Now in our fourth calendar year
While sorting my comic collection after my recent move I was floored the number of movie and TV inspired books that I’ve accumulated. The obvious stuff: Star Wars, Trek, X-Files, Terminator, Aliens, etc...then there’s the rest: from Bill & Ted to Indiana Jones to Hook and even, Married with Children. Maybe some I have held onto for obvious reasons: The Twilight Zone, for instance, is a great read. But how did Hook survive all of these years? Why wasn’t it appropriated at the last garage sale? What is wrong with me?
Well, I decided I needed a story - an excuse if you will.
Have you ever wondered what you say if you’d meet certain celebrities? I mean the "A-list", the elite - Dustin Hoffman for instance. Well, this is my in. How many times has he heard about "Rainman", "The Graduate", maybe even "Family Business" - maybe not. Well, nobody goes up and chats with Hoffman about "Hook". I could throw down about "Wag the Dog", "...but imagine the look on his face when I extend a copy of "Hook" and ..." oh god, nevermind.
I toss the "ish" into the garage sale box.
What? I’m keeping the Ren and Stimpy. At least I don’t own a "Phantom Menace #1", the photo version with Qui-Gon on the front. Hmmm, or do I?
PUNISHER -- Special Update THE SLUSH PILE
The reviews...
The superhuman powers parallel the familiar characters of Marvel and DC. "The First Family" is a derivation from the Fantastic Four. Issues two and three takes us on an adventure with the child Astra (she turns into a being of pure energy similar to the human torch). She attempts to blend into the "normal" world and defeat the playground bully at a game of hopscotch abandoning her superhuman lifestyle behind. The family searches frantically for the missing youth (Alex Ross’ milk carton cover is awesome.)
Brent Anderson and Will Blyberg handle the art adequately and Ross puts his touch on Astro City with his eloquent cover art. Many people talk about the realism associated with Busiek’s work (e.g. Kingdom Come, Marvels), but what I find is that he relays obvious questions that we have taken for granted in the superhuman worlds. What would it be like to fight evil but never learn playground games like normal kids? This is a great series that gets increasingly interwoven which adds more richness to the storytelling and makes it very compelling.
On the pile...
HEAVY LIQUID
ONE SHOTS Batman 608-612 (and beyond) is a still super hot commodity. Wizard claims it the first time a DC Title has nailed down the number one list three months in a row. BEWARE: there are now multiple printings of these issues.
$700 for Spawn #1: Yep. A perfect pristine copy of Spawn #1 - that’s CGC 10.0 - was listed at $699.99. What an abomination.
Mainstream news has now picked up the story involving a lawsuit involving in-line skating magazine Rejects. The April issue included a free DVD, but 10% of the distribution was mixed up with "Hard Hat Pigs". A young boy viewed the pornographic material after purchasing the magazine at a Barnes & Noble. So much for those little plastic visors blocking the covers of Vanity Fair and Cosmo "protecting" my children from "inappropriate material".
This week’s Entertainment Weekly lists their Top 50 Cult Movies. I wonder how they define "Cult"? Successfully placing "Rocky Horror", "Spinal Tap", "Eraserhead", "Freaks", "Chainsaw", "Harold and Maude" and others - what is "Scarface" and "The Shawshank Redemption" doing on the list? Lastly, I was unaware of the "Office Space" frenzy that is embedded in our society. I guess I don’t know cult - at least not EW’s "cult".
To Andy Lalino’s anti-Pixar disdain, my kids have the countdown to "Finding Nemo" release on May 30. This is encouraged by my animal loving anti-"Matrix" wife as they now quote the trailer: "First we were like ‘whoa’, then we were like ‘whoa’, then ‘whooooaaa.’" I’m losing my mind.
UP NEXT
With the announcement of the "Punisher" coming to Tampa, I wanted to discuss Punisher #1 and Punisher War Journal #1: key back issues. These two comics were seriously hot commodities ten to fifteen years ago ($20-$50 market price) but have since fallen to obscurity. If fact, you may catch some collectors who will be elated to take get a dollar for these comics (Wizard list price is $5) There were in my garage sale box. Thomas Jane, John Travolta - a worthwhile cast don’t necessarily mean a worthwhile movie. A superior movie doesn’t always translate into collector interest. So, on the heals of the big "Punisher" announcement: will Punisher comics become nostalgia or stay in the garage sale bin? Time will tell.
ASTRO CITY (the series 1-3): Writing within the framework of the DC and Marvel universes must be a daunting task: the history, pre-established timelines, the stories that have already been told - tough job. Well, Kurt Busiek’s multi-hero universe integrates familiar mythology with new ideas and creations. Issue #1 begins with Ben Pullam ignoring the warnings of danger from his friends to relocate from Boston to the chaotic Astro City. Attacked by Thunderhead, a weather God, Astro City’s most powerful: Samaritan, the Honor Guard, Winged Victory, the Irregulars and others, must join forces to protect the city. Ben’s doubts become reality. Busiek reminds us that the superhero’s fight against danger is a hazardous risk for the civilians as well. It’s not often that you think about the risk you’d take living in Gotham City, Metropolis or Marvel’s New York.
HULK MANIA: So it begins. Hulk: Grey will feature the red-hot Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Hulk: Nightmerica, a six-part mini-series, will present new characters and a top secret new villain. An exclusive Alex Ross cover (variant) will be available at the convention in Philadelphia - more info at www.wizarduniverse.com. More next week.
Bruce Jones on Hulk and Garth Ennis' Punisher - the reason these characters make it to the big screen.
"Splash Page" is ©2003 by Brandon Jones. Webpage design and all graphics herein (except where otherwise noted) are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2003 by Nolan B. Canova.