Chris Nolan is one of my favourite directors, but I guess everyone has to shoot one turkey.
Did I say turkey? That's too strong. This edible foul, and its innards, are really only half-baked, and if I'm honest, that's maybe because I cooked it on the wrong gas-setting.
This metaphor's starting to ruffle my feathers, maybe I'll chicken out here.
Why sure, for a Batman film of course the above puns should all actually be mammal-related, but on the other hand, the film itself didn't make a heap of sense to me either.
It had all looked so promising beforehand...
David and I had waited about a year for a cinema-screening that we could both manage to agree upon. So last night at 11:30pm (it was an actual dark night) we found ourselves in central London seated in front of the biggest IMAX screen in the British Isles. We were even full of coffee.
After the brilliance of Batman Begins (and the, um, opposite effect of Batman: Gotham Knight), this movie had everything going for it, including a year's worth of dazzling reviews.
However then the film actually began.
In the opening minutes, nearly all the principle characters are wearing masks. Then Batman shows up. He's also wearing a mask, but that's not a problem, because his mask actually makes him easier to identify. However, there's so much whizzing about that he seems to be in two places at once. Well, of course he does, he's Batman. He's fast like that.
No, wait, they actually are two different characters wearing Batman costumes. So one of them must be an impostor. Or both of them. Maybe there are more than two Batmen, I mean if I had a moment ago wrongly thought that there was only one of them, then maybe I was now wrongly thinking that there were only two?
In fact, after all the publicity surrounding Joker-actor Heath Ledger's sad death after wrapping this film, I found myself (again wrongly) second-guessing why so many of the cast's faces were hidden. Was that really Mr Ledger under there? It later turned out that it had been, but at the time I didn't know that.
This opening sequence is all centred around a bank heist. One by one, the (masked) Joker executes each of his (similarly masked) accomplices as they cease to be useful to him. I sat in the cinema narrowing my eyes, really, really hoping that the rest of the film would not feature anyone else agreeing to work for this established backstabber. After all, these were high-profile betrayals, not many crooks would be willing to trust the Joker after this.
What actually happened was that the Joker spent the rest of the 152 minutes thoroughly dependent upon the loyalty of others. One guy even allows him to surgically plant a bomb inside him. Maybe he did it because he thought his family were going to receive a payoff after his death or something, but even this would be inconsistent with the Joker's record.
The flipside of my criticisms is this: pretty early on I gave up trying to follow the story.
Like I said in the second paragraph, my dissatisfaction is arguably all my fault.
However, with my brain turned-down, I did really enjoy the whole thing. It seemed pretty intelligent, and looked awesome throughout, though in much the same meaningless way that Mission: Impossible II had.
The whole cast, too, plays this one flawlessly.
Which brings us back to Heath Ledger's Joker again. In the face of so much sad publicity, it's hard not give this performance an unjustly greater scrutiny. Would Heath's portrayal really turn out to have been as good as everyone had said it was, or had they all just said that because of his untimely death?
I can't argue. Ledger is surprisingly good, managing to underplay such a ludicrous character in such a way as to make him thoroughly believable. In fact, I'd even say that this is really Heath Ledger's film, with Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent / Two-Face) as his second lead, and Christian Bale's title-role coming in third.
Also, even though some of the camerawork and editing had me confused, Chris Nolan's overall direction is still as excellent as ever. When the effigy of the Joker dressed as Batman suddenly smacked into the office window, I literally jumped back in my seat.
Likewise the sequence in Hong Kong was breathtaking, and Nolan's choice of spending much of the few IMAX minutes available on aerial shots was wise indeed.
I have never, ever liked widescreen. For me, it's always been like having to watch everything through a visor. What a relief that these comparatively taller screens are making a comeback.
If anything, it's a shame that Nolan's wish to shoot the entire thing in IMAX, instead of just a quarter of it, could not have been accommodated. If Hollywood doesn't have the resources to achieve this, then who does, especially with a budget of $185 million dollars? The result of continually cutting between these two shapes was a film that, to me, felt like it wasn't yet complete.
Maybe that sense of incompleteness was also due to all my plot-problems having explanations that I'd missed. Perhaps Harvey Dent's sudden lack of acquired resistance to temptation, after the many years he'd spent publicly standing-up to it, was clarified somewhere. Maybe there was also a reason for why the boats didn't blow up at the end. And maybe that mask at the start meant that no-one on the street knew that it had been the Joker killing all those accomplices. Yeah, maybe I really should have paid more attention.
My biggest problem though was with the story's ending. Our heroes Batman and Gordon actually decide that the public - remember we're the public - are all much stupider than they are, won't be able to understand that their hero Harvey Dent went bad, and need to be lied to.
It's a real kick in the teeth after all the sacrificial heroism of the two boatloads of people minutes earlier. For me, the film finishes with Batman and Gordon becoming the bad guys.
Batman: "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
It's almost as if he thought so too.
Available here.
Review of Batman Begins here.
Review of Batman: Gotham Knight here.
Review of The Dark Knight Rises here.Labels: comics, films
Writer: Roger Stern
Additional Dialogue By: Jim Shooter
Breakdowns: John Buscema
Finished Art: Tom Palmer
This is the comic that features the Molecule Man escaping from hospital by having a large hot air balloon lift his bed into the sky.
That sounds very silly, and indeed, this epilogue to Secret Wars II is equally ludicrous in its larger plot, but it's thankfully all written as drama.
In the aftermath of the beyonder's death, the Molecule Man is the only being with the mental powers to save Earth from consequent destruction. However should he fail, then he will have forfeit his ability to salvage just himself and his beloved Marsha.
Consequently, the assembled heroes have a thin line to tread in asking him for his help. You can hardly pressure someone to risk their life, or the life or someone they love, for your own.
He's also afraid that, afterwards, the Silver Surfer might kill him. (no-one wants a guy with the ability to control planets wandering around)
The great paradox of the Molecule Man's character at this point in Marvel history lies in his quest to just be a regular joe again. Apart from the zig-zags on his face, the art here does indeed make Owen Reece look thoroughly ordinary. This probably helps his subterfuge at the story's end, when he pretends that the act of saving everyone has burnt his powers out. The Silver Surfer actually backs him up in this fib, later explaining his decision to Owen quite profoundly.
Silver Surfer: "I confess... I was sorely tempted to put an end to your powers. But to do so would have been an act born of fear -- while your leaving yourself open to me was an act of courage!
Evil stems from fear, while true courage is a sign of good within!
I simply allowed your courage to inspire mine!"Labels: comics
Scripter: Jim Shooter
Penciler: Al Milgrom
+++ contains spoilers +++
Part 1 of 6: Secret Wars II and Me
It's taken me 24 years, but I've finally finished reading Secret Wars II.
I was in my teens when #1 first hit the stands in the UK, but Secret Wars II's 9-issue run also crossed-over into 22 other Marvel titles, several of which were just not available in my corner of London. Clearly, if I was to read the whole story in the correct order (as is my wont) then I was going to have to buy the issues that were available, and then embargo them until I'd procured the earlier rarer instalments from specialist import shops.
Ultimately, I wound-up getting hold of the last four missing episodes when they were later reprinted by Marvel UK.
Some unkind fans might suggest that the reason why it then took me over two decades to actually read them was because of how infamously dreadful the whole sprawling 42-part epic is. I can't argue with them there - the plot is indeed pants, as are some of the short stories contained therein - but that's not why it took me so long.
Basically, in the time that it took me to collect the whole darn series, my interest had simply waned.
Well, lately I've been crossing a number of things off of my todo list...
Part 2 of 6: Plot and Observations
The thing about Secret Wars II is that, love it or hate it, almost everyone hates it.
The series' main problem has nothing to do with the unprecedented scope of its crossovering, or with its being a sequel to such genius as the first series, or even with its betrayal of the Beyonder's original mysterious characterisation from those issues. (in much of this, the god from another universe just acts like a kid)
No, for me the inherent flaw throughout the whole story, as briefly bothered the credibility of the original tale, lies in his super powers, specifically his omniscience and omnipotence.
The Beyonder comes from another, much bigger, universe than our own, which contained only himself. Our entire multiverse is so tiny and simple by comparison, that he knows everything about it, and can do anything to it. Period.
Where his scripts really fail him is in fulfilling that final word "period". In order for some interesting stories to take place, author after author lines-up to knock a crack into the Beyonder's invincible credentials. By the end of these nine months the poor 'one from beyond' has acquired more weaknesses than the Cybermen. Beyondersbane, the Puma, Phoenix, causality... if anything, the whole tale is one of a pure, perfect being who is progressively infected by humanity, until he falls.
It's regrettable enough that his omniscience is broken from the off by his paradoxical desire to understand desire. As things progress, it transpires that there's so much more that he also doesn't actually know, most confusingly how to make the best use of his incomprehensible powers. For example, given that he can destroy the whole universe with but a thought, his actions when he loses his temper are, well, somewhat restrained.
But, y'know, before I sound like too much of a whiner, let me make one thing very very clear here:
I love Secret Wars II.
Its scope is nothing short of genius, and its potential far beyond that of a mere nine issues of the main title. This was an examination of the human condition, and as such had no shortage of inspiration, much like Third Rock From The Sun.
At the outset, the Beyonder remains quite quiet and mysterious, as the stories are told from the familiar perspective of the super heroes who he meets. This works pretty well, although a few of the writers take it to extremes and don't even feature the Beyonder in their contributions. (sorry Denny O'Neil and Danny Fingeroth)
However, once the crossover issues get into telling their own short stories about the Beyonder, the series gets some real momentum up.
A good example is the pivotal Doctor Strange #74. In this the Beyonder, having ascertained that he can never return to his old content state of isolated existence, is on a journey to turning his life around from depression. (I guess that Strange must be later trying to stop the others from attacking him in Secret Wars II #5)
There's also a real progression to the Beyonder's behaviour. Having started-out speaking very little, he then pro(re?)gresses to behaving somewhat like a child. After his aforementioned Strange-change, he enters my favourite era from the series. The Beyonder becomes a - fairly - together guy.
Choosing the path of good, (whew!) he dedicates his life to helping others. Alas, with the power to achieve absolutely anything, he quickly goes to extremes, unaware of the long-term damage such exaggeration may cause. In Secret Wars II #6 he kills Death for a short while, before realising that the universe has become a bit dependent on it.
Alas, from this point on, I had a gnawing feeling that things couldn't last. The Beyonder restricts himself to merely helping individual people out with their smaller, immediate problems. A less-dangerous path, but one that would hardly allow him to properly express himself. Frustration was inevitable.
He has a brief religious experiment with a theory of 'universal oneness', which over a few issues looks like it's foreshadowing a bigger plotline, but then seems to just get forgotten.
Apparently believing in an intelligence (or at least an order) greater than himself, he decides that his purpose in life may be to show everyone else what their purpose in life is. He gets pretty mellow and wise during these issues, and it's a shame that this friendly helpful version of the character didn't last.
When he encounters the Puma, whose life-purpose is to kill him, he realises that his worldview doesn't stand up under scrutiny after all. It's a crushing spiritual defeat, for a godlike being who has now - impressively - become something of an everyman character.
Anger, frustration and bitterness follow, as he resolves to restore his wholeness by getting rid of the universe, along with his own memory of it. It must be said, he takes a really, really long time telling everyone how he's about to do this.
Eventually this threat is resolved quite brilliantly, when Phoenix briefly possesses the universe in all its majesty, and afterwards passes-on her experience of it to him. The Beyonder physically breaks down on the ground, now emotionally unable to destroy such beauty.
The final issue has him building a big machine with which to turn himself into a human properly, i.e. one who has no special powers, and can die. These scenes contain all the wonder that the earlier issues rather missed, and it's a real shame that this situation didn't last for, well, I think there was the potential for years of issues here.
Beyonder: "What a rush! It was awesome... terrifying... exhilarating! I--I was aging! Each breath seemed like... an event! Each second was unique! It was unbearable--! -- And yet, now the oppressive sameness of every moment in this form is unbearable! I've got to try it again!"
Alas, the defenses that he places around himself and his machine are so laughably weak that we can only suppose that he simply hadn't had enough experience of life to know better...
When the ensuing explosion kills the Beyonder-baby and transforms him into an entire new universe, I honestly thought that this was the New Universe, namely Marvel's eight-title 'New Universe' range of comics, which was launched about six months later.
Ohh, what the heck, why not.
Part 3 of 6: In Summary
Overall, I think that Secret Wars II is an absolutely classic series, the like of which I doubt I will ever read again.
Looking back, my main criticism is of the Beyonder's omniscience. Had he been an omnipotent character who knew nothing other than what his experiences had taught him, then I think the stories would have been freer to restrict, manipulate and challenge him. Instead we're continually left to protest, "Oh but he would have already known that," or "why didn't he just do this?"
Beyonder: (to Thor)"What have you got in mind, since I'm not reading yours?"
- [Thor #363]
My favourite issues are Rom #72, Power Man And Iron Fist #121 and Peter Parker #111.
Also, it's worth observing that although this is effectively a story about God becoming a man, there are freeingly no comparisons to the guy who famously died on a cross anywhere. As a result, the entire saga is quite fresh in its approach to the concept.
Several characters do wonder if the Beyonder might be God, and Nightcrawler suffers a rather brilliant crisis of faith over it all. (in Uncanny X-Men #196)
"Is this God? I tell myself this cannot be -- but if he is not, who is?! Do you understand, Michael -- this creature can destroy the Earth in an instant! How can the Lord permit this entity to threaten humanity -- and perhaps all creation -- unless the Beyonder is God. But if he is, how then can I believe in such a being?
My faith sustained me in times of utter despair, when death seemed certain and I was sure there was no hope -- but now, I search for it and find only emptiness. That blessed inner light has fled from my soul. Thanks to the Beyonder, I am hollow inside.
I am lost."
Part 4 of 6: Secret Wars II Chronology
Anyone who's read this series knows that the crossover-order listed at the end of each issue of Secret Wars II doesn't make a heap of sense.
These episodes seem to take place during the preceding issue of the main title, simultaneously with each other, and Fantastic Four #282 only contains the Beyonder in one panel! With this in mind, below is my own, entirely subjective, take on the best order to read these in.
Just in case you're wondering, in weighing-up the different tensions of continuity, I've tended to emphasise them in this order of precedence:
1. Continuity in the surrounding issues of each series (where known)
2. Statements made by the characters
3. The Beyonder's character-development / motivation
4. Everyone else's character-development / motivation
5. The apparent intention of each author
6. Narration / publication date (narration - never one to be trusted)
I've also assumed the Beyonder to only ever be in one place at any one time, and generally focused on being chronological from his perspective. Eg. Most of Hulk #312 takes place in flashback, but it would be more of a hindrance than a help to move it up to the start.
Fantastic Four #285 was quite hard to place. The Beyonder's benevolence and wisdom match his later character-development, but Fantastic Four Annual #19 places it before the war to end all skrulls, and therefore before Avengers #261, which is itself hard to reconcile with how nastily they're all treating him at the end of Secret Wars II #5.
My theory is this: The Beyonder messes things up for the Avengers in space. (A#260) Then the Avengers attack the Beyonder on Earth, which he perceives as punishment. (SWII#5) The manic Beyonder believes he should have given them a chase, and rectifies this. (A#261) Consequently the two parties come to the uneasy truce that we subsequently witness. (SWII#6)
The impossible presence of Starfox in Secret Wars II #5 was a good old-fashioned mistake in the original publication, and remains one in this reading order too. If you want to believe that the Beyonder has travelled back in time, or that Starfox has been briefly recalled to Earth, or is a skrull trapped in Starfox's form, then that's cool too.
In Power Pack #18 page 8 panel 3, Alex remarks "That's the guy from beyond... the one we met last night!" I reckon he's just misremembering the day, or the Beyonder would have healed their mother, instead of limiting himself to merely taking her to the hospital, as per his resolve at the end of Secret Wars II #6.
In Secret Wars II #4 page 4 panel 7, despite what the Beyonder has just said, Captain America is actually away in space. Go figure.
Sections that the Beyonder is not in are bracketed, in case you don't want to bother with those. (I sure didn't!)
Here we go:
Secret Wars II #1 page 1 to page 25 panel 7
(The New Mutants #30 page 1 to page 4 panel 5)
(Iron Man #197)
The New Mutants #30 page 4 panel 6 to end
Secret Wars II #1 page 25 panel 8
Captain America #308
The Uncanny X-Men #196
Secret Wars II #2
(Web Of Spider-Man #6)
(The Amazing Spider-Man #268)
Secret Wars II #3 page 1 to page 9 panel 6
(Fantastic Four #282 page 1 to page 20 panel 1 narration box only)
Secret Wars II #3 page 9 panel 7
Fantastic Four #282 page 20 panel 1 except narration box
Secret Wars II #3 page 10 panels 1 to 4
(Fantastic Four #282 page 20 panel 2 to end)
Secret Wars II #3 page 10 panel 5 to page 23
(The Avengers #260 page 1 to page 11 panel 3)
Secret Wars II #3 page 24 to page 25 panel 2
The Avengers #260 page 11 panel 4 to end
Secret Wars II #3 page 25 panel 3 to end
Daredevil #223
The Incredible Hulk #312
Secret Wars II #4 pages 1 to 5
Rom #72
Secret Wars II #4 page 6 to page 14 panel 1
(Dazzler #40 prologue)
Secret Wars II #4 page 14 panel 2 to page 17 panel 3
Alpha Flight #28 pages 1 to 11
Secret Wars II #4 page 17 panel 4
(Alpha Flight #28 page 12 to page 15 panel 3)
Secret Wars II #4 page 17 panel 5 to end
(Alpha Flight #28 page 12 panel 4 to end)
Dazzler #40 rest of strip
Secret Wars II #5 page 1 to page 22 panel 3
The Thing #30
Doctor Strange #74
Fantastic Four #285
(The Avengers #261 page 1 to page 11 panel 2)
Secret Wars II #5 page 22 panel 4 to end
The Avengers #261 page 11 panel 3 to end
Cloak And Dagger #4
The Micronauts - The New Voyages #16
Secret Wars II #6
Power Man And Iron Fist #121 page 1 until the page that ends with Power Man, alone, slapping his forehead and despairing "Christmas!"
Power Pack #18
The Mighty Thor #363
Power Man And Iron Fist #121 rest of issue
Secret Wars II #7
The New Mutants #36
The Uncanny X-Men #202
The New Defenders #152
The Amazing Spider-Man #273 page 1 to page 21 panel 6
The All New, All Daring Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #111 page 1 to page 12 panel 3 speech-balloon 2
(The Amazing Spider-Man #273 page 21 panel 7 to page 22 panel 1 speech-balloon 1)
(The All New, All Daring Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #111 page 12 panel 4 speech-balloon 3)
(The Amazing Spider-Man #273 page 22 panel 1 speech-balloon 2 to panel 3)
(The All New, All Daring Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #111 page 12 panel 5)
(The Amazing Spider-Man #273 page 22 panels 4 to 5)
(The All New, All Daring Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #111 page 12 panel 6 speech-balloons 1 to 2)
(The Amazing Spider-Man #273 page 22 panel 6 to panel 7)
(The All New, All Daring Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #111 page 12 panel 6 speech-balloon 3 to panel 7 speech-balloon 2 "Have you gone psycho?")
(The Amazing Spider-Man #273 page 23 panels 1 to 2)
(The All New, All Daring Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #111 page 12 panel 7 speech-balloon 2 "It's impossible..." to end of panel)
The Amazing Spider-Man #273 page 23 panel 3 to end
The All New, All Daring Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #111 page 12 panel 8 to end
Secret Wars II #8 page 1 to page 26 panel 6
The Amazing Spider-Man #274
Fantastic Four #288
The New Mutants #37
Secret Wars II #8 page 26 panel 7 to end
The Avengers #265
The Uncanny X-Men #203
Secret Wars II #9
(The Avengers #266)
Part 5 of 6: The Curse of Secret Wars II
Titles that folded shortly after crossing-over into Secret Wars II (arguably to create some space for the upcoming New Universe titles)...
Secret Wars II (obviously)
Rom
Dazzler
The Thing
Cloak and Dagger
The Micronauts - The New Voyages
Power Man and Iron Fist
The New Defenders
Part 6 of 6: Little-Known Cameos
Circuit-Breaker (Secret Wars II #3 page 21 panels 2-4)
Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman (The Uncanny X-Men #203)
President Ronald Reagan (Secret Wars II #3 page 18 panel 3 and #4 page 4 panel 6)
Clark Kent (Secret Wars II #7 page 9 panels 2-3)
Stan Lee! (Secret Wars II #2 page 18 panel 2)
And finally, in a sort of inverse example, Superman #11.
(most of Secret Wars II is now available again in the Secret Wars II Omnibus here)
Next up: Secret Wars 3!Labels: comics
Writer / Penciler / Penciller: John Byrne
Two-parter concerning the return of Doctor Doom, or more accurately, concerning his returns.
Author John Byrne appears dissatisfied with Doom's generic appearance in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, and here seeks to explain his participation in that series, despite the tiny matter of his having been dead at the time.
Part two is therefore something of a mopping-up operation with flashbacks and explanations, but for all that it's really nice that someone at Marvel cared enough to iron this whole Doom matter out.
Hence the Fantastic Four encounter a version of Doom who survived his last encounter with them, and the Beyonder subsequently packs him off back in time to the Secret Wars with no memory of these future events.
It's notable that the Beyonder accumulates yet another weakness, in this case causality. Although he does travel in time a bit, from these events he is clearly subject to it as well, sparing Doom's life to avoid changing his own past. Yes, he actually has a definite limitation here.
Much like the Marvel Universe, apparently.Labels: comics
Writer: Chris Claremont
Penciler: John Romita, Jr.
In morose mode, the Beyonder gives some of his power to hothead Rachel (Phoenix), together with the challenge to use it to either save the rest of the X-Men's lives, or kill him.
Clearly he's just manipulating her, a fact evidenced by his keenness to see both scenarios play-out.
Rachel duly obliges, in the second issue by plotting to destroy the entire universe along with him inside it.
By this stage the Beyonder has decided to destroy the universe anyway, so destroying it with him too is a bit like the nuclear deterrent. Rachel considers no-one winning to be better than the other side winning. It's armageddon on a universal scale.
To carry out this ultimate act of unithanasia, she has to first spiritually posess every living thing in the cosmos. This she does. With the benefit of this new omniversal perspective though, she finds she just can't go through with it.
All those beings, all those voices, all those souls.
Rachel: "Everything depended on me, Ororo. But I failed. I failed. I failed."
Ororo: "Because you could not kill? Because you could not slaughter countless innocents? A strange failure, that."
Rachel: "Now the Beyonder will. He'll destroy everything!"
Ororo: "And that infinite cost will be upon his conscience."
Ultimately she returns the Beyonder's power to him, but together with the experience that she has had of the totality of life in all its forms. The Beyonder can't handle that either. He collapses, likewise overcome by his own conscience.
I found this a satisfying conclusion to a story about how to save the universe from a villain who is omnipotent. Of course, as an omniscient being, the Beyonder should have already known exactly what he was doing, and arguably what would come of it. However as comes across again and again in Secret Wars II, despite many statements to the contrary, he does not actually know everything.Labels: comics
Writer: Roger Stern
Breakdowns: John Buscema
Finished art: Tom Palmer
Arguably irrelevant elongation of the comic-hopping Beyonder's storyline that doesn't really progress things.
In this issue, the one from beyond spends the entire 22 pages very angry with the Avengers, but never quite loses his temper with any of them. That might sound like a contradiction, but when you remember that the Beyonder can destroy the whole universe with just an offhand thought, having him physically battle anyone is showing tremendous restraint.
Although his continued occupation of a copy of Steve Rogers' body since Captain America #308 is at last firmly acknowledged here, there is no explanation for why he still remains in it, long after his decision to destroy everything. At one point he apparently falls asleep because of it.
This does however afford artists John Buscema and Tom Palmer a great opportunity to show Captain America looking quite deranged with horror.
Indeed, even Cap's integrity fails him, as he presumes the Beyonder's guilt before attempting to knock him out for the greater good of the universe. The one from beyond's objection is entirely understandable.
Ultimately though, the final panel pretty well sums this issue up. As the Avengers lie unconscious on the ground, the Beyonder rages over them "Why waste time fighting a mere six when I can destroy all existence?!"
Indeed.Labels: comics
"I’ve already allowed her to marry seven men who were related to us. Each of them died on his wedding night when he went into her bedroom. Don’t worry."
- Raguel offering encouragement to his prospective son-in-law Tobias.
Well, I've stopped reading the Bible.
Having been through it roughly four times in the past couple of years, I've decided that it should have sunk-in enough by now for me to begin on some other religious texts.
The worry I've always had is that, at some future date, I might find myself recalling some excerpt that I'd read, but not be sure whether it was from my faith, or someone else's. Hopefully I've hammered those 66 books into my brain enough now to avert that scenario.
Therefore a couple of weeks ago I began to feed on the apocrypha. These books are the deleted scenes of the mainstream Bible. Most copies don't contain them because, I understand, they are generally only considered canon by the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches. Everyone else just says how nice they are, and avoids committing themselves on their reliability, especially if they've never read them. Did I say 'they'? I meant 'I'. I guess it's a bit like all those extra scenes from Blade Runner, except that I've never seen Blade Runner either.
Anyhow, I downloaded a copy of the opening book Tobit from godsword.org, and got reading, back at my old speed of one chapter a day.
Ahhhhhh... one chapter a day again! I did consider charging through it at one of my more recent crazy speeds, (eg. one book a day) but decided to err on the side of contemplation, and take the time to let its wisdom sink in gradually. And anyway, I have comics to read too.
So, here's the thing I learnt from Tobit: when it comes to any Bible, I am still a bit prejudiced.
Usually when I read the Bible, I pick holes in it. However, I tend to find that this apparently negative practice helps to illuminate the text for me. If a passage doesn't add up, then I find myself challenged to consider how those words could be true after all. I look more closely at what the author was trying to convey, and whether they were maybe not writing their words as literally as I might be reading them. In a nutshell, this process helps me to think.
However, I realised that when I found potential challenges to the narrative in Tobit, I confess I also found less desire within myself to think it through.
For example:
"At the same time that Tobit went back into his house from the yard, Sarah, Raguel’s daughter, went downstairs."
- Tobit 3:17b (God's Word)
How could the author have ascertained that these two brief events took place simultaneously? Tobit and Sarah were in different towns, at least two days apart.
Now obviously, they could have just put their heads together and worked it out when they met weeks later, but I didn't find anything in here to suggest that Tobit and Sarah had made this connection. Except of course that the author of the book said so, and I've no reason to suppose that it's not true. Arguably, the root cause of this nitpick lies within the reader. (me)
In fact, let me be clear about this - Tobit is extremely well worked-out. Everything that happens gets properly foreshadowed earlier on in the story. That should be a positive observation, except that it made the thing read to me less like history, and more like fiction. And yet, I found this sort of tight plot-structure in Ruth and Esther to be far less of a problem, apparently because I had more faith invested in those books.
Two final observations:
1. Tobias and Sarah's prayer on their wedding-night is truly beautiful.
2. Some tough teaching on open theism:
"Don’t be afraid. God set Sarah apart for you before the world was created."
- Tobit 6:18b (God's Word)
And an angel would know!
The book of Judith is next. As a non-Catholic/Eastern Orthodox/Oriental Orthodox, the irony is that I'll actually have to be more respectful of these books, since it's someone else's faith that I'll be handling.Labels: bible, diary
Easily accessible horror movie, uncomfortably influenced by 9/11, and told entirely through the principle character's video-camera.
That's always a challenge. I mean, how often have we seen a big-budget movie over-produce a camcorder sequence and wind-up with footage that looks quite unreal?
Many of the usual mistakes are dutifully included here, most consistently the incredibly sharp audio. Either everyone who Hud films is helpfully wearing a radiomike, or he got them all back later to redub their lines. In the scene in the looted shop, all present helpfully fall silent so that we can hear Beth's voice-message playing through Rob's mobile.
On the plus side, the handheld camera-movements looked completely authentic to me, even if the composition of some angles was a little cinematic. (the opening shots pan past framed photographs of family-members, Marlena manages to die in silhouette)
In fact, once I'd managed to get past this central conceit, I found the atmosphere of the whole thing compelling. The entire cast was flawless. After the film was over, I was in no doubt of the sequence of events that our heroes had been through, right down to the geography. I'm afraid I was lost as to who some of the characters were and how they related to each other, but that didn't seem to matter too much.
I still don't know what the title refers to either, but that likewise doesn't seem too pivotal.
Perhaps, for me, this film's most impressive accomplishment is simply that, by the end, I had really enjoyed it.
After all, I don't generally like horror movies, but I did get into this.
(with thanks to Herschel)Labels: films
After getting picked-on at high school for being so skinny and forgetful, mild-mannered Michael J Merrick flees from the bullies straight into a crash between a radioactive tanker and a travelling zoo.
(there's a brief clip of a CNN broadcast about the disaster, from an enthusiastic reporter played by Stan Lee)
Afterwards Mike discovers that, through a miracle of science, his DNA has now been irrevocably altered, endowing him with the proportionate strength, speed and agility of an elephant. He is... the unstoppable Elephant Man™.
Donning a heavy grey outfit, he becomes a masked nighttime vigilante, pounding villains with his huge feet, and/or stabbing them with his spontaneously unsheathing adamantium tusks. His total recall comes in handy too. He even has a super-strong trunk (obvious CGI even for 1980) with which he can thrash holes in walls, or pick-up runaway crooks. (and girls)
However, all is not well in the big apple. It turns out that his 'accident' was in fact orchestrated. Poor Mike is just the unwitting guinea pig in an evil corporation's experiment prior to infecting 10,000 illegal immigrant families with the serum, culling them, and then taking-over the worldwide supply of ivory.
The final act finds Mike battling three different super-enhanced elephant-men, one of whom can control the weather, one of whom can slow-down time, and the last of whom can make his worst nightmares real, specifically, that he is in a room filled with small mice.
Overcoming everything, Mike destroys all the supplies of the serum (they're all kept together in the one room), but tragically at the cost of his own life. Mortally wounded by the dying villain's poaching-gun, he too breathes his last, surrounded by flabby elephant-meat.
Then his distraught ex-girlfriend, remembering an old legend, kisses him, and he comes back to life again. Yeah, that'll do. He just does.
That's followed by the opening credits, which are immediately followed by the closing credits.
Then Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man and a mute CGI Hulk suddenly drop in on Mike's school during a free period to talk to him about this idea they've had for 'The Avengers Initiative'.
Mike looks cynical, in a post-modern sort of way.
(with thanks to Herschel)Labels: comics, films
Writer / Script: Tom DeFalco (ASM#272-274), Jim Owsley (TANADPPTSSM(sheesh)#111)
Penciler: Sal Buscema (ASM#272), Ron Frenz (ASM#273)
Layouts: Rich Buckler (TANADPPTSSM#111), Ron Frenz (ASM#274)
Four issues, some of which overlap, covering the Puma's mission to destroy the Beyonder.
That might sound like an open and shut case. The Beyonder wields more power than the entire multiverse billions of times over. The Puma is some bloke from New Mexico. You can see why he might want to recruit Spider-Man to help him. (as a decoy while he runs away maybe?)
Actually, the Puma isn't the type to flee from anyone. Just listen to the coolness with which he greets Peter Parker and Mary Jane, as they first get in to find him sipping coffee on Pete's sofa...
Puma: "Good afternoon. I've been waiting for you. Hope you don't mind, but I've already helped myself to some coffee. Interesting decor you have here. What do you call it -- barbecued baroque?! I am afraid that what I have to discuss with you is quite private. The young lady will have to go."
Peter: "What--?!"
However the Puma has a bigger edge than just his aloofness. His tribespeople have foreseen the Beyonder's coming centuries ago, so they have invested in generations of, um, well I think I'll let the narration to PP#111 handle this one...
Narration: "Thomas Fireheart [-] A man told from childhood of his great destiny. A product of generations of careful, deliberate breeding. A complex anomally, made up of genetic sciences... and dark, tribal magics. Thomas Fireheart is... the Puma!"
(somehow I expect those words to be followed by a set of opening credits)
Basically, the Puma's family history has all been leading-up to one single moment in history when the universe will actually stand some slim chance of destroying the omnipotent Beyonder. Yeah, I can see the inherent paradox in that equation too. In 1985 I think everyone could. Nevertheless, I reckon the quality of the storytelling overcomes this.
The Beyonder is currently on a quest to satisfy his incompleteness. At the outset of this story he's quite mellow about it all, having decided that his purpose in life must be to show everyone else what their purpose is.
Beyonder: "You still don't get it, do you, Puma? You ought to be more like your friend, here. Spider-Man is filled with dozens of conflicts and self-doubts... he blames himself for a lot of things he wasn't responsible for, but all things considered, he's in pretty good shape. He knows his role in the scheme of things. He is Spider-Man, a champion on the side of life. And he has family and friends to look after and care for. He has a deep commitment and sense of responsibility that will not fail him."
Spider-Man: (THINKS)"Y'know... he's got a point..."
The Beyonder's faith is all well and good until he, heh-heh, realises the paradox in this.
His life purpose, he believes, is to show others what their life purpose is. The Puma's life purpose has always been to kill the Beyonder. To enable the Puma to achieve this, means... that... oh.
As a result, for the second half of PP#111, the Beyonder becomes quite melancholy.
Beyonder: (THINKING)"If I lose, the cost will be devastating. If I win... death..."
Beyonder: (CHATTING TO DEATH)"What lies beyond the beyond...? And, why... why am I afraid...?"
We get to witness a fair bit of this sort of monologue as he bravely waits for his possible end at Macchio's nightclub. The whole Secret Wars II saga comes in for quite a bit of flack these days, but the courage with which the Beyonder approaches his ultimate destiny gives the character tons of depth. For his own reasons, he decides to welcome it dressed as Michael Jackson, which is just a tad uncomfortable today.
I don't normally give away the ending in these reviews, but on this occasion I think it's fairly obvious, so here goes. The Puma fails. Spider-Man goes and distracts him at the critical moment, and after that the universe is no longer in such perfect alignment, so there's no second chance. The Puma has failed at his life's purpose, and will presumably spend the rest of his days at something of a loose end.
Not so the amazing Spider-Man though. In the final issue of the four, the now faithless Beyonder has a bet on Spidey's morality with Mephisto. (ooh, deals with Mephisto are never a good move in Spidey-comics) If the webslinger's integrity comes through against all the odds, then the universe will be granted a 24-hour stay-of-execution before the Beyonder angrily destroys it.
However unlike the Puma, Spider-Man wins. Alas, it seems to make little difference to the broader picture as, in the Beyonder's subsequent issues anyway, I don't think this consequence gets referred to again.
I like the character of the Puma. His coldness about murdering people is a shame, but otherwise he seems to have his life fairly well sorted-out.
Or, at the very least, sorted out for him.Labels: comics
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artists: Mary Wiltshire & Bill Sienkiewicz
I'm reviewing these two issues together purely because I feel I should.
I mean, of course they go together. They are two consecutive issues of the same title. Aside from the colourist and one of the letterers, they are both by the same creative team. They both pit the New Mutants against the Beyonder.
And yet, aside from a little continuity, they are really two quite separate stories.
Subway To Salvation! finds the altruistic Beyonder using-up his regular two-page guest-appearance to free Illyana Rasputin of her darksoul, a benevolent act which he ties to his religious conviction of universal oneness. Ultimately though, Illyana gives up what she perceives as the logical good for the emotional good of saving her friend's life.
Illyana: "If I let her die, though, how can I call myself 'good'?"
The second story - If I Should Die - features the disillusioned Beyonder returning for pretty well the second half of the issue, yet contains by my reckoning only two lines that refer back to the preceding instalment. In this one he angrily sets out to kill everybody which, in a somewhat mould-breaking ending, he succeeds at. Utterly.
Closing narration: "And with a wave of his hand, he becomes true to his word. In Colorado, William and Margaret Proudstar forget they ever had a daughter. In Manhattan, Roberto DaCosta forgets his best friends. In Salem Center, virgin forest lines the shore of Breakstone Lake. Of Professor Xavier's School, of its youngest pupils... nothing remains... not even memories."
It's a mercy that the Beyonder's lost love Dazzler had stopped hanging around with the New Mutants by this stage. Had she still been present, then he might not have been quite so easygoing.Labels: comics
Script: Peter B Gillis
Pencils: Don Perlin
I must admit, I had rather forgotten that the Defenders even existed.
They never seem to guest in anyone else's titles, no-one ever seems to go and visit them, and even the crowd-scenes of the cross-title series Secret Wars II don't appear to include them. (maybe they have been in there and I just haven't noticed)
So when the Beyonder finally does the charitable thing and lends his sales-figures to this issue, readers like myself find ourselves going through the pages muttering things like "Oh that's right, the Angel, Iceman, yeah..."
Alas it all comes too late. This issue #152 is also the final one in The New Defenders series, which if nothing else lends the battle within the real potential to be lost.
In his two-page (out of 38) cameo in this one, the Beyonder gives away yet more of his power to the villainess Moondragon, apparently on her say-so. Guess what that means? Yes, she gets the chance to fulfill her greatest desire, which in this case is killing the titular Defenders.
Well, that's what she thinks she's choosing anyway.
Though within the Marvel Universe she fails, in our one she arguably succeeded.Labels: comics
Writer: Mike Carlin
Breakdowns: Ron Wilson
If the previous issue featured the title character as the anti-hero, then this one features him as merely the non-hero.
Ben Grimm, aka The Thing, goes on holiday, to visit Sharon on the set of her latest film. It's a monster movie. Ben thinks the giant animatronic dinosaur is real, so he attacks it, ruining both the prop and the shot. He's not very popular for that.
Then he actually goes and makes the same mistake a second time, saving her from a stunt-fall.
The next day, Ben sagely remains in his trailer drinking a can of cola when, whaddayaknow, following the comedy rule of three, a real dinosaur terrorises the set.
As the real-life disaster escalates, twice more we cut back to Ben ignoring all the sounds of carnage, as he resolutely reads his newspaper and refuses to get involved.
By the time he eventually does venture outside to find out what all the screaming is about, the film crew have actually defeated the monster without him.
So then, that's another case solved.
If this were a more humdrum series, then you can bet that the hero would have to be the one saving the day each issue. Instead this title has the freedom to be a little more original than that, and to ignore the usual predictable cliché. It means that the reader won't be able to foresee how subsequent stories will end either, giving some point to reading them.
Now that's how to keep readers coming back for more.
(NB. The Thing was cancelled five issues later)Labels: comics
Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Mike Harris
Spider-Man seems to be developing high radioactive-blood-pressure.
He's been getting quite short with a few people lately, most notably at having had his apartment gutted by arsonists, followed by a full-on punch-up with Daredevil over the murderer of his friend Jean.
In this issue his temper doesn't show any signs of abating.
Gradually wound-up by the public's sage perception of his charitable efforts as menacing harassment, here he eventually smashes through the Daily Bugle's window and has a huge screaming-fit at publisher J Jonah Jameson.
Marvel covers have a tendency to be quite misleading, but the one above pretty much shows how it is, aside from the paper's date of January 30, 1986. (Marvel and calender dates - let's just never examine them. Ever.)
Spidey never quite gets to throw that punch that he's wielding above though. As the title 'Point Of View' suggests, he realises that his own take on events isn't the full picture either. Unsatisfied, we can only wonder just how much longer his frustration is going to all boil under the surface.
Meanwhile, for comic relief, find three characters from St. Elsewhere elsewhere in this issue.Labels: comics
Writer: Peter David
Penciler / Layouts: Rich Buckler
Four-part whodunnit concerning the murder of not just the regular Police Captain Jean DeWolff, but a whole string of other victims too.
Given how all four episodes are scripted by resident Spider-comedian Peter David, it's a surprise what a dark, shocking tone this whole mystery carries. Spider-Man has encountered psychotic religious serial-killers before (this villain's motives don't seem that different to the Foolkiller's), but the creative team have clearly pulled-out all the stops to make this one actually hurt.
Each episode concludes with yet another life brutally snuffed-out.
When episode three closes with Peter's long-term friend Betty Leeds getting blown-away (above), it seems somewhat rash on the part of the writer. We don't mind one regular character getting sacrificed for the sake of a good story, but two? That just seems irresponsible. However, that is precisely the point - the Sin-Eater's actions are such senseless wastes.
With that in mind, it's almost a shame when the following issue reveals that Betty actually ducked under the desk at the last second and survived. Maybe someone should have forewarned the artist - just look at that telephone handset wavering in mid-air above. How did she both duck under the desk and leaving that thing floating up there?
That cheating panel aside, Rich Buckler's pencils work well with the fine inking of Brett Breeding, Josef Rubinstein, Kyle Baker and Pat Redding, to create a darkly dramatic context for these events. Even the credits are placed at the end of each issue, over a black background like a movie.
But this sure ain't just a shoot-em-up. There are several tough dilemmas for Spider-Man and his team-up pal Daredevil to wrestle with here. They include:
1. Matt Murdock allowing his friend to be gunned-down in front of him, sooner than save him and jeopardise his own secret identity.
2. Spider-Man dodging a bullet that instead kills a bystander.
3. Spider-Man letting the Sin-Eater get away because his Aunt May has collapsed.
4. Matt Murdock recognising the killer by his heartbeat at Jean's funeral, but also knowing that no-one present would believe him.
The final episode seems to end early with the Sin-Eater's fairly straightforward apprehension, lending the remaining half-a-comicbook a real uncomfortable edge. This is over now, isn't it?
No, now the US justice system takes over. Spidey and Daredevil have an enormous bust-up over the murderer's right to protection in the name of justice. It may be Spider-Man's comic, but for a while he's the bad guy. Hey - Peter Parker is only superhuman. Ultimately Daredevil has to risk publicly exposing Spider-Man's secret identity in order to save both his own life and Sin-Eater's. It's yet another hard call.
For all that, the series closes on quite a positive note. The ever justice-sensitive Daredevil redresses the balance of fairness by entrusting his own secret identity to Spider-Man. As a result, the friendship that seems to be developing on the final page looks to be a refreshingly authentic one. They still have a fundamental disagreement in their principles of right and wrong, but they also sound able to at least accept each other's differences.
Matt: "Thanks again for saving my hash back there."
Peter: "You stuck up for what you believed. I couldn't let them kill you just because you were doing what you felt was right."
Matt: "They felt what they were doing was right. Are you saying I was more right than they[?]"
Peter: "I hesitated. If you hadn't been down there, I don't know if I would have saved Stan. You... you were an innocent. Stan wasn't."
Matt: "Under the law he was. We have to have our system, Peter, or it falls apart. And, if it doesn't work, we make it work. We don't just ignore it. Again, Peter, what if it were Spider-Man, accused criminal, with his head on the block."Labels: comics
Once upon a time, in the far-off land of 2003, one summer's day, there was a blockbuster movie coming-out, called Hulk.
The film Hulk had a best friend. Hulk's best friend was called Hype.
Hype told everyone just how awesome his friend Hulk was going to be. Hulk was directed by the great Ang Lee. Hulk had innovative split-screen sequences. Hulk was much better than that rubbishy 1970s TV series The Incredible Hulk.
Despite this, Hulk also respectfully boasted cameo appearances from that series' green-skinned actor Lou Ferrigno and "It's clobberin' time" juror Stan Lee, both playing security-guards. Hulk was that hip.
One of my friends went to see it. Afterwards, he told me that everything Hype had said about his friend Hulk was true.
I believed him, so on his and Hype's word, my other friend Herschel and I paid some money to go watch the film.
Today, I only have a hazy memory of whatever went on that evening. Bits of the film have stayed with me, but of what took place actually inside the cinema during it, I think I have retained only one event.
Herschel consulting his Itchy & Scratchy watch, some time before the end.
Although today I believe I liked the film overall, straight afterwards I think I said that I had found it a little boring, particularly when they had been, at length, testing the Hulk's limits. Although this was really a reaction against all of Hype's earlier claims, the inescapable fact was that it had dragged a bit.
Five years on, it seemed that it had dragged a bit for a few other people too. Still, they made a sequel anyway.
Ah, no, wait, I'm not allowed to call it that. Such was the follow-up team's determination to distance their product from the other similarly-titled film this decade, that they actually packaged the sequel as a reboot.
To help them do this, they re-engaged the services of their reliable old friend Hype.
Hype knew exactly what to tell everyone. The Incredible Hulk was directed by the great Louis Leterrier. The Incredible Hulk had no split-screen sequences. The Incredible Hulk was much better than that rubbishy 2003 movie Hulk.
The Incredible Hulk had also got-in a new backstory, new characterisations, and a whole fantastic new CGI design for the title fella.
Boy, now I really felt cheated by Hype's empty claims five years earlier. If Hype had not been teling the truth back in 2003, then how could I trust such similar claims in 2008? I'm glad I wasn't foolish enough to give Hype my money a second time. Sheesh, Hype made over $306 million out of that trick last time. Not enough, I guess.
However, I must confess that when I watched Herschel's DVD of it this morning, overall I did find The Incredible Hulk to be a much more enjoyable film than I recall its predecessor having been.
My memory of that one, as I mentioned, is somewhat hazy now, so to me there didn't appear to be any disparity between the two's plots. The first one closed with Banner in hiding in South America, and so this one opens with him still there. (though he does seem to have forgotten the local word for 'angry')
These opening scenes look gorgeous. Somehow, the streets of that crowded little town just look so beautiful.
That the story concentrates so heavily on just one character probably makes the whole tale a lot easier to lock-into too. Which is just as well, as this later film even has an entirely new cast, requiring poor old me to figure out who everyone was a second time. Well, almost everyone.
Lou Ferrigno and Stan Lee from that well-loved 1970s TV series have been given cameos again, the former as a security guard. Shessh, it's all looking like a remake now. I'd personally like to suppose that they're actually reprising their roles from Hulk. Granted, Stan's character seems to have retired now, although apparently not gracefully.
The film has some great action sequences, likable support-characters, a funny musical moment (you know the one) and much, much worse CGI. That final act just looks like a computer game to me, I'm afraid.
The oddest moment comes right at the end. I don't know about in the cinema release, but on the DVD I watched, the post-credits tag scene had been shunted forwards to just before the end-titles.
This features Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark from Iron Man, continuing the story-thread begun in the post-credits tag-scene of his film. There are also one or two other background nods to that movie throughout this one, most obviously the use of the Stark Industries logo in the opening credits.
I guess that shared reality is a bit of a double-edged sword, for two reasons:
1. The differences. I spent much of this film waiting for the military to attack the Hulk with that other movie's super-powerful 'Jericho-Bomb'. They didn't.
2. The similarities. Both movies end with the principle character fighting another version of themselves. In the Hulk's case, this makes it even more of a shame that they didn't just call the film Hulk 2.
Still, in true Marvel comic tradition, this shared universe is intended to continue building through Thor in 2011, towards a momentous multi-crossover in The Avengers in 2012.
This sort of cross-title continuity has always been water off a radioactive duck's back in Marvel Comics, however only Hollywood really has to resources to pull-off such a gigantic stunt in motion pictures. Paradoxically, only Hollywood really has the ineptitude to completely screw this up too. For example, whoever becomes a more bankable actor next year might just threaten some of that promised consistency of casting.
Anyhow, given The Incredible Hulk's keeness to distance itself from its own predecessor Hulk, it's ironic that it is so keen to align itself with this different super hero entry instead. In fact, it raises the highly important question of whether the aging security guard who we saw at his fridge in The Incredible Hulk, is also the identical gowned rich dude who we saw Tony Stark mistake for Hugh Hefner in Iron Man.
Maybe after finishing his jury service, he retired from his security job because he'd won the lottery?
Now that really would be incredible.
'Nuff said? Not yet!Labels: comics
Plot (#11): Danny Fingeroth
Script (#11): Bill Mantlo
Writer (#12): Peter David
Breakdowns (#12): Sal Buscema
Art (#11) / Finishes (#12): Bob McLeod
Letterer: (#11) Phil Felix / (#12) Rick Parker
Colours: Bob Sharen (whew!)
Editor: Jim Owsley
Editor-In-Chief: Jim Shooter
It had to happen sooner or later. Peter Parker intervenes as himself in a crime, and suffers what in his Spider-Man disguise he never has to.
Suddenly he's accountable. To everyone.
He becomes a local hero - that's good. The bad guys take revenge by torching his flat - that's bad. Actually, that's very bad.
The local community turn him into a role model, setting-up alliterative 'Peter Parker Patrols' to watch over each other. Throughout it all our mild-mannered hero has to reluctantly wrestle with which expectations to accept, and which to discourage.
In part two Peter David takes over the writing credit, and in such a serious tale his deft comic hand finally reaches the balance between fun and believability that he's always had in him.
Really - he's writing this as a sitcom, and quite a funny one at that.
As you may have spotted at the top of this review, it's not just the writing credit that changes between issues, but pretty well everyone else too.
Where these staff-changes really notice is in the artwork, which remains exceptional throughout, but in wildly different styles.
For example, part one has Peter Parker and Mary Jane looking the way they used to when they were still in high school:
But part two on the other hand looks as though it's set maybe ten years later...
Wha' haaappened???? Oh, that's right, Peter's apartment got gutted.
Without wishing to sound too flippant, I'd guess we'd all probably put on a few years at that.Labels: comics
Script: Danny Fingeroth
Art: Jim Mooney
Once more acknowledging its Team-Up origins, this issue reunites Spidey with Dominic Fortune for a stylish tale of a man on a mission that no-one else will take seriously.
In fact, it's also a bit tough to take seriously the hitman who's been hired to kill him, especially if you've read the small print in his contract...
Labels: comics
The ninth story in a row to feature zombies.
The throwaway excuse for their presence this week, "Playtime keeps her occupied," might just be the weakest yet.
It's something of a weight, because the rest of this story is great.
Rani's now an old woman in the year 2050. She relates in flashback the case that, years ago, led to the disbanding of her old group of friends. She got a bit annoyed with them, and as a result they were wiped-out of existence by a race that can see, and wipe, timelines.
Those timelines turn out to be both one of this story's strengths, and one of its flaws.
On the one hand, we get a great recap of Sarah Jane's life, eerily similar to one I suggested in my review of Whatever Happened To Sarah Jane?, right down to the same episodes, same shots, and in one case the same frame. I guess that qualifies the suggestion as valid. Even Sarah Jane's involvement in The Five Doctors seems to be back in history again, after School Reunion had suggested otherwise.
We also get to glimpse her future, in which the Doctor returns once more, although that really isn't such a big deal these days, for us or Sarah Jane. Luke has some fairly generic flash-forwards to his graduation, which is all good.
But Rani's future? Hers is of the version of the future in which Sarah Jane and Luke don't exist, which is therefore inconsistent with the futures that they get shown. It makes the rest of the alien's predictions somewhat worthless if some of them might not actually happen after all. I can do that. It's going to rain tomorrow. Go worry.
On the other hand, I guess you could argue that all of these futures ultimately come to pass, in the long run.
Top marks have to go to the cast of this story. The phrase "child actor" has a real stigma to it, but one which SJA has fairly consistently managed to overcome.
This script also required an older actress to play Rani, yet they beat the usual cheesy pitfalls associated with that sort of casting too. Souad Faress had me utterly convinced throughout.
This is a great fluffy story, with a happy ending, and its coolness about the larger legend that surrounds it is a refreshing one. Even K-9 returns at the end, to hilarious disdain from the computer who's been reading his lines for the past two series.
Mr. Smith: "It's good to see you, K-9. Will you be staying here now?"
K-9: "Affirmative."
Mr. Smith: "Ohhhh... good."
It's all rather positive for the future. Looking forward to it. Please don't mess this up.
:)Labels: doctor-who, tv
Script / Pencils / Inks: John Byrne (show off)
Bit of a curiosity this one.
It's the Avengers-story that was published in The Avengers Annual #14, but this time the same events are told from the perspective of the Fantastic Four.
In the first version, the Avengers had been engaged in the war to end all skrulls out in space, when the Fantastic Four had unexpectedly joined them towards the end.
In this version, the Fantastic Four are investigating a UFO-landing on Earth, when they decide to follow a lead out into space, where they meet the Avengers towards the end.
Once the two superteams have made contact with each other, some of the pages are the same pencils in both issues, but with a different inker. I can't decide whose inks I prefer, they both have good things going for them.
Now here's the strange bit, and yes, I am going to talk about how it got reprinted by Marvel UK.
In their weekly Secret Wars II title, Marvel UK had already printed most of the preceding Avengers issues that built-up to these events. However, for the climax to the story, they swapped-in this Fantastic Four Annual version instead. They split it across two issues, with very well done new opening titles to the second half.
Then afterwards, they returned to reprinting the next issue of The Avengers.
Meanwhile, the Avengers Annual that had covered these same events was reprinted separately in Secret Wars II Special #2.
I think it would have made more sense to have used this Fantastic Four version as the stand-alone special, and printed the Avengers Annual where it came amongst the other Avengers episodes, but I'm sure they had a good reason. They probably just wanted to vary which heroes the main title was focussing on.
Good old Marvel UK. Always keeping things interesting.
:)Labels: comics
Fun super hero movie that bullets along and never takes itself too seriously.
Robert Downey Jr. schmoozes the world as grown-up whizz-kid tycoon Tony Stark, until he realises that there's a bit more to life than his personal whim-list. Specifically, he discovers that there's also his conscience.
Jon Favreau's direction meshes perfectly with Ramin Djawadi's swinging music, to give the self-centred Stark a real charm. Much hangs upon this central characterisation, so much so that the first hour barely admits to any agenda of becoming a super hero movie.
When Stark escapes from a group of terrorists by improvising a bullet-proof flame-throwing suit of armour that can fly, despite its ludicrousness, this development doesn't feel in any way (cough) engineered.
As an occasional reader of the original Marvel comic, I was thoroughly impressed. Not only were the key players well-realised, but the use of both the first and second Iron Man costume-designs was a subtle tip-off as to what I had to look forward to in the final act.
Yeah, Iron Man fights Iron Man.
Like the armour itself, this is very well-made fun.
Available here.
Review of Iron Man 2 here.
Review of The Avengers here.
Review of Iron Man Three here.
(with thanks to Herschel)Labels: comics, films
Writer: Tom DeFalco
Penciler: Ron Frenz
Sometimes, author Tom DeFalco seems to have it in for Spider-Man.
In this issue, on the same night, poor Peter Parker has to be in three different places at once.
First, he's supposed to be at work so that he can pay his landlady. However, he then has to pull-out of that to go and protect his Aunt May's fiancé - the wheelchair-bound Nathan Lubensky - from some thugs. But then he has to abandon his prospective uncle to go and break-up a shooting. Well, the next day he has no rent money, while his aunt has to visit her bruised beloved in the hospital.
Even a little thing like getting through the skylight into his apartment becomes a challenge to be overcome in DeFalco's unforgiving world. I read Power Pack #18 recently, which was set at thanksgiving. Today, Spider-Man's neighbours are all sunbathing on the roof. Clearly, even the weather has set itself against him.
Further acknowledging the flaws in Marvel's shared universe, this month the Spidey-titles all featured a cut-out-and-keep box detailing the order in which the next few Spider-issues would take place, so that those of us who cared about such things could enjoy them chronologically.
Well, that order didn't quite work out either...
Between that box and the Marvel Chronology Project, for the next wee while I'm treading carefully.Labels: comics
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:)
Brett
Random Dave
Scottish Dave
Frank
Greg
Herschel
Jacob
Jean
Joe
Jonathan
Melissa
Melva
Paul
The Reynolds
Rhett
Sara
Sarah
Tim
My church
