MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

...and here's looking to something brand new in 2010 (both the year and a new blog)!

School's Out for Summer...

Well, for the boys it is...the Mrs. isn't out for break until tomorrow. I'll be taking the Aquamen to a new batch of swimming lessons starting this morning and then, perhaps, some Happy Meals. Exciting, huh?

No Such Thing as a 3-Day Weekend...

...when you're unemployed. Heh.

That said, everybody have a great holiday weekend and, please, don't forget to say thanks for all the Veterans who've given their lives to keep this country safe. Thanks!

For Kids of ALL Ages...

Both the boys and I have recently been enjoying DC's 'Tiny Titans'. Kind of an Elementary-school version of the Teen Titans, it's a really fun take on the 'DC Universe' that you can enjoy with your kids. The 'Dynamic Duo' kept getting into my Wizard magazines to further quench their growing thirst for Superhero knowledge and, quite frankly, some of the stuff within is just a little too graphic for them to be taking in right now. Well, at least that's what Wonder Woman (AKA Mommy) thought.

So, I started grabbing a couple of back-issues of the 'Tiny Titans' and the recent 'Super Friends' comic based on the toyline. They are both kid-friendly as all get out, but the latter is rife w/ a lampooning of the actual characters I can appreciate as well. I mean, where else can you see Darkseid as the school lunchlady? Plus, the art by Chicago's-own Art Baltazar is really fun to take in. Highly recommend whether you have kids or not.

Mo' Joe...

Official full-fledged trailer for the upcoming 'G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra'...still looks kind of fun to me.

Needs More Magneto...

In another late review, I actually went and saw 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' last Friday to kick off the Summer-popcorn-movie-palooza (and get out of the house). It was fun enough, but suffered from some of the same foibles the actual 'X-Men' flicks did. The flick started off pretty focused actually, but (like 'X-Men') it ended up feeling overcrowded w/ too many mutants...you couldn't feel invested in any of the characters.

That said, the casting was pretty damn good. Hugh Jackman took another decent turn at Wolverine...Liev Schreiber was actually a pretty awesome Sabertooth...Taylor Kitsch played a great Gambit...but the biggest surprise was how much I liked Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson (AKA Weapon XI/Deadpool). 'The Merc w/ a Mouth' doesn't get that much screen-time, but enough to kick-start a possible spin-off.

Throw in some eye-catching big ole' action sequences and you've got a pretty enjoyable flick for the most part. Not sure if those w/ no X-Men comic experience will do w/ it...they could like it more via lack of preconceived ideas or less than us geeks who revelled in the subtle nods to the Marvel Universe throughout. See it for yourself and decide, bub.

DON'T FORGET, TRUE BELIEVERS...

Free Comic Book Day is only 3 days away! Always the first Saturday in May, participating comic book shops across North America and around the world give away comic books (duh) absolutely FREE to anyone who comes into their stores.

I'm looking forward to the following goodies...

and for the kiddos...

Go to the OFFICIAL WEBSITE for more details and a participating shop near you!

No New Poop Today...

I've got a job interview this morning, so cross your fingers for me. Peace!

I Wonder what MS. PAC-MAN would Look Like...

I love the internet. Yet another completely awesome thing lifted this week from Electronic Cerebrectomy...PAC-MAN Reimagined. I'm sorry, I can (and have) stare at this thing for almost a half an hour.

I swear to God those 'ghosts' are from a Scooby Doo episode though. I'll tell you what else...'Blinky' looks like he might just choke a bitch. Damn.

A Little More WHO for YOU...

Came across this awesome little 'family portrait' of all 10 Doctors. Courtesy of Dave Perillo, who also did some fun horror flick caricatures I posted up during last year's AMBFAD Halloween Spook-tacular.

Be sure to go check out his other work spanning all your favorite folks from across the pop-culture universe!

AMBFAD (Comic) Book Club

Wow. A month or so ago, I was beaming that I had found the trades for both volumes of Jack Kirby's 'Eternals' at my local Half Price Books. Last Thursday...I hit paydirt once again. I was actually in selling a couple of my TPB's that, after reading, I had decided I didn't really care for. After collecting my money, I wandered over to the comic section and POW...a mint copy of Image's hardcover collection of Kirby's 'Silver Star'!

To provide a little background, Jack had been working in animation for Ruby-Spears Productions after leaving Marvel in disgust near the end of 1977. Almost four years later a new publisher out of San Diego, Pacific Comics, enticed him back by giving him complete control and ownership of the properties he was bringing to their company. This was a practice pretty well unheard of at the time and one could challenge it set the stage for a wider, more indie, playing field outside the Marvel and DC company-owned universes.

'Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers' debuted for Pacific in late 1981, followed a little over a year later by the six-issue miniseries 'Silver Star' (which Kirby called a 'Visual Novel'). Outside of the historical relevance from a business/creative perspective, it's also historically relevant as, aside from 'The Hunger Dogs' graphic novel that he did for DC in 1985, 'Silver Star' was Kirby’s last fully developed personal project.

I'm halfway through and the artwork is pretty much vintage Jack, maybe not quite on par w/ earlier stuff...but insanely creative as much as anything else he did. Again, it's art you have to focus on or you miss so many great things in the detail. The inking is a bit rough, but the coloring is good (issues #5-6 were actually re-colored by Image founder Erik Larsen!). Additional nuggets include a screenplay version of the comic that was never pitched and penciled concept art.

The story itself is a little out there...okay, A LOT out there. The story seems to revolve around a genetically engineered man, Darius Drumm, who is attempting to kill (often succeeding) other genetically engineered men and women...people whom Kirby has given the scientific name of 'homo-geneticus' but whom he also refers to by the odd name of 'super-normals'. It seems, however, that another 'super-normal' named Silver Star appears to thwart his plan to bring about a sort of End of Days.

Fun stuff in that whacked-out Kirby style of sci-fi heavy grandeur and philosophical backdrops, but be forewarned...the dialogue is often nearly painful to read. Extremely ham-handed even for a comic book, it proves to be the only downside to the lack of any sort of editorial control on Pacific's part. That said, still a blast to read and still worth adding to your collection...i'm glad I did!

Saturday Bonus Track...

I'm late serving up a review of Bob Mould's new disc...not too bad as a whole, but i'll provide more details next week. In the meantime, how's about some mid-90's Bob?

More specifically, how's about some Sugar? Even more specifically...the toon-infused video for 'Gee Angel'.

AMBFAD (Comic) Book Club

I've continually extolled the virtues of one of my favorite comic artists, Mike Allred, w/ earlier full-fledged love-fests over both 'Madman' and 'Red Rocket 7'...only the art of Kirby and Ditko before him can elicit such a vibe. Currently, i'm finishing up the TPB's for his interesting contribution to Marvel's X-Men franchise in the 'X-Statix' spin off that ran from 2002-2004.

Originally, Allred was paired w/ Peter Milligan to helm a revamp of X-Force but, X-Force was canceled with issue #129 in 2002 and re-named X-Statix. There were a few tweaks made to the previous team, but characters more like popstars or reality TV contestants than traditional superheroes remained. Milligan continued an uber-satirical take on the superhero team and general cynicism toward the entire genre that alienated a lot folks w/ their take on X-Force...but garnered some decent critical response from folks like Rolling Stone.

Outside of Mike's fantastic art, it's a page-turner for the off-the-wall storylines rooted in the parity between superheroes and the cult of celebrity. Even though I love the more traditional stuff, I equally enjoy weirder twists on the genre. That said, at some points, Milligan's writing seems too forced (or maybe canned)...even for a comic book. Regardless, you have to give props to a writer so no-holds-barred, he was prepared to deploy Princess Diana as a character in a story-arc beginning in X-Statix #13...slated to return from the dead as a mutant superhero.


That didn't happen (public outcry), but the overall series so far is still a biting commentary you can sink your teeth into. Unfortunately, after a story-arc that pitted X-Statix against The Avengers, low sales prompted the title's cancellation in 2004. In the last issue Milligan and Allred killed off the entire team, serving up one one last parody of the superhero genre, while tying up the remaining plot threads. Luckily, this freed up Allred to do more Madman and his own take on the superhero team, The Atomics...which, i'm sure i'll pimp later.

Bunny Bonus Party Cut...

I know Easter isn't until Sunday, but I wanted to post up w/ this vintage UPA 'Peter Cottontail' toon from the 50's. Equally as swinging as the 'Frosty the Snowman' one I shared around X-mas. Fun stuff.

BURIED TREASURE!

Found and purchased the above Madman/Atomics issues, mint condition, while scouring the shelves/stacks at my local comic shop last Sunday afternoon. I have most of the stuff within via TPB, but I thought it'd be fun to have a few of the orginal issues.

Seriously, Beyond Tomorrow Comics in Palatine on Northwest Highway...it's kind of disorganized, but you can score some great harder-to-find stuff there if you invest some time. Say hi to Dave for me if you stop in!

Me Am Proud Poppa!

Highlight of the Morning: A discussion w/ Lo that covered several topics, including the differences between Bizarro and Superman...and why Supe's dog Krypto can fly and ours can't.

*I really do love being a Dad.*

...and Screw Da Vinci While We're at It!

IT AM THE BIZARRO CODE, BITCHES!

AMBFAD (Comic) Book Club

I know I should have knocked out 'Watchmen' while I was stuck sitting around at jury duty on Monday...but DC's 'Bizarro' collections am worst comix EVER! I had actually read the first TPB a while back, but the second has been sitting on my book shelf for a while. Figured a little levity would help make the time pass versus something (I never got called to a case BTW) as bleak as Alan Moore.

Anywho, for those unfamiliar w/ these both of these awesome collections, back in 2001 the usually stuffy DC Comics loosened their collective ties up a little and let more non-traditional/contemporary comic artists/writers take some humerous creative liberties w/ some of the cash cows of the almighty DC Universe. Between both books, you get some fantastic collaborations featuring folks like Harvey Pekar, Evan Dorkin, Patton Oswalt, Los Brothers Hernandez, James Kolchaka, Danny Hellman, Mike Doughty, Dave Cooper, Paul Grist and the list goes on.

Nobody is spared, from icons like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman...to more obscure characters like Kamandi, The Red Bee and The Demon. As I enjoy both traditional and more underground/alternative comics/art and have a pretty twisted sense of humor, 'Bizarro Comics/World' is the best super team-up ever! Both volumes have been out for a while now and should be easy to find at your finer comic shops. To note, the first is a little stronger than the second...but they're both so worth checking out.

DOH! JURY DUTY TODAY!

WATCH(ED)MEN!

As stated earlier, finally went to see the Watchmen flick last night and really enjoyed it. I had no problem following along w/ everything that was happening and it was definitely a nice feast for the eyes. The acting was okay as a whole, but Jackie Earle Haley was pretty great as Rorschach. All said and done, completely engaging film for it's almost three-hour length and i'd give it a thumbs up.

That said, we'll see how I feel about it after reading the book. I do think I made the right decision to see the flick first, as I had no preconceived opinions of what it should or shouldn't be...just enjoyed it at face value.