Cory Matthews and More.

Usually, I write about comics, or sci-fi, or animation, but I thought, "Heck, why not dork out about this great show on Disney Channel?".  I grew up in a time where fewer people had cable, and more teens watched the networks.  ABC, had a Friday night block called TGIF that gravitated more to shows about teens during the mid-90's.  There were still some great family shows on later versions of TGIF like "George Lopez", "8 Simple Rules", and "Last Man Standing", but there was a certain magic about those late 90's shows where theme nights could even cause crossover cameos.  Tonight I'm writing about what's come from Boy Meets World.    Me and my peers loved the characters from that show, watched the reruns on Disney properties during college, and even wrote fanfic about what happened after Cory, Topanga, Shawn, and Eric left for New York.  The spin-off ison Disney Channel Friday nights, so check it out.

I've been watching Girl Meets World since the pilot aired.  There was a ton of hype going into it's premiere, and I wasn't disappointed.  It's got more comedy, and can get a little more zany than Boy Meets World, but that's something of a staple for mainstream Disney Channel shows.  Girl Meets World stands out from the pack, not just by involving characters that older fans loved, but also by teaching the audience great lessons.  I'm 31, and am learning some stuff from this show.  Part of me wishes that something like this had come across earlier but that would rush the Boy Meets World continuity.  In terms of content, this is like 2 parts "Wonder Years", 1 part "Boy meets World" and 1 part "iCarly".  I feel that the lessons taught are meant to reach a wider age demographic.  There's a Shawn and Angela episode (with an appearance by Chet), and the whole episode is about moving on in their adult lives and opening their hearts to being parts of families.  There's an episode where Mr. Turner makes his big return and is a proponent for graphic novels in a school curriculum.  There are stories about the importance of friendship, the importance of different types of people, standing up to bullies, autism, and other strong subjects.  Michael Jacobs and his team approach these topics with so much respect, skill, and good intentions, that I'm left stunned.  Something from the show that I often reference when talking sprituality (I attend a Unitarian church pretty often), I used a great quote from Girl Meets World season 1 that is very inclusive and I guess Universalist without using that specific term.  One of the lead characters said that he believed in "A guiding hand that has your best interest at heart.".  I use that when discussing theology with other people my age, and they often like and agree with this description.  It's afterward that I point out how it's from a show on Disney Channel.  

So that's what I have to say about the lessons right now (I could gush some more, and I probably will at some point in the future).  The show is primarily about the daughter of Cory and Topanga (Riley), family, and her circle of friends.  The circle is a little wider than it was in Boy Meets World.  You have Maya (the creative with an atypical homelife), Farkle (the quirky son of Minkus), Lucas (a boy who teeters between platonic and romantic chemistry with Maya and Riley), and Lucas's friend (Zay).  Riley has a little brother looking at the world from a younger perspective, Cory is her class's teacher (inspired by Feeney) and has so far taught the class two years, and Topanaga's a lawyer who bought a small cafe to preserve the original owner's legacy.  That cafe's sort of this new show's Chubby's.  That brings me to the recurring characters (I know.  *gush, gush, gush*).  Jackée Harry plays an eccentric businesswoman.  Harley Keiner works at the school and has become a positive influence on students. Shawn, and Eric are recurring, and you get Cheryl Texiera playing Maya's hardworking single mom.  Come to think of it , I'd include Mr. Feeney as a recurring character too.  He's appeared once or twice in each of the two seasons so far, and for the adults both in the show and watching the show, its great to know that he's still available to offer some pearls of wisdom.  This season, he gets a great moment with Riley, Maya, Corey, Shawn, and Topanga, in his famous garden.  At this point, I guess it's evident that I have a sappy sentimental side in addition to dorky, geeky, and whimsical.  That's a combination that I see in Riley, and there's a handful of characters (adults and teens) that I can relate to in ways.  The episode that just aired this weekend, involved a bully who went to great lengths to put Riley down for being that unique and happy.  Riley's struggle to even tell her friends the way the harassment made her feel reminded me of some experiences I've endured.  It was so touching and inspiring that I felt compelled to use my blog to help get the word out to more Boy Meets World fans.    This is a little slice of TGIF that can appeal to all.  If adults are finding positive inspiration from shows like My Little Pony, why not check out this show too?  

There's also another series I sometimes catch on Disney Channel Friday nights.  I don't get Disney XD, so this is where I go for Star Wars: Rebels.  It's a hit show in between Episodes III and IV.  When Rebels had great performance on Cable, it's pilot even got a network screening on ABC one Sunday night with a special Darth Vader intro.  New Rebels episodes are coming this October, and hopefully, they'll soon be on Disney Channel Friday nights to come.  So come watch, come DVR these shows.  

Once again, TGIF.

Carrying on Batman Beyond.

Today, I'm writing about some comics that have continued a great animated saga that originated in the Timm-verse.  Batman Beyond.  Batman Beyond came from Warner Bros. pulling Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and their gang away from BTAS to do something futuristic.  It had a great run, and chilling animated movie before getting mixed into the Justice League Unlimited series.  What I'm writing about is the comics that emerged a few years ago.  This first one was called "10,000 Clowns", and was created by Adam Beechen and Norm Breyfogle.

This series begins while Terry McGinnis is beginning college.  The lead story is about an international rally of "Jokerz" occurring in New Gotham.  Prior people see in Batman Beyond, fans have grown familiar with Joker's cult following through the street gangs, but who would've thought that this obsession would reach this far.  Then there are stories that tie into this.  We learn much more about Dana's homelife (she's Terry's high school girlfriend).  A grandson of the notorious Joe Chill

emerges having a role in Terry's past and now trying to do some good in the world.  Lastly, we learn about what years of superheroin has done to Bruce Wayne's health.

The descendent of Joe Chill has an interesting backstory and he will later be a great help to Batman, but it's not my favorite of the story components.  I like see some strong emotion in a story, and we get this in Dana's family.  Dana was one of the starring characters in everything Batman Beyond before this, but I don't think her family was ever shown.  Something happens at home for her causing great tension and causes her to withdraw from Terry's life.  It's in the darkest hours and most action chaotic times that Dick Grayson comes to Terry's aid and Bruce Wayne comes to the rescue of Dana's family.

It was all very touching, and the scale of the story reminded me of "Return of the Joker".  This starts bringing Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson back into the fold as members of the Batfamily.  There's a scene that hints at classic DC characters who will be in stories to come.  There's even a longtime Bill Finger character who suddenly pops up in the futuristic landscape, helps, and then disappears just as mysteriously (yet to be seen again).

Kyle Higgins will eventually take up the lore with Batman Beyond 2.0, and I love both writers' continuations of what Finger, Dini, Timm, and others had set before them.

A New Webhead

Today, I'm reviewing this first trade paperback installment of Brian Michael Bendis's Miles Morales, from Ultimate Spider-Man to Amazing Spider-Man.  The story puts a new face behind the mask, but also gives this Spider-Man a few more abilities (a "venom sting and the ability to turn invisible).  I had originally dropped the Ultimate books from my reading list when Ultimate New York got flooded, killing off a slew of characters, but until then, I read some awesome books by the likes of Jeph Loeb, Brian K. Vaughan, and Mark Millar.

Looking back at '02 when the line was first started, I remember opening my first issue of Ultimate X-Men.  The concept was re-invisioning the Marvel U into characters more relatable to the demographic (at that time, generation Y).  Parallels were drawn and little tweeks were made.  I'd strongly suggest finding a copy of Ultimate Avengers: the Movie, an awesomely animated feature preceding the live action Avengers by six years.


This synopsis glosses over the story, so SPOILERS.


So here, I'm talking about the newest person with infected spider-blood.  Despite coming from a good household with loving parents, Miles has a very negative influence in his life, an uncle (a geared up Marvel villain) who charismatically appeals to the young teen.  When Norman Osborne tried to have the Parker radioactive spider replicated, the lab animal slipped away into Miles's uncle's bag during a break-in at the lab.

During another forbidden visit to his uncle's apartment, Miles gets bitten by this new spider and gets endowed with abilities similar to Parker's.  Like Peter Parker and Kamala Kahn, he comes from a lifestyle of being studious but not that popular.  As a recently accepted student at a school for the intellectually gifted.  I feel that this place of academic focus will not just help him in school, but in dealing with the abilities he discovers, and the extraordinary matters he encounters once having joined the Ultimates.

I think that there are bigger differences between Morales than merely race (the uncle differentiates Parker as "white Spider-Man").  Parker had been orphaned, and raised by a kindly aunt and uncle, with the uncle famously dying early in Parker's origin story.  Morales is also a gifted only child, but he's got both parents through this book.  Unlike the legendary Ben Parker, the uncle who influences this Spider-Man is a manipulative gangster who wants to use Miles to get himself further in the underworld.

By the end of the trade, both uncles have met their demise, but I was still yet to see how that affected Miles's relationship with his parents.  There was also a schoolmate blatantly watching as Miles confides in his best friend, and we don't see (at least in this book) what comes from it.

Inevitably Miles was going to join the mainstream "616" Marvel dimension after Secret Wars.  First the 616 Spider-Man gets stuck in the Ultimate dimension.  I thought that it was a little lame that when comparing characters in their counterparts, some differences that he pointed out were very plain, and in other characters it was more subtle.  I thought it was well written the way that he interacted with a grieving Aunt May, and learning that the Ultimate Gwen hadn't died, but in the comparisons between the Ultimates and their counterparts....  He notices that this Nick Fury is black, but not that this Tony Stark resembles  Robert Downey, Jr. much more closely?  At once point, he compares the two by calling the Ultimate Fury cooler, but when asked to describe the 616 Fury, all that Parker can offer is that Fury's "white"?  Is it some closely guarded secret that unlike this Fury, the 616 one is a cigar chomping older guy who goes stomping around in the SHIELD action uniform and  has a son that strongly resembles Ultimate Fury?  Storywise, it was a setback in my eyes to see scientist good at spotting details,  make comparisons on such a basic level.

When it comes to the art, I liked Sara Pichelli's drafting ability, but am uncomfortable with how many times she uses spread layouts.  I understand that she comes to comics with more a filmmaking perspective, but when presenting multiple panels to a reader at once, it can be difficult reading three

consecutive spreads in a comic medium where normally people read one page at a time.  Call it opportunist or excessive to use consecutive spreads, I've asked around and am not the only one who has found this layout pattern a little confusing.  It had me wishing that Chris Samnee had gotten a larger share of issues to illustrate in this book.  I do like Pichelli's giving Miles's mask wider eyes than Parker's.  It's like a caricature of the wide-eyed innocence innocence that Morales has compared to Parker and that the adult head is larger in relation to the eyes than an adolescent's.

I'd definitely suggest this book to other readers because it creates a great new character I look forward to reading more of in the future.  Later this year a 616 Spider-Man title by Bendis and Pichelli will launch, but I hope Pichelli goes easy on the spreads this time around.  As a reader, I'd like to put more focus on taking in the story than trying to figure out the sequence in which I should be taking it in.

Here, try.  These are three consecutive spreads, that are get bookended with one page layouts.

X-Men.... In Space.

Today, I'm writing about "Rise and Fall of the Shi'Ar Empire by Ed Brusker, Billy Tan, and Clayton Henry.  Those of you just familiar with the Saban series may remember the X-Men's missions that involved the Shi'Ar imperium.  They were the one's with the facial markings and big black hairlike feathers.

SPOILERS    -    The lead in is the story of "Deadly Genesis"     -     SPOILERS

Leading into this story, there was the House of M event and the subsequent mutant decimation.  This surge of mutant energy not only triggered a return of Apocalypse but also unearthed a dark secret from Xavier's past.  In the 70's Wolverine and Storm's first X-Men team was created to rescue a  first team who had been captured by a living continent called Krakoa.  Before Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, etc.. were recruited, Xavier had sent in a a another team.  That's right, there were others all this time.  Xavier had lost contact with them, and other X-Men who would encounter with Krakoa would be oblivious to this team.  Two members had somehow survived this time in a dormant status.  Vulcan (the third Summers brother) and Darwin (a mutant who's ability to adapt in any way that would mean survival) had combined into one being, with Vulcan taking control.  Like his brothers, Vulcan's abilities involve absorbing energy and letting it loose.  With House of M, and Decimation, he took on so much energy that he became an "omega level" mutant with this heightened power he acted out in vengeance with devastating results.  This didn't end with Earth, and a remorseful Xavier leads a team to try saving the Shi'Ar some grief.


Going into  House of M, what we knew of Cyclops and Havok's origin was that they were of an Alaska family where the father was a pilot.  During a family flight, the small plane encountered some malevolent Shi'ar craft.  Scott and Alex parachuted down, but the parents were abducted.  the father (who became the space pirate "Corsair") would later escape, but after seeing Emperor D'Ken kill his wife.  It turns out that the wife was pregnant.  The third Summers brother was torn from the womb and put an accelerated incubator until he was of ripe for enslavement.  He would later escape, but now Vulcan wants payback.

Xavier puts together a team to go to space hoping to stop Vulcan, and they gain some allies along the way.  A recurring theme that I noticed is that most of these characters are either seeking vengeance deep down, seeking atonement, or have shown great acts of forgiveness.  Wrapped in the stargates and space fleets of sci-fi, the story started out as one focusing on mistakes and damage control.  As Vulcan continues on his quest, we see this turn into a political conflict.

One of D'Ken's sisters had been the empress for a long time, but trouble was brewing as rebels started trying to bring back a more warlike imperial regime.  There's a handful of coups, killings, melees, and a wedding.  We learn about the history of the Shi'Ar royal lineage, and how different individuals have tied to rule in different styles.  Unfortunately, after a violent climax, we don't see much resolution as much of the staff gets prematurely sent back to Earth.  Despite this arc being promoted as a big saga of an event, I feel that this was more an awesome chapter of a bigger story.  Afterward, Brubaker would write one more story for Uncanny X-Men prior to Messiah Complex, while the story of Vulcan continued in a string of limited series by other creative teams.  I had tried following it, but honestly, the story got too exhausting for me.  I looked into what happened once the dust settled.  some of the leaders from the story have been killed off and eventually, the head of the Imperial Guard is appointed the new Emperor.    As of now in the books, Gladiator still leads the imperium, but many of the deaths from this larger story have already been retconned with means like a cyborg resurrection.

In terms of the art, I think it was thoroughly awesome, but I loved the covers by John Watson.  They had a sense of realism in the anatomy, costume, and landscapes.  It reminded me of Alex Ross or the Leyendecker brothers.

The book was an enjoyable adventure, but I've definitely read better from Brusker.  Wait until I start posting about Gotham Central.

Monumental News in Comics

News broke today that's prompted a special second post for the day.  Warner Bros. and DC Comics will start giving Bill Finger credit as co-creator of Batman after 76 years.  The original 1939 contract gave credit only to Bob Kane, but support behind Finger has been slowly building in recent decades.  I've been making sure to mention him in many of my Batman-related posts.  

You will be able to see his name included along side Kane's starting halfway through the second season of Gotham and Batman vs. Superman.  We have this man to thank for so many characters throughout DC and even Wildcat and Lana Lang (Smallville anyone?).   

Thank you D.C. for acknowledging Mr. Finger's contributions, and congratulations to Bill Finger's family.

Batman and Robin (Not the Movie)

Today, I'm talking about another Batman project from Jim Lee.  This time, he was teamed with Frank Miller to create All Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder.  It was meant to accompany the acclaimed All Star Superman from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, but went down a bumpy road.


The story is about when Dick Grayson first joined Bruce and Alfred.  Through the course of the story, we get to see some pretty big figures from the DCU.  Wonder Woman, Superman, Plastic Man, Hal Jordan, Catwoman, Black Canary (possibly a combinations of Dinahs I and II), Joker, Vicki Vale, and Jimmy Olsen all show up in the series.  I don't know why Olsen's working in Gotham in this series, but that's a mere detail given that I'm reviewing the book as a whole.  Some stories come to rest by the last issue and some are left open-ended (with fans waiting for the series to come back).  Beyond the crude language and very dark violence, I think that the primary story in the series is Bruce Wayne learning how to be a propper role model to a young ward.

SPOILERS

It isn't until the end that Bruce allows Dick to try making peace with his family's demise.  Until that point, Batman was all for turning Grayson into a figure of vengeance.  That's not healthy and in the last issue, it's too dangerous even for Batman to allow.



So some of things I liked even just for aesthetic was the industrial design of some of the equipment.  Having the police driving in retro style squad cars with cherry top sirens only added to the feel of old school corruption behind the badge.  Batman makes a point to say that police elsewhere can be trusted and so can one man with the GCPD (Gordon), but in general the Gotham cops were very corrupt.  The first Batmobile we see goes with the vibe of Raymond Loewy era automobiles, looking like a 60's Ferrari but with a lone batwing on the back like during the Bill Finger days.  Then the Batmobile turns into a jet fighter and then a submarine, and the ever heightening contrast in technology makes it seem all the more apparent how far advanced Wayne's technology is.

Something else that stood out to me about this book is script.  This is a very wordy book, and I can accept that.  There's a lot of play between dialogue and monologue (external and internal) and a little of what I'd like to call "nonologue".  Just to get nonologue out of the way, its what I'm using to describe the expression of information that is more universal and transcends language barriers.  It's

the ambience in a scene or how the panels are composed.  With a cinematic approach, illustrators can convey things that would otherwise need to be summed up in words.  The creative team did that in many ways through this book.  You take in the overwhelming expanse of the Batcave with a six-page spread.  Many of the characters in the Bat-books are very private people.  Thinkers, but private thinkers so there is a lot of inner monologue to be expected.  Like what Gail Simone does in Birds of Prey, you can usually tell whose inner monologue is whose by how it is presented.  Font, color, background, texture, the shape of cell containing the script, ....  It's when Black Canary gets introduced that you get a lot of  play with this.  She works in a bar and is getting all these rude catcalls from the patrons.  As the internal monologue rolls, you see it get interrupted repeatedly by different characters making gestures towards her.  It shows that she's a private thinker but us conscious of these customers' lines to the point where they push her past the tipping point.  Then you get a whole lot of external monologue and martial arts.  She's dressed like Dinah I, but but we get hints from what her talking does to people that maybe this is a more subtle "canary cry" of Dinah II.  Dialogue also causes some issues beginning with this issue.  It's the one issue where we see the Gordon household.  Barbara has a very dirty internal monologue that often includes a word that could have been cut down to b$ or more.  Miller doesn't mince words with this language.  When I picked this up on it's first Wednesday of sales, the book had slipped past DC's censorship.  In the hardcover, there's black lines through the word everywhere it appears.  The other problem I had with dialogue in the end of the book was in the final issue that seemed out of character even for a Miller Batman portrayal.

All throughout the book, Batman is sniping at Superman for what he stands for, what abilities he has, and what he does with them.  So who does he go toe-to-toe with in the last issue?  Hal Jordan.  A dumbed down Hal Jordan.  With the first few pages we get that this GL is the butt of jokes.  The unexplained weakness towards the color yellow, a corny personality, silver age, and the Comics Code approved gimmicks for his ring constructs.  It feels like Miller is going out of his way to make Jordan more of a subject to ridicule than actually pitting Batman against someone who could be a credible rival as far as heroes go.  Then the dynamic duo trap him with a confrontation where everything in the room aside from the GL is yellow.  Even the lemonade that Batman offers.  I get the humor, but since when does Batman work so hard on a gag?  It reminds me of the very thought out practical jokes Jim and Dwight would play on each other in the American version of the Office.  Lastly, there's the fact that Batman has so much external script (monologue or dialogue) in this scene with Jordan.  Especially with Miller's iconically dark and broody Batman, why is he so talkative?  I like the absurd creativity of the yellow room gag, but I think my favorite part of the issue was after Robin had severely injured Jordan (more than Batman would've wanted).  It's then that Batman pulls back his yellow cowl and uses some medical skills he had picked up.  Chromatically, you gets some nonologue, in how the humor of the yellow palette gets disrupted by the seriousness of the matter at hand, how Batman starts speaking to Robin, and his concentration on saving Jordan's life.  It's a great visual technique.  Before this concluding issue there's some extensive scenes showing a sadistic killing by Joker.  Joker's behind one of the greater stories in this series, but I think that giving this  big chunk of book to show a killing irrelevant to the main plot was originally meant to do more than just show how demented a person he can be.

I'd still recommend this book to Batman fans, but it's a messy last few issues that keep this from being a great series in my eyes.  Hopefully Miller and Lee get back together to create a sequel book to this.  The publishing schedule was sporadic like Alex Ross's Justice, and Joe Quesada's NYX, and I'd gladly want to read what  they put together to end the story as they had intended.

Classic GI Joe: Reviewing the First Volume of IDW's Reprints.

Today I gush..... about G.I. Joe.  Not so much the Sunbow animated series, the movies, or the original toys, but the Comic series started by Larry Hama at Marvel that debuted in June 1982.  Sitting next to me is the first volume of IDW's releasing the Marvel run.  Before IDW got the rights to publish G.I. Joe books the properties had been published at a few other houses since leaving Marvel.  IDW has since reprinted most of the stories, but I'm displeased that the stories from Devil's Due and Image got "disavowed" from continuity.

I'll get into those in good time, but today, I'm writing about Classic G.I. Joe Volume #1.  If I remember correctly, 1982 was when Hasbro started producing 3 3/4".  A character would later be created as the original "Joe", but one of the driving motivations between this line was to see G.I. Joe as an elite military unit rather than an individual.  At Marvel Comics, Larry Hama was tasked to lead the creation of a comic series that would act as a companion to the toy line.  Hama himself, is a Vietnam veteran and could provide insight into details of protocol, equipment, and procedure.  These volumes are evenly divided to contain about 10 issues each, so you can get a few adventures in one trade and maybe get a story that straddles a pair of volumes.  The series opens with a one-shot where a nuclear physicist is kidnapped by a terrorist organization and is taken to their island.  The scientist  and was on her way to testify before Congress about how was supposedly unaware that she had been working on a "Doomsday Project".  When she's taken, you first see the elite squad that will be sent to her rescue. They're not to enthusiastic about saving someone with such a negative reputation, but those are the orders.  Something I really like about these early books is that the soldier's dress code was primarily much more uniform.  The exceptions were Snake-Eyes (a ninja who endured disfiguring injuries during a prior mission) and Scarlett (another martial arts specialist who grew up in a family that ran a karate school).  In some ways it can be seen as sexist that it took a few years to have more female Joes.  In other ways it could be seen as progressive, given that until recently, female soldiers hadn't graduated into the US military elite forces like the rangers and SEALS.

Some of the other stories in this volume deal with Cobra cells that had been established in the U.S. and a militia that Cobra had been supporting.  There are also missions that take the Joes abroad.  Sometimes, they are protecting diplomats and foreign leaders.  There's also a continuing rivalry with their Soviet counterparts,  (the Oktober Guard).  Current events of the time play a big role in the book.  Cold War tension can be found as sometimes the G.I. Joe team and the October Guard would work together and other times they'd be in competition for a certain goal.  There's also a lot of wonder in NASA's space shuttle program (it's interesting to see how how much optimism there was in these shuttles before that sobering day in 1986).

Something that I'd like to emphasize in looking back at these early stories is that I like seeing the series at its essence before there were characters with big personalities and outlandish appearances.  I like Roadblock, but in my opinion, he's not as awesome as Stalker.  Stalker's one of my favorite G.I. Joe characters.  I'm not entirely sure why he didn't get much attention in the animated series or any of the movies.

I'd suggest these classics to people who grew up with G.I. Joes in your comics, on your TV, or mixed into your toys.  I view this series as an 80's Marvel counterpart to the stories of Sgt. Rock that Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert created at DC in 1959.

Gushing About a Birds of Prey Trade.

Today, I'm writing about the book that first got me reading Gail Simone's comics.  "Of Like Minds".  It's where she brought Huntress into the fold with Oracle and Black Canary (this canary I think of as Dinah II).   The combination of Oracle, Huntress, and Black Canary had been seen the prior year in DC's attempt at a Birds of Prey live action series.  The TV show's huntress was based on a different version, but I do wonder if that cast affected the lineup for Simone's book.  Honestly, I love them both.

SPOILERS - This is a light synopsis.

What brings this trio together is a blackmailer who is well trained in computers and martial arts.  This man (Savant) honed his skills to become a superhero like Batman, but would fight criminals for the wrong reasons.  In ways, he was a darker counterpart to Oracle.  He and his companion (Creote) worked in the trade of information dealing and blackmail.  Oracle had become an obsession of Savant's through the cyber realm.  He was familiar with her online presence and technical abilities, but trying to discover

who she is in physical reality (he name, family, etc.) was an obsession of his.

Helena is helping the Birds of Prey on some missions when Dinah gets caught by Savant and Creote.  They tried covering all the bases in preventing Dinah's escape.  She had devastating fractures in each leg, her esophagus and trachea were swollen after taking a calculated hit.  On top of all this, she was handcuffed to the frame of a bed.  Someone assisting Savant under duress was able to help Dinah in small ways.  The ways that she helps herself are just grueling, hardcore, and creative, but it makes you wonder what Dinah wouldn't do when desperate enough to get out of a bad situation.  With Barbara at their base of operations leading the team, Helena comes to Dinah's rescue after solving her case.   As he and Creote are being apprehended, Savant reveals how high profile some of his victims are.  One is a U.S. senator who wants that information concealed no matter what.  When one of the birds pays the senator a quick visit, she sees just how intimidating he can be, and that he has it out for the whole Birds of Prey unit.  He uses his political might as leverage to try getting the Birds to hand over the information.

The trade closes with the senator trying to put the squeeze on more of the people involved with the incident at Savant's estate.  Savant escapes from prison in the process, and we see a temporarily handicapped Dinah II come to Helena's rescue.


Dabbled through these stories are showings of the Birds' lifestyles.  Little traits that make them all the more real and relatable.  Eating fast food while sitting on a scanner for one thing (It annoys Barbara, but Dinah sees some logic in it.).   Through the course of these books, we get to learn about the character's day jobs, Helena's family history in organized crime, possible romantic relationships, and the relationship that Dinah and Barbara have with Jim Gordon.  You even get to see other superheroes in the Birds' social circle appear for different reasons.  Cassandra Cain (one of the Batgirls pre-Flashpoint) and some other DCU martial artists pitch in to help Dinah stay trained while in a wheelchair.
 
Through this series, one of my favorite characters has been Dinah II.  I often refer to her as "Dinah II" because her mother was a different Black Canary named Dinah.  As she fall out of the picture, her old teammates (silver age guys like Ted "Wildcat" Grant) help Dinah II to follow in her footsteps.  Something that seemed very significant in Dinah II's character is that she tried not to rely on her metahuman "canary cry".  For her, it was much more about ingenuity, tricks picked up from her teammates, and mastery in martial arts.

I'd definitely recommend this book to other comic fans.  There's something about these early stories of Simone's Birds where the core cast was smaller and other superheroes and antiheroes would just be passing through.  Something else I enjoy about these books is that they're print on paper that's like a newsprint heavier than your your average newspaper stock.  It can't convey all the types of hi-def. art created today, but it's sturdy.  Living in a city with lots of humidity, rain, and snow, glossy comic pages tend to buckle even when protected.

Hush's identity is. Shhhhhhhhh

In the winter of 2002 and 2003 I got into the Hush storyline from Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, and Scott Williams.  Wizard had shown a preview that showed Batman dealing with Killer Croc.  Hungry for more, I trekked through some Boston snow to follow this arc.  It's primarily a great book for any Batman fans.  Many members of the the Batfamily and Batman rogues get worked in.  

Killer Croc, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Joker, Harley Quinn, Riddler, Scarecrow, Harvey Dent, Clayface, Ra's, and Talia......  What type of mastermind can manipulate all these villains into his debut?  It's what everybody was wondering when they saw the man with a head wrapped in bandages seemingly calling the shots. It all primarily took place in Gotham aside from trips to Metropolis, and North Africa.  Searching for the answer, there was a red herring that stirred up speculation and dredged through Bruce Wayne's past.  


Okay, so SPOILERS time.  Here's a brief synopsis.


I'm not going to pore over every detail here, but most.  The closer to the beginning, the more it seemed that each issue was a story on its own all while playing a part in something larger.  The first part was where Batman and Catwoman rescue a child from Gotham's upper class who had been kidnapped by Croc.  The boy's family had made their money through a chemicals company (now a subsidiary of Luthorcorp).  Their noted recent product, (RC-60) was a napalm that can be desguised as lipstick.  Kidnapping and asking a ransom was out of character for this reptilian foe, which gave Bats an idea that someone bigger was orchestrating all this.  We dig deeper and find Poison Ivy. Seduced by Ivy's toxins, Catwoman stole the ransom money and delivered it to Isley.  This brings in some assistance from Huntress.  After a brutal slugfest with Killer Croc, Batman makes it just short of the Batmobile's safety.  Someone had cut a battling Bruce was swinging on, Batman fell down to Gotham's alleyways.  He's about to get attacked by some thugs when in rides the Birds of Prey's resident badass.  Bruce gets back to the batcave but in critical condition.  A surgeon who Bruce knew from childhood (Tommy Elliot) was flown in to his aid.  During this issue we begin to see some scenes from the past indicated by watercolor paintings.  we learn that Bruce and Tommy's friendship predated the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne.  Thomas and Martha look on as the boy's play a Stratego-ish game.  There is some strong foreshadowing.  We learn that Tommy can think more steps ahead than Bruce.  The adults see what could be a lifelong friendship unless tragedy should strike.  

Resiliently, Batman is soon back in the cowl and interrogating Croc.  Enraged, Killer Croc escapes from Arkham.  Croc takes off after Catwoman.   It's Batman's first impulse to go after him personally, but Amanda Waller also wants in on the hunt.  The boy who had been kidnapped was the child of people supporting President Luthor's campaign.  In another flashback, we learn of another part of the Wayne/Elliot friendship.  Tommy's parents were in a car accident.  Thomas Wayne tried to save both of Tommy's parents but the father didn't make it.  Back in the present, a captured Croc gets handed over to Checkmate as Bruce travels to Metropolis to learn more of Luthor's involvement.

In Metropolis, whoelse  should we find other than Tommy Elliot.  In a flashback, we see a some great memories of when the duo went to Metropolis as children.  They got to see firsthand the golden age Green Lantern (Alan Scott) battling Icicle.  Wayne pays Lois a visit at the Daily Planet with Clark walking in on some mild sexual chemistry.  With Lex in the White House, Talia had taken control of Luthorcorp.  Oracle identified the key ingredient in RC-60 and and informed Bruce.  Talia told Bruce how this chemical was an exotic botanical extract from the Amazon.  Now he goes after Poison Ivy.  She's got Catwoman and Superman.  She had some green-K lipstick for the last son of Krypton.  We know that Batman's willing to fight dirty and he had a kryptonite ring for just such an occasion.  The two fight it out as Ivy's lair gets destroyed and the toxins slowly make their way out of Superman's system.  Part of Ivy's hold losing effectiveness is about chemicals.  The other part is motivation.  Batman had Catwoman stage a hostage situation to bring Superman to Lois's rescue.  GCPD captain Maggie Sawyer arranged with her old friends with the Metropolis PD to bring Poison Ivy back to Gotham.

With everything seemily solved, Bruce and Selina join Tommy for an opera.  The performance goes awry when Joker, Harley, and their henchman take the stage.  Selina and Bruce spring into action (and into costume).  Among the people in the Joker's captive audience, Tommy gets robbed by Harley.  She takes an important keepsake from Tommy's mother and he goes after Joker & company as well.  By the time Batman catches up, Joker is standing over what looks like a dead Tommy with a smoking gun.  The following issue is about Batman pummeling the Joker.  As memories of Barbara getting shot, and Jason Todd getting killed (both by the Clown Prince of Crime) few can pry the enraged Batman off Joker.  Harley can't and it takes a confrontation from Jim Gordon.  If Jim can show mercy to the clown, so should Batman. In the shadows we see someone dressed as Hush flipping a coin with a scratched out head alluding to a possible identity.  

Dick and Tim join Bruce at Tommy's funeral.  Bruce reflect on how Tommy went to med. school inspired by Thomas Wayne.  The more Batman rues about these events, the more he wonders what this has to do with Jason Todd.  Nightwing offers empathy and tries lighting the mood.  They thwart an armored car heist .  While it involved Riddle, it seemed irrelevant to the larger Hush story.  Someone dressed as Hush appears in front of Joker's cell at Arkham and unwraps the bandages.  It appears that Hush had been a Two-Face who had freshly undergone cosmetic surgery.  Batman and Talia have an air-to-sea rendezvous as Bruce wants to know what Ra's has been up to, but Talia doesn't seem to know.  Someone does, because a sword from the League of Assassins is found lodged into a Batcave computer console.  Batman goes to North Africa seeking Ra's al Ghul as Catwoman goes after Talia.  Sat Batman duels Ra's in a sword fight, Lady Shiva comes to save Talia from Selena.  Ra's knew that Talia had been captured and sent Lady Shiva.  If Ra's was to lose his duel with Bruce, he would contribute what he knows of this underlying story.  Batman comes through and Ra's tells of a Lazarus Pit that had been defiled and asking who from the past would want to come back from the dead.  Lady Shiva beats on Catwoman, but Talia shows that she doesn't want her father's help.  

After Alfred has provided medical assistance to bruce and Selena, Bruce checks on Jason's grave and finds that the remains have been stolen.  Tensions rise, Tim Drake doesn't like Catwoman getting inside information and neither does Huntress.  Doing her own thing Huntress chases down Catwoman.  Batman fights her off  As he surmises that Scarecrow is behind Helena's actions, Scarecrow rides in on Huntress's motorcycle.  Batman tries getting answers out of Crane when he sees someone who looks like Hush holding Tim Drake in headlock.  The bandages fall away to reveal what looks like a theoretically older Jason Todd.  With how brutally and bitterly, "Jason" expresses his anger towards Batman and third Robin, Batman realizes this couldn't be Jason.  soon he's revealed to be Clayface.  Bruce pays a visit to Oracle.  Huntress is a teammate of her's and Barbara may be able to help with an electronic relay found in the Batcave computer.  Barbara finds that it was an inside job involving a programmer who helped Bruce.  When Batman tries contacting this man, the programmer gets shot dead by someone with a bandaged head who holds a pair of smoking guns. 

This figure has Tommy's keepsake.  As he and Brussel fight, it's revealed that Harvey's behind these bandages.  Harvey owns up to shooting Tommy, but says that Tommy was ultimately behind this, and behind his his facial work.  Batman denies it, but is challenged to exhume the body and find that it was a clay duplicate.  It all ends with Batman consulting with Riddler, with all these questions but few answers.  Riddler had used a pseudonym when seeking Tommy's help regarding a terminal carcinoma in the brain.  The only thing that could cure him was a lazarus pit.  The recovery from cancer had intrigued Tommy and his closeness to Wayne.  We close not knowing what's happened to the body of Jason Todd.

This was a very gripping story.  It clawed through Bruce's past and had everyone asking questions.  Jeph Loeb has since brought his storytelling to Marvel and works in their live action department.  Jim Lee's a co-publisher at DC Comics and recently talked with Kevin Smith on a podcast about how much detail he put into Batman's gear during Hush.  Scott Williams continues his award winning career as an inker.

The Ultimate Real Ghostbusters Collection

In 1984, the world met a team of paranormal investigators.  They had proton throwers, a retrofitted Cadillac, and some great comedians behind their portrayals.  Columbia Pictures and DIC teamed up to create a cartoon series that would appear two years later.   The Real Ghostbusters would help the Ramis/Akroyd creation to take the world by storm.  There were Real Ghostbusters action figures, sleeping bags, lunch boxes, and even a Hi-C juice flavor.

I loved the series.  VHS recordings of Saturday morning Ghostbusters were important items in my house.  At 6 years old, I didn't notice how much talent there was behind the cartoon.  J. Michael Straczynski led the writing staff, and the voice cast had some of the best names of their generation (Google "Maurice LaMarche").  The character design even stood out from the completion.  The Spirits were well researched, and they could take all kinds of forms.   The series would go on for 7 seasons, with a spin-off off of Slimer shorts, and a spin-off with a generation X team.

I was ecstatic the day True Life announced an upcoming home video boxset.  It was going to be the complete series, and there were many I had yet to see.  I fondly remember episodes about the Copycat, werechickens, imps, etc., but had only seen some of the earlier syndicated episodes through home video rentals.  The hype slowly built up.  There was a public vote among fans for what the box would look like, and we started learning about a huge amount of special features.  Things just got better and better.  The box was a replica of the firehouse, the set would also be divided into 5-disk volumes.  Most of the episodes had introductions from the cast or crew, and sometimes video commentary.  On top of that, the final disk in each volume had a featurette about the length of an episode.  There's image galleries from promotional pieces and concept art., storyboards, and scripts.

It's so awesome.  in the first featurette, you learn how the animated series first got pitched and put together.  Kevin Alteiri (a big name from animated TV shows) showed some of his promo art during an onscreen interview and I just melted.  He showed a promotional painting that I can remember being sold as a jigsaw puzzle.  Better yet, I could see some connection between how the Ghostbusters look there, in the PS2 game, and in the IDW comic series.  !!!!!!!  Staczynski talks about how to write the series, at the cast starts telling how they got the parts when not exactly trying to play Ramis, Potts, Murray, Akroyd, and Hudson.  Ernie Hudson actually interviewed to reprise his role but it went to Arsenio Hall instead.  Cast members talk lovingly about Lorenzo Music playing Peter.  I had grown up listening to him on Ghostbusters and Garfield.  I don't think I cannot immediately associate that voice with those characters.

The second feature follows the average development of an episode from first script, through the casting director, and to the recording sessions.  The character designer, (Gabi Payn) shoes how the promotional art got developed and how characters were designed.  Physically, the characters couldn't look too much like the movie's cast (different from the IDW comic).  Everett Peck (another character designer) shows how he'd take a description for monsters and realize what they would look like.  Peck has also worked in animation for some Klasky Csupo cartoons and has drawn for the New Yorker, Playboy, and Time magazines.  Next, you see the boarding process in how the narrative gets told visually.  We then get to watch an animator draw Slimer and show how frame by frame a motion gets captured on paper, then through clean-up, and the color key people who  decide how visually capture the feel.  WE GET TO SEE A CELL GET PAINTED!!!

There's a feature solely dedicated to developing the human heroes of the story (someone else gets a featurette of his own).  This video gets into what each character brings to the table and how that will be brought to the show.  Egon was the awkward brain with a dry sense of humor.  Winston was the everyman.  Ray was the the intelligent and at times serious hero who would be the ultimate nice guy with an enthusiastic sense of wonder.  Peter would be the one with the sarcasm and a soft side.  Janine originally had more attitude before the network forced her to be softer, sweeter and more maternal.  Over time Lorenzo Music, Laura Summer, and Arsenio got replaced by Dave Coulier, Buster Jones, and Kath Soucie.  It's pointed out how Coulier would be doing voice acting and then going off to play Joey Gladstone on Full House.  You may not know Soucie by her name, but you'll know her voices.  Prime examples may be Linka from Captain Planet, the second Janine Melnitz, and the twins from Rugrats.  I was watching Home Improvement one day, and a little girl screamed off camera.  I'm not sure if the regular actress wasn't able to achieve the tantrum needed, but You could hear Kath Soucie yelling in character.

The next feature (I'm going through them all), is all about the creatures.  Many of the creatures are brought out from legend,  This is how I first learned what a valkyrie was.  One of the key elements was surrealism.  Everett Peck shows where his creativity goes on the spectrum between horror and comedy.  Then the character designers show how they can translate the drawings to animation.  Personally, I would like to know if Everett Peck was also involved designing monsters who would only be used for Kenner action figures.  I've recently seen a few such characters make cameos in the IDW book.

I'm working my way through the disks and have noticed that only volumes 1-3 had individually been released for retail.  You need to buy the set to get the rest.  The last volume is more about the first Ghostbusters spin-off, the Slimer shorts.  All of the art was a little more rounded and kid friendly.  Slimer would find rival in the cat, (Manx).  You also get to meet other people in the neighborhood who Slimer has befriended.  Volume 5 opens with a featurette on Slimer.  The evolution of Slimer is something that you can observe through watching the movie and then this DVD set from beginning to end.  Until, watching this video, I didn't know that the creature haunting a hotel was supposedly based on the John Belushi.  Belushi was going to star in the film had he not passed away beforehand. With the animated series, Slimer got a name and would follow the Ghostbusters as a comical and endearing sidekick.  As Slimer became more popular, his communicative skills increased.  Originally he was sputtering, purring, screaming, and expressing himself physically. Slimer's verbal skills developed a bit as his world broadened.

Disk 25 is the bonus disk and entirely dedicated to special features.  You get the promo pilot (with optional commentary), extended interviews with cast, crew, and execs, the DVD trailer, and alternate end credits footage.



This has to be one of my favorite DVD sets.  The reason I get DVDs is primarily for the special features, because you can't always find those online or on Netflix.  There's an amazing 80's documentary called "Slimer Won't Do That: The Making of the Ghostbusters" which I would've loved to see included in the box set.  Ramis and Akroyd get interviewed.  You get to see rare footage of Frank Welker working in the studio.  Fortunately Ghostbusters.net uploaded that onto YouTube.



I'd like to close with an important matter regarding these great DVD sets.  I've seen DVD's get released with extraordinary collections of special features.  Unfortunately, those are often only on region 1 DVD format.  Shows like Gargoyles and the Ghostbusters have a large and very devoted fancies worldwide.  I don't think it's fair for fans outside the US, US territories, Canada, Bermuda, and the Carribean need to have a special DVD designated just to watch DVDs exclusively released on volume 1 format.  So, if anyone from home video studios is reading this, please try making these DVDs more universal.  There are fans around the world whose appetite for awesomeness is yet to be sated.  Thank you.

Like Father, Like Daughter.

This begins with a synopsis, so be forewarned of.....  SPOILERS.

Cable has never not had a complicated life in the Marvel books.  After the events of A vs. X and X-Sanction, we find Cable with the techno-organic virus purged from his body.  As he grew up the virus had turned the eye and and arm on his left side into machinery, and it was his telepathy and telekinesis that kept the virus from creeping further through his physiology.  The combined abilities of his daughter, (Hope) and the Phoenix healed him.

As "Cable and X-Force"opens, Cable's uncle and the Uncanny Avengers were pursuing Cable and his new team because of a terrorist attack.  Since the viral Purge, Cable's life had gone through some changes.  Unburdened by fighting of a virus, Cable's psionic abilities are immensely powerful, though after years of disuse, his eye and arm have atrophied. The team's resident machinist, (Forge) is able to fit him with an eyepatch and a robotic arm that can be worn like an Air Cast brace.  On a more psychological note, we find through Dr. Nemesis' diagnosis that Cable's motivation is too prevent

tragedies he sees in precognitive visions, and the precognitive abilities are causing a swelling of the brain.  Over the course of this series by Dennis Hopeless and a variety of other creatives, the team roster comes to include Cable Forge, Dr. Nemesis, Colossus, Domino, and Hope, Blaquesmith, and Boom-Boom.  Many of these team have been close with Cable for a very long time.

In his compromised state, Cable must learn to trust members of his team to take different responsibilities, and the story starts including multiple concurrent  missions.  They destroy anti-mutant facilities, hijack alien spacecraft, battle demons, robots and cyborgs, and try avoiding the Avengers.    As Cable starts suffering severe seizures and brain hemorrhages, Hope and Blaquesmith go into the future to save his life.  The team comes out of this okay, but the reasons behind Cable's visions are pretty twisted.  Saving his life takes away his psionic abilities.

The whole series ends as Cable's X-Force book and Storm's X-Force book converge in a concluding crossover event.  The X-Man Bishop had hunted Cable and Hope through the time streams all of her life.  When the teams cross paths, Stryfe (an evil clone of Cable) tries persuading Hope into enacting vengeance upon a captured Bishop.  Hope comes close, and Bishop repents.  Hope isn't ready to completely forgive but finds it dishonorable to kill him under these circumstances.  Strife tries harder to act out against Cable and forces his limitless powers upon Hope, planning for an overload to cause mass destruction.  In the end it's Bishop who can help Hope safely vent this excess energy.  Absorption and expulsion of energy is his mutant ability.



I really enjoyed this series.  You can see how growing up the daughter of Cable in a survivalist lifestyle does to Hope and what it may lead to her doing in her future.  Like with X-23's relationship with Logan, Cable's fathering isn't an entirely a good thing for Hope.  Good thing they have time travel, right?

Another favorite part of the series is the chemistry between Forge and Dr. Nemesis.  Forge is a Cheyenne machinist also trained as a medicine man, so he brings mystical and and engineering strengths to the team.  Nemesis on the other hand is like television's Dr. Gregory House if House was also a cybernetically enhanced Nazi hunter who through time travel delivered his own birth, meeting his mother before she dies in labor.  You take these two complex characters and specialists in different field of science, and you get one heck of a rivalry. There's a scene where out of boredom they create a giant robot and a genetically modified scorpion to fight each other in a battle exhibition.  I really wish Marvel would give these two a series of their own.  They could be a balance of needing out and fighting crime.

Gushing About the First Volume of Shrugged

Today's feature is a particular favorite from my bookshelf, "Shrugged: A Little Perspective" from Aspen Comics.  This is one of the many stories that first came from the imagination of the late Michael Turner before co-creator, Frank Mastromauro, and some other artists came in to bring this idea to the readers.  In the forward, it's mentioned how Aspen first gave comic fans a taste in a mini comic included in a 2006 issue of Wizard magazine.  This is where I first encountered the series.  The preview was packed in with some promotional material for Fathom and Soulfire.

The more I've learned about Turner, the more I appreciate the view and perspective he brought to comics, but honestly I haven't read his work with Top Cow or on his previous Aspen books.  Outside those publishers, I think his most famous work is part of a well known Supergirl comeback written by Jeph Loeb.  Turner passed away in 2008 after a fight with bone cancer.  There's a great documentary on YouTube about his life.

So this book, it isn't your traditional superhero story.  It gets into ethics, psychology, and even spirituality.  The premise theorizes that each of us humans on this plane of existence are given two life guides at birth in addition to our friends and family.  These two beings come from separate sides of a planet called Perspecta.  Guides from Elysia tended to be calm, reserved, peaceful people who

preferred to reason their layout of conflict.  On the other side, (Nefario) the people (and they generally were separate race from the Elysians were more outspoken, quick to action, and assertive.  They came from two separate schools of reasoning.  An Elysian and a Nefarian would be teamed up and assigned to guide people through life.  They each have their charge's best interest in mind though they tend to approach situations differently.  They bring balance to eachother's traits.  The monkey wrench in their mission of guidance is a group of gangsters called the "What If Mafia".  They work under an Elysian gone Nefarian and are responsible for theft, acts of malice, and other deeds that most Elysians and Nefarians stand against.  Their only goal is to provide temptations.

The primary characters of this book are Theo and his guides Ange and Dev. This is where a synopsis comes in so......


SPOILERS.



Ange and Dev have an idea of how special Theo is, but they're all taken by surprise when Theo starts hearing their conversations and debates.  They become entities that Theo grows conscious of, and their important job continues to spin out of control when they are able to physically manifest on Theo's plane of existence, and impact the lives of others.  As an underworld scheme develops in Perspecta, you get to see what happens when the Elysian/Nefarian balance in guidance is broken.  There are times where Dev starts bro'ing it up with Theo.  With Dev leaving his post to play a different role in Theo's life, Ange's traits of responsibility, politeness and being well-groomed increase their impact on Theo at times too.

For Theo, this all starts with him thinking that he was losing his mind.  Prior to the story, his older brother had commit suicide, and his parents are both psychologists who turn talk of mental health into dinner table discussion topics.  One of his two close friends, (Thom) has empathy for Theo as another  pubescent teenage boy.  The other close friend, (Kiori) is the female "friend friend" who as a an observer you as a reader are wondering when (or if) they'll get together.  Theo, Thom, and Kiori, are a trio who are in the middle of the social hierarchy.  There are bullies who are going through their own internal turmoil, and a girl in the class who Theo's attracted to though she's considered out of his league.  As things get stranger for Theo, his parents, Kiori's father (a reverend) and the school guidance counselor worry over him with good reason.  None of us know exactly why order is being hurled out the window, and it's unknown to us if this is what drove the brother to his death.

The division between these interacting realms becomes more unpredictable.  Theo, Kiori, Thom, Dev, and Ange are all transported to Perspecta where the noise from the underworld is getting louder.  They embark on a mission to solve the conflict but don't know where to start.  The Elysian/Nefarian balance in everyone's lives is starting to fall in a state of chaos and members of the What If Mafia play a more persuasive role in the worlds.  Meeting a girl from school on Perspecta (for reasons she can't completely understand), we learn that Theo is a person of exceptional importance in the eyes of Elysian and Nefarian leaders.  Why?  None of us know.  Conflict arises in an Elysian high council that usually acts in a very composed manner.  Treason and connections to the leader of the What if Mafia  come to light.  Theo is told by life forces neither Elysian or Nefarian that he and his friends must evacuate to his world through a transdimennsional gate.  The transportation (a process called "transfersecension") doesn't function completely this time, and the life energies of Dev Ange and Theo are combined into a super-powered Theo.  He takes the fight to the head of the mafia as conflict rises on throughout both worlds.  It is revealed that the powers controlling all Perspecta are contained in one sacred box.  The two lead antagonists greedily fight for this box as Theo, his friends , Ilysians, Nefarious, and other mystical races fight to keep this almighty power from falling into the wrong hands.  The values of Elysia and Nefario, and the survival of both worlds is all at stake.

Tranquility and balance prevails, (as we all should hope), and in a touching moment, we get a glimpse of secret significance that runs in Theo's bloodline.  No.  This surprise ending is something I'm not going to reveal, even as a spoiler.  Most of it isn't even known to us by the end of the book.  This amazing story was meant to be a first VOLUME.  There's more to be told.  In 2013, Mastromauro began to create a Shrugged Volume 2.  Out of the gate, it struggled with critics and in sales.  Continuation of the story remains on hiatus.

I'm writing this lengthy post, not only to gush about a series that explores stones left unturned in conventional comics, but also to inspire readers  to go out and experience this story that Michael Turner an Frank Mastromauro set before us.  Aspen still exists as a testament to Turner's overall creative vision.  Let us be fans, and comics professionals who allow the story of Shrugged to continue.

Wonderful Lessons from Oz.

Today's post gets into books published by Marvel, but that come from far outside of the Marvel realm.  Eric Shanower and Skottie Young channeled L. Frank Baum to tell the stories of some heroes from 1900.  This is a project that first began with Baum's first book segmented into issues and turned into a lovely hardcover.  This work was popular with the readers and earned them some prestigious awards as well.  The primary focus today will be on the first book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", but excuse me while I gush a little about Skottie Young first.

Young's style can be very cartoony.  There's usually sweetness and humor, but you could also find illustrations of Magik fighting demons in Limbo.  His earliest work that I have is the Tsunami series featuring Johnny Storm.  What really won my heart was a comic book issue with the students at Xavier's' (many of them Weir/DeFilippis characters) looking back on what had happened since House of M.  There's roasted marshmallows, teen angst, Beast trying to examining newfound abilities of some students, and characters just hanging out.  Amid a mess of teen drama, there was a page that  I still think is one of my favorite X-Men scenes.  The characters Loa and Wolfcub are eating ice cream, talking about who is the youngest mutant in existence.  Pixie flies by leaving a big cloud of hallucinogenic powder.  The next panel has Wolverine slicing through the cloud yelling "$#%^ING UNICORNS!".  I wish I could see what Young's unicorns looked like.  Since then, I think Skottie Young may be best known for making "X-Baby" versions of anyone in the Marvel U. for variant covers.

Shanower, (as I've learned from the forward) is a giant Oz fan.  It tells the story of Baum's life and talks about a famous MGM film.  Shanower was so excited that he started writing an illustrating retellings of the Baum books and co-founding a publishing house dedicated to all things Oz.  There's even a Oz-related ballet on this man's resume.  Fan?  Oh, yeah.  Who else should Marvel bring in to work with Young and colorist, Jean-Francois Beaulieu?


I'll say that even if you've watched the movie, or the Saturday morning cartoons, SPOILERS!  This is some heavy stuff.


They were very earnest in trying to deliver a product as close to Baum's story as possible.  Silver shoes rather than ruby, witches of many regions, more enchanted creatures, and obstacles, ..... Even waiting until the end for Dorothy to meet Glenda.

Long before Timely created a Marvel Universe or DC had one of their own, L. Frank Baum created the Oz universe.  Each land was ruled by someone.  I had never known of the Scarecrow's deep sense of inadequacy, the very sad background of how Tin Woodsman transformed from a lovestruck
munchkin to a rusted humanoid, or the root of the Lion's cowardice.  Faced with a first set of obstacles and enchanted creatures, Dorothy and Toto's three companions rise to the occasion and find newfound strengths.  You meet people from the Emerald City living within or beyond the city line.  Once you see the culture there and the tinted goggles that give everyone there a more emerald perspective, you start seeing that Baum was writing on socio-political subjects that didn't all make it into the film.  The travelers' infiltrating the Wicked Witch of the West's castle didn't go as smoothly as one usually thinks.  You see where Dorothy was kept in captivity and see the witch finally steal one of the shoes.  The resulting conflict and this witch's well known to aversion led to her demise.  Dorothy now has taken the golden cap from the vanquished witch and leaves to bring it back to the Wizard as proof of her victory.  Like the silver shoes, this hat is enchanted too.  The wearer is allowed to command three things of the winged monkeys.  The first command is a ride back to Oz.

The Wizard, (as we know from the film) is reluctant to drop the facade and fulfill the promises he made.  The wizard's projection is much more intimidating than the talking mask in my opinion.  That makes it all the more significant where the Lion scares a mere human out from hiding.  The Wizard reveals that he is from Omaha and can relate to Dorothy's predicament.  Her companions haven't realized that inside they've already found the ability to love, intelligence, and courage, so the Wizard gives them placebos.  Rather than a diploma, the Scarecrow gets his head filled with needles.  Forgive the pun when I say it made him sharp.  A plush heart was inserted into the Tin Woodsman's torso, and the Lion was given a bottle of "courage" to drink (Insert joke here.).  When the Wizard takes off back to the states, the Scarecrow is left to lead the Emerald City.  Dorothy can't find Toto in time to catch the balloon ride.  The winged monkeys are summoned but can't get her back to Kansas.   After a citizen of Oz suggests that Glenda could help,  the Scarecrow makes the decision to escort Dorothy and his friends.  They encounter dangerously animate trees, miniature ceramic people, giant spiders, ogres, and a tiger who would star in a later book).  It's when facing the ogres that the monkeys are called for Dorothy's third command (safe passage to the north).

Upon receiving the golden hat, Glenda three commands to the winged monkeys are to bring the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodsman, and the Lion to their rightful homes.  Like the Scarecrow, the Tin
Woodsman chose to take a position of leadership as well.  The Good Witch of the North then gave the golden hat to the leader of the winged monkeys, granting them their freedom.  Dorothy is told that with three clicks of the heels, the silver shoes could take her wherever she wanted to go.  It's pointed out that if Dorothy had known this before, her journey would've been much simpler, but Dorothy doesn't regret being there to help so many.  She departs, and races across a field to the embrace of her aunt.

Reading this in my 20's and writing this review now, I have a deeper respect for what Baum, Shanower, Young, and Beaulieu were trying to get across, and I see subjects that can relate to current events of the early 1900's and the mid 2010's.  There's a common moral of the story that what we often desire from life, we've had the potential for all along.  The emerald tinted goggles were like rose colored glasses in how they altered people's perspectives.  Splitting hairs, and perhaps digging too much into this, could the power of the golden cap be a well intentioned (though not politically correct by today's standards) metaphor for the racism and slavery that has tarnished the history of the United States?

Aside from all these interpretations, (and some that may yet to be found), I really love that that this story depicted people not just having to be homo sapiens or even humanoid.  It's like L. Frank Baum took a step back and viewed the world on a larger scale.  I'd recommend this book to people of all ages because we all have something to get from it.  It can even be people's gateway books to graphic novelizations.  I'd even say that I can see this book used in an academic environment.

Introduced to the Secret Six.

I started reading Gail Simone's DC books a few years ago, and devoured the work she had done on Birds of Prey.  There was another team that she's well known for writing, and I'm reviewing a great book that introduced me to them.  That team is called "Secret Six".  Walking into this story the most I knew of the involved characters watching Bruce Timm's animated DCU, reading a Secret Six story in the pages of Birds, and reading Jack Kirby's Fourth World.  This gave me a running start, but you can also pick up this book with less familiarity.

The first thing I noticed about this trade (Secret Six Vol. 1 "Villains United") is the book's size.  I love a lot of issues in a trade, and DC was generous here.  13 issues.  They are all but divided by an event called "Flashpoint".  Flashpoint and the subsequent "New 52" revamp changed the entire DC Universe in various ways.

The first six issues tell of how the Secret Six team was first created.  It's a six issue arc, and a bonus tie-in issue I'll get to.  Between 2005 and 2006, there was a story arc by Gail Simone called "Villains United".  In the midst of chaos and DC rogues everywhere, a mysterious character named Mockingbird creates a team of mercenaries who he would send on missions.  They were put together to counter a rival organization consisting of other villains.  There are so many different characters written into the scenes that when you're not seeing combat, you're watching what chemistry comes from different individuals.

At the end you get a 7th issue showing the heroes' perspective of what's going on.  Not just any heroes, but Oracle, and the Birds of Prey with some help from their friends.  Simone has a very loyal fanbase, it its transparent that both writer and fans alike love Barbara Gordon.  In the past Gordon was paralyzed from the waist down, and developed a new superhero identity as Oracle.  A part of the New 52 that made some of the most noise was that Barbara would start walking again (in a Batgirl series skillfully written by Simone for the first 34 issues).  Seeing Oracle, Nightwing, Manhunter, Hawk, Dove, Lady Blackhawk and other Birds of Prey again was awesome.

The last six issues of the trade paperback are where Simone picks up in writing the Secret Six. for the New 52.  Most of the characters from the Heroes United roster return.  The team is completed with a mighty woman from Jack Kirby's planet Apokolips and a Batman rogue who seems more disturbed than usual.  Between having some antiheroes, some characters who are socially off-putting, and someone who grew up in a much different culture, the doors are wide open to all kinds of impulses, emotions, misunderstandings, treachery, and heartbreak.  All of that laced with some humor to break the tension.  There was even an appearance from the Doom Patrol.  A team I knew from the Teen Titans animated series.

Looking back on the book as I write, I'm noticing another little parallel between two members of the Secret Six.  One is being pressured by her father (a very notorious DCU baddie) to continue his criminal legacy.  His shoes aren't necessarily ones that she wants to fill.  In contrast, one of her teammates is a family man.  We see in some moments he's on leave, that this DC villain doesn't want his daughter exposed to his violent profession.

There's many twists, and I've been fighting the temptation to spoil some of them in my gushing.  This book has gotten me hooked on Secret Six.  I've got the next bountiful volume awaiting review in the weeks to come.

The Return of Goliath's Clan

Growing up in Boston, I would watch the Disney Afternoon programming block on WSBK 38.  It was my window to Duck Tales, Tailspin, Gummi Bears, and Darkwing Duck.  In October of 1994, I was reading an issue of Disney Adventures that introduced me to something new, and a bit dark.  This was before Claude Frollo sang "Hellfire" to music composed by Alan Menken.  I imagine that the darkest of Disney creation prior to Gargoyles would have been the Black Cauldron and Fantasia's Chernabog.  The story was rich with deep characters and fantastic character design.  When WSBK changed their afternoon lineup from Disney, I was cut off from these stories.  During Christmas break

2004, I saw that Disney had started releasing Gargoyles onto DVD, and I fell in love with the series all over again.  There's so much about Gargoyles to gush over that I'm not even going to try cramming everything into one post.  So this what I have to say about season 1 and its DVD set.

Gargoyles imagined a species of humanoids who played big part in medieval Scotland.  They were of a different nature than humans, but shared many of the same virtues.  As human's played their part in civilization, the gargoyles felt duty-bound to protect the castles and rookeries they called home.  They were a nocturnal species who would turn to stone-like material at daybreak, resting in a vulnerable state.  When many members of the gargoyles' clan had been destroyed or trapped in stone through an act of betrayal, the leader, (Goliath) asks their few allies to enchant him as to cast the spell on him as well.  He's too grief-stricken, and the one thing to break the spell ("when the castle reaches the sky") seems impossible.  A wealthy businessman played by Jonathan Frakes (from Star Trek TNG) has heard this legend and tests it, it moving every stone and gargoyle of the castle to the top of a New York skyscraper.  Goliath and the transplanted members of the clan try to acclimate to the 1990's and protect this new home.

They find an ally in a NYPD detective, and we start to see characters and inspiration from Shakespeare's plays.  This interest of creator, (Greg Weisman) would inspire many fans to read classic literature.  As the series continues we will see more characters appear from plays, legends, and myths worldwide.  The further the series went, the more depth we as fans got to see in characters.  Sexual chemistry, ambitions, obsessions, emotional turmoil, and other elements were woven into the stories.  As the season draws to a close, we learn the fate of some other gargoyles.

Jonathan Frakes isn't the only Star Trek actor to appear in Gargoyles.  Trek actors seem to frequent many shows of Weisman's.  In season 1, you will also hear the voices of Michael Dorn, Nichelle Nichols, and Marina Sirtis.  Personally, I see Greg Weisman as a Joss Whedon of animation.  He's had a succession of strong television series, and fans have followed his career for decades now.  He regularly answers fans questions through the internet, and when preparing for this post, I had checked with him about home video availability.

While the episodes are available  on YouTube through Disney Television but only in the U.S., and otherwise there are Region 1 DVD sets which may or may not be troublesome depending on where you live.  Hopefully, If there's enough public demand worldwide for Gargoyles, we'll be able to see a wider release.


So now, I'm going to get into the special features.  Around this time, Disney would release home video packages almost sensing where there was a great fan following.  Despite Atlantis not having the best of box office sales, fans got a massive two disk release in 2002 with a big backstage featurette.  When it came time to release Gargoyles season 1, there were commentary tracks, the original pitch, and even a 15 minute video about annual Gargoyles conventions.  In upcoming years other Disney cartoons from this era would get released to DVD but not with such treats.

As a visual narrator, I love listening to commentaries and hearing the creative perspectives.  Viewers' get to watch the five-part pilot listening to Weisman, Frank Paur (the director), and Keith David (the actor behind Goliath).  It gives you an insight on just how much story there was to put into these episodes, and the keen interest in the show that the actors had.  The next feature is a copy of the pitch where you get to see a younger Greg Weisman showing some rough drawings of the gargoyles as he explains the concept.  Looking back in time like this reminds me of a video I've seen of Disney animation studios back when Tim Burton was on the animation staff.

One of the biggest features, (for me at least) was a 15 minute video about the conventions.  From 1997-2009, there were annual events called "Gathering of the Gargoyles", and I'm reading now that there was another one in Minnesota last year.  I'm hoping that I can catch one at some point in the future, because they look like a lot of fun. I wasn't that familiar with message boards until I was well into high school, so I had no idea there was a huge fan following for this show.  Phenomenally, the show has united a community of like-minded people, and not always those who had too many friends.  These fans come from far and wide, having cosplay shows, table reads with some cast members, art exhibits, opportunities to draw figure studies,  and chances to meet some of the driving people behind the series.

For anyone who wants to buy copies of the two-disk season 1, Amazon has a great deal for it.  I'll be gushing about more gargoyles releases soon enough.