Dork At: No Strings On Me

Just a few hours after the Age of Ultron trailer hits, the fan art flood began.  Glad to see folks getting pumped for the big bad James Spader & the Pinocchio remix.  "No Strings on Me" makes for an excellent meme or hashtag.  Bring your best fanboys & girls.  We've featured deviant artist Doaly before, but this is my favorite piece I've seen from him so far.

--Brad

"I'm Going To Show You Something Beautiful..." Age of Ultron Trailer Wins The Internet!

Yowza.  The troubling thing about working nights, is that sometimes you come home after a long day, and some bit of movie news has just absolutely devastated the internet in your absence (something that's been happening more often than not around ITMOD lately, sorry folks).  Yesterday, that news was the Age of Ultron trailer.  James Spader's gargley robotic voice promises early on "something beautiful" and Joss Whedon certainly delivers the goods.  Most of the trailer is what we saw at this year's San Diego Comic Con (minus a jovial cocktail party sequence, but Marvel doesn't want to confuse the Empire Strikes Back All-Shit-About-To-Break-Loose doom & gloom of the Ultron plot).  Still, now we can watch it over and over and over again and drool and drool and drool.

HULKBUSTER!  Yes.  We know internet, it is the coolest.  Just another geek miracle Marvel has been blessing fanboys since 2008.  But as much as I love seeing these two titans go at it in Wakanda (rumor mill!), the trailer wins my soul with James Spader's vocal talents - AND! not just because we're crazed Boston Legal fans around these parts.  The Evolution of Ultron from Iron Legion drone to genocidal world conqueror will finally deliver upon the Marvel Cinematic Universe a screen villain worthy of our fear.  I love Loki as much as the next tumblr addict, but he's more putz than terror, and the other bad guy stand-ins have mostly been one dimensional bores.  Ultron here is going to tear The Avengers apart.  Just look at poor cowering Bruce Banner, or that beautiful wide shot of the team separated aboard the quinjet.  Avengers 2 is not going to leave our heroes all buddy-buddy.  Captain America 3 - Civil War is coming after all.  When I left the theater in 2012, The Avengers gave me a giddy buzz of joy.  I imagine when I exit from Age of Ultron that buzz will still be there, but it's going to be birthed from a tremendous emotional bummer.  Not so much of a prediction here, but Avengers 2 is gonna make ya hurt, and there will be very little fist pumping glee from the audience...except for those masochists out there.  Here's hoping (always dangerous in the fan community, stop predicting/anticipating your desires and just enjoy the movies Brad!) that Avengers 3 will see the team come back together in a crowd pleasing Guardians of the Galaxy mashup against Thanos & his Infinity Gauntlet.  Marvel will mic-drop and bow out of the movie making business for good.  Ha.

--Brad

Dork Art: Mike Mitchell's Marvel Portraits

This afternoon Time Magazine unveiled another set of portraits from Mike Mitchell's Mondo Gallery Show (opening this Friday in Austin - the lucky bastards!), and they are absolutely & utterly perfect.  The Hulk is the tops for sure; Mitchell expertly captures that cromag forehead accentuating the green meanie's dim bulb rage.  But I also love Loki's contemptuous glazed expression, Doc Ock's maniacal grin, and Bullseye's psycho eyes.  Luke Cage?  He's all confidence & sideburns.  I really hope prints of these Avengers are available soon so that I can fight the internet into frustrated bliss as I click, click, click, click to no avail.  Seems like the only luck I'm having at scoring Mondo prints these days is on the secondary market.  An old story, but still it rankles.

Dork Art: Indestructible Abe Lincoln

I finally got around to looking at the latest batch of Marvel solicitations, and I when I came across this Mike Del Mundo variant cover for Indestructible Hulk #15 I spurt milk from my nose (metaphorically). This is the type of comic book bonkers so often on display in the Batman Brave & The Bold cartoon, and it got me craving for some Marvel toons on that level of silly fun.  Mark Waid's Indestructible Hulk has been fairly hit or miss since its first issue, but the last one (#12) featuring Cowboys & Dinosaurs was a heap of fun.  Could a John Wilkes Booth confrontation be in the jolly green giant's future?  Lotta time travel going on in the Marvel Universe these days.

--Brad

Dork Art: Stan The Man

I was listening to a podcast recently discussing the pros & cons of the Stan Lee icon - blah, blah, blah, blah, poor Jack Kirby, poor Steve Ditko.  True.  Fact.  No denying that.  But I gotta love Stan Lee's tenacious whore-mongering.  Stan The Man knows how to make money, and he knows how to do it with a smile on his face.  There never has been and probably never will be a comic book creator as well known as Stan The Man.  Case in point:  Yves José Malgorn's Stan The Man print for Geek-Art's Heroes show at the French Comic Con.

--Brad

Dork Art: Richard Sala's Fin Fang Foom

Sometime back I wrote a review of Richard Sala's The Hidden for Daily Grindhouse.  Since then I've paid a lot of attention to his tumblr.  There you'll find rifts on Nosferatu, Batman, and violent Trekkie girls.  It's a wonderland of weird.  But this Fin Fang Foom is without a doubt the best thing he's ever done...or at least my favorite.  The Kaiju with Purple Pants has always haunted my dreamscape.  He's a Godzilla knockoff created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, for a one-shot issue of Strange Tales, that eventually worked his way into Iron Man's rogues gallery.  What's the deal with the purple pants?  Did he steal them from the Hulk?  I have no idea.  But I kinda love them.  And when I see modern artists portray the beast without the pants it kinda upsets me.  I own two statues of Fin Fang Foom and I'm still waiting for him to make an Avengers movie appearance - Hey!  Guardians of the Galaxy is happening!!!  So Fin Fang Foom is a total possibility in this mad world we now occupy.

--Brad

Brad's Week In Dork! (5/5/13-5/11/13)

We're two weeks into the Summer Season and I'm having a blast.  Granted, I'm still a little obsessed with The Alamo Drafthouse DC and their preshow entertainments go a long way into granting me a serious giddy schoolboy glee.  Just 12 hours after seeing Iron Man 3 at The Alamo, The Wife & I were back to chow down on fried pickles and guffaw at Don Cheadle's amazing Captain Planet monstrosity. Immediately upon returning to the household I leapt online to consume the rest of Cheadle's environmental horror shows.  Pure comic gold.

I also tracked down a blu ray copy of Martin Scorsese's New York, New York but just when I thought that movie marathon was back up and running, I fell into some deep boredom with that disastrous movie musical sendup.  I'd like to say I'm ready to dive into Raging Bull next week but with Star Trek Into Darkness on the horizon I've got some serious Trekkie preparation to complete.  On Wednesday, I had Matt over to the household for my first every Peckinpah Party...well, not so much a party when it's just Matt, the little lady, and myself.  But I don't think the joys of Peckinpah warrant a big damn event shindig.  The man is so wonderfully depressing and only a special few can find good times in his doom & gloom entertainment.

Iron Man 3:  I love the Summer Movie Season.  Especially when it's launched with such a bombastic mega movie like the latest from Marvel Studios.  Reading the nasty nitpicky reviews of the flick, I just shake my head.  The last minute arrival of the Iron Army, the voiceover rush job of a climax, blah, blah, blah.  Most of the film's problems are neatly swept under the carpet with a couple throwaway lines, and the film is more concerned with its set pieces than its motivations.  However, this is an exhilarating sequel to The Avengers and manages to add an extra layer of neurosis to Tony Stark.  The rotating cast of buddies to banter allows Shane Black to showoff his wit and the twist in the script might mock a long ago Marvel mainstay, but it's a character worthy of a good mocking.  Iron Man 3 might not be as simply revelatory as the original film (the revelation being "Holy cow that's Iron Man and he's got cool lasers and stuff & Robert Downey Jr is amazingly snarky!") but it evolves the story of Stark's super hero delusion forward while at the same time bringing it home with another "I Am Iron Man" finale.  Solid symmetry in a season most critics are rewarded with Battleship bitchfests.

Hulk:  Ang Lee's HULK is Sophocles meets Marvel. Not spandex cinema. The director reaches back to the Jekyll/Hyde story that inspired Stan Lee and digs even deeper into mythology. It mucks with the character, twisting the origin to fit the needs of the screenplay - Nick Nolte's hobo patriarch growls rage & hate, jealous of his big green son. Eric Bana is reduced mostly to a sulker, but the way his pants popping counterpart tears through the supporting cast is fantastically barbarous. The super hero antics are reduced to a couple of puppy fights, but the real theatrics are saved for the climactic Shakespearean stage war between father & son. And when words aren't enough, a big bite of electricity launches the mondo saga into a conceptual combat grasping for A Space Odyssey. HULK is violently ambitious, not entirely successful, and enthusiastically alienating. Not the film Marvel Studios would dare force upon the world these days, but a flick striving to do something different with the genre.  And the last time Ang Lee really hit my mojo.

All New X-Men #11:  The Secret of the All-New traitor is revealed and it's...not at all shocking thanks to it being casually spoiled in last week's Uncanny X-Men.  So, despite having last month's cliffhanger ruined in another book (by the hands of the same writer no less, thanks Bendis), this is still another solid issue in the time traveling melodrama.  I dig the traitor.  It feels right.  Each of these guys has a reason to be horrified by their future selves, but I think the character in question easily has the most pathetically sad transformation and given his already narcissistic upbringing I can easily see him walking over to bad guy Cyke's side.  The other half of the issue sees Mystique strike out against another Marvel top dog, and it looks like it brings the attention of the Uncanny Avengers; we've got more big guest stars to look forward to next month.

Thanos Rising #2:  I really enjoyed the first book.  Kiddie Thanos learning the joys of anger & killing.  This issue continues his descent into pure evil, but I'm not sure I like the whole serial killer in training bent.  Also, I'm starting to wonder if we even needed this book.  Do we need to know why Thanos is such a bad guy or how he learned the pleasures of murder?  I want the story to march on to Universal Domination and leave the teen angst behind.  Give me Alexander The Great with a side of Space Hitler.

Winter Soldier #18:  Man, it sucks that this is the second to last issue in the series.  It never really had a chance, beginning with Ed Brubaker coasting out of the Marvel Universe but finally finding its feet under the tenure of Jason Latour.  This latest entry is a brooding downer with Bucky learning the origin of Tesla Tarasova, an opportunity Latour uses to express his Warren Zevon love ("That Son of a Bitch, Van Owen!!!") and gain another foothold in my appreciation.  The Winter Soldier has always been the bummer book of marvel - Super Heroics mixed with shame and dread.  Bucky Barnes is probably the saddest character in their bullpen and I kinda get why people aren't buying the book.  But dammit, they should.  Too late though.

Abe Sapien - Dark and Terrible #2:  The second issue still sees Abe on the run from the BPRD, but we're also given a little flashback to explain his flight.  I'm excited to see the fishman on an adventure of self discovery and now that Hellboy's trapped in Hell, it's good to have another dissatisfied agent lurking along the fringes of the Mignolaverse.  Having worked years alongside Mike Mignola, Scott Allie obviously has a deep understanding of these characters but the real star of this book is artist Sebastian Fiumara.  The man knows horror.  He's EC personified and I never want him to leave.

New York, New York:  The film lost me 15 minutes into the runtime. As Scorsese orchestrates a fantastic crane shot across a V-J Day celebration, and Robert De Niro practically sexually assaults his way into Liza Minelli's heart, a poisonous idea scratched into my brain - New York, New York is Martin Scorsese's 1941. A thought that's good for a chuckle, and not even that accurate. After all, Steven Spielberg's 1941 is a righteous disaster filled with a colorful array of confused cinematic icons stumbling about a spectacularly unfunny screenplay. 1941 is so damn odd, it's interesting. A train wreck worthy of your best gawk. Martin Scorsese's New York, New York like 1941 is trying to ape a time and a genre, but failing miserably to excite. This film doesn't have the parade. It's a somber saga. Robert De Niro's sexfiend manages to score some tender moments with Minnelli cuz her character is too dang shy to fend off his attack. The next thing we know they're in a relationship, falling bassackwards into a big band career and a marriage doomed from that first moment of Hate At First Sight. The rest of this too damn long story is filled with typical Hollywood Couple jealously. When Minnelli hits the big time & De Niro slips, neither their marriage nor their child can soothe the ambition. Maybe if this film was actually a musical than I could handle the banal romance, but what little Glenn Miller cool slips into the film is not enough to keep your mind from wandering or the zzzzzs from setting in. A real dull bore.

Star Trek - Countdown To Darkness:  The two prequel comics produced by IDW leading into 2009's Star Trek were not great, but they had a couple of interesting insights.  This latest Countdown, on the other hand, adds absolutely nothing to the JJ Abrams experience and completely screws an opportunity to play with Enterprise history.  At 4 issues, there is very little story to consume.  First Captain of the Enterprise, Robert April has been leading a civil war on an alien planet for decades.  With the aid of Mudd's daughter, April has lost his way in a skirmish with the Klingons but when the young Captain Kirk smashes the Prime Directive (as all Kirks are destined to do) he gets the devious idea to reclaim the chair.  I'm not sure how this relates to Into Darkness, but hopefully very little with only the obvious retrofitted Klingons & references to First Officer Marcus leaking forth from Abrams' mystery box.

Jason and the Argonauts:  Perfectly capturing the joy and excitement of Greek mythology, Jason & The Argonauts understands the Clash of the Titans better than any film baring that name. My go-to Harryhausen flick, it offers several stopmotion set piece classics like the bronze giant Telos, the Hydra attack, and the screaming skeleton assault. But as cool as all those effects sequences truly are, Jason & The Argonauts also supplies some fine human performances. Todd Armstrong squares his jaw as best he can, takes command with a puffed chest, and eats the melodrama with the appropriate theatricality. Nigel Green's Hercules is the absolute coolest, and seriously badass depiction of everyone's favorite demigod. He's all beard, smiles, and bravado. It's a shame when the tussle with Telos sends Green on his way, as his Hercules is worth a handful of spin-off films. I may prefer The 7th Voyage of Sinbad & Mysterious Island, but Jason & The Argonauts is the film Ray Harryhausen will be remembered for - pluck this out of cinema's history and the genre landscape would be utterly unrecognizable.

Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid:  "Remember me to whoever rides by." Sam Peckinpah's ultimate expression on the passing of the American West (a sub genre all utno itself), Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid is a passionately somber saga in which James Coburn's bought sheriff damns his soul in the pursuit of Kris Krisstofferson's outlaw spirit. Billy the Kid might be a cattle rustling murderer, but through Peckinpah's twisted morality he represents independence and the pursuit of happiness. Peckinpah's Garrett is a man who sold his freedom for the white picket fence, and the house to box his converted Mexican bride. The film is preachy with nearly every frame coated in Bob Dylan's lyrics, and Peckinpah's hatred for institution poisons the well for those looking for the simplicity of High Noon. It's a film busting at the seams with Western icons - Jack Elam, Slim Pickins, LQ Jones, Harry Dean Stanton, RG Armstrong - most of which violently fall in the conflict between legends . Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid tackles the fiction of American mythology; it's angry, mean, but mostly sad - not the rollicking adventure we often seek from the genre, but a heartfelt sendoff from its most iconoclastic creator.

Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia:  "There's nothing sacred about a hole in the ground or the man that's in it." After expressing his gloomy displeasure with the disappearance of The American West, Sam Peckinpah's follow-up film documented an all-out descent into hell that mirrored his own self-destruction. Warren Oates is Bennie, an ex patriot bartender who attempts to rise above his station by collecting a million dollar bounty on the severed head of a gangland lothario. A real hero's quest...if you replace Gilgamesh with a bottom feeding drunk and the will of the gods with blind luck and a sure shot. Tagging along for his damnation is his prostitute girlfriend, Isela Vega.  Their relationship seems to start the film as one of mutual convenience but through horrific circumstances they fool themselves into love but down south such fantasies will not last. The final third of the film is not just melancholic like Pat Garrett, but downright depressing. Warren Oates is said to be mimicking the look and mannerisms of his director, and considering Peckinpah's eventual collapse into self pity, Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia is one of cinema's hardest watches. That being said, it's also a brilliant bit of dread; a mean, hateful, ugly, angry film. A real sick puppy that wallows in its filth. Peckinpah would make other movies, but this is his final statement.

Batman #20:  Well, this was a real disappointment.  And coming off of my lukewarm reaction to Death of the Family, Snyder has a lot to prove with his next Zero Year arc.  Last year at the Baltimore Comic Con, Greg Capullo was giving away mini prints of Clayface with every autograph.  It's a beautifully grotesque image that currently hangs above my television in the living room, & when I heard this muddy rogue was going to make an appearance in this two issue arc I was pretty dang excited.  Now that it's all said and done, Capullo never delivered on the horror of that tiny print.  This goofy tale of Bruce Wayne imitation hits the basic beats already explored years ago in The Animated Series, and awkwardly ignores the crushing damage hammered down on Commissioner Gordon last issue.  3 issues past the last big arc, and Batman has slipped behind both Detective Comics & Batman Inc as the third best Bat-Title.  Lame.

Avengers #11:  "I am here because the universe demanded it."  Don't let the crappy manga cover fool you.  None of those goofy costumes appear in this issue, and it is easily my favorite book from Jonathan Hickman's run so far.  The team heads to Hong Kong in an effort to infiltrate an A.I.M. bidding war.  Shang Chi is the standout of the book, striking gorgeous Bruce Lee poses as he brings his Kung Fu against a series of ninja strike attacks.  But this issue also offers some great chuckles with Cannonball & Sunspot discovering the joys of gambling with tuxedoed A.I.M. agents, and the Black Widow popping headshots on a batch of terrorist assholes.  Hickman has taken this series all over the universe - from Mars to the Savage Land to the far reaches of Gladiatorial space.  With each trip he gives us a new texture, and this 70s Spy Puncher is the best genre vacation yet.

Thor - God of Thunder #8:  Young Thor slaves away for The God Butcher while meeting his future children, The Godesses of Thunder.  Meanwhile, Avenger Thor & Old Man Thor sail the cosmic seas and drink all the ale.  Jason Aaron's high concept romp is barreling towards its conclusion and I have no idea how these three timelines are going to collapse into each other and resolve themselves.  And dammit, that's exciting.  I have a feeling that Arron's run on Thor, how ever long it eventually lasts, will go down as one of the great arcs.  Mark my words.

Homicide - Life on the Street Season 6:  "In this world Dead is Dead."  Probably the toughest and most emotionally complex season of the show so far.  If you thought Detective Kellerman gunning down Luther Mahoney was the end of the gang war than you were seriously misguided.  Luthor's sister lands on the scene, and Georgia Ray is ten times the villain her big bro ever was; the back half of the series is populated with a sea of gangland killings.  With each dope death, Kellerman brings the department closer and closer to an apocalyptic outcome, threatening the lives of everyone touched by the Luthor Killing.  If I had one complaint about Season 6 is that super cop Frank Pembleton is given the back seat and I completely understand why Andre Braugher was ready to leave the show.  New additions Ballard, Garrity, & Falzone are welcome but neither of them can hold Pembleton's shoes.  The show just aint the show without Frank.  Still, other highlights of 6 include Charles Durning's racist cold case cop, James Earl Jones' devious Twinkie king, and Vincent D'Onofrio's subway flattened worker bee.

The Great Gatsby:  When Baz Luhrmann's at his most Baz Luhrmanny I was thoroughly enjoying this movie. You see that first trailer and you want the anachronisms, you want the artifice - bring on the Jay-Z, bring on the Jack White. Sweeping CGI landscapes populated with gyrating stripper flappers. But The Great Gatsby is far too faithful of an adaptation to be interesting; an hour and a half into the film you're pretty much sick of dopey Tobey and you want to throttle Leo and his "Old Sports." Baz Luhrmann is too in love with the novel, and his theatricality is suffocated by the Summer Reading selection. I would have much rather seen Baz revel in the period than find the modern in Fitzgerald.

--Brad

Brad's Week in Dork! (4/28/13-5/4/13)

This was a good one.  Yes, I did finally score a copy of Martin Scorsese's New York New York, but I decided to get focused - devoting almost my entire attention upon comic books and comic book movies.    Iron Man 3 launched the summer season, and as stated a few weeks back, Shane Black's entry into the Marvel Universe had my curiosity all a flutter.  The king of the 1980s buddy cop dynamic backing the canned frontman of Marvel's Avengers?  What can the man who wrote Lethal Weapon & Last Action Hero offer the bombastics of Super Hero cinema?  Well, I'm happy to report that he succeeds in carrying the weight of The Avengers, and Robert Downey Jr discovers new depths to plummet Tony Stark.  It's a damn solid sequel.

It's been almost a year since I attended AvengersFest, and I was really craving another spandex lead-in to the next Marvel Blockbuster.  Rather than killing a day with a bombardment of heroics, I spread the Marvel mania across the week, allowing each entry its proper space to soak into the brain (as if it wasn't addled enough).  As you'll see below, films I used to place above others have slipped, and films I once scoffed have taken the top spot in my heart.  Don't worry, The Avengers still rules my fanboygasms.  The other great thing about devoting this week to costumed shenanigans was that it would also climax in Free Comic Book Day, the ultimate celebration of the four color form.  And, oh yeah, The Alamo Drafthouse DC has finally landed in the neighborhood.  Time to Happy Dance.

Iron Man:  "You think you're the only super hero in the world?" The Marvel Cinematic Universe is unleashed with what is, for the most part, a rather routine super hero origin story. But to crap on ol' Shellhead would be unfair. Where was the genre in 2008? Richard Donner's Superman. Tim Burton's Batman. Bryan Singer's X-Men. Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (the best of the bunch). And a bevy of flicks not even worth mentioning other than to belittle or vehemently scorn (I'm looking at you Ghost Rider). What Jon Favreau's Iron Man really offered was a fresh personality. Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark is undoubtably charming - the Marvel James Bond - bedding ladies & knocking down the rogues out to cause global trouble. The film doesn't excite so much on the rewatches. It's got solid action, an endearing relationship in Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts, and a decent enough baddie in Jeff Bridges's bushy beard. But as The Avengers Initiative post-credit tag promises, Iron Man is simply a stepping stone into a comic book kingdom popcorn audiences were just simply not aware of, but one fanboys had been craving for decades.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang:  "I want you to picture a bullet inside your head!" Having supplied most of my boob tube youth with its bitter snark, screenwriter Shane Black steps behind the camera to show all the pretenders how its really done. Robert Downey Jr leaps out of movie jail with this perfectly biting jackass performance. Tony Stark is born in Harry Lockhart, small time crook turned actor turned gumshoe. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a mean little miracle of a meta comedy - a film that expertly mixes chuckles & violence, more so than the best of Lethal Weapons or the smiling hate of The Last Boy Scout. Val Kilmer delivers his final hurrah of charm as PI Gay Perry, the Abbott to Downey's Costello...or is he Costello to Downey's Abbott. Whatever. They're beautiful together.  It's all winks, but they're seriously strong winks.  "For all you good people in the midwest, sorry we said 'Fuck' so much."

Iron Man 2:  This film gets dumped on as a meandering mess of improvisation and world building, and yes, the strain is certainly felt during drunken party brawling & "Please Exit The Donut" S.H.I.E.L.D encounters, but in the aftermath of The Avengers' blockbusting success Iron Man 2 is an entertaining brick in Marvel's castle. Tony Stark's descent into ego, triggered by the first film's "I Am Iron Man" climax, is a fresh idea not previously explored in the movies.  And Robert Downey Jr manages to keep the audience on his side even when he's behaving like an absolute ass.  It helps that Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer is prancing on the stage around him, squirming & slithering his way to nebbish villainy. He's certainly more engaging than Mickey Rourke's whip cracking behemoth; if anyone gets the short end of the stick in this film it is certainly the big bad. He's relegated to two half-ass cgi encounters, and is mostly used as a slobbering foil to Sam Rockwell's bewilderment. Iron Man 2 is far from a cohesive picture, but I still find it more enjoyable to the run-of-a-mill origin of the first film. It's a dip into Marvel crazy. A hint of something bigger; something never attempted before in Hollywood.

Homicide - Life on the Street Season 5:  Introduced at the tail end of the last season, Erik Dellums's Luther Mahoney takes over season 5 as the looming crime boss of Baltimore.  He's a monster for sure.  Suave, cool, all confidence.  His smile is as violent as any drive-by shooting.  Reed Diamond's Detective Kellerman begins his slippery descent into hell with arson corruption charges and concludes the season with a gun pointed at the kingpin.  He was one of my favorite new characters of last season, but Kellerman eventually morphs into the most despicable and utterly pathetic Detective of the series.  How his partner Lewis manages to scrape the filth from his coat is beyond me - the most baffling, but acceptable television script doctoring, I guess.  Other highlights from the season are the past villains in the "Prison Riot" reunion,  Elijah Wood's boarding school killer ("The True Test"), and the climactic investigation into Detective Beau Felton's suicide...or murder?  Of the seasons I've rewatched so far, this is easily my favorite.  Kellerman's internal struggle, the straining Pembleton marriage, and the parade of casually evil killings make this one of the most tense, and painful runs of television.  Just the way I like my Homicide.

Detective Comics #20:  Seven issues into his run and writer John Layman brings his Emperor Penguin arc to a conclusion...or at least an end to a beginning.  His run on Detective has been plagued with crossovers ("Death of the Family" & "Requiem"), but when it's not distracted it's been exceptional and this single issue might be the highlight.  Goon turned pooh-bah, Ignatius Ogilvy had a good run of it and his mixing of the Man-Bat syrum with both Poison Ivy's toxin & Bane's venom transformed him into an exceptional Silver Age villain for the New 52.  'Course the real Penguin is not going to sit by and let his empire be stolen, and even if Ogilvy appears down for the count I'm betting Layman's got dastardly plans for his new creation.  I'm totally on board.

Hawkeye #10:  ITMOD favorite Francesco Francavilla stops by for a fill-in story surrounding the background of the killer Clown.  From what I've gathered we've never encountered this guy before but he certainly seems familiar.  And I'm still pissed about last issue's Grills finale.  Looks like Matt Fraction is building to some serious drama amongst all this lighthearted entertainment, and I'm happy to see the larger arc starting to form.  This issue sees another perspective on The Bros, and Kate Bishop takes more of the spotlight from Barton.  Sure, this is David Aja's book, but Francavilla is always a treat.  His art is a little in contrast to Aja's, but it's beautiful, colorful yet moody work.  He can fill in anytime.

Age of Ultron #7:  Logan & Sue Storm return from the Hank Pym murdered past to discover yet another age, but this one birthed from their own devious actions.  I've enjoyed this series pretty much from the beginning, but I certainly haven't loved it.  This is really the first issue that perked my alternative realities interest - one eyed Colonel America, Cyclops Cable, holey Ben Grimm,  Iron Man's armada - but I'm afraid they spent too much time in the first half reveling in the devastation and now that the book is getting crazy it's gonna rush a climax.  Only three issues left, a whole lotta story leftover.

Indestructible Hulk #7:  I'm still waiting for Mark Waid to kick ass on this book.  I was hoping the departure of "serious" artist Leinil Yu & the return of demi-god Walt Simonson would bring some much needed levity to the story.  As much fun as it was to see the "Hulk Worthy" last issue, the revelation of Thor's Mjolnir manipulation got a sad shrug outta this reader.  It's a fun enough tale, but it doesn't take the adventure to the next level the way Waid's Daredevil or his Rocketeer managed to do on a monthly basis.  So-so.

Iron Man #9:  God Dammit!  I'm still reading this crappy title!  If anything, this Week In Dork should prove to you that I can seriously love Tony Stark.  What Robert Downey Jr & company have proved is that Stark can be a fascinatingly flawed individual.  Through the years I have not followed every action of the Marvel Comics character, but I've enjoyed his tenure in Brian Michael Bendis' Avengers & I really liked what Mark Millar did with him in Civil War.  And since I've been loving Matt Fraction's work in Hawkeye & FF, I think it's time I devoured his Incredible Iron Man run.  But I gotta say, this Marvel Now Kieron Gillen incarnation is just the absolute pits.  Stark travels the Cosmos in search of Celestial killer 451, he teams up with the ridiculous Death's Head & avoids the Guardians of the Galaxy.  How does this all tie into "The Secret Origin of Tony Stark?"  SPOILERS if you care...Well, a robot knew his dad once.  Lame.  Gillen is dragging Tony all over the place with this book and maybe we're starting to discover an arc here, but I really don't care.  I've given you nine lukewarm months, Marvel.  And cuz I'm a sap and I want to love this character so damn much, I'm probably going to give you nine more.  I should vote with my dollars and drop this sucker, but I'm a dope - a fanboy, and I'm gonna keep reading and keep bitching until it gets worse or better.  God dammit!

Green Arrow #20:  Holy Cow, now this book is kick ass.  But unlike Iron Man I've never delved into the world of Oliver Queen before...well, there is that appearance in Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and I think I read Kevin Smith's short run some time back but I don't remember a dang thing about it.  As Fraction is doing in Hawkeye, writer Jeff Lemire is making me care for a character I once thought of as nothing more than a boring Robin Hood wannabe.  I still don't quite get Queen.  He's another rich playboy playing vigilante.  But Lemire is definitely putting this costumed hero through the wringer.  The purple archer Komodo is taking the good boy to task, beating, bashing, torturing his way to Oliver Queen's soul.  And then there's the mysterious starfish-eyed Magus.  What's his deal?  Mysterious seems to be equalling sinister, but we'll see.  And as violent as Lemire's script can be, artist Andrea Sorrentino's panels are just as vicious - selling the plight when the mystery is not enough.

Thor:  "It's a good look." This is the key film in Marvel's march towards The Avengers. Here we move beyond the "reality" of science based heroes (Iron Man, Hulk) and into the realm of batshit fantasy. If Thor had failed in its depictions of Asgard, Frost Giants, & Rainbow Bridges than The Mighty Myth would have remained an outcast of the super group. However, Kenneth Branagh and screenwriters Miller, Stentz, & Payne sell the insanity of such a universe with high adventure grounded in humor. Littlest pet shops, Renaissance Fair jabs, Asgardian butt shots. Not to mention Chris Hemsworth's smile. Those supernatural pearly whites are enough to make the manliest fanboys (as if those exist) swoon. And with the exception of a shoehorned Hawkeye, the S.H.I.E.L.D. presence feels organic to the script and Clark Gregg succeeds in bringing the band together. There are bits to quibble - budgetary constraints result in a claustrophobic small town setting with Asgard not getting its due, the climactic architectural devastation results with the wrong folks on the wrong sides, and it's more charm than Badass. But I'd also say that Thor is the one film post-Iron Man 1 and pre-Avengers that feels the most solid; it's certainly the only building block that could exist on its own. A shock given my original blase attitude towards the whacky classical icon's existence in the superhero realm.

Captain America - The First Avenger:  Probably the most frustrating film in the series, Captain America never quite sells its period setting or the grandness of its adventure. Still the first half of the film, the origin story, is a real corker. Chris Evans excels as scrawny Steve Rodgers, a kid sick of sitting on the sidelines as the global bully Adolf Hitler consumes the best of American youth. When Stanley Tucci's exiled scientist offers him a seat in his man machine, puny Steve Rodgers is evolved into the super human Captain America. There is heart in their conversations over good nature, and the film peaks with their final moment together. From that point in the film we get glimpses of iconic WWII battlescapes, and a series of tepid montages that tease rather than exhilarate. Monstrous CGI Tanks and a running stream of blue screens gives the entire proceedings an artificial taste, the threat of World War nothing more than a first person shooter. The Red Skull's Hydra hides the evil of the nazis, stripping the story of history as well as cinema's greatest villain, and diluting the triumph of our hero. When the two rivals finally meet in the unfriendly skies, their conflict is as satisfying as those montages. Quick. Fleeting. Just another link to The Avengers.

Photo Stolen from The Birchmere's Facebook Page.  Thanks.

John Hodgman @ The Birchmere:  I'm not a fan like The Wife, but I've always found "something" tremendously appealing about Hodgman's brand of humor.  He works the nerd crowd - hipstery, but you know, in a good way.  He comes on stage flashing his ridiculous amount of showbiz swag, taking pot shots at himself and the celebrity world he sometimes inhabits.  He makes references to Ayn Rand as quickly as he does Battlestar Galactica - flaunting his cred as wildly as he does his AWEsome mustache.  He's not a barrel-laughs kinda guy, but I found myself eating up the show with the rest of his crowd.  He's a goofball in the same vein as Jim Gaffigan, but instead of feeling the comfort of a fellow Hot Pockets devouring buffoon, I am fully aware listening to his comedy that this man is far smarter than I am.  But that can be a comfort too.  A level of nerdom to strive towards.

The Avengers:  "That's my secret Captain, I'm always angry." After a half dozen rewatches I have yet to tire of the comic book joy overflowing from the screen in this crowning achievement of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Years in the making, The Avengers is the Damn Yankees of Super Hero movies. Nothing quite like it has ever been attempted before, and thankfully this big beast succeeds where it surely could have floundered. Joss Whedon dips his pen into the Marvel U and scrawls the quintessential Avengers campaign. Two mad scientists, a super soldier, a god, and a couple of grunts. Toss them into a floating aircraft carrier and you're going to get a kerfuffle, especially when you've got Loki and his mind gem space stick influencing matters - that's the cliche done right. You've seen these beats before, but never executed so perfectly or with so much reverence to the source material. Is it just fan servicing? Probably. But dammit, I'm the fan here and I'm uncontrollably delighted when Iron Man bounces repulser beams off of Cap's shield or when Banner announces his control of The Hulk. And I absolutely dig the downfall of Tom Hiddleston's Loki. (SPOILERS folks, but why the hell haven't you seen this film already?) He may be the cock of the walk, but in the end he's just a whiney brat taken out by Hawkeye's arrow & the Hulk's smashing rage. A pawn in The Mad Titan's invasion of Earth. Thanos!?!?! What's next, Rocket Raccoon? Oh wait...

Free Comic Book Day:  Woke up too damn early on Saturday morning, but it's that time of year again! FCBD!!!!  Matt & I did our annual Comic Shop crawl through the Northern Virginia area.  First stop was Laughing Ogre (formerly Phoenix Comics & Toys) in Fairfax.  They had a serious line of kids, adults, & hipsters (the bad kind this time) waiting to get inside.  They also put up a three book limit - snagged Marvel's Infinity, 2000 AD's Judge Dredd, & the weak Snyder/Lee Superman Unchained preview.  A couple cosplayers lurked inside: Venom & Scarecrow were buddies, there was a Sharon Carter Agent 13, and Black Widow actually worked the counter.  Next on the crawl was Big Planet Comics in Vienna.  That's my shop.  And they're the best.  They allowed one of each of the Free Comic Book Day selections and I took them up on that promise.  Scored almost everything including Pippi Longstocking, Prince Valiant, and Marble Season.  Why the hell not, right?  Not as much cosplay here - a lone Winter Soldier guarded the entrance.  From there we went to the Laughing Ogre mothership is Sterling - things were dying down, upped their take to five books a customer.  No cosplay.  Then a late lunch break and a final trip out to Gainsville to Comics & Gaming.  They had a massive selection of Free Comics dating back several years.  Grabbed some Bone & Archies.  And, of course, along the way Matt & I made sure to support the local businesses; paying our hard earned cash for books like Jonathan Hickman's The Manhattan Project, Lincoln Washington Free Man, and Scott C's Double Fine Action Comics.  Overall, the Free Comic Book Day selections don't seem as strong as last year's but I have yet to really mull them over.  The free stuff is not really the point anyway.  It's about getting the rest of the world excited about funny books.  Haven't talked to my guys yet, but this year seemed to be a success.  Each store was hopping.  Hopefully some money was flowing their way too.

The Alamo Drafthouse DC:  And how do you perfectly cap off an amazing Free Comic Book Day?  Well, how about Iron Man 3 at the Grand Opening of Washington DC's very own Alamo Drafthouse!?!?!?!?  Hell to the yeah!...Ok...so it really wasn't the Grand Opening, we missed that by one afternoon.  And Alamo Drafthouse DC is actually Alamo Drafthouse Loudon, VA but semantics shmantics.  Nearly five years ago, I visited Austin's original Drafthouse for a screening of Spider-Man 3.  Whatever my opinion of that film I can at least say that they offered an amazing experience filled with specialized programming and delicious & deadly food.  I'm happy to report that The Alamo has been expertly transported to NOVA.  I totally dug the pre-show entertainment filled with classic (& not-so-classic) Iron Man cartoons, a weirdo Ben Kingsley Prada ad, the Don Cheadle Captain Planet Funny or Die video, and Robert Downey Jr's insane hut hut hut hut bark from god know's what movie.  The food was great.  Ordered a Royale w/Cheese & a Mexican Vanilla milkshake.  Rocked my tastebud world.  Sure, it takes a little getting used to all the servers dashing down the aisles, but once you do it's a blast to chow down on your burger while Tony Stark tinkers on screen.  And the No Talking/Texting mantra is seriously appreciated.  The Alamo Drafthouse has a reverence for cinema and its patrons drink the kool-aid.  Frankly, I'm not sure why I would want to see a movie anywhere else at this point.  They're gonna be getting a whole helluva lot of my business going forward.  But what about the flick in question....

Iron Man 3:  "Do you want an empty life?" After The Battle of New York (aka The Avengers), Tony Stark is a mess of stress and anxiety. He's an insomniac; what little sleep he does achieve is plagued with nightmares of wormholes & alien invaders. He spends the rest of his time tinkering in the basement, and alienating his all-too-understanding girlfriend. Shane Black takes the reigns from Jon Favreau and properly progresses the emotional chinks in Stark's armor - Robert Downey Jr is the master of character flaws and he brings the genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist to his logical breaking point in this third and most successful Iron Man entry. Really the only place to go after the apocalypse of The Avengers is inward - it's not go big or go home, it's take a beating and keep on ticking cinema. Stepping out of the silver age, Ben Kingsley's The Mandarin hates America & its fortune cookie lies, but the Marvel team cleverly sheds the yellow peril Fu Man Chu slander and makes room for Guy Pearce's demonic A.I.M CEO. Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer might have been the funhouse mirror version of Tony Stark, but Pearce's Aldrich Killian is Stark's Anti-Christ. He doesn't quite steal the show from Kingsley's theatrics, but it's a pleasure to hate on Pearce. Iron Man 3 is not The Empire Strikes Back of the franchise. There is some serious brooding to help elevate the turmoil, but Shane Black puts in plenty of his patented banter. Whether he's bouncing off Happy Hogan, Gwyneth Paltrow, a bullied kid, or Don Cheadle, Tony Stark is scoring plenty of classic 80s chuckles. And speaking of Don Cheadle! His rebranded Iron Patriot finally gets some decent screentime, bracing his badass muscles and going back-to-back with Stark at the climax. He's earned a spot in Avengers 2 as far as I'm concerned, and I'm certainly ready for the next phase of Marvel: Thor 2, Cap 2, and the madness of The Guardians.  Bring it.

--Brad