DVD Tuesday with Scotty G

Push – This is the big release of the week, and the film can be described as a low grade X-Men, if the X-Men characters were just regular human beings, and didn’t have fancy costumes. Would you know that they live among us? The film stars Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning as characters with special powers who are trying to find another like themselves. The other is the only known person to have escaped a place that is apparently inescapable. Reviews have been mixed, but they do give the film points for trying. It’s an interesting premise, that might be worth checking out.

Grey Gardens – This is a HBO movie that was originally a famous documentary, and then a musical, and now it’s a fictionalized film. Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange star in the film about Big and Lil Edie Bouvie Beale. Lange gives a great performance from what I have read, while Barrymore fares all right in her role. Definitely a film for females.

The Haunting in Connecticut – This film had one of the most frightening trailers, and best posters of 2009. The funny thing is, I don’t care to see the film. Weird! Usually I get sucked in by marketing campaigns, but not for this film. There is not much to write about for this film, because the title says it all. A house is haunted in Connecticut. Check it out if you want a good scare.

Mad Men: Season 2 – One of the most acclaimed shows on television today, Mad Men: Season 2 arrives on DVD, and is a good, but not great season, but it was hard to live up to how great season 1 was [or so I hear, as I have actually not seen the show myself]. The good thing about Mad Men is that the seasons are short, so buy this season, and season 1, and catch up on what all the fuss is about. For fans of 30 Rock, this is the show that Jon Hamm regularly does, so you’ll want to see why he is such a popular actor right now.

ER: Season 11 – Can you believe Season 11 is already out on DVD? Only 4 more season to go to complete your collection. When you hit the 11th season, I doubt many people by seasons as a one of. You have to be hardcore to buy seasons that have 2 digits in them. The Chicago set hospital drama continues in doing what it does best, but this season is most notable for Ray Liotta’s guest appearance, which he won an Emmy award for.

Next week has the big DVD release of the year. All I’ll say is “Who Watches The Watchmen?”

Until next week!

Crisis? What Crisis? – Andy B on the Final Crisis Hardcover Compilation

Is every event comic really an event? The ones that are supposed to shake things up and tear things apart? How close do they really come to making an impact?

It’s safe to say that DC’s Final Crisis makes an impact. Written by superstar scribe Grant Morrison and illustrated (most of the time) by J.G. Jones, Final Crisis was a 7 issue mini-series that saw Jack Kirby’s diabolical New God creation Darkseid bring Apokolips to Earth (or is it Earth Zero – more on that in a bit). Throughout the series beloved heroes are corrupted and turned to the dark side (here called Anti-Life), and at least two legendary characters meet their demise. Whether or not you’re a DC fan, it all sounds compelling and exciting. And in some ways it is.

Ending its run earlier this year, Final Crisis was recently compiled into an attractive hardcover, featuring a cover that is pretty much as big a spoiler as you can get these days.

Yes, Final Crisis features the apparent death of the Batman, a victim of Darkseid’s “Omega Sanction”. Don’t know what that is? That’s alright, I had to look it up online at Wikipedia. The Omega Sanction “traps the organism in a series of alternate realities, each worse than the previous one. Also, the ability has been shown to transport those struck by it through time and space.” It’s all very sci-fi and complex, but it also makes it clear that Bruce Wayne will one day be able to make it back to the world he belongs in. While I wish I could say the Caped Crusader meets his end in spectacular fashion, sadly, the moments leading up to Batman’s death are anti-climactic.

After missing from the majority of Final Crisis (the last we saw of him was in the second issue after he’s been captured by Darkseid’s minions), Batman makes a triumphant return out of nowhere in Issue 6 to make his stand. The whole moment just sort of happens, which is one of the biggest problems I had reading Final Crisis. Things just happen, and you never know exactly why. Or where.

For the novice reader, DC stories don’t take place in just one universe – there are something like 52 differing universes out there; sometimes they interact, sometimes they don’t. I don’t know much about the complex nature of the multiverse and I try not to think about it too much because it gives me a headache. Grant Morrison, on the other hand, knows a lot about the DC multiverse, and he certainly enjoys showing off his mastery of it in Final Crisis. It doesn’t seem to matter if I get what he’s going for or if I know who some obscure character is. Morrison knows what he’s after, and the reader is just along for the ride. For a good head spin, check out this interview with Morrison that Newsarama conducted back in January.

Much like Final Crisis, I’ve gotten a bit off track. I apologize. Now don’t think that I hated the series, because I certainly did not. I thought the artwork by J.G. Jones was outstanding, especially the opening three panels which made me say “wow” outloud. Jones handles the majority of the work in the book, though he does have some able assistance from Doug Mahnke towards the tail of the run. There are also some brutal scenes that demonstrated that the creators weren’t messing around when it came to casualties.

The Final Crisis compilation also includes two tie-ins that Morrison considers essential parts of the larger story. Superman: Beyond is, in this reader’s opinion, weighted down by techno-babbble and confusion. Better is Final Crisis: Submit, which features Justice Leaguer Black Lightning as he tries to help a gang of survivors evade the hordes of Darkseid. Submit is a mixture of dark and light, hopelessness and optimism (along with the downfall of another core character).

As a Marvel Zombie born and bred, I tend to prefer the Marvel Universe method of storytelling (less sc-fi, more real world), but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the work of the distinguished competition. I thought other DC event series like Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, and 52 were all stellar achievements. That said, I don’t think Final Crisis is as solid as any of those series. Or as unique. About halfway through reading Final Crisis the story started feeling a little familiar to me. Hell on earth, a somewhat demonic overlord. It was like the Age of Apocalypse all over again. Except frequently incomprehensible. And with need of footnotes. And endnotes.

While you’ve got to admire Grant Morrison’s gusto and ambition with Final Crisis, I think you’ve got to shake your head a bit as well. Seemingly given carte blanche to do as he will, Morrison created a story that is so reliant on the reader knowing and understanding everything that’s come before in the DC Multiverse, that all you’re ultimately left with is a gorgeously crafted piece of impenetrable fiction.

Until the next crisis…

Scotty G’s Box Office Wrap Up Report

I correctly guessed the Top 5 films in order, but I wouldn’t say it was a successful weekend as I was off by a fair bit in my top 3 picks.

Bruno opened at #1 with $30.4 million [I predicted $41 million]. There are many positives about this. First, it had the highest per theatre average with $11,040. Second, it was the number one movie despite playing in the least amount of theatres out of the top 5 films [only 2,756]. The critics like this film, but do not love it as much as Borat, so we’ll see how word of mouth plays over the coming weeks. I personally thought it would do much better, just because of how heavily marketed the film was.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the #2 movie for the second weekend in a row with a gross of $28.5 million [I predicted $19.6 million]. It held up much better than I had anticipated, dropping only 31.6% from its opening weekend. There might be some life in this franchise overall. Its total gross now stands at $120.5 million.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen fell from the top spot to #3 this weekend with a gross of $24.2 million [I predicted a gross of $16 million]. This is the event film of the summer, there is no disputing that anymore. It may not be the best film in theatres, but it is a big, loud, romping blockbuster of a film, and that is what audiences want. It was only down 42.8% from last weekend, and its total gross stands at $339.2 million.

Public Enemies dropped one spot from last weekend. It ended up in the #4 spot grossing $14.1 million [I predicted $14.6 million]. It suffered the largest drop percentage wise of any film in the top 5, by being down 44.2%, and its per theatre average was only $4,230. This tells me that that long term prospects are not good, and I don’t think it will break $100 million. I will say that the film is worth checking out to see Marion Cotillard’s performance. I am predicting a Best Supporting Actress nomination for this film. Public Enemies total gross is $66.5 million.

Rounding out the top 5 is The Proposal with a gross of $10.5 million [I predicted a gross of $8.32 million]. The Ryan Reynolds/Sandra Bullock romantic comedy continues to play well with its target audience, as it had the second best hold of any film in the top 10 by being down only 18.3% from the previous weekend [The Hangover which landed in #6 with $9.9 million was off only 11.9% from last weekend]. Its amazing that The Proposal is holding up that well, and its total gross stands at $113.7 million.

I Love You Beth Cooper opened outside the top 5, as predicted, with a gross $5 million. It will be available on DVD shelves soon.

So to recap, here were my predictions:

1) Bruno - $41 million
2) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – $19.6 million
3) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – $16 million
4) Public Enemies – $14.6 million
5) The Proposal – $8.32 million

And here are the actual numbers:

1) Bruno - $30.4 million
2) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – $28.5 million
3) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – $24.2 million
4) Public Enemies – $14.1 million
5) The Proposal – $10.5 million

This week brings us the arrival of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Check back later this week to find out my predictions on that film.

Tales from the Long Box Vol. 2 # 5: JP Revisits Millennium # 1

Every weekend this summer, we’ll be bringing you a new instalment of a 12-part series of reviews of meaningful comics found in the collections of our writers. “Long Box” refers to the lengthy, white cardboard boxes most comics find themselves stored within - bagged, alphabetized and numerically ordered.

These reviews, then, are the tales of those collections: illuminating characters, artists, writers - even eras - in addition to the personalities of the very owners of those fine collections.











Millennium # 1
Writer: Steve Englehart
Artists: Joe Staton and Ian Gibson
DC Comics


Twelve years before the world rushed head first into the new millennium wrapped in a worried state over political unrest in the Middle East, the threat of Y2K, and the all-consuming despair of a losing Toronto Maple Leafs hockey franchise (maybe it was just me), DC Comics had their own harbinger of the soon-to-come 21^st century.

The 8-issue mini series, Millennium, was the comic book publishing company’s 1987 summer blockbuster, a follow-up to 1985’s highly lauded Crisis on Infinite Earths series. Millennium would work much the same way as its super heroic predecessor with various chapters tying into the monthly issues of other DC titles.

Written by long-time comic scribe Steve Englehart, arguably most famous for his acclaimed 8-part Batman story that ran in Detective Comics in the late 1970’s, and illustrated by Joe Staton, also a veteran of the industry, Millennium told the story of mankind’s evolutionary accent into Godhood. Well, for a planet with a population of over 6 billion, ten individuals would get the chance - a pretty exclusive club.

Englehart and Staton had just written the dissolution of the Guardians, blue-skinned, male dwarfs who ran the Green Lantern Corps in the page of the monthly Green Lantern comic. The creatures, along with their female counterparts, the Zamarons, had left this plane of existence in order to find some kind of higher learning. In Millennium, two of these entities return, proclaiming that their mission was to bring about the evolution of man.

The main story itself ran weekly, a fresh idea at the time, and while it wasn’t particularly innovative, there were some subplots and ideas inherent in Millennium that were truly forward-thinking.

In the months leading up to the release of the first issue, DC started publishing full page advertisements in their various comic books marketing the series. Englehart had incorporated a sub-plot detailing the betrayal of mainstay, popular heroes. One of the more famous ads showed an image of Lana Lang, Superman’s high school sweetheart, alongside Perry White, his current boss at the Daily Planet. Under their pictures ran the tag line: One of these people will betray Superman. A riveting thought. Indeed, in the series, readers discover that the Manhunters - the Green Lantern’s arch nemesis - had placed sleeper agents within the fabric of the supporting characters of DC’s greatest heroes. Some of these people, who readers had known all their lives, were not who they had believed them to be. Of course, this was a major revelation, negating, in some cases, decades of characterization and story. The hook, as well as the heat left over from the Crisis series, had people buying Millennium in droves.

Another aspect that was pioneering at the time was the physical make-up of the chosen ten. They were from all walks of life and deliberately written against white, male-hero stereotypes. Utilizing a “united nations” approach, Englehart included an Australian aboriginal girl, a South American gay male, a Japanese man, a Chinese woman and a young, English girl of Jamaican descent, among others. Calling themselves The New Guardians, the group would get their own monthly series at the conclusion of Millennium.

Interestingly, The New Guardians would fail in terms of garnering public interest and, more importantly, sales. The series would only last for twelve issues. The characters that made up the team, for the most part, have since fallen into obscurity, an interesting commentary at the time about the roles gender, sexual orientation and race played in the comic book community.

DC’s comic universe today, however, boasts many characters that fall into the “minority” camp with a lesbian Batwoman currently finding herself at centre stage in a sold-out Detective Comics run. Renee Montoya, the new Question, is both gay and of Hispanic descent. Both Black Lightning and Mr. Terrific, of African American descent, have taken leading roles in Justice League of America and Justice Society of America as well. Perhaps the strange plans of the Guardians and the Zamarons, as written by Englehart, have taken hold in the real world, after all.

In fact, both the Guardians and the Zamarons have since come back into prominence in the current Green Lantern monthly comic book and the DC Universe in general – more evidence that nothing is ever permanent, no storyline ever unyielding, no character ever “written off” when it comes to comics. This summer, DC’s big event series, Blackest Night, which boasts the tag line that states “the dead will rise”, takes the spotlight and both of those two races will play a major part in the storyline.

Although the “tied selling” of big, crossover events that find story threads taken up in the titles of other monthly series is a generally out of favour these days, Blackest Night will still have a number of offshoot titles for collectors to choose from. You can probably bet that none of the Global Guardians will be seen in any of them.

Then again, don’t bet the house.

Scotty G’s Weekend Box Office Predictions – Weekend of July 10, 2009

Sacha Baron Cohen returns to the theatres this weekend to unleash his creation Bruno. I have no doubt that it will open at #1, but how will it perform against his previous film Borat? It’s hard to compare the two , because Borat received a very limited release in its opening weekend, as it was launched in 837 screens. However, it opened with $26.4 million and had a ridiculous per theatre average of $31,607. Just to show you how crazy that number is, this year’s top grossing film is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Its opening weekend per theatre average was $25,736, and this was a film that made over $100 million from Friday to Sunday. Bruno is getting a much larger release than Borat, as it will debut in 2,755 theatres. With a very short running time of 88 minutes, the film will be on many screens, and get many showings throughout the weekend. It’s getting good reviews, but not as good as Borat’s [Rotten Tomatoes is listing Bruno at 74% compared to Borat’s 91%], but that should not have an impact on the opening weekend. I’m predicting Bruno will open with $41 million.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs was the #1 film on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday [Thursday numbers were not available as I write this], and has been the #1 film by a decent margin. Its not getting the love of the first film, and it did not have as big an opening as the second film, so I don’t think audiences are loving the film all that much. I’m predicting a 52% drop for a weekend total of $19.6 million.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is entering its third weekend, and it should suffer another big decline, just like it did last weekend. Although it is doing well at the box office, the word of mouth buzz is not very strong. I’m predicting a drop of 62% for a gross of $16 million.

Public Enemies looks to have a strong hold in its second weekend. It is the only mainstream adult drama out in theatres, and reviews have been good, but not great. The good reviews should help more adults come to the theatre this weekend, and see what the buzz is about. I’m predicting Public Enemies will be off 42% for a gross of $14.6 million.

The Proposal will round out the top 5, and has become the latest film of 2009 to join the century club [it reached the $100 million mark on Wednesday]. It’s a generic rom-com, but people like the pairing of Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock. Expect The Proposal to drop by 35% for a gross of $8.3 million.

There is another new film coming out this weekend. Chris Columbus directs I Love You Beth Cooper. That’s right, Chris Columbus of Home Alone and Harry Potter fame. Unfortunately the film does not look very good, and early reviews would back me up. Rotten Tomatoes lists the film at 16%, as of me writing this. I predict the film will open with $6 million, and find life on DVD shelves soon.

So to recap, here are my predictions:

1) Bruno - $41 million
2) Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – $19.6 million
3) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – $16 million
4) Public Enemies – $14.6 million
5) The Proposal – $8.32 million

Check back on Sunday to see how I did!

Just Like They Used To Be – JP Waxes Nostalgic Over DC’s Wednesday Comics # 1

Do you remember those early Saturday mornings as a child when you would hurriedly thrown open the front door of the house, grab the just-delivered-newspaper and quickly rummage through the various sections just so you could pull out the comics?

I miss those days - the excitement, the cold glass of milk that accompanied my reading and the black ink on my fingertips.

Well, this summer DC Comics is bringing my childhood (and yours) back. Not on Saturdays, mind you - on Wednesdays.

Wednesday Comics, a 12-part weekly series, is the brainchild of DC Editor Mark Chiarello. He was able to convince the comic book publishing company to simply take a leap and create something entirely different in the industry – a series that would showcase a plethora of characters, both popular and obscure, all the while evoking the comics we read in newspapers as children. Assembling a top notch team of talent around him, writers and artists known for pushing the boundaries of the medium, Wednesday Comics, named after the day of the week that all new comic books arrive in stores, is one of the most talked about and eagerly anticipated series of the year – let alone the summer.

Yesterday, Wednesday, July 8, the first issue arrived in comic book shops everywhere and the series does everything it can to make you reminisce your childhood love of the genre.

The first thing you’ll notice is the tangible quality of the paper it’s printed on: newsprint! Beautiful! When the series was first announced earlier this year and teasing images of artwork began popping up on the internet, I know that I started to get a sense of this being a slick-looking project. Not so much. Although the coloring of the artwork on some of the titles does suffer on the cheaper newsprint, the images still pop off the page thanks to the inherent talent of the artists involved. Newsprint was the way to go. The conceit of the project was to bring back that old nostalgia and that’s exactly what newsprint does. I know a smile came across my face when I saw the first issue on the shelf.

The comic, folded in half while sitting on the comic book store shelf, opens up gatefold-like to reveal its true size – that of a real newspaper! Yes – everything is larger here, both words and images, just like those comics I read as a kid. It really is beautiful to behold and I’m instantly taken back in time. Each of the 15 different titles within Wednesday Comics gets its own full page spread in order to tell a story that will continue in subsequent issues.

In regards to those titles, there’s a lot to glow over.

Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso work the idea of impending doom perfectly in their Batman feature while Strange Adventures by underground auteur, Paul Pope, has a great sci-fi pulp sensibility to it. Kyle Baker’s artwork on Hawkman is incredible to behold while Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook make Kamandi feel like something from the 1930’s. It’s beautiful.

Even acclaimed comics creator and award winning novelist Neil Gaiman is in on the game, writing Metamopho the Element Man as if it’s still the late sixties: damsels are in distress, weird treasure is to be sought and the names and head shots of the various characters line the bottom of the page so that all readers know the cast.

There are some missteps as well. Even with the larger format, Wonder Woman by Ben Caldwell seems too dense to read but, strangely, this adds to the allure of the project. Even as a child, there were always characters I’d skip over, strips I’d read first or save until last.

This is no different. This is fun reading.

Initially, I didn’t think I’d be interested in a Demon and Catwoman crossover – but boy! I can’t wait until next week! And to once again see Jose Luis Garcia Lopez’s artwork (on The Metal Men) is a treat.

There’s something for everyone in Wednesday Comics, whether it’s action, mystery, science fiction or pulp weirdness. My childhood enthusiasm over newspaper-serialized comics is here again! All that’s missing is that cold glass of milk – easily within arms reach- and that ink on my fingertips.

Done and done.

Biff Bam Pop Exclusive – The Beyonder, Sex, and Subtlety: Andy B Talks To Chris Claremont Part 3

In Part 1 of our exclusive talk with legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont, we discussed his new series X-Men Forever and where he hopes to take it. In Part 2, Claremont spoke about the challenges Jean Grey faces as an eternal being, defying character expectations, and which artists might work on X-Men Forever. And now, on to the third and final part of our interview.

Andy B: I wanted to travel back in time a little bit because Marvel recently released a Secret Wars II hardcover compilation, which contains the first Uncanny X-Men issue I ever bought, which was #196, “What Was That?”. I believe it was the first time you had to write The Beyonder. I’m wondering if you have any recollections of that time period? Having reread it, it seems that incorporating The Beyonder was a very natural fit. It didn’t feel like a character had been forced into your series.

Chris Claremont: Well, that was always the challenge. The stories that actually resonate more strongly at that time are LifeDeath and LifeDeath II that I did with Barry (Windsor-Smith). The whole idea behind it was that everything about the characters was, in a lot of respects, in a primal state of flux, with Storm going back to Africa, dealing with the fact that she had no powers, to find out who she was. With The Beyonder, it was again a primal revelation in terms of Rachel’s reality with the team and her relationship with Kitty and what that meant. And oddly enough, the X-Men relocating to San Francisco for a while. History repeating itself for a while, beforehand. The idea was always that just because they’re mutants doesn’t mean that they can’t grab onto cosmic concepts as easily as Stan (Lee) and Jack (Kirby)’s FF did. And again, going along with the whole idea of the series at that time, as I recall, Rick Leonardi and I did some beautiful New Mutants issues where they were caught up in the whole Beyonder thing.

Andy B: That was devastating, where The Beyonder came and killed them all and then their resurrection.

Chris Claremont: Wonderful cover with them just climbing into their graves.


Andy B: As a writer one subject I’m quite keen on is kids and comic books. I'm 32 years old. One of the things I really enjoyed about X-Men Forever is that you can pick it up and give it to a pre-teen or a teenager and they can appreciate it as well. I’ve talked to creators about the notion of a change in mainstream comics, specifically to the Marvel Universe over the past ten years or so, where things are, for lack of a better term, a little more risqué…

Chris Claremont: The thing that Frank Miller and I enjoyed back in the day dealing with (Jim) Shooter, rightly or wrongly, was that we had the Comics Code Authority. We had to deal with it. It was a roof over our heads, but it was not an impervious roof. You could, with a little facility and a little subtly and a little grace, do damn near anything.

Andy B: Absolutely.

Chris Claremont: In some circumstances is it easier to show two characters in bed together? Yes. But on the other hand, Walt Simonson and I did what I thought was a wonderful scene with Madelyne Pryor where she wakes up in the middle of the night and she’s screaming and the reality is very simple. She’s in his (Scott's) bed; it’s a double bed. And the next panel Scott runs in and they embrace and the scene moves on. But if you blink and take a second look, you think, wait a minute. She’s wearing the pyjama tops and he’s wearing the bottoms. Well, that’s ok. People do that. Wait a minute. That’s a big bed. Wait a minute. It’s clear if you take a second look that someone else was sleeping in the bed with Madelyne because the pillow next to her is dented and the sheets are messed up. And if you follow the logic train, it's obvious. Scott got up in the middle of the night and went into the next room for any number of reasons. When she cried out he rushed back in. Had we entered the scene a minute earlier we’d have seen them in bed together. But because we chose that moment and that sequence of panels, the reality is not denied, it’s just not shoved into the face of the reader.

If you want to read the scene and take it for what it is, well there’s a room, guy runs into room, they have a scene, we move on. Wonderful. But if you want to flesh out the grace notes that are around the edges so that you can have a more comprehensive and satisfying vision of the moment, then its up to you, the reader. The option is presented. It is not made graphically plain. I find that a whole lot more fun, actually. I like the idea of the reader having to make a little bit of the effort to figure out what’s going on. My feeling is it draws them that much deeper into the story, and it treats the reader as an adult.

Andy B: You mention Madelyne. I always think of the prelude to Inferno, where Madelyne seduces Havok. There a scene where she leads him into the shadows. You don’t see anything but you can figure it out. A little while later you see Havok sleeping, and she’s in the same room. It’s almost like a 30’s or 40’s fade to black sort of thing.


Chris Claremont: You don't need to see it to know what’s going on. It allows you to use your imagination. Now what I’ve always loved about that setup was the shot of the two of them walking through the restaurant and in every panel her clothes are different. She’s wearing basic black but it changes from panel to panel to panel, and Alex never notices. No one notices, except the reader has the option of noticing it.

Andy B: I remember reading that and noticing it. It was brilliantly done.

Chris Claremont: What law is it that you can't try to a) be a little bit subtle and b) try to have some humour? We’re making still picture movies and part of the fun is that it is fun. It shouldn't just be characters standing and talking for a hundred panels or hitting each other for a hundred panels. There should always be a blend of light and dark, and action and stillness. Otherwise, you have no contrast from which to draw your dramatic conclusions. The other fundamental thing is that all it takes here to create as visually primal and exciting a vision as you can get watching Michael Bay’s Transformers trailers is a really great artist and 22 pages, and we can go to town.

I remember thinking back to when I was a kid and seeing the coming of Galactus and realizing after the fact that Stan set up, introduced, and resolved Galactus in essentially…it was one issue of set up with the Silver Surfer…and then from Galactus’ entrance to his exit it was an issue in a half. Not even two. Then The Human Torch went off to college. And that was a big event. And I thought, you get on, you say your piece, you get the hell off, and then you move to the next thing and you leave the audience sitting there thinking “Holy cow! What happens next!” And the advantage with X-Men Forever is you only have to wait two weeks.

Andy B: I realized that when I finished the book. “Oh, two weeks. This is fantastic”.

Chris Claremont: I’m all for it. It’s perhaps not as cool as weekly comics, but that gives us something to aim for. Perhaps we can increase our output to a weekly down the line.

Andy B: Well I’m happy to see you come back to where you left off. I would imagine its been strange over the years returning to Uncanny not where you left it.

Chris Claremont: Well, they’re different. This has turned out to be more fun than I’d anticipated. And yet that seems totally right and totally appropriate. Heck, I figure enjoy it while I can, and ideally leave the audience desperate to see what happens next.

Thanks for Beth Fleisher for her assistance and to Chris Claremont for his time.

DVD Tuesday with Scotty G

Not a strong day for new releases hitting the DVD shelves. There is only two new DVD’s worth checking out:


Knowing – The Nicolas Cage thriller was a surprise hit in movie theatres. The premise of the film is that Nic Cage comes across a numerical sequence that lists the days of when major disasters happen. Will Nic Cage be able to save the world? You’ll have to watch the film to find out.


The Unborn – This film comes out two versions of the film on DVD [theatrical and unrated]. I will say that this trailer was one of the scariest that I have seen in awhile, and I always like Gary Oldman, but when it came out in theatres, I wasn’t interested enough to go see it. It was written and directed by David S. Goyer, who is best known for his work on the Blade Trilogy, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight. With those credentials, it might be worth a rental on DVD, but we’ll see.

Because this week is so light on quality DVD releases, here are some TV series that are out on DVD this week.


Reno 9/11: The Sixth Season– I’ve only ever seen the movie, and I was not a fan of that, so I’m amazed that this Comedy Central series has a sixth season. For fans only.


Third Watch: The Second Season – I did not watch this show when it was on, but it seems to have a cult fan base. Again, this is a DVD for fans only.

Matlock: The Third Season – This is a DVD for your parents, even your grandparents. Andy Griffith stars as Matlock, who uses his old fashioned charm to solve crimes. I’m not going to make fun of this show, because you just don’t make fun of Andy Griffith. It’s law.


Murder She Wrote: The Tenth Season – This series was a staple in my household when I was growing up. Again, my parents and grandma used to watch this show, and like the Andy Griffith law above, the same applies to Angela Lansbury. You just cannot have anything bad to say about the lady. This TV show was a massive hit in its heyday, and is still loved by many people today.

More Than What First Appears – Japer Reviews Jeff Lemire’s The Nobody

In The Nobody (Vertigo), author and illustrator Jeff Lemire shows us that every small town has its secrets. And he should know. Lemire, born in small town Woodslee, Ontario, Canada has traversed this thematic ground before in his award-winning Essex County trilogy. In this latest hardcover graphic novel, he delves deep into hush-hush rural life once again.

Even though it’s his first work for a major comic book publisher, Lemire ensures that The Nobody never loses the sense of the personal found in his earlier works. Characterization is at the forefront of his storytelling here.

Using H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel The Invisible Man as a springboard, he transports the character of Griffin into the fictional town of Large Mouth. With a population of 754 citizens, it boasts the world’s largest fish of the same name - but it’s the colourful inhabitants of the town that propels the story forward. Readers are quickly introduced to June Jacques the manager of Large Mouth’s motel, who has, funny enough, a bit of a big mouth herself. Big Reg is the owner of the local diner and single father to his teenage daughter, Jackie. The distrustful Teddy Henfrey spends his evenings drinking at the local tavern. Deputy Ayde sees himself as being more important to the community than his job might dictate and his fishing buddy, Jack Jaffers is husband to Millie, she of the wandering eye. Mr. Marvel, a poor, old, black man lives in a run down cabin by the lake and rounds out the cast. If you’ve read H.G. Wells’ novel, you might recognize the names of the various cast members. Lemire uses the names of the characters from the original science fiction novel, recasting them in his tale that is neither a re-imagining nor a sequel but instead something akin to both while being, at the same time, something more.

Still, it’s the relationship between Griffin, the mysterious stranger and Jackie that grounds the tale. Their friendship, although strange, is real. Both provide something fundamental, something tangible to the other – something that the other lacks in their own life. For Griffin, it’s companionship. For the teenage Jackie, it’s the idea of experience – something that her hometown cannot provide her. The Nobody, at its heart, is the story of the search for reason and identity. In that search, all the base human traits that bubble below a calm but thin surface of respectability, be it in a small town or a big city, come to the fore. Just as the bandages that cover Griffin’s visage begin to unravel, so too do the roots, the personality and the secrets of Large Mouth’s townsfolk.

Lemire’s artwork is perfectly suited for the various questions The Nobody asks. His impressionistic line work and sense of shadow and light both deepen the drama and heighten the sense of mystery inherent in the story. When Griffen’s past catches up with him and violence finally erupts in the small town, all are affected and it is Lemire’s artwork that ensures that the reader feels it as well.

Evident, too, is the fact that Lemire is a fan of comic book literature and its long history. This love of the genre rubs off on the reader. Each of the three full-page chapter inserts that make up The Nobody are rendered to resemble an historic DC Comics title. Whether it’s the old “horror” titles like House of Mystery or the girl-centric “love” comics of the 1960’s and 1970’s or the sophisticated suspense stories of Swamp Thing from the 1980’s, each episode carries its own distinct identity. Even the company bullet changes in design to reflect the shifting times, a love-struck homage to the very company publishing the book!

The Nobody is a moving story by a writer/artist just now garnering a mainstream audience. It is a fantastic early chapter in a career that promises more suspense, more mystery and more strangeness. Lemire touches upon those things that we hide below the surface of ourselves, where there is far more than what first appears, and brings them to the light of day for all to bear witness.

The Nobody, published by Vertigo, is released July 8.

A Vote For Registration: Andy B On The Civil War online video game

Whose side are you on? That was the question that haunted the Marvel Universe for the better part of this decade’s last half. The Marvel Comics Civil War was one of the company’s strongest events, not just in the 7-issue mini-series created by writer Mark Millar and artist Steve McNiven, but also in the various crossover issues and smaller mini-series like Front Line.

The concept of Civil War was relatively simple – after a battle in Stamford, Connecticut that left some 600 civilians dead, including 60 children, the government introduced The Superhero Registration Act, where heroes were required to reveal their identities and work under the auspices of the S.H.I.E.L.D. and the U.S. Government. This decision didn’t sit well with some, like Captain America and Luke Cage. But for others such as Iron Man and Reed Richards, the Superhero Registration Act was a sign of the times. Battle lines were drawn, friend fought against friend, and people died. The results of Civil War continue to reverberate in the Marvel Universe, and subsequent event comics have arguably paled in comparison. I recall thinking after reading the original mini-series how it would make an awesome video game. And it will.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 will hit stores for all consoles this coming September. While the original Ultimate Alliance game, released back in 2006, featured an original storyline, the sequel will follow events in Secret War, the prelude to Civil War, and then go right into the acclaimed mini-series (no doubt with some amendments; this is a video game after all). This is the sort of thing comic book fans dream about; if we can’t get our Massive Multiplayer Online (not yet, anyway) then at least we get to play out one of comic’s greatest stories. Even better is that we don’t have to wait until September to get a feel for battle.

Head on over to the Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 website and you can register to play the Civil War turn based game against other players around the world. Now normally I don’t go in for these online games. I don’t have a particular bias against them, but few if any have ever really appealed to me. But my love of Civil War and general curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to give it a shot.

After registering my details (I think we know whose side the developers fall on) and setting up a user name, I proceeded into the Civil War world. A variety of stars are found around the globe; who controls them is determined by their colour. The object of the game is to choose a star and duke it out against the other team for control. At least that’s how I understood it. To be honest, I just wanted to get into battle. After picking a star and having some random gamer choose the same one, we prepared for battle by selecting teams.

I chose to battle on the side of S.H.I.E.L.D (superhumans need to be policed, methinks) I was given the choice of various pro-registration heroes to form my four man team. I chose Iron Man, the Thor clone, Mr. Fantastic, and Deadpool. Once my team was chosen, we went to the battleground. Icons representing the two teams faced off across a fairly non-descript board, and we each proceeded to take turns clicking on the other team's players and attacking them. If your health and power is at a full level, your players can do specialty attacks. You can also team up with another teammate at full strength for “fusion” attacks, combos which will play a large part in the Ultimate Alliance 2 game.

It took about 5 minutes for my opponent to kick my butt back to the Baxter Building. As a newcomer to the turn based strategy game (and as someone who didn’t read the rules) I didn’t necessarily know exactly what I was doing during the Civil War game. But even after a humiliating loss in what I would guess was record time, I decided to keep playing. I started thinking about which heroes at my disposal would make a strong, well-oiled, fighting machine. I started devising strategies which would weaken my opponents. And just like that, I suddenly got the hang of the game. Sure, I’ve lost some battles since. But I’ve won some too!

While I’m clearly no expert, the Civil War online game is a fun and free timewaster, and helps sets the scene for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Play a few rounds of Civil War and by the time the game arrives in stores, you’ll probably know for sure on whose side you stand.