How to Train Jonah Hex

I went to the local Blockbuster the other day and grabbed two new movies, two of the 'big' releases for the week. (You know, when they basically fill an entire wall with just one movie - and they're all out...)  One of these two, I liked a lot. The other made me shake my head in disgust.... can you guess which one?

Jonah Hex  (2010)

I've only ever owned and/or read perhaps a dozen Jonah Hex comics in my time, and enjoyed every one of them, but I'll admit that I'm really just a casual fan of the series. Westerns are not really my thing, but JH stands out amongst them. When reading an issue, it always felt like I was watching Clint Eastwood in like, Unforgiven in comic book form.....but his face is all f**ked up. He was a bounty hunter, and like Clint, he shot a lot of people -  dead. Other than that, I don't know a lot about the character, but I'm pretty sure that if I were a hardcore 'Hexer' I'd wanna shoot somebody real dead for making this horrible mockery of one of comicdom's truly standout characters (I mean he stands out cuz he's cool....not just cuz he's ugly).

My knowledge of Hexology being what it is, I couldn't tell you what kind of supernatural powers Jonah ever had in the comics (if any at all), but the whole 'speaking with the dead' shtick was very awkward in this film. I don't remember ever reading about anything like this, but of course it's been a while, and I've never read any Jonah Hex comics that had a cover price of more than .60c (.75c in Canada).... I also do not remember Jonah having an arch-enemy, especially one who was an 1870's terrorist bent on bringing down the Government. And he certainly did not work with or for the President of the United States...

Josh Brolin is pretty lifeless as Hex, but I guess that's forgivable given the ridiculous plot and dialogue. John Malkovich is John Malkovich. He's the same in everything. It's like he just walked off of the set of Con Air and popped a cowboy hat on his head. Megan Fox (in the ironically perfectly cast role of an Old West saloon whore), is of course in this too. In fact, you'd think she played Jonah Hex himself the way the studio hyped-up her appearance in this movie. The above image was the first one I could find that didn't have Megan Fox in it when I did a Google image search for " Jonah Hex movie ", and I found it on Page 5. Her role in the film is actually pretty brief and meaningless....hopefully like her career. Sorry, Meg. Not a fan.

Speaking of fans, the makers of this movie are obviously not Jonah Hex fans. If they were, this would have been a much better movie. It seemed to me that they knew even less about the character than I did...or if they did know more, they chose to ignore anything that didn't fit within the cheesy action movie formula that they believe works so well. It's like they pulled Jonah Hex's name out of a hat and stuck him into a movie that was already (lamely) written. I know I've said this exact thing before about other movies, but it's just really disappointing to see all the same old story templates used over and over and over again with little to no originality in there at all (this one was the oft-seen 'Revenge' template - very appropriate for Westerns, I'm told). I guess you just can't take too many chances with someone else's $100 Million.

What I think bothers me the most is that Jonah Hex had the potential to be a really entertaining in that they could have gone way over the top and made it even cheesier - played it for laughs. The filmmakers didn't even do this right (although there were a few laughably awful moments). I think they took their jobs too seriously and actually thought they'd pull off a quality movie from all of this. They were wrong. Dead wrong.

Bang.

D (for Don't see it)

How To Train Your Dragon  (2010)

I have enjoyed most of the big-budget CGI animated movies that have been released in the last five years or so, and this is of course no exception. For some reason, they always get me. Of course, I realize that when it comes to predictability and cookie cutter storylines (see Jonah Hex, above), these types of films are usually the worst culprits, but let me explain. I can forgive Dreamworks and Pixar and the rest for this for a number of reasons.... 3 Good Reasons, in fact.

1 - These movies are mainly aimed at families and young kids, so the morals and themes need to be a lot more clearly defined and easier to follow.

2 - The normally highly recognizable voice actors tend to really 'give it their all' in the recording booth and often become hilarious parodies of themselves

(ie: Eddie Murphy as Donkey, Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, Ellen DeGeneres as Dori)

3 - The animation looks so incredibly cool that you can overlook the predictable story

(ie; Lighten up. It's a friggin' cartoon...)

How To Train Your Dragon is no exception on any of these points. It's less predictable than some, but the title pretty much sums it all up. A skinny loser boy from a Viking village beset by dragons wants to prove himself and earn his place in the fold. When given the opportunity to kill a dragon, he instead takes pity on it and nurses it back to health. The dragon becomes like a pet to him and eventually the hero learns to ride it, being the first Viking to ever do so instead of slaying dragons on sight.

The supporting cast are all good, and Gerard Butler is excellent in his role as the Viking chieftan and father to Hiccup (the main character, played by Jay Baruchel). Forget 300, this was the role Gerard was born to play. He's the most extreme Viking to hit the screen to date - we'll see if that still holds true after Thor comes out in 2011. Craig Ferguson is also pretty funny as the peg-legged veteran Viking who takes Hiccup under his wing to teach him how to slay dragons.

The main dragon in this film (Toothless, the Night Fury) is very cool looking and has a very original, almost cat-like design to him.  All told, most of the dragons in this movie don't look much at all like the typical dragons you see in everything else. They all have unique characteristics and body styles and there are a whole bunch of different types of them. A nice touch that kept things interesting.

See it! It's a cool story with neat special effects that you could watch with your kids. In my opinion, this is how all great fantasy and sci-fi stories should be brought to the big screen. You hear that, Peter Jackson? I say forget all the troubles in New Zealand with casting halfling-sized extras and body doubles for The Hobbit. Scrap all that. Come to North America and do the whole thing CGI.

A-   (for Approaching Awesome)

So watch 'Dragon'. Don't watch 'Hex'.

And BTW, the title of this post is an utter lie. One could never train the mighty Jonah Hex... at least not the original, Eastwood-ish, real Jonah Hex from the comics.

May the Force be with you...

All About King Kong

Last year, I posted an article called All About Godzilla . It's only fair to do the same thing for King Kong. Giant monsters are definitely my thing. Godzilla has always been my favorite, but Kong was the very first giant monster I remember seeing when I was a kid. The 1933 and 1976 versions of King Kong were played on TV a lot during my childhood years and I watched them every time I got the chance (in Pre-VCR days). I remember wanting to stay up extra-late one night long ago to watch King Kong Escapes, and when I was told no, I got up out of bed anyway and sneaked into the living room to watch it. I got in a heap of trouble for that, but I regret nothing. For some reason, giant monster movies always seemed to be aired after midnight on school nights. This made it increasingly difficult to follow the 9 pm bedtime rule. Ahhhh....memories....

Back to King Kong...he's a giant gorilla, or ape of some sort. He's been described as being anywhere from 20 to 150 feet tall, but usually clocks in around 25 ft. He has no special powers, like Godzilla's atomic breath or Mothra's silk webs for example; he's just big and strong and has a soft spot for human women (especially blondes). Sometimes he's played by a guy in a monster suit (as in the DeLaurentis and Japanese Toho studios films), sometimes  CGI (Peter Jackson's 2005 King Kong) and also as an incredibly ahead-of-its-time stop-motion model (the original and still the best). Usually, the studios will use a combination of techniques to have the ape interact with the human actors...apparently you can't make a Kong movie without a huge rubber hand for the lead actress to sit on...

There's no real explanation ever given for Kong's enormous size, other than that he hails from a 'Lost World'-type setting on a remote island somewhere very very far away - some say in the Pacific, some say the Indian Ocean....  Once we get to see him wrestling dinosaurs and wrecking stuff, nobody cares how he got that big.

He's been in a good number of films, and there's been a staggering amount of rip-off giant ape films out there too.  I'll start with the 'Official' King Kong films, and go from there.

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KING KONG (1933)

The original, and in my opinion, still the best (Pete Jackson's 2005 version being a close second). This must have absolutely blown people's minds when it hit the theatres in the 30's. Not only does it have a great story with the whole Beauty & the Beast thing going on, but we get to see a gigantic monster demolish New York and climb the (then) tallest building in the world. King Kong features amazing stop-motion effects scenes of not only Kong himself, but also a lot of prehistoric creatures like the T-Rex, Stegosaurus and Pterodactyl. It sometimes seems pretty dated, but I think it's a nice snapshot of a bygone era that I otherwise would know nothing about. 

We all know the story of this one, but if you don't, go here. I can't be bothered to write a full description of a film that 99% of the people I know have already seen. If you haven't seen it....what the hell's wrong with you? It's KING freakin' KONG!

SON of KONG (1933)

I didn't know a lot about this movie until a relatively short time ago...I knew of its existence for a long time, having seen a picture in a King Kong children's book in my school library...but I just recently bought it on DVD. There's a review of it in a previous post - Rapid-fire Movie Reviews, AUG 23 .

I won't bother to go through it all again, but let's just say that I was pleasantly surprised by it. Released in the same year as the original, it also has great stop-motion animation, albeit on a tighter budget... The story drags a bit in the beginning, but the last half of it is pretty entertaining. Kong himself isn't actually in this one at all, just the aptly-named 'Little Kong'.

Exactly how Kong came to have a son without any kind of mother anywhere in sight remains a mystery for now.... this same dilemma occurs in Son of Godzilla...

.....and speaking of Godzilla,

KING KONG vs GODZILLA (1963)

This film is, to my knowledge, the first time King Kong was portrayed by a live actor in a monster suit. Although this seemed to work perfectly fine for Godzilla at the time, the patented Kaiju 'Suit-mation' doesn't translate so well for Kong. Regardless, this is still an awesome film. It's even cheesier than you'd expect - but that's the fun of it all, am I right? 

As if the horrible rubber Kong suit and the Toho interpretation of his island home (replete with Japanese actors painted up to look black) weren't cheesy enough, the American studio intercut the Japanese version with supposed 'global news report' scenes featuring a handsome caucasian anchorman and some of the worst 'science' that you'll ever see in any sci-fi movie. I said before that Kong had no special powers, but in this movie, he apparently gets stronger when exposed to electrical energy.

Toho studios also made him larger in this one, somewhere around 150 ft tall, presumably so Godzilla and all of the miniature scenery that Toho specializes in didn't have to change scale. This is the tallest King Kong appears in any of the films. Strangely, his hand (when holding the damsel in distress) seems to be pretty much the same size as in every other appearance...

Overall, it's pretty funny to watch if you've got the stamina for horribly-dubbed rubber monster movies. Not a lot of people do.

KING KONG ESCAPES (1967)

If you thought King Kong vs Godzilla was far-fetched, wait until you see this one. King Kong Escapes is just one of the dozens of giant monster (ie; kaiju) movies produced by Toho in the 60's. Again, this one is made using the 'suitmation' technique which, although improved somewhat since Kong's last appearance, still looks pretty unconvincing. I think that Kong stands about 70 ft tall in this one, so he appears to be shrinking... 

That being said, we are treated to an excellent 'Kong vs Dinosaur' battle near the beginning, and perhaps best of all, we are introduced to Mechani-Kong, the robot version of KK. 

Oh....and he climbs up the Tokyo tower, which had apparently been rebuilt since Mothra wrecked it six years earlier. Is all that cool enough for you?

KING KONG (1976)

I guess after seeing the Japanese sully the good name of Kong in the late 60's, Hollywood decided to strike back. With a relatively large budget, big-name actors and an 'improved' monkey suit, Dino DeLaurentis gave it a go in the 70's, adapting the original story to a contemporary setting. Instead of going to the island to make a movie and find Kong, the humans arrive on Skull Island looking for oil. Instead of climbing the Empire State Building, Kong climbs the World Trade Center and leaps from one tower to the next. Instead of rescuing the heroine from a dinosaur, he fights a gigantic snake. Other than these differences, it plays out pretty much along the same lines as the 1933 version.

King Kong looks a good bit better here than in the Toho versions, but not much more realistic. He is however, given a terrifying roar and comes off a lot scarier than he'd ever been before. I think this movie gave me some crazy nightmares when I was a kid.

Most of the movie was good quality for 1976, and the actors were pretty good - except for Jessica Lange as Dwan, who annoys the crap out of me every time I watch this movie. Jeff Bridges is good as hippie scientist Jack Prescott, the male lead who saves Dwan from Kong and falls in love with her along the way (although why, I can't imagine).

Not as good as the 1933 King Kong, but a worthy addition from the Ford/Carter era of the mid to late 70's.



KING KONG LIVES! (1986)

Like a lot of things, King Kong got worse in the Reagan era....

King Kong Lives serves as a sequel to DeLaurentis' 1976 King Kong. Apparently Kong survived his fall from the dizzying heights of the WTC, and after being kept alive in a lab for ten years, he needs a heart transplant. Linda Hamilton (post-Terminator, pre-T2: Judgement Day) portrays the surgeon who performs this medical miracle. Kong is back on his feet and destroying stuff in practically no time at all. In this movie, we also get to see Lady Kong, a female of the same species just recently captured in Borneo (or somewhere like that). The plot has a bunch of ridiculous twists and turns, and basically Kong and his new bride get it on and reproduce. In the end, both of the parents die and little Baby Kong survives.

It's all pretty silly, and the effects, even though 10 years later, are much worse than the previous film. This is the kind of film that actors and producers like to forget that they ever made. At least it seems that way, since it's pretty hard to find in your local video store. Still, it's a Kong movie, and no collection would be complete without it. This served as the last King Kong movie for a whopping 19 years, until...

KING KONG (2005)

Fresh off of the Lord of the Rings experience, Peter Jackson decided to do another big-budget adaptation. A lot of people trashed this movie and it was considered to be a box office flop. I enjoyed this movie tremendously, despite its tendency towards over-the-top action sequences (my one major complaint). The CGI is spectacular, and Kong has never looked better. The animators obviously went out of their way to make him look realistic and more like an actual animal than ever before. Visually, this is definitely the most impressive King Kong movie of all.

The acting and script are great, and I for one liked Jack Black as Carl Denham (I know some folks didn't care for him). It all flows pretty well for being over three hours long. I like how the movie seemed to capture a little of the spirit of the 1930's by throwing in a lot of small details, both in the scenery and dialogue. There's great emotion and character depth throughout.

What I didn't like about this film is probably what some thought were the coolest parts;  the 3-on-1 T-Rex vs Kong Battle and the Giant Bug sequence, both right in the middle of the movie, one after the other. I think this was just WETA studios showing off their skills, but it actually lessened the impact of the movie quite a bit to see scene after scene of utterly impossible things happening until you just can't be impressed anymore... 'Too many cooks...' and all that....

Anyway, it's a fabulous movie either way, and you should see it. Don't listen to people who base their opinions on what everybody else says about something on the internet. You should know that I'm the only one you should listen to...especially when it comes to giant monster movies.

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Of course, with the continuing success of King Kong movies, it's only logical that there'd be about a million 'fake' Kongs out there from all corners of the globe. Here's a handful of them, some of which I had no knowledge of until I started researching for this article:

Queen Kong (1976 - UK)

A*P*E (1976 - Korea/US)

Mighty Joe Young (1949 - US)

Mighty Joe Young (1998 - US)

Konga (1961 - UK)

Kong Island (1961 - Italy)

The Mighty Peking Man (1977 - Hong Kong)

King of the Lost World (2005 - US)

This is just a few of the Kong knock-offs, and I'm sure there's even more out there. With the exception of the two Mighty Joe Young movies, I haven't seen any of them. I wouldn't mind checking a few of them out (especially A*P*E, widely considered to be one of the worst movies ever made, starring the mom from Growing Pains). They seem to be right up my alley....

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There's also been a few animated Kongs:

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It seems that there's an endless array of giant gorilla-related entertainment out there, just waiting to be discovered. When I decided to write this article, I had no idea what I was getting into - there's just too damn much to write about.

Having now surpassed the 'longest post ever' mark, I think it's time to cut it off. Besides, Godzilla might be jealous if he found out that I wrote more about King Kong than him....

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Until next time:

May the Force be with you...

3 GR (October 2010)

A while back I posted a few articles called 3 Good Reasons : parts 1 , 2 and 3 . (Click the numbers and check 'em out if you've got a sec.) I haven't done one of those in a long time, but I hope you enjoy it.

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3 Good Reasons Why Thor is the Coolest Superhero

1 - He has long hair. Metalheads can relate to him and chicks dig long hair.

2 - He can go toe-to-toe w/the Hulk

3 - Makes heavy use of words like ‘smite’, ‘thou’ and ‘verily’. In fact, just about everything that comes out of his mouth sounds truly epic. He has a lot of cool catch phrases too, like “I say to thee NAY!!!” , “Od’s Blood!!!” , and my all-time favourite: “By the Bristling Beard of my Father!!!” (Yes, these are all direct quotes, and yes, they are always followed by an abundance of well-deserved exclamation points. Thor is just that cool.)



3 Good Reasons Why Marvel is Better Than D.C.

1 - Marvel Super Heroes aren’t afraid of kryptonite, fire, or the color yellow

2 - Marvel Comics stories take place in real places like New York or Chicago or Los Angeles.......not Metropolis, Gotham or Central City. Just a minor detail, really, but I always thought that it was cheesy of DC to do that...

3 - Marvel makes more movies. ‘Nuff Said!



3 G.R. Not to Watch Reality Shows

1 - You have a brain. Exercise your right to use it.

2 - There’s absolutely nothing ‘real’ going on...people are different in front of the camera and are most likely getting paid...and certainly none of the boobs are real

3 - Reality TV made me hate Ozzy. And Gene Simmons. And Flavor Flav. And Brett Michaels. (wait,no.......actually I’ve always hated him...) It’s not that I’ve ever actually watched any of the shows these guys are on, but just the fact that they’re on reality TV in the first place is enough to ruin my opinions of them. I can’t believe how lame and un-interesting Ozzy is now compared to his Black Sabbath days....


3 G.R. to Buy Stuff from Rebel Alliance Canada
(Which you can do at the Central Canada Comic Con , Winnipeg Convention Centre - Oct. 29-31st)

1 - Comics and Action Figures in excellent conditions and well below Guide Prices

2 – Lots of other great items including Books, Cards, Video Games, Movies, Toys and Original Photographic Art

3 - The guy behind the table is devilishly handsome

 

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That's todays installment. Like how I snuck that plug in at the end? That's called 'marketing'. 

 

 

 

May the Force be with you...

Star Wars Minis

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STAR WARS

Miniatures

I have always loved this game, ever since it's debut in Fall 2004. I pre-ordered my Rebel Storm Starter Set , picked it up on the day it came in to the store, and have been playing it ever since. I once told my wife that when I die I want to be buried with my SWM collection. I'm going to stand by that. I have an insanely gargantuan amount of these addictively collectible 'little plastic men'. It's gotten to the point where I almost need a hand truck to move my collection from one place to another.....and I know some people who have twice the number of figures I do. Some refer to collectible miniatures games as 'plastic crack'....

Now, this isn't really like Dungeons & Dragons or any other RPG , but it takes the best parts of that game - simplified d20 combat and cool-looking miniature playing pieces - and adapts it to an easy-to-learn and fast-playing tabletop strategy game with a Star Wars theme. There's no story to it... just attack and kill your opponent. I suppose you could try to relive classic battles from the movies and stuff, but you certainly don't have to. (There's nothing funnier than Darth Vader vs Ewoks........ )  Let's just say this: it's the closest thing to playing with toys that I can still get away with at age 39. I guess my photography comes pretty close too...

Anyway, I'll have tons of Star Wars Miniatures (all rarites and almost all sets) for sale at the Central Canada Comic Con , as well as on Ebay.

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I just noticed that this would be my anniversary post - it's been exactly one year since I created this blog. I'm pretty happy with it so far. I think it's gotten better, and I certainly hope that you, the reader, have had a chuckle or two, or raised an eyebrow and gone "hmm..." in a thoughtful manner...

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog. Unfortunately, I'll never be able to pay back all of the minutes of your life I've taken away from you....unless I can finally finish building my flux capacitor someday.  

May the Force be with you...

"Desirable" & "Noteworthy" Comic Books - From the 60's til Now

You may ask yourself:  "If your comics are so awesome, why are you trying to pawn them off on us, Andy?"  Well...... as much of a huge comic fan as I am, I do have ulterior motives. I intend to liquidate as much of my collection of comics and action figures as I possibly can to raise money to relocate my family, career and side business(es) to another province. That's right, I will become a British Columbian within the year!

Oh, don't act so surprised.....anyone who's ever spoken to me in person knows that there are a multitude of reasons for us wanting to move and it was bound to happen sooner or later, and it's not like the entire thing rests on successful sales at the Con (but it'll sure help). Of course I will miss my hometown of Winnipeg, and I swear to you now that this will not be the last time you will see me at the Central Canada Comic Con (October 29-31 @ the Winnipeg Convention Centre, as I've mentioned many times already). The convention scene is almost non-existent where I'll be moving, and this'll give me yet another reason to get back to the 'Peg to party down on a yearly basis.

No, this Fall will definitely not be the last you'll  hear from Rebel Alliance Canada. Nosiree, Bob. Not by a longshot. I'm sure I'll continue to be selling art prints and photographic services in BC, as well as hocking the occasional comic book or figure wherever and whenever I possibly can.

For now, I'd like to feature some more of what I consider to be 'highly desirable' comics...stuff I loved reading (and might have some trouble parting with) - comics I think you'd enjoy as well. Or at least you should give them all a chance, if you know what's good for you.



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Defenders

# 1

(1972)

Take a look at this cover and tell me what you see..........how can this not be awesome?

The Crowned Ruler of Atlantis (Namor, the Sub-Mariner - the guy in the green Speedos on the table), the Earth's Sorceror Supreme (Dr. Strange - the 'flamboyant'-looking guy in red and blue) and the most dangerous Green Bastard on the face of the planet (the Incredible Hulk - like you don't know who he is), all together in one comic! Old news, you might say, but back in the 70's, this was blockbuster type stuff. By the time this comic came out, I think The Avengers had already reached somewhere around the early-to-mid-100s, and The Uncanny X-Men were selling quite well, so Marvel must have felt it was time to get a new 'Super-team' comic going. Rather than create all-new characters (which they did later on in the series), they smartly chose to throw together a collection of old faves - big names that everyone knew; but characters who until then had primarily worked solo.

(True, the  Hulk was a founding member of the Avengers, but he was only actually on that team for like 2 issues. Also true that the Sub-Mariner was a member of The Invaders, but that was like 25 years earlier in the Marvel timeline.)

Anyway, it turns out to be a pretty cool series. I must admit that most of the other Defenders comics that I have are much later, like in the 40's and 50's (issue #'s - not decades) and though the Hulk and Dr. Strange seem to be in a lot of them, the Sub-Mariner isn't in too many. Defenders # 1 is a good read, and my copy is in pretty nice shape for a '20 cent-er', but I think some of he best stories are the ones that contain later additions to the team, like the Valkyrie, Silver Surfer, Nighthawk, Son of Satan and (much later) the Angel and the Beast, formerly of the X-Men.

The  Defenders had a reputation for being a sort of loose 'non-team' that only came together in the most dire of times, when the entire earth/universe/all-of-reality was threatened - which was conveniently every month - so they didn't have a permanent headquarters or matching uniforms or a special super-sonic plane or anything. In fact, they rotated team members in and out so often, most of the time you didn't know who exactly was part of the team and who was just guest-starring. One thing was certain....there'd be crazy uberhuman-type battles going on all the time.

Defenders # 1, although not the official first appearance of the team (that would be Marvel Feature #1 - 1971), is nevertheless an excellent early Bronze collector's issue.... and I gotsa nice copy!

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Journey Into Mystery

with The Mighty THOR

# 121

(1965)

I love this issue. How many times do you get to see the title hero getting bitch-slapped right on the cover? Pretty much the whole comic is action, pitting The Mighty Thor against one of his coolest enemies, the Absorbing Man, who has the power to take on the abilities and strengths of any material he touches. Thus, if he touches a diamond, he has super-hard, indestuctible skin and hits harder than a Mo'Fo; and if he touches Thor's Hammer (made of mystical Uru metal), it's all over....or at least we're meant to think it will be. You'll just have to buy the comic to see how it turns out.

J.I.M. # 121 is great Silver Age comic, around a VG condition overall. You can't go wrong with 60's Thor comics......there are more 'thee's and 'thou's per page than you can shake a stick at, and the legendary Stan Lee/Jack Kirby sory/art combination is untouchable, IMO.

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HELLBOY

The Wild Hunt

#7

(2009)

Hellboy is an excellent character, and an excellent comic. I really enjoy the movies, which I was exposed to first, but after reading the comics (especially the ones actually drawn by creator Mike Mignola), well, the films pale in comparison. Mignola's artwork is minimalistic and moody, full of dark shadows, creepy skeletal forms and highly stylized good guys and bad guys. It's actually quite unlike any other comic that I read, and that's what really makes it shine. I have a soft spot for the cheesy 60's and 70's mainstream superhero stuff, but this has got to be one of my favorite Modern Age comic titles.

 The stories are multi-layered,deep, spooky and engaging, most often dealing with supernatural and/or mythological beings and situations. Hellboy's been around since the 90's and has a lot of interesting backstory to work with, and there are several offshoot titles and Limited Series as well (such as B.P.R.D. and Abe Sapien). If you read current comics at all, I'm sure you've already read Hellboy, unless you're one of those old-timers who won't read anything outside of Marvel or DC. The comics that Dark Horse puts out are among the best out there - rivalling and perhaps exceeding their mainstream counterparts on a regular basis.

Pick it up! I have more than a few issues of Hellboy in my bin, and have a few nice trade paperback collections as well as comics. When these go up for sale, they never last long!

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Justice League of America

# 24

(1963)

Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Aquaman, etc. - collectively, you might know these heroes better as the Superfriends (or at least that was my first exposure to them as a team back in the 70's). Long before they were Super-friends, they were the Justice League of America; perhaps at the time they were just Super-acquaintances....

This issue is typical of JLA in the 60's: a supervillan hatches a crazy plot that involves messing with all of the JLA members, they spend at least 15 pages figuring out what's going on, then they whomp his villainous ass in the last 5 pages or so. It's all pretty straight-forward and not too deep in the story department, but you do get to see them all use their different cool superpowers and spout off a lot of 'Great Scott!'- and 'By Neptune's Trident!'-type dialogue. Lots of fun for old school superhero fans. In my opinion, this is definitely the best early Silver Age, multi-hero DC comic out there, with World's Finest Comics a close second. If I'm not mistaken, I don't believe Batman and/or Superman actually appear in this issue.....

This isn't a great copy, but being from the 60's, it's still worth owning despite the pen marks on the cover and the rough spine....roughly a GD+. The picture above is the actual scan. This would be a perfect 'starter' Silver Age comic for newbies, or a solid 'reading copy' for JLA collectors. Are you one of these? I'm hoping so...

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Don't you just love the random nature of this Blog? Well, it's not that random, I suppose....it's either movies or comics with me lately. In any case, I certainly hope there's some sort of entertainment in there for you somewhere. I'm sure it misses the mark often enough.....but ya gotta 'break a few eggs' and all that once in a while - am I right? 

Irregardless (even though that's not a real word), until next time;

May the Force be with you...

New Crap and an Old Fave

Three distinctly different movies to review this time around. If you've come here looking for comic books and action figures, sorry to disappoint you. I'll get back to that stuff next time (maybe).

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Prince of Persia : The Sands of Time

The best way I can describe this film is Pirates of the Carribean on dry land. As that film showed, you can take an already established franchise (in the case of Pirates a theme park ride; P.O.P. being based on a best-selling videogame) and plug it into a tried-and-true (or trite-and-true?) moviemaking formula and milk it for hundreds of millions of dollars....or billions with the right multi-layered marketing/merchandising strategy.

As with all Jerry Bruckheimer films, don't expect any originality - or historical accuracy either (no need to mention how insulting it must be to Persian/Arabic people in general). All of the scenes flow smoothly enough but the storyline is just another cut-and-paste 'adventure blockbuster'. (*Insert hero here*)

I really don't care how buff Jake Gyllenhaal got for this film, and I don't care that he probably made more money from this film than any other he's in. His faux-British accent is poorly done and at most times extremely annoying. Ben Kingsley is wasted here too; it's obvious from the first scene featuring him that he'll be the bad guy. (Sorry for the spoiler, but I don't think you should bother with the movie anyway). I can't believe how this guy who once won the Oscar for Gandhi haphazardly whores himself out to any picture needing some kind of credibility in the acting department....

Yeah, it's flashy, it's loud and there's tons of action.....yay. C'mon Hollywood, let's plunk down another hundred million on the next newly-resurrected retro phenomenon with a built-in audience.....How about GI Joe? Transformers? The Last Airbender? The Smurfs?

Overall rating: D-

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Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Yes, I'm over thirty. Yes, I loved this movie. And yes, I remember every line and every scene vividly, and have quoted the jokes many, many times.... Still doesn't make it less funny.

A lot of folks I know just don't get Monty Python. Their humor is, of course, very British and usually a little less 'in-your-face' than American-style comedy, but certainly a lot more original. Who else could pull off a movie that simultaneously makes fun of government, religion, dismemberment and even the Black Plague? The only ones (in my opinion) who could even come close are arguably South Park and perhaps The Simpsons. That being said, most Python humor is just downright ridiculous and silly, and I guess that puts a lot of folks off of them. To each his own.

Some of the best scenes in this film are:

-King Arthur Battles the Black Knight

-The Killer Rabbit ("The most foul, cruel and bad-tempered rodent you'll ever set eyes on!" - pictured above)

-The Temptation of Sir Galahad @ Castle Anthrax

-The Knights Who Say 'Nee'

-The Bridge of Death

-The Merciless Taunting by the French

Chances are pretty good that you've already seen this film, and I probably don't have much to say that hasn't already been said. I just thought I'd mention it since I just recently watched The Holy Grail for the bzillionth time and remembered why I love it so much. This has to rank among my Top 5 Comedies of All Time. Do yourself a favor and watch it again!!

A+

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She's Out of My League

This is a not-bad, if somewhat predictable teen-ish sex comedy starring Canada's own Jay Baruchel (second from the right), who's  career has recently skyrocketed due to the success of Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon (which I'm waiting to see on DVD). It's about a shy, nerdy guy who meets a super-hot girl that seems to really like him, but he can't get past his own insecurities and believe that she really cares for him at all. There are a good number of really funny moments in the film, and the supporting cast of mostly unknowns do a good job. Jay Baruchel is likeable and believeable in his role, and overall the movie feels real enough; even though that's not usually a prerequisite for any comedy. Like most films of the genre, a bunch of raunchy, crazy sex-related things happen, like premature ejaculation and male genitalia-shaving, but I suppose that sort of thing is standard nowadays. Made me laugh - I'm not complaining. What's surprising is that there's some genuine heart in there as well. 

One minor complaint about the film  is that the filmmakers used CGI (or some other technique) to erase Jay Baruchel's trademark Canadian tattoo in any scenes where he took his shirt off.

CENSORSHIP!!!!

B-

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I've got a severe backlog of movies to review this month, so I'm sure you'll be treated to more soon enough.

Til then:

May the Force be with you...

Bronze Age Keys

Although I am a big fan of Silver Age  comics, I'm a child of the 70's. I grew up - or rather, tried not to grow up - during the Bronze Age of Comic Books (1970 - 1985).  Marvel Comics were always my favorite and made up the bulk of my collection, but looking back now, DC Comics had some pretty cool stuff too. In the Bronze Age, these two comic companies were really the only choices out there. Of course there were always Archie, Gold Key and Harvey comics too, but if you wanted super-hero type comics, DC and Marvel were where it's at......or where it was... (Personally, I have no use for Jughead or Richie Rich and the like, so I'll probably never mention them again.)

I'm proud to say that I have a good selection of Bronze comics, and a lot of the landmark #1s and 'key' issues as well. Here are just a few of the awesome 70s and 80s books that I'll have for sale at the Central Canada Comic Con (Winnipeg Convention Centre, Oct 29-31).

Once again, look for the table that says Rebel Alliance Canada. I'll have comics galore, action figures, toys, cards, books, movies and games, as well as original photographic art for sale. Stop by and say hi, even if you don't buy anything. (Of course, we might get along better if you did...)

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The AVENGERS

Annual  # 10

....and King-Size, no less! This is a key issue because it's the first appearance of Rogue.... you know, Rogue... the X-Man(woman?)... played (crappily) in the movies by Anna Paquin? She's a mutant who can steal the powers and abilities (and memories) of those she touches. Later on in other comics, when she becomes a good guy and joins the X-Men, we get to know her better and learn that her mutant power is as much a curse as a blessing. Although I'm not current on my X-Comics right now, I'm sure she's still around somewhere, and is still a good guy.

Anyway, this issue has the Avengers being attacked by a mysterious mutant who's stealing the powers of the whole team... they all go after her and kick her ass. Rogue is the villain in this one (along with Mystique and some others) and here she really seems to enjoy being evil, in sharp contrast with her more carefree 'tomboy' demeanor in later X-Men appearances.

I've always loved Annuals, because they're almost always a complete story unto themselves - you can pick one up from any series you like, and you don't have to keep buying the series to find out what happens. The Avengers always had great annuals too - being a super-team, you always get some coverage of all team members, usually followed by the big mega-battle at the end.

This copy (actual scan above) is by no means mint, but it's still in nice collectible shape and reasonably priced for a great Bronze 'key' comic. It probably rates as about FN condition. This one will definitely be in my bin (not for long!) at the Con this year.

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WHAT IF...?

# 1

This is the first issue of an intriguing comic series that explores the possibilities of what could have happened in the Marvel Universe if things played out just a little differently.... It features a different set of characters in just about every issue, and every story is complete unto itself (and sometimes there's more than one per issue). This one is all about exactly what the cover states - Spidey joins the F. F. shortly after both of these have just begun their careers, and they save the the world (and the entire universe) together. It's a pretty cool read, and it's fun to see how they'd all work together as a team.

About this series, I like the fact that (again) you don't have to keep buying the series to follow along with a continuing storyline. (I guess I have commitment issues when it comes to buying comics.....) Anyway, if you're only going to buy only one issue of What If..? , you may as well get the best one; the one that started it all... and you should probably get it from me (at the Con).

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The INCREDIBLE HULK

# 271

Okay, so this is technically a 'key' issue because it's the first appearance of Rocket Raccoon, but c'mon.... Rocket Raccoon? Although I enjoyed this comic and even have a few issues of Rocky's own series, I realize that this isn't exactly for everyone. It's pretty goofy talking animal stuff, with the Hulk dropped in from outer space. The Hulk sure logged a lot of light years around the universe in the Bronze Age.... seems like every other month he'd arrive on a different planet and kick some alien ass. In this case, he's beating up on evil talking rabbits and making friends with a Raccoon and a Walrus. All this to free the world from the clutches of a megalomaniacal mole.......

Yeah, it's weird. But fun!

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GREEN LANTERN /

GREEN ARROW

# 112

I don't have much to say about this comic, because I haven't actually read it. I like Green Lantern just fine, and his teaming up with Green Arrow was one of the smartest things DC Comics had ever done in the Bronze Age. I want to read this comic, but the thing is, when I bought it, I started to take it out of the bag and noticed that it was too perfect to handle. The pages were still so crisp and the cover and spine were completely flawless - it felt like the cover had never been opened before. I immediately (and carefully) put it back in its bag and have not touched it since. Definitely in at least NM (9.4) .

Add to that the fact that it's a key issue for re-telling the origin of Green Lantern, well, it's pretty valuable for a Bronze book.

It just sucks that I can't read it.... I'll reserve that pleasure for whoever buys it. I'll pick up a crappy copy to read for myself.

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Marvel Super

Heroes

SECRET WARS

# 1

This in itself is not a particularly valuable comic, but the whole 12-issue series is awesome - one of my favorite 'events' in the Marvel Universe. A handful of the most powerful heroes and villains are whisked away to another world to battle for the ultimate prize. Issue #1 sets up the whole thing, and is noteable for that, but the real gem in the series is....

Marvel Super

Heroes

SECRET WARS

# 8

This is the real and true beginning of Spider-Man's 'black suit' storyline. The suit is of course an alien symbiote that Spidey sort of accidentally bonds with after his normal costume is shredded in battle with the bad guys on the Beyonder's planet. The alien symbiote did not conveniently crash-land on earth inside a meteor as depicted in the film Spider-Man 3. This here is the real deal.

If you're familiar with Spidey and the black suit, you know that it starts to try to control him and he tries a few times to get rid of it, finally doing so in Web of Spider-Man #1 (another great Bronze key issue, which I also have for sale). The symbiote then moves on to another host - Eddie Brock, a.k.a. Venom. This is revealed in The Amazing Spider-Man #300, an uber-valuable issue which sadly I do not have.

I do have the entire series of Secret Wars, and I'll probably want to sell it as a set, but I might let #8 go individually for the right price.

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The Mighty

THOR

# 337

I'm sure I've mentioned this comic on my blog before, so I won't bore you with a description of the story. Let's just say that it's a key issue because it's the first appearance of Beta Ray Bill (depicted on the AWESOME cover). It also marks the beginning of an excellent run of Thor written and drawn by Walt Simonson. This is some of his best work and certainly the coolest that the series ever got, in my opinion. Simonson had a way to portray, through his stories and (especially) artwork, the epic feel that a character like Thor deserved. The current writers and artists on the title are pretty amazing too but nothing beats the Simonson run. At the time when issue #337 came out, it sold out quickly and shot up in value within a couple of months. This is noteable to me as the first time during my comic buying years that I remember seeing an issue on the shelves at regular price (.75c in Canada) one week, and then suddenly selling for something like $30 a month later.

If you're unfamiliar with the character, do yourself a favor and buy a whole bunch of Thor comics (from me) before you see the movie next year. Then you'll see what Thor is really supposed to be like, and you'll have a reason to complain.....

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As I said, these are but a few....Bronze Age comics make up the bulk of what I have for sale, and I have a pretty good selection spanning the entire era. More Marvel than DC of course, but all good....I wouldn't try to sell you crap!!

Feel free to comment on the blog, and I hope to see you this Halloween! All comics and photos (at least the ones of my own) are for sale from me at negotiable prices, so contact me for more info. If you can't get to the con, email me for some prices.

Thanks again for your time. On behalf of Rebel Alliance Canada

(still an Alliance of One)

May the Force be with you...