Underrated/Overlooked: Arsenal by Grayson & Mays

I'm not sure he'd make the cut on any sort of list I'd put together of favorite characters, but I'm definitely a fan of Roy Harper (aka Speedy I, aka Arsenal, aka Red Arrow). He's got the whole reformed bad boy deal going, he's got wit, he's an archer (and as a former certified archery instructor myself, though I sucked at hitting the target, I can still fool myself into thinking that's a common thread) and he's got a rich history in the DC Universe. He's been in some series and stories I hold great affection for, from New Teen Titans to Suicide Squad to Green Arrow and onward.

Given all the characteristics I rifled off above, you'd think Roy would be a writer's dream, but I get the hunch he's actually quite challenging to handle, in part because he's almost too good to be true...if that makes sense.

Let me elaborate by listing all the stuff Roy has going on in addition to the core personality I already outlined:

-He was raised by Green Arrow.

-He was a junkie.

-He was a government agent.

-He had an affair with a super villain/terrorist that produced a daughter.

-He now raises said daughter as one of (if not the only) single father characters in comics.

-He's a known ladies man who has knocked boots with the aforementioned Cheshire, Donna Troy, Grace, the Huntress and Hawkgirl just to name a few.

So right there I just threw out half a dozen things that could easily define a character and give writers plenty of fodder for many many stories; the trick with Roy is he's got all of those things going on. I've seen plenty of stories starring Roy Harper that try to cram in that he's an ex-junkie single father who carries a torch for his super villain former lover while flirting with other chicks and trying to use his government agent skills to cut through his daddy issues because he was raised by Green Arrow all into the same plot.

Oh, and he was also in a band.

So because Roy has such tremendous potential but at the same time so much baggage to overcome in writing good stories in which he is featured, I have tremendous respect for writers who can accomplish that task, and for my money, Devin Grayson has pulled it off more than once.

Devin Grayson wrote the excellent Phil Jimenez-illustrated JLA/Titans three-issue mini, which prominentaly featured Roy (then Arsenal) and also led into a new Titans ongoing book, again written by Grayson (for the first 20 issues) and again with Arsenal taking a major role. Over the course of those 23 issues, Grayson did some great stuff with Roy's character, but prior to that, she wrote a four-issue Arsenal limited series that I guess you could consider a trial run for what came next.

What I find nice about Grayson's approach to Roy Harper is that she acknowledges that all those things I mentioned earlier are ingredients in what makes him such an appealing character, but she knows how to use them in moderation and also doesn't let any of his "gimmick" hooks overwhelm his personality; in other words, she makes him being a recovering heroin addict or single dad part of his story, but not define him and make him an afterschool special.

In the case of the Arsenal mini, Grayson actually makes some light of all the cliches Roy has racked up over the years and makes it work for the story. A big part of the plot is Roy trying to balance his life between being a super hero and trying to raise his daughter, doing his best he doesn't let one life bleed over into the other and put people he cares about in jeopardy. Grayson makes Roy almost manic as he cycles between hero and dad as well as horndog, spy, addict, etc. She shows that these are all facets of what makes Roy Roy, but pokes a little fun by piling them all one on the other; she also gets it all in there up front and then narrows her focus to telling a story with the character that isn't predicated on him suffering withdrawl or pining for Cheshire, recognizing that those are each stories that need their own space.

Out of that set-up, we get a fun adventure that highlights the swashbuckling Green Arrow protege side of Roy, but also points out how different he is from his "dad" (who was "dead" at the time) in that he's committed to the family he has (his daughter, Lian) and has grown up to be a very responsible man despite the facade he may present to the world.

Grayson milks the Green Arrow connection further by having Black Canary and then-GA Connor Hawke as featured guest stars. I've always enjoyed the Roy-Canary dynamic when done right (which it is here) because it's so unique: she's a beautiful woman who's really not that much older than him, but she's also the closest thing he has to a mother and he is immensely respectul of her; on the flip side, Dinah is far more protective of Roy than she would be even of Ollie. It's a nice relationship and Grayson writes it well. She also gets good stuff out of one of Roy's first encounters with Connor, Ollie's actual son and our hero's polar opposite, disciplined perhaps to a fault. I enjoy the bickering brother routine and, on a more base level, that even though Connor is one of the best fighters in the DCU, Roy can still one-up him with a bow and arrow and also shows off that he has surpassed even his "dad" by becoming a master of many weapons, not just one.

The plot is a little wacky, but it's fun: immortal villain Vandal Savage has discovered that Roy is one of his descendants, so he kidnaps Lian in order to extort Arsenal as possible heir, but more likely to use his organs at some point down the line. It makes for good action and provides high stakes, but really it's all secondary to the character stuff and Roy's ongoing evolution as a hero, a father, and a man.

Rick Mays provides the art for this series, and he's a guy I really wish we saw more of. I love his Manga-influenced style, the fun energy it has and his awesome action sequences. His work on the dearly departed Ultimate Marvel Team-Up where he drew a two-parter teaming Spider-Man and Shang Chi was simply poetry, as he was born to draw fight scenes, which he demonstrates again here, but another thing he proves on this assignment is that he excels at bringing out genuine emotion in his characters.

This book is definitely a hidden gem and one of the best examples of what a blue chip leading man Roy Harper can be if done right. If Devin Grayson has a Red Arrow pitch, I hope somebody over at DC has the time to listen and perhaps Rick Mays on speed dial.

How I Would Remake Star Wars

There used to be a running gag at Wizard about how I had never seen Star Wars. Obviously for a professional chronicler of geek culture, not having seen the holy grail of sci fi was considered an unforgivable sin, so my colleagues got plenty of mileage and outrage out of telling fans at conventions of my little omission. Folks would come up to the Wizard Wheel of Doom, ask for a Star Wars question, I'd shrug my shoulder, everybody had a good laugh and whoever I was working with asked the kid something about Ewoks or whatever.

I have actually seen Star Wars, of course. I saw the original trilogy a bit later in life than a lot of my peers (high school if I recall correctly), but I watched 'em all. I even saw all the prequels in the theater. And it was all good; I like Star Wars well enough.

I just don't love Star Wars, and believe me, I've gotten no small amount of grief over it (don't even get me started on Lord of the Rings, which I don't even like...)

Recently though, I got to thinking: I liked Star Trek well enough when it was a TV show/series of movies starring old dudes, but I really liked J.J. Abrams' remake, leading me to ask myself...if a Star Wars got remade with some younger, sexier actors and a more modern sensibility, could I dig it? And I'm not talking doing new Star Wars flicks with different characters or stories, because I think there's like a zillion books, video games and stuff that have done that. Nah, I'm saying remake those original three movies with the plots more or less intact but with a nip here, a tuck there, and a new cast.

Is that sacrilege? Well, no point in stopping now (besides, they're remaking Buffy and I'm cranky)...here's who I would cast!

Matt Damon as Han Solo
To be fair, my answer to who should star in pretty much every hypothetical movie ever is Matt Damon, but seriously, he'd be gold here! The Bourne movies showed that he's a total badass as an action hero, but if you think back to Good Will Hunting, he can also do the smirking rogue better than just about anybody. What I really like about Damon in this part though is that he's sort of a chameleon when it comes to how old he is, as in actuality he's pushing forty and can seem it, but can also be convincing as a character ten years younger; in other words, he could be the older brother figure to Luke and the love interest for Leia and it's not weird. Finally, Matt Damon is a bonafide movie star as well as a capital "A" Actor not unlike Harrison Ford who brings instant credibility and some box office appeal to boot.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Luke Skywalker
Unlike many of my friends (including my blogmates), I'm not a big devotee of the movie Brick, but I was pretty impressed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who has certainly come a long way since 3rd Rock From the Sun. He's got presence and though I've admittedly read more interviews with him than I've seen movies he's appeared in, he seems to really have a devotion to his craft that you gotta respect. I think he has the range and capability to start a character arc as an upstart punk and grow naturally into a hero you want to cheer for.

Rachel McAdams as Princess Leia
I actually had Anne Hathaway here, but Megan convinced me that Rachel McAdams is a better choice. No question she's a great actress, but the kicker for me would be her ability to pull off the duality of this character, who has to be one part classy dame and the other part ballbuster; she did the former in Wedding Crashers and the latter in stuff like Mean Girls and The Family Stone. For all the success she has had in Hollywood and all the acclaim she has garnered, I still feel like Rachel McAdams is kinda looking for a breakthrough and this could be it. And yes, she's extremely easy on the eyes--how hot a couple would her and Matt Damon be?!

Taye Diggs as Lando Calrissian
As I understand it, what you really need here is a smooth operator, and Mr. Diggs can do that and more, son. This is a guy who I constantly feel bad for despite his fame, wealth and gorgeous wife, because I truly believe he's a phenomenal actor who only ever gets mediocre parts at best. He shines in whatever he does, making the most out of what he gets, but if he could just land a role in a true mainstream showcase, I really think Taye Diggs could be one of the biggest stars going today. He can hold his own with anybody else in this cast and look good doing it; Billy Dee would be proud.

Terry O'Quinn as Obi-Wan Kenobi
Fucking Locke training Luke Skywalker to be a Jedi? Fucking Locke swordfighting with Darth Vader?! Who can't get behind this?!! In all seriousness though, one of the aforementioned "nips" I would make is having Obi-Wan be a little harder-edged in that first movie, but retaining his zen cool, so I'd say Terry O'Quinn would have this on lock down. First person to bitch that he's not British gets a prize.

Sir Ian McKellan as The Emperor
So this is a creepy old British guy, right? Well, I'd never call Sir Ian old to his face, but he kinda is, he can play creepy easy, and he is very very British. Bonuses: nerds love him, he can act real good and he knows how to wave his arms around so CGI can be added thanks to X-Men and Lord of the Rings. This one was easy.

Some UFC guy as Boba Fett
Takes his mask off one time, gets a couple hundred thousand jocks to buy tickets.

Darth Vader as Darth Vader
No, I'm not going to cast some big name to dress up in the helmet and play Vader for two and three-quarter movies when I could just have a stunt guy do it and pony the cash up to James Earl Jones to keep doing the voice. When he has to pull the mask off at the end, we'll just CGI Arnold in.

Lo and behold, as I was writing this I learned that I'm not alone here. I look forward to George Lucas calling me and my forthcoming millions.

My MoCCA 2009

Oh, man, it's been a while since I last posted.

But screw all that noise, cause I'm back with a report on my adventures at MoCCA 2009!

The show was hosted at the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan this year instead of the Puck Building as it had been in the past. It was easy to find and after a coffee at Penn Station and a quick stop at the doggie park in Madison Square Park, my girlfriend and I arrived at 11:15 because doors were supposed to open at 11. But there was some sort of mix-up and we had to stand in a line that wrapped the entire block! We stayed in the sun until we got in at 12:15! Blah.

But while in line, we were joined by our great friends Sean T. Collins and Kiel Phegley! Kiel made the trip in from Chicago specifically for the show, too. We got inside and they only charged us $5 instead of $10 because of the wait. Which was nice.

The inside of the armory has this MASSIVE arc-ceiling arena that reminded me of the kinds of civic centers made out of wood I grew up with in Oklahoma where 4H shows and rodeos took place. Imagine the court the team played on in Hoosiers. You get it.

PANORAMIC VIEW FROM ENTRANCE

Bazookas in display cases and mosaics of old American military battles were spread across the venue and it was fun randomly spotting men in Army fatigues slowly creeping through the crowd with bewildered looks on their faces as they came out of their offices to check out the show. Otherwise, it was comics comics COMICS! MoCCA has always been the show that reminded me most why I love comics and this year was the same. And despite the complete LACK of air conditioning or any semblance of a breeze inside the building, I happily hunted down new books and additions to my Watchmen sketchbook. I'd been saving for a LONG while to spend like I could. So, here's what I got:

FIRST PICTURE:

PICTURED:

• The MoCCA program - sports a beautiful cover by Molly Crabapple. And I didn't open it once.
• I finally found a copy of Jin & Jam #1 from Hellen Jo! I love the way she draws people like they're etched.
  
• Calvin & Hellen's Bogus Journey Instruction Booklet - Hellen also had copies of this mini that reads like one of those old booklets that came with Nintendo games where the weapons and enemies and stuff are all outlined with illustrations. Only this is for their new game (which they had on playable display at their table!).
• And I grabbed two of her postcards with her art on them because I am in love with them.

At the Buenaventura booth I snagged (also pictured above):

• Rumbling Chapter Two - the second part of the story Kevin Huizenga started in Or Else #5. I hope a #6 comes out...
• Mistakes We Made - new mini from Lisa Hanawalt that ends with a pretty BRAVE sketch if that is, indeed, her that she is sketching.
• It's Sexy When People Know Your Name - Little random sketchbook/humorous anecdotes collection from Lisa.

NEXT PICTURE:

WHAT YOU SEE:

• Snake Pit 2008 - I can't believe I didn't know this was coming out! I've been reading this diary comic as a mini for about 5 years. It's great to see it still coming out in book form. It's even better to see it when I didn't expect it!
• The nice ladies at the Microcosm booth where I bought Snake Pit gave me a sticker and their 2009 Publishing catalogue filled with neat stuff I now want. Dammit.
• Ten Thousand Things To Do #2 and #3 - Jesse Reklaw's diary comic keeps surprising me with its quality. I've never read his dream comics, but this stuff is GREAT.
• Pixu II - The second and final installment of the horror book by Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon. yes yes YES! Dark Horse is collecting this self-published book sometime soon (I saw a proof copy on Becky's table) but since I bought issue #1, I figured I'd get issue #2 instead of the upcoming hardcover.
  
• Featherweight - a wordless little story about a snowman in danger from Jamil Mani who was there as part of the Swedish collective of artists at the show. It's pretty and I felt great buying a book from a guy who flew so far for people like me to see it.
• Phase 7 #14 - European roadtrip issue! Creator Alec Longstreth's beard has become epic, by the way.

NEXT NEXT NEXT:

One of my great pleasures at these shows is picking up what's new from the people who have graduated from CCS. This year, they were all clustered together for the most part against the back wall. So I grabbed:

• Prune Hands - It's the newest book from Mario van Buren, the man who brought you Girls Don't Poop. Mario's stories in The Marsh and a recent CCS anthology book were both pretty emotionally shocking/stunning and Girls Don't Poop was clever, so I'm psyched to read this and see where it goes. And dig that baby blue cover!
• Simple Routines #10 and #11 - Two new diary comics from JP Coovert! Once JP started knocking out minis with non-autobio stories, I thought the diary was gonna go away. I'm glad to see it's still kicking. And both these covers are thrilling in their simplicity.
• A Fall A Part - JP's story about his experience with his mother's cancer. From the creativity of the book's construction to the touching moments within the story itself, this is exciting to read as a fan of JP's because his work is just getting better and better.
  
• CCS Guide - Written and drawn by both Alex Longstreth and JP Coovert, this brochure is a fun read about the virtues of the school they both attended (Alec as a fellow; JP as a graduate) and it's in a nice family alongside this bad boy.
• Sundays Three - The newest edition of the CCS anthology is actually three tiny books bound together by a band instead of the over-sized gargantua the group did the past 2 years. It's screen-printed heaven with stellar work from everybody involved.
• Snake Oil #3 - Chuck McBuck does another issue filled with oddness and surreal, delicate lines. I picked the black cover.
• Food/Fall - Joe Lambert does another colorful cornucopia comic filled with fun. Please go check out his site.

AND ANOTHER:

PICTURED ABOVE:

• My girlfriend, Sam, bought some great stickers from Tara McPherson including a little vampire one for me.
• Crooked Teeth #4 - I accidentally discovered Nate Doyle while browsing the mini section of Jim Hanley's Universe in Manhattan one week. I nabbed issues #2 and #3 of this series that looks like a chunky cartoon version of Paul Pope and Nate Powell. I dunno why this guy doesn't have a full-length book from Oni or some other company. And when I asked if he had any issues of issue #1, he smiled and said, "No...issue #1 wasn't very good." I respect a self-evaluating dude.
• Crooked Teeth #4 print - When I complimented Nate on the screen-printing job done on the cover to Crooked Teeth #4, he said he had trouble the first go-round and the white didn't line up like he wanted. So he brought along the printed mis-haps and handed them out. It'll make a cool framed piece of art.
• Paul #1 - another new mini from Nate Doyle.
• Papercutter #9 and #10 - I love this little anthology! Greg Means, the editor of the book, described it to a friend of mine who asked him what it was as, "A book I put out filled with creators I like to read so that other people can read them, too."
  
• Bird Hurdler - Another anthology I grabbed from Greg Means that was FREE (!) and published by Tugboat Press, Spark Plug Comics and Teenage Dinosaur. Filled with great artists like Farel Dalrymple, Theo Ellsworth, some lady I've never heard of named Lisa Rosalie Elsenberg but whose art I now love, and many others. And this thing is FREE in an effort to spread the word about comics. Man...

LAST PICTURE:

ABOVE:

• The Mighty Skullboy Army #11: Skullboy's Nemesis Mod Dog - The newest from the mighty talented and clever Jacob Chabot!
• And Don't Forget the Droids / Only What You Take With You - Two new Star Wars fanbook anthologies from the people who brought you the cutey-puhtootie Harvest Is When I need You The Most! I had no idea these were out!
• The Mourning Star vol. 2 - ANOTHER book I had no idea was out. Alec Longstreth told me while I was at his table. Guh! The cover is so gorgeous! I can't wait to read this.
• Cooking with Food - This is the first book I bought at the show. It stars the creator Evan Palmer cooking cute foods with cute faces. And they don't want to be cooked.
  
• The Ashen Cat - Another book from Evan Palmer, this one, though, features more experimental graphic story-telling techniques than Cooking With Food and stars a cat on an adventure. Again, Nate Powell-esque.
• Kingwood Himself - This is the second book I bought. Creator Reynold Kissing introduces a weird world explored by a curious little girl.
  

And that's it as far as my bought items. Next it's my Watchmen Sketchbook additions!

SETH does Golden Age Nite Owl!

The first one I got was from the very talented (very dapper) creator Seth. Sam and I were doing our first walk of the floor when I spotted him at the Drawn & Quarterly table signing for only one fan. So I jumped right in line, asked him if he was doings sketches, and got this beauty from him. Usually it takes me hours before I gather the courage to ask for a sketch. Something about Seth made me comfortable jumping right in before I'd even made a single purchase. He actually wanted to do one of the Golden Age characters, so after flipping through my copy of the trade I bring for reference, I found the group shot of the Minutemen before The Comedian attacks Silk Spectre. He was polite and very friendly and talked about the virtues of moving to Canada (I'd mentioned I thought about moving there). He said something along the lines of "I sometimes think I want more in a place where I live, but then I realize where I am is all I'll need and I change my mind." I think that's actually pretty perfect coming from him.

Fun tidbit: Seth said he hadn't seen the movie and hasn't read the book since it came out in single issue comic form back in the '80s!

JACOB CHABOT does present Nite Owl!

I'm a big fan of Chabot's work and I see him at a lot of shows, so when I spotted him sitting at MoCCA, I decided to finally ask him if he could sketch for me. What I got back is probably the most dynamic piece anyone's done for me! And look at Nite Owl's belly! Chabot's another guy whose lack of mainstream work baffles me. And he's nice as crap to boot!

Fun tidbit: Chabot drew the wraparound story for the Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular miniseries that came out this year and featured my buddy Alejandro Arbona, who I happened to see at MoCCA this year!

TOM GAULD does Rorschach!!!

HOLY BUTT CRACKS! Tom Gauld isn't an artist I could never catch. He was at MoCCA a couple years ago while, say, Seth hasn't been to America in FOUR YEARS. Even still, he was at the top of my list of artists to tap for a sketch this year...and I got him! I'd even gone over to the Buenaventura line where he was signing and JUST missed his time slot. They said he'd be back shortly, so later in the day, I stopped by to see if he was around and there he was! He even seemed excited when I brought up the sketchbook! We chatted for a bit about his trip to the states and he seemed happy despite both of us melting in the severe heat of the show near hour six.

Fun tidbit: Gauld is now the third cutest man in comics as far as I'm concerned.

Scott C. does a whole damn scene!!!

Here's another dude I didn't know was gonna be at the show! Scott C. has become one of my favorite creators thanks to his hilarious work in Hickee and his numerous gallery showings that feature pop culture-centric paintings. He was SUPER-nice when I asked him if I could get a sketch, and he was the creator I gabbed with the most at the show. And the piece he churned out is one of my favorites so far! I'm glad he included the pebis. I can't get over how nice and happy to talk he was!

Fun tidbit: Scott C. did a David Bowie piece recently and Sean loves Bowie and Sean made me a Bowie mix album last week and I put it on my iPhone and I used the Bowie image Scott C. made as the "cover image" in my phone when the mix album plays. So I showed Scott and he was excited!

After we left the show, we grabbed dinner across the street at the vegetarian Indian place where Kiel had the largest single piece of food I've ever seen in my life.

He ate the whole thing.

And then we headed to the CBLDF karaoke party.

Kiel searches for a song.

And then we searched for a bar after hitting the ATM.

money money money

Before we called it quits and headed home.


And that's that. There was plenty I couldn't pick up or forgot to get like Asterios Polyp, The Gigantic Robot (I thought it was a minicomic and not a $20 book, so I ran out of money by the time I got there), this Jim Rugg Afrodisiac book I found at the AdHouse table randomly (I meant to ask about it, but there was a line and I forgot to go back!), the new Syncopated Comics (I don't own any of these at all!!), Awesome 2: Awesomer, Woman King, Doing Time, Rocket Superb, Flashlight (I picked it up and meant to go back, but forgot!), Remake, Johnny Hiro vol. 1, Far Arden, a whole slew of books I'd never seen before from Lucy Knisley, and Love is a Peculiar Type of Thing.

I also missed out on meeting up with Jon Adams and Dustin Harbin (were you there this year, man?). I almost met Nathan Stapley, but he walked away. Sigh.

I want to say it was great to run into so many friends at the show like Darren, Heather, Adam, Aubrey, Pornsak, Sal, Joe, Laura, Paul, Rick, and anybody else I forgot.

And as I always feel the day after MoCCA every year, I can't wait for the next one. :)

Making Marvel Super Heroes: What The--?! Episode 3

Have you checked out the latest and greatest episode of Marvel Super Heroes: What The--?! yet? If you haven't, well, you're seriously depriving yourselves, my friends. Not only does "The Problem With Pirates" feature M.O.D.O.K. and the Punisher dressed as pirates, it's also got USAgent, Ch'od, Howard the Duck, David Hasselhoff and the vocal talents of Brian Michael Bendis in the role he was born to play!

In all seriousness, Alex Kropinak, the wunderkind of Marvel.com Studios, has gone above and beyond with this one in creating animation I'll hold up against anybody who wants to lay claim to the title of "professional." If you've got four free minutes (and you do, because you're reading this blog), give it a watch and then come back.

Funny shit, no?

Now if you're done enjoying, as a little bonus, I thought I'd share some of the uber-professional and ultra-elaborate behind-the-scenes process that went into making this particular episode of MSH: What The--?! For reals, I'm gonna spoil stuff, so if you haven't clicked that dang link yet, do it!

-The genesis of this particular episode came about a month or so back when John Cerilli and I were sitting around the Marvel.com offices talking about the Somali pirates stuff and how we wanted to use that somehow in the show both because it would be at least semi-topical and pirates=funny. I came up with the twist that it should be pirates of the illegal Internet download variety and we started spitballing from there, coming up with the rough outline and many of the gags. If I recall, loath though I am to give her credit, it was Margarita Vaisman who came up with what the acronym for P.A.R.R.O.T. stood for (she actually almost always manages to toss at least one good idea into these little brainstorming sessions).

-That night/the next morning, I jotted down the outline that John and I had created and e-mailed it out to our ace writing staff, which in addition to us and Alex includes Ryan Penagos, Jason Harvey, Ramon Olivo, Sean T. Collins, Jon Gutierrez, Peter Olson and Jesse Falcon (yes, it takes at least 10 of us to come up with this gold). Almost immediately, Sean earned his paycheck by suggesting "we need to have the Punisher dressed as Jack Sparrow." He's that good, folks.

-I went over to Jesse's office, where he has every Marvel Legend in existence, to figure out what obscure heroes should join USAgent's team (although initially we just had Captain America until we realized USAgent fit better here). We already had Howard the Duck picked because it's Howard the Duck and Ch'od because Ryan and I are 12 and like to pronounce it "chode." We ended up deciding we didn't need anybody else (mostl because we alread had enough characters to make Alex's job a pain), but I did come up with a bit I want to use later in having two Xorn figures who finish each other's sentences ala Tomax and Xamot.

-John has a genius stroke of using David Hasselhoff's likeness from the "Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." made-for-TV movie he did in the 90's as a Life Model Decoy. A quick call to the Mighty Marvel legal team later and we're off to the races!

-Figure customization voice recording begins! Alex begins to ignore sleeping and eating while the rest of us sit back, smoke cigars and laugh and laugh and laugh.

-I remember that Arune Singh of our marketing department is the biggest (and only) USAgent fan I know and suggest he voices our hero. Irony that he is Canadian is not lost on anybody.

-In a nice bit of coincidence, Bendis is visiting the offices as the finishing touches are being put on the voiceovers and I bring him down to Alex and company's domain for a video interview. While we're there, after he makes Alex cry a bit inside by suggesting that painting Pyro figures to look like A.I.M. Agents is "a ridiculous thing to get paid for," he records a voice. High fives commence as Alex weeps.

-Alex tells me on a train ride into work that he watched "Unleashed" over the weekend to get ideas for stuff Howard the Duck can do during the big fight scene. I start to get nervous for Alex's sanity.

-I win the battle to make M.O.D.O.K. a fan of chick flicks.

-On another train ride, Alex shows me his storyboard for the aforementioned Howard scene; as always, I am blown away by how good this kid is.

-Alex disappears for like a week and somehow at the end we get an episode of Marvel Super Heroes: What The--?! The crowd goes wild!

And...scene. Keep watching for more!

Paragraph Movie Reviews: The Hangover

If you don't have plans to see this movie, you can check the spoilers here and then come back.

This was a perfectly acceptable dumb comedy (and when I say "dumb comedy," I mean the genre of goofballs getting into stupid situations for laughs, not in a derogatory way). It's a pretty formulaic "a bunch of crazy shit happens in the course of three dudes looking for something" plot without a lot of elegance, but it's still plenty funny with some bits that are very clever and even a few that are downright hysterical. The "piecing together the night they don't remember" bit is lifted pretty directly (whether intentionally or not) from "Dude, Where's My Car?" but is still a helpful plot-mover. The physical comedy is really well done and the leads are just some flat out talented dudes. Ed Helms and Bradley Cooper do what they do best as the dork and the asshole they respectively always seem to play, but that's kinda the clarion call of this movie: don't fix it if it ain't broke. Zach Galifianakis is the breakout here as he has a creepy awkwardness that makes you uncomfortable but also makes you just need to laugh; he really milks every line without being ostentatious about it. It's always nice to see Heather Graham and Jeffrey Tambor, but the small doses here just leave you wanting more. And man, Ken Jeong just cracks me up. Overall, this film does nothing wrong, it's simply not going to transcend its niche like "Wedding Crashers" or "Anchorman," and y'know, that's fine, it's decently entertaining and you won't come out feeling like you didn't see a funny movie (and stay for the credits because they may be the best part).

Linko! IX

There is so much going on with me and comics this weekend that I can barely keep my head straight. I'm in New York. MoCCA is a scant 32 1/2 hours away. Let's see how many of these things I can post before I pass out.

* A lot of folks noted how British punk band Art Brut both employed Essex County cartoonist and upcoming Vertigo creator Jeff Lemire to draw the cover of their new album and wrote a song called "DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake" on said album, but it was on Foink where I found Under The Radar magazine's photo set of the band touring the DC offices. My biggest question:

Is that seriously the only photo they got of Dan Didio? REALLY?!? Actually, aside from some fun shots of the band looking like 12 year olds at Christmas and an appearance by the back of Karen Berger's head, there were a few things I giggled about in the photo album...particularly whenever I imagined what conversations the band was having with tour guide David Hyde.

* Other photo album link: found my buddy Josh on Twitter, and he pointed me to this visual history of credit cards in the U.S. over at Slate.

* I'm generally bewildered by how the occasional random PR person will actually find my e-mail address when it's totally not listed, but sometimes they're not too annoying about sending me things like what I thought were kind of fun pictures of Wolverine sneakers that probably cost too much to do anything but look at pictures of them:


* Google Ads on your GMail are the darnedest things. Prime example: after jawing with some friends about I think Brian Bendis via e-mail the other day, the wizards of Google alerted me to this page reviewing of Marvel's MarvelKids.com website for concerned parents. Apparently, reviewer Dana Villamagna thought that the games on the site might be a spot too violent for kids under 7. Look, I know I'm not a parent and so my opinion doesn't really mean squat, but if you've got a 6 year old boy who's scared of a game where the Hulk jumps in the air and bumps into robots, you need to toughen that kid the fuck up and quick. Seriously, GM went bankrupt this week, which by my calculations means little Trevor has about a 10% greater chance he'll be living in a gamma-irradiated wasteland of America before he's 30 anyway.

* Speaking of the slow death of the once powerful company and by extension my beloved home town: I don't condone most of what Michael Moore says about GM or Flint, but this essay on what we citizens should do as the majority shareholders of GM is pretty good food for thought.



* O! M! F! G! Rob Liefeld is giving away Deadpool sketches to every 100th Twitter follower he gets between 1,600 and 2,000 people. I want one SOOOOOOOOOO bad. Why do I want one so bad!?!?!?!?!?!? (Pic Via)




* Two interviews you should read: A 1967 fanzine interview with Stan Lee reposted at Johnny Bacardi's and a current profile of Joe Simon at the always cool Graphic NYC Project.

* Beyond that, I'm spending all of my non-working hours today focusing on what I'm buying at MoCCA. Tracking down advanced word of all the cool stuff that will be on sale at the show can be pretty tough, but thankfully Brian Heater at the Daily Crosshatch tracked down a lot of advanced word on what folks are bringing. The MoCCA show is quite possibly my favorite comics event all year, and I was really bummed to miss last summer. Thankfully, this year's show is making it up to me by having booked Seth. God, I love comics so much, you guys.

* Wow. That last link didn't have one bit of swearing or stupidity in it at all, did it? We...we just can't go out on such a positive note.

* Oh, I know, how's about I repost a bunch of pics Sam has up on her Tumblr of wanna be models decked out as skimpy versions of superhero comics characters?

For a second there I thought someone might be likely to take something I wrote on this blog as heartfelt and serious. Glad that moment's over.

If you're at MoCCA, look for me. I have brown hair!

Pimping My Stuff: War of Kings: Warriors #3

As long-time CKT afficionados may recall, Crystal is not one of my favorite characters. Imagine the complex range of emotions I experienced then when I was told that one of the feature characters in War of Kings: Warriors would be, you guessed it, Crystal.

Fortunately, I had the formidable skills of writer Jay Faerber on my side, and he actually is a fan of Crystal. He brought me around to seeing a not-so-bad side of the Inhuman I so loathed, and working with him as well as my editorial gurus Bill Rosemann and Michael Horwitz, I daresay we created a story that even the most avid Crystal hater (that would be) can really get into and that War of Kings fans should certainly not miss.

War of Kings: Warriors #3 (technically War of Kings: Warriors - Crystal #1, but that's a mouthful) has a kickass story by Jay also featuring the gorgeous art of Adriana Melo and Mariah Benes (seriously, it looks smokin') and is currently available on Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.

Bottom line, guys: I edited a friggin' Crystal story--can you really tell me you're not a little curious?