Tuesday : 29 August 2006
It’s been a while. But, I’m back. I need to get back into the habit of posting more regularly. *nod*

Today wasn’t stellar: I was edgy/irritable for most of the day… for no discernable reason. It was a fairly busy day, too. But, I told folks that I wasn’t in a good mood and managed to keep my head down and nose to the grindstone, hopefully without being too abrasive to anyone.

Friday , gave me advance screening passes to see Hollywoodland. Passes that I had completely spaced off until I found them in a notebook last night. Go, me. The movie was about the mysterious circumstances behind the death of actor George Reeves, who played Clark Kent/Superman on the 1950s series The Adventures of Superman. Strong performances were given by Adrian Brody, Ben Affleck (yes, that one…), Diane Lane and Bob Hoskins. The cinematography and set design was also very good. My biggest complaint comes from parts of the script: There was an oddness to it in a few spots. Some of the characters would have lines that fit into their respective scenes perfectly… but came off as a little campy and elicited laughter from the audience. It’s not that the lines were necessarily intended to be “funny,” but because of the timing and the delivery, some of them came off that way. All-in-all, though, I give the movie a thumbs-up with an okay. At 126 minutes, it’s a long movie, but it doesn’t feel long.

Four-Color Coverage
The past couple of weeks have seen some good – and some stagnating – books come to the shelves. I want to hit the highlights… because… well, “because I can” is good enough for me. Let’s go:

  • Justice League of America #0 and #1: For the past “year,” the DCU has been without its premiere super-team. Why? Because they tore themselves apart from the inside. Starting with Identity Crisis and moving forward into Infinite Crisis, the JLA has been splintered, fractured and finally exploded or imploded, depending on your point of view. So, how do you recover from something like that? You take a cue from Kool Moe Dee…
    I draw plans draft the diagrams
    An architect in effect
    And it slams
    And if it’s weak when I’m done
    Renovate and build another one

    …and go to work. And that’s what Brad Metzler has done: Building a team from the ground up. Issue #0 is a prequel, of sorts. It blurs between the past and the possible future(s) of the League, culminating with Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman coming together to decide who’s getting a call to join the team. Issue #1 follows the voting process – yea, nay and abstention. But, the best thing about this issue isn’t the team-building exercise. It’s the “rebirth” of the Red Tornado. This story, like Green Arrow: Quiver and Green Lantern: Rebirth, is a quest for the ‘Tornado to return to the land of the living. From what I have gathered, it will be a major plot in the first arc of the new title.

  • Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #21: Colossal Boy catches a beatdown, Supergirl still thinks that she’s dreaming up this time-travel excursion and… Brainiac 5 is… attempting to resurrect Dream Girl. Yep. Just another day in the 31st Century. I do have to wonder if Waid and Kitson are leading up to the latest retelling of Brainiac 5’s nervous breakdown. Why’s that a problem? Consider this: In the original version, Brainy went nuts and created Computo, a super-computer that was capable of taking on – and taking down – nearly the entire LSH. Oh, and that’s the storyline where Triplicate Girl (1, 2) became Duo Damsel. Which, as you can imagine, didn’t do much to raise Brainy’s popularity with the team.
  • Astonishing X-Men #16: Kitty Pryde takes on the new incarnation of The Hellfire Club, that is. And that brings her toe-to-toe with turncoat teammate: Emma Frost. It’s a showdown that’s been brewing since Astonishing #1. And it shows a side of Kitty that hasn’t been seen in some time. There’s also a reveal on the third-to-last page that, to quote Kitty, makes you just go “YeahbuhWHAT?“
  • Wonder Woman #2: The issue’ss title may be “Who is Wonder Woman? (Part Two)” but this is more of a “Who is Diana Prince?” story. We get a little bit of background into what the former princess has been up to over the course of the last year since she gave up being Wonder Woman. The current Wonder Woman is her sister, Donna Troy… and she\’s just gotten her ass handed to her by three members of Diana’s rogues gallery.
  • New Avengers #21: (“Civil War” tie-in) Jessica Drew. Spider-Woman. Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent of Hydra. New Avenger. Unregistered superhuman. Where does she fit in the war that’s tearing the superhuman community of the Marvel Universe apart? Everyone wants her. In custody. Dead. Alive. What does she want? Someplace to fit in. Where does she land? That’s the question… and the story.

Stray Toasters

  • My mother will be in town for part of the weekend. Maybe I’ll tempt Fate and introduce her to the Clitorati. Maybe.
  • BANG! (for )
  • By way of : Religious Super-Teams
  • anarchist reactionary running-dog revisionist
    hindu muslim catholic creation/evolutionist
    rational romantic mystic cynical idealist
    minimal expressionist post-modern neo-symbolist
    armchair rocket scientist graffiti existentialist
    deconstruction primitive performance photo-realist
    be-bop or a one-drop or a hip-hop lite-pop-metallist
    gold adult contemporary urban country capitalist
  • This picture amused me.
  • From The Age: Star Trek’s a thesis
  • For : Legionnaires Three – Projectra, Saturn Girl and Superboy
  • I’d really like a Tastykake Butterscotch Krimpet right about now…
  • Since getting it back from , I’ve been listening to Piccadilly Collection by Squeeze quite a bit. They are/were a good band, it’s a shame that only Tempted and Hourglass got a decent amount of airplay here in the States.
  • Hey, (NOT to be confused with ): Power Rangers Eight-City Tour
  • *voop*
  • , I know that these aren’t Sea Monkeys, but they’re the next best thing: Magic Rocks!
  • It’s not James Brown’s Celebrity Hot Tub, but it’s apparently too hot at the gas pump, too.
  • Suffering Sappho! A look at the creator & creation of Wonder Woman
    (William Moulton Marston also created a precursor to the modern polygraph.)

That’s good for now.

Namaste.