaaaand of course the episode ends. WHO IS IT?! Could it be Carol calling trapped in another part of the prison? Could it be someone working for the Mayor, scouting all of the nearby places for survivors? Or is Rick just losing his marbles? Could it be someone like Shane or Lori on the phone? Could Rick be literally going crazy? Who takes over the group then? Although I am not happy that I’ll have to wait to find out, I am glad I have something to look forward to!

I could not have imagined that this season would be so amazing. I have loved just about every episode of this show so much that I find it difficult to be objective in rating them and trying to not give everything a perfect score. After much deliberation, I would say this is 4/5 Grizzlies.

TV

Red Dwarf: Series 10 – A Retrospective…

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So with the latest series of Red Dwarf just finishing on UK screens, I thought it time to look back on the series and see how well it has adapted to its new home on the UK channel Dave, and how the series progressed with a little breakdown of each episode for anyone who missed them.

Trojan (Episode One) brought the dwarfers back in a tale involving a new ship, Rimmers resentment files making him crash and a chance encounter with his brother who is now a captain and a hologram.

Fathers and Suns (Episode Two) has a depressed Lister missing his dad (who is actually Lister, it’s a time travel thing!). Lister starts recording messages when drunk to himself, to teach the hung over Lister how to be a man, while the rest of the crew struggle with a new computer programme they have installed which is doing more harm than good.

Lemons (Episode Three) has a faulty rejuvenation shower sending the crew back to the UK AD 23, where they meet a chap who seems very familiar, turns out his name is Jesus.

Entangled (Episode Four) has The Cat and Kryten stuck in a quantum tangle where they speak in unison, and Rimmer is lost in a poker game with the Gelfs. This all leads to a weird conclusion.

Dear Dave (Episode Five) Lister finds himself in a love triangle with two food dispensers and also struggles with the notion he could have been a father to a child long dead.

The Beginning (Episode Six) Rimmers back-story is looked into more while the crew get attacked by a bunch of rogue stimulants.

red dwarf X crew

The series is a mixed bag, but mostly the episodes feel like the Red Dwarf we all know and love. The set design is different, with a lot more action happening in corridors and a selection of quarters and Kryten’s facial design looks a tad bizarre at first, but it soon grows on you. The great thing about the smaller budget means that the stories are more streamlined and back to basics. The feel of this series is very much like series one and two (minus Holly which is still a shame), with very few special effects and the scope of the episodes focusing a lot more on the characters and not on the developing story arcs. In fact this series has no real story arc, each episode is pretty much self-contained and can be watched in pretty much any sequence (with the exception of the last episode). This new episode structure means it is a great way for people who have never seen Red Dwarf to jump in and not feel too intimidated by the ongoing series. However the series is full of little references to other episodes which make it more rewarding for hard-core dwarfers. For example Rimmer is still trying and failing to pass his officer exams and still stuck in the shadow of his family (which we see throughout the series is not as successful as they appear), while The Cat has gone back to entertaining himself with his piece of string. The series is full of little references like this and recurring characters (The Gelfs and the Rogue Simulants appearing to cause the crew hassle). The balance between keeping the regular fans happy and the new viewers is spot on.

red dwarf X simulant

The new series is very character based, with a lot of emphasis on how the dwarfers get on together. The actors have not lost any of their magic and it warms your heart to see them interacting together again. The only downside is that the series is very Rimmer and Lister heavy with The Cat and Kryten only getting one episode that is their own and that is in a subplot. Not that they don’t pull their weight, some of the more restrained moments of hilarity involve these two, examples include Kryten blow drying cutlery with his blower attachment stuck to his anus and The Cat and Kryten speaking in unison. The series is full of little jokes like this, which really make it work. But the story development really goes to Rimmer and Lister. Lister has some interesting scenes involving him as a father and being his own dad, as well as how depressing his life has become now he is alone in the universe. Rimmer has some truly great scenes in this series; in fact this series has given him the most character development out of everyone. We find out his family is not as good as they appear, with a brother who was not a captain at all and a father who was actually a gardener and not a teacher as he imagined. All of the cast members are fantastic together and even the poorer episodes work because of just how great they are.

red dwarf X rimmer

It is not without its problems however. Some episodes don’t hit as well as they could. Lemons, especially suffers from this, with one or two great gags, but a lot of just plain awful ones. It just seems like a lazy episode in some respects, with the Jesus story not really working. This is the weakest episode of the bunch, but Dear Dave also feels in places a little bit padded. But overall all the episodes are great fun to watch for one reason or another. One of the strongest is definitely Fathers and Suns which is a very simple episode but is just hilariously funny, with both plots diverging and coming together beautifully. The best episode in the entire series however is The Beginning with a great mix of pathos and humour and a nice turn for all the cast, but Rimmer developing so much as a character is the highlight. At the end of the day, when the dust from the series has settled, it still has it. This series was incredibly funny and although the episodes are more reined in, they have more magic to them than some of the later series’, which were special effects heavy but lost some of the Red Dwarf spirit. This has that feel, the characters are all there and more importantly the humour is there. Red Dwarf has always been a show about the crew and their chemistry together. It is great to see that after years without a full series, it is still there. A great return to form and a series that can easily be watched again and again. It feels comfortable to watch, with enough attempts to be daring that it does not seem to stagnate (even if some of the attempts fail). From one dwarfer to another, it was smegging awesome. Watch out world the slime is coming home!

red dwarf X dvd