Dork Art: Battle For The Atom!

Matt may disagree on this matter, but I am LOVING Brian Michael Bendis & Stuart Immonen's All-New X-Men; the series is a celebration of all the things I loved about the X-Comics growing up.  Sure, Bendis loves to take his time, and wander his way through comic book storytelling but I love how his fetishizing of characters as well as the emotional torture he puts them through.  Angst.  It's what the X-Men are all about.  Soon Bendis will be spearheading another massive crossover for his merry band of mutants, The Battle of the Atom.  This event will run through All-New X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine & The X-Men, as well as the Battle of the Atom mini-sereis drawn by Frank Cho.  It's so easy to begrudge Marvel and its lackluster sagas (Age of Ultron, Secret Invasion, Fear Itself were snoozes), but I can't help but get giddy over this one.  It harkens to those whacky days of X-Cutioner's Song and the height of my X-Love.  And with Frank Cho bringing those retro cool covers from Savage Wolverine to the party?  I am down.

--Brad

Brad's Week in Dork! (2/10/13-2/16/13)

Early in the week I got a sweet care package from the good folks over at the Warner Archive containing a handful of Jim Brown not-so-classics (Tick Tick Tick, Kenner, The Split, & The Slams) and the plan was to pound through them for Black History Month.  But my movie marathon has just not taken shape.  I consumed two of 'em and watched a couple other flicks, but this week was mostly about comic books.  The pleasure of the week had to be the third issue of Hellboy in Hell - the return of Mignola has proven to be grand indeed.  And the turd of the week goes to The Walking Dead's mid season return - what a stinker!

The Walking Dead - "The Suicide King":  This show has been defined by its peaks and valleys, and the final product tends to infuriate more often than it exhilarates.  Personal Beef #1:  After a rather intense cliffhanger conclusion (two months ago!) in which Merle & Daryl are forced into pit fighter combat, Rick & the gang suddenly appear and immediately free them from their death match.  Beef #2:  The faceless inhabitants of Woodbury loose their hateful, cagefight loving minds and inexplicably choose an inevitable demise in a zombie horde than chillax in the temporarily invaded compound.  And the guards don't want them to leave!?!?!  F that.  I say let this Marvel comics mob with their wishy washy dullard brains jump merrily into the rotting mouths of the undead, and be done with their simple asses.  Beef #3:  The last five minutes.  I won't spoil the absurdity here, but to say that it weakens Rick's character is an understatement that just doesn't fully capture my colossal annoyance.  It's a god damn travesty.  And where can this horrendous turn of events lead?  Nowhere good, I think.  My hope for this show is dwindling.  Especially when I have the brilliance of the source material right there on the shelf in front of me.

Tick...Tick...Tick...:  "If you're gonna kill me go ahead and get it over with, I'm just sorry it's not a man doin it." Jim Brown is the newly elected Sheriff of a rural southern town, the first black man to ever hold the position. Matching the righteous tone of the picture is an overbearing & extremely dated theme song that bonks you over the head every time something potentially heinous might occur. Jim Brown walks into a honky tonk - Theme Song! Jim Brown arrests a white man - Theme Song! Jim Brown faces off an angry mob - Theme Song! It's a bit much. And the film really doesn't feel like Jim Brown's movie the way it should. His Sheriff is so concerned with walking the line that he can't bear to break into violence. He's reserved. He's quiet. He does the right thing. I don't want that. George Kennedy, as his predecessor, is the brute of the film. He's allowed to show rage. And once he sides with Brown cuz "the law is the law" he gets to unleash some serious police brutality, barking and bashing on the racist assholes of the community. Tick...Tick...Tick is a solid enough film surrounding the powder keg of the human rights movement, but somehow a trashier B Movie flick like Roger Corman's The Intruder feels more honest. Tick...Tick...Tick is a message movie, and as is, it feels a little bit like a lie.

The Sour Lemon Score by Richard Stark:  After the lighthearted impracticality of The Black Ice Score, this twelfth Parker novel is a return to angry form for the series.  After a bank heist goes wrong and Parker's friends lie dead on the ground, our favorite professional thief trolls the East Coast hunting for George Uhl, the man who betrayed the score with the pull of a trigger.  But like most Parker novels, the man who seems the most problematic is not the real threat - enter psycho thug Matt Rosenstein.  With the introduction of his lady Claire, and some rather frivolous entries, it's nice to see Stark return to the unpleasant darkness of Parker's world and even more enjoyable to read the rage masked by Parker's professionalism.  This is the grit where Parker belongs.  Swift.  Logical.  Brutal.  And somewhat sad.  The Sour Lemon Score doesn't rank as high as The Hunter or The Outfit, but it does belong somewhere near the top of the middle.  I'm really looking forward to the next round of novels - I hear the build to Butcher's Moon is violent and severe.

All New X-Men #7:  The Young Cyclops wanders into the bank where The Old Cyclops stashes his cash and discoveries a sad note from the past...I mean, his future.  I freaking love this book.  Writer Brian Michael Bendis is taking what could potentially be a silly plot and rocking the time travel concept for all its worth; reminding this reader of the X-Men's self-righteous history while elevating the melodrama.  Plus, Wolverine's frustrated contempt towards young Cyke is hilarious and kinda heartwarming.  I don't like to see Mysteque setting her claws into the young X-Man and I really don't want him to become the dark figure that this seres will undoubtedly produce.

Iron Man #6:  Yes, I'm still reading this miserable book.  I guess I'm curious to see how Gillen takes ol' Shellhead to outer space and the internet banter surrounding Tony Stark's secret origin seems exciting enough.  But the sixth issue is just garbage.  Stark discovers a purple alien lady, and taking inspiration from Captain Kirk attempts to bed her.  Unfortunately, Stark sports a mustache and the purple woman vomits upon its discovery.  Uh huh, this is the type of wit we're forced to face month in and month out with this sophomoric nonsense.  There is some blather about the Phoenix Force, but I just can't get past the 'stache puker comedy.  Last month I said I wouldn't buy this issue and I make that promise again this week...but you know me, I'm gonna fold again.  I just really want to enjoy an Iron Man book.  Same could be said for Captain America.

Daredevil - End of Days #5:  Ben Urich has a chat with The Punisher while he rots behind bars, but as Ed Brubaker proved in his Bendis followup, Frank Castle is just as deadly in handcuffs as he is out of  them.  This issue also posits the resurrection of Matt Murdoch, in body and spandex.  Still, it does feel like it's meandering a bit, and I'm starting to get the sense that it can't possibly put a button on Bendis' epic run.  Which is a bummer - for this return to ultimately prove perfunctory would somewhat sully a perfect run of Daredevil comics.

Thunderbolts #4:  As I feared, this issue takes a bit of the punch from last issue's killer final page, but I'm still enjoying General Ross' assault on Katya Jaya.  And like with the book above, Frank Castle is the all star.  Super Heroes have nothing on a man willing to strap a land mine to his chest and play bear hug.  And Deadpool gets to enjoy his giggles.  What I'm really looking forward to is an Elektra/Punisher team-up - or will it just be a straight up killfest?

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #20:  Miles Morales faces off against his first true Spider-Man villain when the Venom symbiote shows up on his doorstep looking to consume Miles' father for a case of mistaken identity.  Is it Eddie Brock under the goo?  Is Venom just out for Spidey blood or is there a deeper purpose?  Not sure yet, but I'm looking forward to some super hero smackdown and I've got my fingers crossed that Jessica Drew is gonna appear for some much needed backup.

Winter Soldier #15:  After Ed Brubaker's disappointing exit, writer Jason Latour picks up the reins and delivers a merry little book.  Not much time is spent on the Black Widow memory wipe fallout (that seems to be happening a lot right now in the Marvel universe) as Bucky jumps right into another evil Hydra plot (there seems to be a lot of those too).  But where the narrative feels a little too familiar, the tone of the adventure is frothy fun and that is definitely refreshing.  Artist Nic Klein has a punchy pulp style and I love his half split Hydra goons sprouting Lovecraftian tentacles.  And who does't love a POV shot as Night of the Hunter brass knuckles come flying at you?  Still waiting to see if the story actually captivates, but it's a fun book and that's something Brubaker's Cap stories weren't...at least in the last two out of his eight year run.  I hate to write that - I'm team Brubaker - but it's bloody true.

Hellboy in Hell #3:  I read a lot of Mike Mignola interviews building up to the release of last year's Hellboy in Hell.  In most of them he stated how he was currently interested in telling short, little stories set in the underworld.  And he also stated that the first three issues of Hellboy in Hell would put the final button on Hellboy's Beast of the Apocalypse problem.  I just could not believe that.  For twenty years, Hellboy has been struggling to shed his apocalyptic crown - how could three simple issues wrap up all that brooding angst?  Well, damn.  Mignola has done just that.  Hellboy's certainly not free and clear from his doom & gloom and he's still stuck down under, but it does appear that the 666 mantel has been shed.  And it's all done in a logical and satisfying manner.  I'm shocked and stoked.  Plus, this issue also sees the introduction of HB's siblings, a look at his father's present state, Leviathan, and the Prince of Darkness himself.  Easily one of my most favorite single issues from the series.

Kenner:  Jim Brown plays an American sailor searching the Karma confused streets of Bombay for the man who murdered his partner.  As he bumps into some awkwardly Westernized interpretations of hinduism he also stumbles upon a young boy searching for his American father.  The two form an antagonistic friendship that's tested even further when the boy's mother inexplicably falls for Jim Brown.  I wish I could report a lost classic, but Kenner is dullsville at best and painfully boring at worst.  I will say that there is one surprising twist that got me to sit up and take notice, but by the time the train barrels through the screenplay it's far too late for me to care about a surprise death.

Skyfall:  The blu ray is truly stunning, and I stand by my previous statements that this is the most beautiful looking James Bond film to date.  The climactic Straw Dogs siege on the moors, the high rise Shanghai assassination, the hotel room shave - this is movie art ready for the frames on your walls.  And Javier Bardem's teasing psychopath is the most fun we've had with a Bond villain since the days of Sean Connery and Goldfinger.  Sure, the pacing seems a little clunky  as we jump from one interrogation to the next, but I love all the banter, and the homefront assault adds a nice change of p(L)ace for the typically international intrigue.

I Come In Peace (aka Dark Angel):  "Fuck You Space Man!"  I haven't seen this film in nearly twenty years, but thanks to the miracle of On Demand I was able to bask in its bizarro beauty one more time.  Dolph Lundgren is a street wise detective investigating the villainous White Boys gang, and when he's not distracted by his eclectic art collection he's spewing pithy one-liners.  After his partner is executed he's saddled with Brian Benben's spit shined G-Man and the buddy cop pair quickly find themselves involved in an intergalactic drug war...wait, what?  Yeah.  So one giant mulleted space alien comes to our planet to harvest drugs from our brains, while another giant mulleted space alien comes to our planet to kick that one's ass.  Yeah, ok.  That's bonkers.  But AWESOME!  I Come In Peace is an incomprehensible mess, but it's also loaded with endless explosions and gratuitous intergalactic murder - can't beat that, right?  Made at the tail end of the 1980s, the film desperately wants to ape some of that Walter Hill 48 Hours charisma and in their own way Benben & Lundgren succeed through sheer oddity.

Justified - "Foot Chase":  So far, this episode is one of the season's highlights.  In attempt to beat Walton Goggins to the punch - the punch being the footless Gerald McRaney (another Deadwood alum as well as the better half of Simon & Simon) - Timothy Olyphant and Jim Beaver have themselves a federal/local law team-up.  Olyphant's not sure he can trust Beaver given his seedy history with Goggins, but the two eventually form a jabbing repartee that brought great smiles to this Bullock/Ellsworth fan.  McRaney appears not to be the mysterious Drew Thompson, but I wouldn't count those chickens before they roost and I'm hoping that McRaney still has a large role to play for this season - whether he's one-legged or not.

The Walking Dead - Book One:  Friday night was the 9th meeting of the Ultimate Justice League of Extraordinary Book Club and we finally convinced enough folks to dive into Robert Kirkman's zombie opus.  I was really looking forward to revisiting this series, especially given my seemingly unsurmountable hatred of the last tv episode, and I'm thinking I'll plow my way through the rest of the big hardcovers.  Taking that into account, I was a little surprised at my lackluster enthusiasm for the first two arcs in this series.  Kirkman doesn't quite have a handle on these characters just yet, and even though all of his comics are bogged down with expository dialogue, this book is practically bursting at the seams with blah blah blah.  For the first story, I was really only moved by the Jim character - the idea that this quiet mechanic has suffered so much and the moment when he unleashes his rage it results in his quiet death.  Very sad.  But where as the television show seems to drone on and on with some of these themes, this first book rushes through them.  Hershel's farm is but a drop in the bucket, just when some serious philosophizing begins the barn doors are opened and the walkers burst out.  I remember falling head over heels with this book during the first trade, but as my memory reworks itself I'm thinking my love truly doesn't set in till they get to the prison.  So on to hardcover number 2.  For the most part, the group enjoyed this book but only a couple folks seemed interested in pursuing further issues.  Curious.  But ya know what?  Invincible is easily the superior saga and no one in the group got that except Matt & myself.

Batman #17:  Scott Snyder's supposedly epic Death of the Family arc comes to a close and I find myself a little disappointed.  That being said, I thought this issue pulled off a lot more drama than I was expecting given my lukewarm response to previous issues, and Greg Capullo's art continues to amaze with its ghastly beauty.  What's under the dinner dome?  The answer is nasty and genuinely surprising...even if five pages later status quo veil is dropped.  But when you compare this tale to other Snyder vehicles like The Court of Owls or The Black Mirror, it really offers nothing new to the Bat mythos.  Joker is a crazy bastard.  Batman won't kill him.  The never ending stalemate continues.  I'm happy Snyder got this character out of his system, and I'm hoping he can move on to some new territory.  More original characters, less sandbox whimsy.

Fatale #13:  "She'd known for a long time there was more than one layer to the sky."  I have yet to be disappointed by Fatale.  Jumping hundreds of years into the past, we get a glimpse at a creature very similar to Josephine and the witchfinder cult so desperate to carve her up.  There are a few clues as to the mystical origin at the center of this noir story, but these clues offer more mindbending questions than answers.  This issue still has that 40s dread, but artist Sean Phillips is really getting his Hammer Horror freak on here and I can perfectly imagine Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee walking around inside these panels.  As much as I enjoyed last month's stand alone issue, #13 is even better.  Cannot wait for The Wild West excursion next month.

Uncanny X-Men #1:  I'm pretty sure that I would have enjoyed this book if not for artist Chris Bachalo.  I've never been a fan; his style seems to be a muddy bastardization of manga and I just can't grasp how his characters bend & wobble all over the page.  Writer Brian Michael Bendis attempts to explore the dirty revolution of this current Cyclops dictator, and the mole revealed on the final page is definitely intriguing.  But Uncanny X-Men lacks the joy of its sister book All New X-Men, and if Bachalo is on  for the long haul than I'm not sure I can handle his squishy interpretation.  As with several other Marvel Now books, I'll give it six months before making my final decision.

Powers - Bureau #1:  Half the time I love Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, Daredevil, All New X-Men) and the other half of the time I find him completely and utterly frustrating (New Avengers, Avengers, Mighty Avengers), and Powers is the very personification of this annoyance.  There are books in this series that I find absolutely breathtaking (Supergroup, The Sellouts, Forever) but then there are stories that refuse to continue the earth shattering events of previous books.  Take this new relaunch for example.  In the last book the world seemed to have been completely devastated a la BPRD Hell On Earth, but now we see that it was just a localized event and the federal government is back to the business of enforcing Powers laws.  Just another crime of the week.  Dammit.  Let's get back to Walker's crazy ass Conan The Barbarian past.  Once you hit the Forever arc there should be no turning back, but Bendis seems to refuse forward momentum.  So very frustrating.

Fantastic Four #4:  My favorite issue from Matt Fraction's run so far.  Not as good as FF or Hawkeye, but I appreciated the time shifting structure of this story.  Reed is writing an apology note of sorts to Sue, explaining his POV at the time of their first meeting and how it parallels their current planetary adventure.  He's basically using a lot of words to say he's sorry for hiding their cellular disease.  But I don't think Sue's going to just role over with hugs & kisses.  Fraction seems to be amping up the family melodrama and I'm a sucker for that stuff as much as I am the inter-dimensional science-fiction.  Basically Fraction is showing us what the essential Marvel book looks like and you should all be on board.  Excelsior!

Archer & Armstrong #7:  Another solid issue, but not big shocks or awes.  Archer, Armstrong, and The Eternal Warrior all seem to be on the same side at this point despite some passive aggressive banter and some not so passive death threats.  If I had any complaint at all it would be this new Geomancer character.  She's sassy and kooky and I want none of that.  Hopefully she's just a storytelling device and not a new addition to the team.

Rome - Season 2:  "I have the same sickness."  And you thought the stabbing murder of Julius Caesar was rough?  The second season of Rome kicks off with our two favorite Centurions descending even further down their personal hells and they leave a massive trail of bloody corpses in their wake.  Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen a murder as brutal or hateful as the one found in the second to last episode of this season - now, that is how you choke somebody to death.  Granted the rise & fall of Marc Antony (and that Cleopatra slut) is a little less glamorous than the mighty Caesar's savage execution, but actors Kevin McKidd & Ray Stevenson are a perfect set of badasses to follow, even if they are the most pathetic and deplorable set of friends.  And I'd rank their bromance right up there with Denny Crane & Alan Shore.  That's love, baby.

--Brad

Brad's Week in Dork! (10/14/12-10/20/12)

First, a word on the new format...

I'm going to try something new with the Week In Dork.  If you don't like it, please let me know.  Rather than separate this post out with TV OF THE WEEK, MOVIES OF THE WEEK, COMICS OF THE WEEK, etc I'm just going to jump right into the programming from Sunday to Saturday.  If I started the week off with a comic, the column will start off with a comic.  If I started with an episode of TV, the column will start off with that episode.  Basically, I'm just trying to recreate my Dorky Ass life for you the reader as best as possible.

And, man, this has been one of my absolute favorite Weeks In Dork that I've ever had...that is, one that does not contain a San Diego Comic Con or a Stephen King book signing.

Last week, I started ploughing through my Hellboy Library editions in preparation for the 5th Meeting of my wife's Ultimate Justice League of Extraordinary Book Club.  Since we would be discussing one of my all time favorite trades, The Chained Coffin & Others, I wanted to go into it fully prepared.  And that resulted in me reading nearly 20 years of comics in just over a week.  And it was seriously thrilling as well as (maybe-not-so-shocking) emotional...but more on that later.

The Week really started with some itunes catchup on the current season of...

Fringe Season 5 - Episode 3 "The Recordist":  It was just a few weeks ago that I was ranting and raving about how freaking amazing I found season 4 to be, but now we're just a few eps into this Days of Future Past business (I just can't get that X-Men reference out of my head) and I'm still a little nervous about this final arc.  Right now, I'm just not feeling it.  Walter & Astrid?  They're spot on and I love them dearly.  But Peter & Olivia & Henrietta?  Something feels wrong about how they're behaving.  Maybe it's just me throwing a tantrum of where these writers plopped this family, but it also feels like a bit of a manipulative cheat to drive a wedge between them so soon after the uproarious victory of last year.  Anyway, I'm still waiting for my love of Fringe to return - I have faith that these guys are going to pull something special outta their rabbit hat.  This episode specifically deals with a group of outcasts hiding in the woods, free from the eyes of the observers.  They see themselves as recorders of history and there is a nice bit involving a boy and his Fringe comic book.  But I don't really see this playing into the grande scheme of things either.

Prometheus:  Watched my new blu.  And yeah.  Third viewing and I almost immediately felt myself drifting as Noomi Rapace's scientist drones on about faith and the evolution of man.  This is a really beautiful looking movie and the blu ray is just stunning.  But dammit!  Why isn't the film about Michael Fassbender!?!?!  His character is sossss much more interesting and if the narrative had only switched to his side half way through then there could have been something incredibly thoughtful here - David is the evolution of man.  He should be the focus.  Unfortunately, it's a horror film climax with the Frankenstein Engineer stomping and smashing his way through the ship.  Human Bad!  Me Kill!  Whatever.  By the time the medical tests are performed and the Big Giant Head starts popping, I found myself reaching for a couple of graphic novels, and I read them as the film played in the background.  Not a glowing review, that's for sure.

Powers - The 25 Coolest Dead Superheroes Of All Time:  I've been away from Brian Michael Bendis' Powers for what seems like a very long time.  My problem with this comic is that once it reached the mindbendingly awesome Forever storyarc - where the mythology was expanded into centuries past and the stakes seemed to increase into the territory of Earth Shattering - the very next arc brought the characters back to the precinct and stayed there.  Another crime, another investigation...it was just a routine Law & Order when it should have transformed into an epic.  And with the sporadic shipping my interest faded.  Still, I really do love Walker & Pilgrim.  Hell, I own original art from Forever - so I want to stay in love.  With a new trade paperback released, I thought it was time to dive back in.

Picking up where I left off, Deena Pilgrim is still an outlaw.  Infected with the Powers virus, she's Prime Suspect Numero Uno for a string of murders spreading through the city's nightlife.  Imagine Al Pacino's Crusing with capes & cowls and you'll get some idea.  But like most of the murder cases, the character stuff is much more interesting than the plotting.  I dig the intro of Walker's new partner, Sunrise.  I dig that Walker's hiding Powers too.  I dig that Deena is loosing her freaking mind.  But I don't dig the impending return (i.e. doom) of the status quo.

Powers - Z:  I certainly appreciate this arc's attempt to investigate the dark past of Detective Walker.  Some time ago, Walker was a member of a Las Vegas Rat Pack - Post World War II heroes throwing their weight around and making a boat load of scratch in the process.  When one of these Rat Packers turns up a corpse it's up to Detectives Walker & Sunrise to get to the bottom of a sordid love affair.  The Vegas stuff is fun, but is never fully explored - the Powers mythology is always a taste, not a full meal. And again, the murder investigation is not all that thrilling but at least Bendis is clever enough to solve The Who quickly and make The Why the focus.

Powers - Gods:  Well, I hated this.  The latest trade focuses on the death of an actual God...or is it just another cape pretending to be a god.  Frankly, I scratch my head at this notion.  Loosely connected to the Olympia case from the start of the series, it seems a little late in the game to bring religion into the context and all this godspeak nonsense does is muddy the water.  And it sends a signal to this reader that Bendis is scraping the barrel for new homicides to investigate.  However, there is potential in the climax.  There comes an Ultimatum moment...or a BPRD Hell On Earth kinda event...and I don't think you can go back to just investigating SVUs in the next arc...but I've thought that before and I'm afraid the next volume of Powers (Bureau) will be more of the same.

Blow Out:  After last week's wonderful screening of Phantom of the Paradise, I was craving more whacky Brian De Palma and this quenched that particular thirst perfectly.  Blow Out is Brian De Palma at his most pure fanboy; clinically aping Hitchcock & Argento, De Palma delivers a gorgeous, dark-hearted thriller with John Travolta's best performance battling John Lithgow's greatest psychopath.  And Nancy Allen is brilliantly sad as the child-like prostitute in distress, climaxing the film with a beautiful blanket of sad.

Hellboy Library Edition Volume 3:  The Chained Coffin introduced me to the wonderfully mad world of Hellboy, but the Conqueror Worm sealed the deal.  This is the ultimate Nazi Smasher book.  Raiders of the Lost Ark & Conqueror Worm - it don't get better than that.  Big Red & Roger the Homunculus travel to Hunte Castle in an effort to prevent some long dead nazi scientists from returning a Lovecraftian space seed to earth.  But to succeed they're gonna need some serious spectral help from pulp adventurer Lobster Johnson.  Conqueror Worm is also where Mignola's art solidifies into the supreme masterwork we know and love today.  Then you have Strange Places, the book that nearly broke Hellboy...or Mike Mignola anyway.  "The Third Wish", the first half, is a creepy fun tale pitting Hellboy against the fishy Bog Roosh in a battle over his Crown of the Apocalypse destiny.  It's a solid action tale that reminds the reader of the doom & gloom behind the punch 'em up.  But for me, this volume is all about "The Island" back half.  Here, we finally get the origin of The Dragon, Ogdru Jahad.  Sure, it's a whole mess load of exposition but Hellboy fanboys will eat it up.

Hellboy Library Edition Volume 4:  The Crooked Man & The Troll Witch.  There are several really fun short stories in this collection but none of them match the power of the tales found in the previous three Library Editions.  Artist Richard Corben joins the Hellboy family and he's a welcome addition.  "The Crooked Man" is a fun Satan tale set in the icky Appalachian backwoods, but I really love love love love his Makoma story.  It's a fun African folktale that takes on a beautiful dreamlike quality, but again...there's a nice undercurrent of Hellboy brooding.  And that's really what this volume is about - the dread that is Hellboy's existence.  Mignola draws six short-shorts and each one a grim reminder of his Beast of the Apocalypse job title.

Rock of Ages:  Well, I can't really say that this is a good flick but I certainly had a lot of fun watching this goofball movie.  We all know what a crazed Tom Cruise fan I am and the more people seem to hate him the more I seem to love him.  And he's bonkers terrible here as the drunk, monkey loving rocker Stacee Jaxx, but you can also sense he's having a blast in the part.  Especially when he's belting out "I Want To Know What Love Is" into Malin Akerman's vagina.  Sure, Catherine Zeta-Jones is cringe-inducing with her scream singing, and Paul Giamatti is just cashing another paycheck.  And, yeah, Juliane Hough & Diego Boneta are a couple of drones.  But it gave me 90 minutes worth of a good time.  Sue me.

Dark Shadows:  Another nail in the coffin of Tim Burton's career...buried atop a suffocating Johnny Depp.  And seriously, who thought a comedic adaptation of the wonky 60s gothic soap opera was a good idea?  No one was screaming for more Barnabas Collins.  And if there were some Dark Shadows nerd crawling out from under a rock than they would be fairly pissed at this offensive offering.  Even if there is a ridiculously silly WTF Alice Cooper cameo.

The Walking Dead Season 3 - Episode 1 "Seed":  Off to a good start.  Rick & his crew finally reach the prison with Hershel's Farm thankfully behind them.  Lots of zombie slaughter and a couple of human surprises.  We also get a couple of glimpses of Andrea & the Samurai Michonne but not enough to get geeky excited.  And you know what?  Even though I want to love this show, each episode is just another reminder at how superior the comic book actually is and no amount of Greg Nicotero gore can mask that fact.

BPRD - 1946:  More Hellboy crack.  Exploring the vampire subplot from Wake The Devil, 1946 sees Trevor Bruttenholm in post-war Berlin partnering up with supernatural commies and battling it out with one of Hellboy's greatest bottled bad guy.  With this trade, the Mignolaverse is greatly expanded making fanboys like myself giddy with geeky glee.  And Joshua Dysart lends everything some dirty, crumbly bombed-out gloom.

BPRD - 1947:  With the horrors of the Nazi vampire program seemingly laid to rest (uh, again, see Wake The Devil) the newly formed BPRD continues their investigation of the blood sucker menace.  1947 is another fine example of Mignola connecting mythology by mixing the vampire lore with the black goddess Hecate.  Essential reading for Hellboy fans, this latest dip into the past also introduces a couple of fascinating G.I.s that will no doubt play a larger role in upcoming story arcs.  Plus, we get Ota the Exorcist and a young Hellboy discovering the pleasures of catch.

BPRD - 1948 #1:  Hmmmm...too early to tell just yet where this latest chapter in the BPRD backstory will take both characters and readers alike, but it appears we're gonna see more of Russia's demon doll and some good ol' fashioned atomic fear...with the added bonus of space born beasties.  1948 continues to follow the vampire plagued GI as he teaches Hellboy the joys of smoking while ignoring the presence trapped in his haunted noggin.

Marvel Now Point One:  I kinda hate these Event Anthologies.  This 6 dollar comic gives you a glimpse at a couple of upcoming Marvel Now! relaunches framed around a Nick Fury Jr. interrogation that confused more than intrigued.  I could not care less about the Cable book.  Not gonna buy it.  Guardians of the Galaxy will probably be enjoyable given the writing team, but there's not much here to excite.  Young Avengers...Loki brings some super teens together.  Nova fights some diamond headed monstrosity in the desert.  If there was one short that actually peeked my interest it was the Matt Fraction/Mike Allred FF short showing off Scott Lang's abilities as Ant Man.  Fun.  But with a serious bit of anger motivating the small fry.  But one solid short for 6 bucks?  Yeah, not really worth it.  Another notch in the hype machine.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16:  This is probably my least favorite issue since the Miles Morales era began.  Spidey continues to try and prove himself to Captain America by battling it out with Hydra soldiers.  Other than that, not much happens.  Get him on The Ultimates already.  And I want to see more Jessica Drew interaction.

Hawkeye #3:  Ok.  So I enjoyed the first two issues.  But this?  I friggin' loved this.  Matt Fraction centers the issue around Hawkeye's ridiculous trick arrows as he & Kate Bishop work their way through his satchel while taking on the tracksuit Bro army.  Laugh out loud funny with the singe greatest use of Clint's costume ever.  If, for whatever hater reason, you are not reading this series than you really need to give it a try.  You will be shocked at how much fun this book truly is.  And Aja's art is freaking perfect.

Godzilla - Half Century War #3:  Coming in at a close second as my favorite single issue of the week, The Half Century War goes full on Kaiju crazy this month.  Ghana, 1975.  Not only is Godzilla on a rampage, but we also get some monster clashes with Megalon, Mothra, Ebirah, Battra, Rodan, and the big puddle smog monster Hedorah.  Even if you're not a Godzilla fanatic, you'll find plenty to enjoy with Stokoe's beautiful rampaging art.

The Sixth Gun #26:  Drake tells Becky the story of his first encounter with the Wendigo while hiding out in a shack.  Solid horror stuff, but I'm starting to feel that this Winter Wolves story will read much better in trade...or at least that's what I'm hoping.  There are some great grisly images here (the stag with its severed head antlers) but I'm losing the plot reading this month to month.

Billy The Kid's Old Timey Oddities and the Orm of Loch Ness #1:  I love The Goon as much as the next person and I really want to love Eric Powell's other oddball creation but I don't think I'm going to continue on beyond the first issue.  Billy The Kid is alive and well; hanging out with some puddle jumping circus freaks.  Looks like we're going to get some Loch Ness mythology mixing with some Universal Monster horror but Kyle Hotz's art is just a bit too much Kelley Jones for me to get excited.

X-O Manowar #6:  So, yeah.  I think it was a mistake to introduce Ninjak in the first six issues.  A) Ninjak is purple, 90s, and lame.  B)  The presence of a purple suited ninja assassin distracts from the already insane world of insect alien conspiracies and religious iron man armor.  It's funny, but I never would have guessed that X-O Manowar would quickly turn into my least favorite Valiant book - seriously, Bloodshot is better.  Crazy world we live in.

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine Season 3:  After several weeks of catching episodes here and there, The Wife and I finally completed the first truly kick ass season of the show.  Odo finds his people.  The Dominion War is nearly upon us.  William Riker guest stars...or does he?  Dick Miller is an A-Hole 21st Century rent-a-cop.  And Ben Sisko gets his goatee.  If you mildly enjoyed the first two seasons of DS9 than you'll start to love it by the third season.  But the Gamma Quadrant conflict trickles where it should rush and things won't really go to pot until the Klingons reappear next season.

The Devil's Rejects:  Much, much better than House of 1000 Corpses.  Rob Zombie is still chucking everything & the kitchen sink at the screen but it's focused through a singular obsession with 70s exploitation cinema.  Frankly this feels less like a horror film and more of a Badlands/Natural Born Killers terror picture.  Bill Mosley, Sheri Moon Zombie, and Sid Haig are deplorable monsters murdering their way through hapless country musicians and hillbilly sluts.  They may be charismatic, but don't fool yourself - these are big bad scumbags.  But maybe not as scary as William Forsythe's unhinged psychopath sherif and yep, he totally steals the show.  The actor has never been better and the climactic staple gun showdown is as thrilling as it is cringing.  Bad people doing bad stuff to each other.  Not entertainment for everyone, but the sicko pervert in me enjoys it enough.  Especially when performed by vintage genre stars.

Hellboy Library Edition Volume 5:  Duncan Fegredo has taken over the art duties (and that does take some getting used to), but Mike Mignola's saga has never been better.  Years upon years of storytelling have all been building to this epic trilogy of stories (to be concluded in Library Edition Volume 6 presumably but for now you can settle on the TPB below).  Darkness Calls is The Wrath of Khan of Hellboy stories.  Not only do you have the sad pig fairy Gruagach seeking retribution against Big Red for his humiliation in "The Corpse" (see The Chained Coffin), but you've also got the big bad Baba Yaga looking to cash in an eye for an eye.  The instruments of destruction are a couple of nifty villains from both history and mythology:  Witchfinder General Henry Hood and Koschei the Deathless.  Like all good Hellboy villains, they're just as sad & pathetic as they are deadly.  Part 1 is mostly beast on beast bashing, but it opens the mythos to the fairy tale crazy of The Wild Hunt.  In Part II, Hellboy joins the Osiris Club on their hunt for rampaging Giants but is quickly betrayed for his increasingly bloodthirsty punch 'em ups.  The Wild Hunt ties Hellboy's lineage to England itself, and we get the best understanding of his origin yet.  

Hellboy - The Storm and the Fury:  Hellboy gets both an ending and a bold new beginning.  The Fate of the World (not just England) hangs in the balance as Hellboy goes up against Nimue, the Queen of Blood.  The pig Gruagach finally sees the fairy folk of yore rise above man and the river of blood that results damns his soul.  This is some seriously heavy stuff, and if you've been reading Hellboy from the beginning than you'll be shocked at the emotions it creates within.  Hellboy has always been a fun bit genre mashing, but it's also always been wrapped in a blanket of gloom - if not all out sadness.  As the impending doom gets closer with every turn of the page, I found myself dreading its conclusion.  There's a moment where Hellboy sits in a ghost pub; he remembers a childhood conversation with Professor Bruttenholm in which he fears a personal connection to Frankenstein's Monster or possibly pulp hero Lobster Johnson.  The memory leaves Hellboy crestfallen, but he must move forward.  Hellboy can no longer bury his head in the sand, he must face who & what he is...or does not want to be.  The Storm & The Fury concludes one of my all time favorite arcs in comics.

Hellboy & Hellboy II - The Golden Army:  After finishing the latest chapter in Hellboy comics I wanted to give the films another shake.  I love, love, love Guillermo Del Toro.  The man is every fanboy's dream.  A geek done good.  The Devil's Backbone is one of my all time favorite films, Blade 2 is one of my favorite action films of the last fifteen years, and I'm beyond excited to see next year's Pacific Rim, his Kaiju Smackdown film.  But the Hellboy films have always bugged me.  Del Toro's films seem more interested in the workmanlike attitude that Hellboy brings to monster bashing and less interested in the brooding sense of doom that The Beast of the Apocalypse title lends to all Hellboy comics.  The first film gets more right than wrong.  The opening WWII sequence makes the whole proceedings worth it frankly, and John Hurt's Professor Broom brings more weight to that character than ever before.  But the romance between Liz & HB distracts.  And the introduction of Myers is such an annoying Hollywood convention.  The Golden Army though is straight up infuriating.  It's soooooo jokey.  And the relationship between Liz & HB has devolved into a bickering sitcom couple.  It's a beautiful flick, and it contains some of the most impressive practical & CG effects blending I've ever encountered.  But when Barry Manilow gets involved, I check out.

Hellboy - The Bride of Hell:  Probably the weakest collection of short stories we've had so far, The Bride of Hell still has a couple of gems.  Richard Corben's Hellboy en Mexico is a real delight, partnering a drunk Hellboy with a couple of vampire hunting luchadores.  There's a demon turkey that's absolutely terrifying.  And I'm shocked at how much I enjoyed Kevin Nowlan's Buster Oakley Gets His Wish - UFOs just don't seem like they belong in the Mignolaverse but they make it work.  The Cowboy!  Still, this just feels like filler until we get Hellboy in Hell at the end of the year.

The Girl:  The Wife & I completed the week with a trip down to Williamsburg.  While staying in a hotel I caught the premiere of HBO's competing Hitchcock docudrama.  Smartly focusing on Hitch's apparent obsession with Tippi Hedren during the filming of both The Birds & Marnie, The Girl paints the master director as a psychopathic rapist-in-the-making.  Toby Jones's whackjob is genuinely scary despite the mimicry performance.  The Girl makes the fanboy in me rather uncomfortable, I don't like looking at Hitch in this pervo light.  It might be true, but I think I'll prefer the goofier undoubtedly less pathetic and more fantastical interpretation of Anthony Hopkins' Psycho-maker come this November.

Bram Stoker's Dracula Original Comics Adaptation #1 & #4:  Down in Williamsburg I scored a couple of issues from Mike Mignola's Dracula adaptation.  This is very much a straight panel for panel adaptation of the Francis Ford Coppola film, but Mignola's art is a perfect fit for the film's theatrical style.  And the best thing about reading this comic is not suffering Keanu Reeve's horrendous English accent.  Now if I can only track down the two middle issues I'll be set.

--Brad