Movie Monday - Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox

Flash! Saviour of the universe! No, wait, that's Flash Gordon. Blond guy, picks on puny Peter Parker and got a black symbiote suit. No, that's not right either, that's Flash Thompson. I'm talking about THE Flash; whose reintroduction kickstarted the Silver Age of comics, whose new TV series had its pilot leaked on the internet during the week (and once it airs properly expect me to talk at length about it), and whose major event began this whole 'New 52' business in the first place. It's been a long time coming, because just like the Flash, it's been running a little late – this week Movie Monday moves onto Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox.



Director: Jay Oliva

Writer: James Krieg

Starring: Justin Chambers, Michael B. Jordan, C. Thomas Howell, Kevin McKidd, Sam Daly, Kevin Conroy, Cary Elwes, Nathan Fillion, Grey DeLisle, Ron Perlman, Vanessa Marshall

Released: 2013

Barry Allen, the Flash, has never been able forget the death of his mother when Barry was but a child. All of his heroics have been an attempt to make up for her loss. So when he wakes up in a world where she's alive, he doesn't ask too many questions – even though he no longer has the superspeed that made him the Flash. But the world has changed in other ways too. There's no Superman, Batman is a violent killer who tortures criminals for information on the mysterious Joker and Wonder Woman and Aquaman have brought the world to the brink of annihilation from the war between Themyscira and Atlantis. Barry quickly realises that something has happened to change the world and he's the only one that knows it needs to be changed back. But without his superspeed, without the Justice League, what can he do? Is it even possible to convince the heroes at each other's throats to set aside their differences or has too much blood been spilled to ever turn back?

THE SQUEE

• This was a fantastic adaptation of the original Flashpoint event. Sure, there were changes from the story and most were fantastic. There was even an inclusion of Aqualad from Young Justice! As is common with the animated films from DC, the animation is smooth and utterly captures the feel of the original story.
• Another common element of the animated DC entries are the outstanding cast. Justin Chambers as Barry Allen. Cary Elwes as Aquaman! Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern! Ron Perlman as Deathstroke! Michael B. Jordan as Cyborg! And those are just the new people! The usual DC stable are amazing as always, giving a sense of familiarity in a world that is completely overwhelming.
• The epic story is given the epic feeling it deserves, capturing the whole world of Flashpoint. The original series benefited from having a whole series of tie-ins that explained the wider world that had been created by the main events and the film manages to show much of this as well, giving a true idea of the scope of this alternate universe.

THE SUCK

• The ending. It's not a huge spoiler that at the end of Flashpoint the timeline is restored at the cost of Barry Allen's mother and the creation of the New 52. However, the film doesn't follow the same format and doesn't reboot the entire universe. This is a little irritating (to me) as the next film that DC would release was Justice League: War which was a retelling of the Justice League: Origin story from the New 52. There was a great opportunity to begin the DCAU all over again but instead the film is just another animated movie. Given that DC Entertainment is now trying to create a shared universe for their live-action films, much like Marvel has done, it would have made sense to create an animated universe alongside it, with different instalments every year. The DC animated department has consistently made quality productions with a wide variety of heroes (including Wonder Woman) and it just seems silly to miss out on this opportunity.

So that's the Flashpoint Paradox. It's a lot like Flashpoint, but more animated. However, if you want to see your favourites of the Justice League in titanic battles against each other, there's nowhere else to go.

Flashpoint – 9781401233389 – Geoff Johns - $29.99 – 176 pages

Sunday Spotlight - Batman: Year One

OK, I know Bat-May has only just left us, and we're all still geared up for Batman Day next month (when we'll be drawing that awesome Batman Bundle) but I really can't let the 25th anniversary of the Batman movie go past without some sort of mention. And I know we reviewed the film last month, which is why today we'll be shining the Sunday Spotlight on something from the same era – Batman: Year One.



Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after many years abroad, still intent on obtaining vengeance against Crime for the murder of his parents so long ago. At around the same time, a young detective named James Gordon begins work at the Gotham City Police Department, widely known as one of the most corrupt law enforcement agencies there is. While Bruce Wayne takes his first tentative steps as a vigilante, Gordon tries to hold onto his strong convictions and ethics in a town that seems almost designed to destroy good cops. But as Bruce Wayne's vigilante alter-ego Batman gains notoriety, Gordon is tasked with tracking him down. Both men have the same goal – bringing down the gangs that dominate the city, and to prove themselves as warriors against injustice, but they approach those goals from entirely opposite directions. Will they be able to find a middle ground or will their conflicting methods bring about a violent confrontation?

Originally released in 1987, written by Frank Miller and drawn by David Mazzucchelli, Batman: Year One is rightly one of the most iconic stories in the history of Batman. Miller's gritty style suits the grim Gotham City we encounter throughout the book, and Mazzucchelli brings that city to life with outstanding art. The story is brutally violent, but sets the tone for how Batman would be seen for years to come – he is a shadow in the night, a terror to strike into the hearts of criminals everywhere. Most importantly, it focuses on the parallels between Gordon and Batman as crime-fighters on the opposite sides of the law. Batman's origin isn't exactly new information to most people (HIS PARENTS ARE DEAD) so including the 'origin' of one of Batman's closest allies, and how he came to become one of the closest allies is vital to making the plot interesting. Over the course of the story you can see them changing, starting to trust each other and changing their methods to suit – Gordon accepting that Batman's ways of working outside the law are more effective than the corrupt police force and Batman realising that he needs allies in his war on Crime.

It's not difficult to see how influential this comic has been on the Batman mythos – Batman Begins drew on it heavily and there was actually going to be a film adaptation prior to Christopher Nolan rebooting the franchise. Batman had been moving towards this style already (Miller had already written The Dark Knight Returns) but this, coupled with the Crisis on Infinite Earths gave DC the chance to reboot a character that had gotten a little 'silly', which, as we know is




It's also a great place for new readers to start, as I've said before. Part of this is the huge influence it has had, but it's also a story that lays out all the groundwork for understanding the character of Batman. It gives the reader a chance to see how his world operates, and then gives the option of continuing with the character, rather than immediately starting a new arc. This stand alone book is one every Batman fan should have on their shelf and should be read even be non-Batfans.

Batman: Year One – 9781401207526 – Frank Miller - $27.99 – 144 pages

Wednesday Weirdness - Dr. McNinja: Futures Trading

Wednesday Weirdness is the day when we remember that sometimes, comics are just downright WEIRD! We take individual panels and present them out of context. If you’ve got a panel you’d like to submit, you can do so here.

Dr. McNinja: Timefist, 2011. Christopher Hastings (writer/artist)

I've been wanting to post some Dr. McNinja for a long time - basically since I started this blog. Go check out the website and be amazed by this outstanding webcomic.

Movie Monday - 300

This week sees the DVD release of 300: Rise of An Empire, the sequel to the 2006 hit, 300. That film was based on Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name, which, in turn, was based on The 300 Spartans from 1962. We're not going to go all the way back then, so let's stick with the 2006 version for today's Movie Monday.



Director: Zack Snyder

Writer: Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, Michael Gordon

Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey Dominic West, David Wenham, Michael Fassbender, Rodrigo Santoro

Release: 2006

War is coming to Greece. The Persian empire, under the expansionist ruler Xerxes, is looking westward for more lands to subjugate. Emissaries are sent but Spartans bow to no man and the forces of Xerxes, the greatest army the world has ever seen, march intent on razing all the lands of Greece. But there is still hope. Leonidas, the bravest king of Sparta, takes three hundred of his best warriors to a narrow pass that the armies of Xerxes must negotiate. Here, they will hold back the foreign hordes, no matter the numbers arrayed against them. They do not fear death, for they are Spartans, and will fight with every breath remaining to protect their nation, making the Persians pay for each blood-soaked step they take into Greece.

THE SQUEE

• This film is visually superb. It got a lot of attention (and imitators) at the time for its stylistic use of the fast-slow-fast action scenes that glorified the choreography of the battle sequences. Other films of the time, such as The Bourne Supremacy two years earlier had incredibly fast action sequences, almost too quick to follow beyond a swift blur. 300, on the other hand, revelled in every moment of battle – which is good, because the film is basically just one battle.
• The narrative is epic, appropriate given the inspiration. The use of the unreliable narrator is perfect for this film, given that it's a retelling of a retelling of a retelling. The Spartans are glorious heroes, their actions pure and honourable, making them the saviours of all civilisation – OF COURSE that's what is going to be said, because a Spartan is saying it. At its heart, 300 is a remarkably simple story – an underdog story but one that the underdog was only attempting a stalling tactic. If you want to make the story of how three hundred men died when everyone expected them to die, you have to make them almost super-human. There's a lot of glorifying of the Spartan way of life, which makes sense given the narrator, but the film got a bit of flak for it. If anything, 300 is completely unabashed in its hero worship. It's almost Disney-esque in its desire to re-write history the 'way it should have gone'.

THE SUCK

• So racist. This unfortunately, stems from the source material. Like I mentioned above with the unreliable narrator, the main characters had to be made almost super-human, and one way that was done was by almost completely dehumanising the Persians, making them little more than monsters 'from the East' with bizarre customs (unlike the totally normal and acceptable customs the Spartans have of drugging a young girl to tell the future or murdering babies that don't match their aesthetic ideals). It really is a simple film, just as the graphic novel was a simple story. Unfortunately, that painted the sides very clearly as good and evil and the method used to portray that evil was a great example of how to make something the Other. It didn't help that Persia is modern day Iran, a nation that the United States was not having particularly good relations with at the time. And also the writer of the original graphic novel, Frank Miller, is kind of a racist.

That being said, the visuals are OUTSTANDING. Any Zack Snyder film will have a very striking aesthetic that will shine past everything else it is doing. I do recommend checking out the graphic novel as it is a great look at how to tell a classic 'true' myth – using history to create something larger than anything that could really occur.

300 – 9781569714027 – Frank Miller – 117 pages

Sunday Spotlight - Aquaman: The Trench

Just last week DC Entertainment announced that Jason Momoa has been cast in the role of Aquaman (Aquamoa, it's a thing), so I thought we might take a look at the first appearance of Aquaman in the New 52, just to refresh you all on the character.



Aquaman and his wife partner Mera live quiet lives – or at least, they try to. But their attempts at obscurity are shattered when something comes from the ocean to snatch a group of fishermen off a boat in a sleepy seaside town. Aquaman and Mera are able to follow the trail back to the Mariana Trench a trench deep beneath the Pacific Atlantic Ocean. There they discover not just the creatures that have taken the fishermen but something that may change the entire way of life for the sunken city of Atlantis.

Geoff Johns took the helm of Aquaman following the New 52 reboot and he delivered a gripping story that altered the interpretation of the character completely. For a long period, Aquaman was the butt of jokes, most notably that his main power was talking to fish. In this first volume, Johns gave us a look both at how deadly – and how terrifying – Aquaman could be. Coupled with Ivan Reis on art, the team that made Blackest Night create a tale of chilling horror as Aquaman faces creatures from the ocean's floor. Much like H.P. Lovecraft, Johns makes you realise that there is a lot beyond the ken of humankind, and like Lovecraft, suggests that horrific beasts lurk beneath the waves.

There are some genuinely creepy moments in this book, and it reads much like a classic horror film, with creatures rising from the depths to attack a small town. Only one person knows the truth and is prepared to fight back – in this case, it's Aquaman. The story is nicely structured, following the same format as those classic films but with enough hints and teases to lead the reader into the rest of the series. For instance, what's up with Aquaman and Atlantis? Is he really from there or is that just an excuse he gives to explain his powers? Why is he more acclimated to the land than Mera? What's their deal, anyway?

This (and Justice League: Origin) really threw Aquaman into the spotlight again. He was no longer a joke character, but a founding member of the Justice League with a strong sense of honour and duty on par with the Trinity of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.For such a strong book, there is one glaring flaw. In the story, Aquaman is treated as a joke – much like he was treated by most comic fans before this. However, if the only Aquaman these people have ever seen is the one presented by the book, there's no reason for him to be a joke. This Aquaman is an Adonis wielding a golden trident who flips armoured trucks and survives a hail of bullets from an assault rifle. This Aquaman does not get mocked for ordering seafood at a diner. Given the strong elements in the rest of the book, a single throwaway joke might have been acceptable, just to tell readers that this was going to be something different to what they expect, but it becomes a running theme throughout the whole volume. Fortunately, the second volume pretty much ignores it and shows just how badass Aquaman is, giving him his own team (that also received its own series, Aquaman and the Others).

Aquaman vol. 1: The Trench – 9781401237103 – Geoff Johns - $22.99 – 144 pages

Movie Monday - The Dark Knight

Some of you may be recovering from Supanova Sydney, so we'll keep this easy on you all. With all the excitement around Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I thought we'd go back to one of the films that really solidified the superhero as a film genre – The Dark Knight.




Director: Christopher Nolan

Writer: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer

Starring: Christina Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal

Release: 2008

After Batman's appearance in Gotham City, crime has taken an odd turn. There has been an escalation in violence – and an escalation in vigilantism. District Attorney Harvey Dent is seen as the saviour of the city, the man that will be able to sweep corruption aside. Batman's efforts in conjunction with Commissioner Gordon have given Gotham the chance it needed. But order comes at a cost, and there is a new player on the field. A man with a mysterious past, who pays no mind to order and believes anarchy should rule. He is the Joker, and he has plans that will tear down the world Batman has worked so hard for. Not only that, but could he be right, and are the people of Gotham just as bad as the criminals Batman works to capture? And what makes Batman himself exempt?

This will always be Heath Ledger's film. Sure, it's about Batman, but one of the things that truly defines the character are his villains. This was why there was such a focus on Catwoman and the Penguin in Batman Returns, but here, the focus on the Joker is in direct comparison to what Batman is trying to accomplish. The Joker is a representation of anarchy and chaos, as opposed to the rigid order that Batman is attempting to accomplish. In general, Batman tries to plan for everything, but the Joker is utterly random, and can't be predicted. Heath Ledger was perfect in the role, truly embodying the character's psychosis and attitude to the world. The entire film is built around the character of the Joker and his opposition to everything Batman has tried to achieve.

While Ledger's performance makes the film classic, there's a strong message that the film doesn't shy away from. There is a balance between order and freedom that the film makes abundantly clear. This was really the strength of the entire Nolan trilogy of films – the focus on what Batman represents, rather than who the person wearing the mask is. It's why David S. Goyer is seen as a good screenwriter, as many of his films have these strong themes to work with. In a lot of ways, The Dark Knight is just a film featuring Batman, in that the themes are ones that could fit a number of movies, and this one just happens to involve Batman as the main character. A lot of what is developed here returns for the next film and this cohesiveness of storytelling is one of the reasons the film stands out. The action sequences are incredibly spectacular, but Nolan and Goyer combined create a tale that enthrals an audience.

Sunday Series Spotlight - Justice League International

It's time for the World Cup! And in an extremely tenuous link, today's Sunday Spotlight is on Justice League International! Because, you know, world cup, international... OK fine, it's because it ties in with Future's End but it COULD have been a good connection.



The United Nations decide that with the success of the Justice League, they also need a superhero team that stands ready to leap into action as soon as disaster strikes. The United Nations can't rely on the Justice League to save the day unless it directly effects those heroes, so a team is built that will appeal to the public. It consists of Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, the Green Lantern Guy Gardner, Rocket Red, Godiva, August General in Iron, Vixen and Batman occasionally steps in to help out. Their first mission is to investigate four metal colossi that have landed on Earth and are sending a signal... somewhere. The team, filled with clashing personalities and people who cannot stand the others, have to learn to trust each other and overcome the threats thrown at them. After disaster strikes the team, leaving some members gravely injured and others killed, the team goes looking for those responsible, but what they find may be more than they can handle themselves.

The original series of Justice League International was released in the late 1980s under writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis. It was essentially the second-string heroes and had a much lighter style (something that Giffen and DeMatteis excel at). There are elements of that in the New 52 version, but to a much lesser degree. The main focus is on Booster Gold (which is great, because Booster Gold is amazing), but unfortunately, he loses a lot of pathos without his classic compatriot Ted Kord (the Blue Beetle). Booster is still a lot more comical than the others on the team, but that is really an indication of his incompetence as a superhero, rather than a theme of the book. Even this is dropped quickly as Booster becomes more of a leader, and by the second (and last) volume of the series, things have turned deadly serious. The last few pages of the second volume are brutal and essentially paved the way for Future's End, nearly two years later.

As a straight-forward action adventure, Justice League International is quite good. As an introduction of existing characters into this new universe that had been created, it wasn't great. Dan Jurgens is a solid writer and develops each of the characters enough early on that the audience will know how they will react to each situation – and that means there's room for surprises and twists from those assumptions. The overall tone of the books are similar to what Tony Bedard was doing with Green Lantern – New Guardians at the same time, and it's unfortunate that Justice League International didn't have the same success. After it was cancelled, Justice League of America took its place, dealing with a lot of the same themes, but using more high-profile characters. If you're after straight forward adventure, either series is a good place to start, especially if one of your favourite characters is making an appearance.

Justice League International vol. 1: The Signal Masters – 9781401235345 - $24.99 – 144 pages

Justice League International vol. 2: Breakdown – 9781401237936 - $24.99 – 200 pages

Justice League of America vol. 1: World's Most Dangerous – 9781401246891 - $29.99 – 224 pages [Available July]

Wednesday Weirdness - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Season Eight)

Wednesday Weirdness is the day when we remember that sometimes, comics are just downright WEIRD! We take individual panels and present them out of context. If you’ve got a panel you’d like to submit, you can do so here.


Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Eight #2, 2007, Joss Whedon (writer), Georges Jeanty (artist), Richard Starking & Comicraft's Jimmy (letters)

Movie Monday - Mystery Men

Way back in the 1990s, when Dark Horse was just beginning to make a name for itself as a comics company, the main focus was media tie-ins. This meant heaps of books about Predator, Aliens, Terminator, Tomb Raider, as well as Star Wars. Of course, this worked both ways, and Dark Horse Entertainment was created to bring some of the comics properties to the big screen. The first (and most famous) of these was The Mask in 1994, but we just saw Jim Carey in Batman Forever, so we'll look at that another time. This time, we'll be focussing on the forgotten gem that is Mystery Men.



Director: Kinka Usher

Writer: Neil Cuthbert

Starring: Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, Paul Reubens, Greg Kinnear, Wes Studin, Kel Mitchell, Geoffrey Rush, Eddie Izzard, Tom Waits, Claire Forlani

Release: 1999

Champion City's resident, well, champion, Captain Amazing is bored. He's defeated all the good villains and is now reduced to stopping robberies at old folks' home mixers. His corporate sponsorships are drying up too. So he lights on a genius plan – arrange through his alter-ego (a wealthy lawyer) to have the diabolical genius Casanova Frankenstein released from prison. The plan is for them to form a mutually beneficial partnership but Casanova doesn't play ball and captures Amazing. Fortunately, he's not our hero.

Our heroes are three guys who want to be A-list superheroes – Mr. Furious, the Shoveller and the Blue Rajah. At the moment, they're not even C-list. They'd have to add some letters to the end of the alphabet to indicate how far down the list they are. But they've stumbled onto the fact that Casanova is free and has captured Amazing. So, in true heroic fashion, they form a team with some wannabe heroes and try to bust him out. With lots of arguing and mistakes aplenty. And even when they do succeed in something, they invariably fail. But they're the only hope that Champion City has (so it might be worth getting out of town).

This is definitely not a great film. It's only a good film in comparison to Batman and Robin – overall, it's an average film. That's not to say I don't love it. That cast! It's like a who's who of Gen X icons (never forget that Ben Stiller directed Reality Bites). And to get William H. Macy and Geoffrey Rush is fantastic. Hank Azaria is always a gem, likewise Janeane Garofalo. Unfortunately, this mass of comic talent may have been where the film fell down. According to rumour (which we should always trust), each cast member had a different idea of what the comic tone of the film should be – which meant constant arguing on set. It comes through in the film as well. Stiller's performance is remarkably different from Azaria's and Macy's deliveries are of a totally different style to Reubens'. That's not always a problem (it does give wider appeal), but since they're such different tones, what one person is appreciating another won't, and the actors can't play off each other. A wackier style gets dampened by a flat deadpan delivery. It makes the whole film feel like a mishmash.

Which, to be fair, it is. There wasn't actually a Mystery Men comic book – they were guest characters in another series. That meant that when creating the film, the entire thing became a pastiche of superheroes in general. There's a feel of 1920s pulp-noir, combined with steampunk and 1970s camp. Some of these are plot elements, some are not. The problem is that there is a feeling of schizophrenia (quite common in post-modernism) and it can be overwhelming for the audience. In this case, it's difficult to tell whether the characters were heroes who should be supported by the audiences, or if they were clowns to be mocked. There's no baseline comparison, no way of telling what the world 'should' be like. In a Hulk movie, the audience can identify with the feeling of peace and lack of massive destruction. We get why Banner just wants to find somewhere quiet and have a lie down, maybe drink some tea. Mystery Men doesn't have that – people can't relate to finishing your shift as a construction worker then going down to the local 1950s era diner but having to avoid an Al Capone lookalike having a running gun battle with a leisure-suited disco-obsessed mobster. Maybe if they lived in Gotham, they could, but not so much in our world. This was where the Schumacher Batman films failed as well – film audiences do not respond well to pastiches of superheroes without first clearly defining boundaries. Comic book audiences, on the other hand, lap that up.

I know I've been pointing out a lot of flaws (and will do so again, no doubt) but Mystery Men isn't a horrible film. Sure, it bombed at the box office. Sure, Smash Mouth stopped admitting to having written 'All-Star' for the soundtrack. Sure, the writing is haphazard and full of holes. Wait, I was supposed to be saying good things. There are some incredibly funny moments, brought about by that amazing cast. As a parody of everything superheroic, the film hits every target it aims for. Mr. Furious is a great mockery of the anti-hero so popular at the time. Captain Amazing is everything you'd assume a celebrity hero would be – a sell out (my god, if he'd played Booster Gold...). The Sphinx, the wise mystic is less spiritual and more empty axiom, just like every other superhero mantra. One problem with that is that it made the film ridiculous, and the late 1990s were serious business. Coming out a year after Batman and Robin didn't help either. Looking back now, Mystery Men is great example of what was wrong with the decade, especially in comics but unfortunately it wasn't quite able to pull it off.

Sunday Series Spotlight - Tiny Titans

Earlier this week, DC Comics released the first issue in a new Tiny Titans series, so I thought that this Sunday Spotlight might look back at the earlier instalments of the book. It'll give us a chance to review one of the most adorable series that DC has produced.



What if, instead of teenagers, the Teen Titans were in primary school? That's the basic premise of Tiny Titans, featuring Robin (the Dick Grayson version), Batgirl (the Barbara Gordon version), Superboy, Supergirl, Aqualad, and loads of others. Most stories are only a few pages and are heavy on gags. In a way, they're similar to Archie Comics – there's an incredibly loose continuity and most stories are about dealing with everyday problems (like getting a load of penguins out of the Batcave, or trying to find somewhere to host Pet Club). There are a lot of in-jokes for long-time comics readers, but they're not always glaringly obvious and never detract from the main focus of each story. They're also really cute.

Art Baltazar and Franco have created a perfect style for an all-ages comic – thick lines and bright colours to attract younger readers, strong stories to capture the attention of older ones backed up by enough connections and elements of the source material to keep long-time fans interested. The art is simple, but it's not basic – it's coming from a long tradition of all-ages comics, but it's more Peanuts than Calvin and Hobbes or even Garfield. There are recurring gags (the penguins, for example) and characters develop naturally. Most of all, it's fun – something that is often lacking in comics aimed at adults. The series has proven so popular that it has had two spin-offs – The Superman Family Adventures and Itty-Bitty Hellboy. Baltazar and Franco have even turned the art style into a stand alone series called Aw Yeah Comics! being released into a trade paperback in September from Dark Horse Comics.

If you love the lighter side of comics or have young kids who want to try comics, this is a series you should pick up immediately.

Tiny Titans vol. 1: Welcome to the Treehouse – 9781401220785 - $19.99 – 144 pages

Aw Yeah Comics! And... Action! - 9781616555580 - $24.99 - available 15th September 2014

Wednesday Weirdness - Empowered

Wednesday Weirdness is the day when we remember that sometimes, comics are just downright WEIRD! We take individual panels and present them out of context. If you’ve got a panel you’d like to submit, you can do so here.


Empowered: Of Maids and Wet Blankets, 2008. Adam Warren (writer/artist)

What to read - June 2014

TIme is precious, and there are only so many comics you can buy each month. This is the Comics Watchtower Guide to the new titles coming out this month that we think you'll really like!



Batgirl vol. 3: Death of the Family
Gail Simone - 9781401246280 - Paperback -$27.99

16+. Previously available as a hardcover, Gail Simone’s amazing series continues down a dark road. Tying in with the ‘Death of the Family’ Batman crossover, Barbara Gordon must face the Joker – the psychotic criminal whose actions once left her crippled. Can Barbara face her demons or will this be the end (again) for her career as Batgirl? 

Batgirl vol. 4: Wanted

Gail Simone - 9781401246297 - Hardcover - $39.99

16+. Batgirl is wanted for murder! Accused of killing the son of Commissioner Gordon, Batgirl is at the top of Gotham’s Most Wanted. Barbara Gordon’s two lives clash in this outstanding book from fan favourite Gail Simone. Can Barbara clear her name without revealing her identity to her father? And if she fails, will he ever forgive her?

Shazam vol. 1

Geoff Johns - 9781401246990 - Paperback - $29.99 

13+. Shazam returns to the New 52! Orphan Billy Batson is given the power of Earth’s mightiest mortal. When he speaks the magic word, he is transformed into Shazam! Originally appearing as back up stories, this collection is great for new readers who want something a little lighter than Superman.

Aquaman vol. 3: Throne of Atlantis

 Geoff Johns - 9781401246952 - Paperback - $27.99
15+. The time has come, and Aquaman must return to Atlantis. While he may be content to remain on the surface world and refuse his claim to the throne, others see him as a threat to their chances of succession. Aquaman must overcome these threats, as well as the super weapon that original sunk the fabled city before it is used by the wrong hands to wreak havoc on the surface world he has chosen to protect.




Hellboy in Hell vol. 1: The Descent
Mike Mignola - 9781616554446 - Paperback - $32.99

15+. First created in 1994, Hellboy has captured the pop culture consciousness with Mike Mignola dark and broody art style, almost reminiscent of German Expressionism. Hellboy, transported from Hell as a child and brought up by humans now rejects his destiny to destroy the world – and he dies in the attempt. Condemnation to hell isn’t how he plans to spend eternity, however, so Hellboy must find a way to return to Earth and his friends. As always, gripping, creepy stuff.

Movie Monday - X-Men: Days of Future Past

As is becoming a habit, today's Movie Monday will be about X-Men: Days of Future Past, even though it's a Marvel film. It just feels wrong to have a comics discussion tumblr and NOT talk about a massive film like this.

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS




Director: Bryan Singer

Writer: Simon Kinberg

Starring: Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart

Release: 2014

Many years in the future, mutantkind have been hunted close to extinction. The giant robots known as Sentinels have wiped out all the mutants that we know and (mostly) love. Only small pockets of resistance remain. One of these is the X-Men, and they have a plan. Through the use of Kitty Pryde's power, they can send the consciousness of a person back in time. If they can stop the chain of events that leads to the creation and deployment of the Sentinels, perhaps they can prevent billions of deaths from ever occurring. Unfortunately, the only mutant who could survive having their consciousness forced back that far is Wolverine. He must find a way to bring Professor Xavier and Erik Lensherr back together to stop Mystique from assassinating the creator of the Sentinels at the Paris Peace Accords in 1973. But the chasm between Magneto and Professor X has grown wide since their parting in 1962 – can they bring they trust each other again? Or are the differences too great?


THE SQUEE

• Erik and Charles, their's is a forever love. Well, forever friendship. Part of this is because Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are two of the most adorable old men ever. McAvoy and Fassbender do a great job of emphasising their friendship and how much it hurts them both to see the other person standing against them.
• It wasn't the 'Wolverine has a lot of angst' show. This was really the flaw in X-Men: The Last Stand and The Wolverine (and to a lesser extent Wolverine: Origins). Wolverine is a character in this film, not THE character. Also, he's a gigantic jerk, which is a completely accurate portrayal.
• Well adapted from the source material. The source material of Days of Future Past consists of exactly two issues. Un. Dos. And it's not Wolverine who heads back in time, but Kitty Pryde. Now, that couldn't work in this because Kitty Pryde is too young to have been alive in the 1970s, so it sort of has to be Wolverine. They keep the idea of someone frantically trying to keep a timelink stable as their friends die around them, sacrificing themselves for just a few more moments that could potentially lead to a better future. It's what the story is all about, really. And there are some great other moments in there too. Towards the end, there's a scene almost directly out of Ultimate X-Men, with Magneto attacking the White House and turning the video cameras around to let the world watch as he schools the president of the United States. It felt so close in fact, that I thought it was going to end the same way, and it sort of did. No surprise really, since Mark Millar (Marvel advisor to Fox) was the writer of that run.
• Yay Mystique! I was always going to love Jennifer Lawrence in this. That was a given. However, both performance and character were superb throughout the film. Much like the comics version of Mystique, she was a wildcard, part protagonist, part antagonist. When Lawrence was first in the role for X-Men: First Class, most of the scenes had her without the blue make-up which allowed her impressive acting talent to be clearly seen. In this film, she's in the make-up for most of the film – and she doesn't falter at all. You can see the talent just shining through. It's perfect for a character such as Mystique who is just as vital to the series as Magneto or Xavier or Wolverine.
• Fun Easter eggs. While not as many Easter Eggs as in Captain America, there were still some fun hints. Seeing the Good Future at the end of the film was perfect (partly because it deleted everything that happened in X-Men: The Last Stand).

THE SUCK

• Why have Quicksilver if you're not going use him in the rest of the film? The scenes with Quicksilver were one of the main highlights of the film, not just visually but some of the funniest too. And yet he vanished before the halfway point. There are other characters they could have used to break Magneto out of prison (or not have him in prison at all). It seemed like he was there so Fox could stake their claim on the character, knowing that he was also going to appear in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and that's a little disappointing.
• As you probably read above, I loved Mystique in this film. However, it did feel like they were shoehorning her importance into the plot. Making her shape-changing ability the most vital part of the turn towards the Dark Future seemed like just a way to not use Rogue. It was pure MacGuffinism. It almost paid off, since rather than being a simple plot device her final scenes were about choosing her own destiny.
• Over exposure of the 'everyone dies' trope meant the 'future' ending lacked emotional resonance. This isn't really a complaint about the film, but more that pop culture has been saturated with this trope since its first use. If there's a Bad Future running parallel to the main character's travelling in time, you can usually expect horrible deaths to occur to all the people they know. It happened in Buffy in 'The Wish', it happened in Galaxy Quest and quite a few others, so it's almost expected now. An excellent element of the original comic was that there was still a chance that the world could end up like the Dark Future, and it would take the X-Men working continuously with humanity to prevent it. By having a scene with Wolverine in the Good Future, that was sort of done away with, implying to will all be hunky-dory from here on out. I guess they REALLY wanted to get rid of X-Men: The Last Stand.

Sunday Spotlight - Hellboy in Hell

Let's kick this new world order off with a new title from Dark Horse! Today's spotlight shines on Hellboy in Hell.



At the end of the Hellboy series, Hellboy, prophesied king of Hell, supposedly destined to bring about the apocalypse, died. This was something of a surprise but in the world of Hellboy, death is not always final. Upon his death, Hellboy discovered himself in the afterlife, tumbling through Purgatory. His adventures do not end there – he made a LOT of enemies in his life, and most of them now lurk in Hell, eager for vengeance. Searching for a way out, he must battle foes on their home turf. But as Hellboy makes his way through Pandemonium, the city of demons, there are also those who aim to use him for their own ends. And the throne of Hell beckons, despite Hellboy's repeated refusal to take it...

Mike Mignola's Hellboy is one of the best series available. It melds pulp fiction of H.P. Lovecraft, world religions, folktales and contemporary history into an outstanding mythos that deals with the concept of destiny and free will. Each book from Mignola is amazing, and whether stories are short three page pieces or long full volume epics, they never fail to capture my interest. In this book, there are allusions to Macbeth as well as Paradise Lost and folktales like 'the Devil and his Grandmother' (one of my favourites), not to mention the overall comparison with Dante's Divine Comedy. Much like Sandman or The Unwritten, Hellboy is a work that shows an appreciation of great literature – in a story about a 7 foot tall demon with a stone hand battling fairies.

The volume furthers the journey of Hellboy as he's offered once again a temptation that he has previously rejected – dominion over Hell. The story is a little more surreal than one's in the previous series (and that's saying something) but it suits the setting perfectly. This is a plane of existence where the metaphysical is more important than the physical and spirits are corporeal. However, the classic Hellboy themes are still in place – he may not be a part of the B.P.R.D. (or the living) anymore, but he's still Hellboy. There are still fistfights with massive supernatural creatures and monsters out of legend. Hellboy's still the same guy we've grown accustomed to – just now he's dead. It's a great idea in a universe that has always had a strong reliance on the spirit realm and the afterlife. This volume possibly isn't quite as epic in scope or committed to developing the plot as earlier books, but it's volume one in a series – there'll be more to come.

Hellboy in Hell is available now.

Hellboy in Hell vol. 1: The Descent – Mike Mignola – 9781616554446 - $32.99 – 144 pages

Comics Watchtower announcement

Hello out there in internet land!

I'm very pleased to announce that as of today, Comics Watchtower will not only be focussing on DC Comics and Vertigo titles, but also Dark Horse comics!

Yes, as of the 1st of June, Dark Horse comics will be available in Australian bookstores through Random House, meaning that you can go to your local bookstore and pick up the new season of Buffy, or a new Hellboy or Empowered or Dr. McNinja (those are my favourites). 

With this expansion, we'll be altering the format of how the blog runs (just a little bit). We won't have a single 'Pick of the Month' any more, but a wide suggestion of the best titles getting released. Sunday Spotlight will stick around, as will Movie Monday, and you can bet that Wednesday Weirdness isn't going anywhere. However, Thorsday will be sadly drawing to a close (you'll have to get Chris Hemsworth gifs elsewhere), to be replaced by the exciting new Themyscira Thursday! On this day, I promise to post something concerning Wonder Woman, because Wonder Woman is great you guys.

Anyway, that's enough serious business - it's time for celebration gif dance party!

All right, that's enough.

OK one more.