Monday, November 30, 2009

Bizarre stuff

Entered my December Previews order last week at the store. Thankfully November gave me a bit of a breather after the two statues and bust from October's order. Here's what I'm wasting my money on this time:

Batman Reborn series 1 - Batman: Two-Face figure

Have to have this version of Batman as portrayed by Harvey from Battle for the Cowl. It's absolutely insane looking and I love it.

Batman Reborn series 1 - Batman: Jason Todd figure

And Jason Todd as the no mercy, no bullshit Batman from Battle for the Cowl. I dig this look, sort of a mixture of Batman and Wild Dog and for that reason alone I must own this.

There are also two more figures from this set that I may or may not end up with, the new Azrael who I'm skipping simply because the new costume doesn't do a lot for me and I already have the greatest Azrael figure of all time anyway, and the new Batgirl, Stephanie Brown, who I'm not really interested in for two reasons, 1. I don't like Spoiler, and 2. she's no Batgirl.

Villains of the DCU Bizarro bust

I can hear you now, "but Bones don't you already have two Bizarro busts and a Superman the Animated Series Bizarro maquette?" Yes friend, I do. I'm also of the opinion that one can never have enough Bizarro in their life. Plus, to add even more certainty that I would be buying this, DC Direct went ahead and sculpted this particular Bizarro from Gary Frank's design, and if you base something on Gary's work then you best believe I will have it.

And that's December's order! There was also a Batman Black and White that I went back and forth with. Technically it's a very nice statue, Catwoman by Steve Rude, and if I were going to own a statue of Catwoman this would be the one, but I just can't get excited about it. Not the world's biggest Selina Kyle fan and all. But anyway, lots of great stuff on order, I'm ready to start getting some of it in. Bring it DC Direct!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Mister Bones' Top 5

Had a lengthy discussion with a customer and fellow bat-fan at the store yesterday on the current state of Batman comics. Turns out he was digging the new direction with Dick Grayson as Batman too, though we didn't necessarily agree about which titles were the best of the bunch. Since it's been a while since my last top 5, this subject seemed worthy.

Top 5 Current Batman Comics


5. Batman - This one I actually have mixed feelings about. The first team on the title post-Battle for the Cowl was Judd Winick and Mark Bagley. I'm no Winick defender by any means, nor am I a hater like so many others. I thought his brief 3 issues were decent, and I enjoyed the fight between Dick and Harvey in the Batcave well enough. As I've said before though, I am definitely not a Bagley fan. Dude draws everybody like they should be in the Teen Titans, which I suppose is why his art was such a good fit for Ultimate Spider-man being that Peter was teenage Peter in that book. Tony Daniel is currently stinking up the book with his combination of mediocre art and even worse writing.

4. Gotham City Sirens - If you had ever told me that a comic about Catwoman, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy sharing an apartment would be this good, I would've slapped you with a copy of Brubaker's Catwoman #1 and insisted that it was as good as Catwoman comics will ever get. While Sirens is no Brubaker Catwoman, it's actually quite good in it's own right, and that's mainly because of Paul Dini and his love of writing Harley Quinn. This book is all about the character interactions, which Dini has a talent for. The trio are great together, throw in Riddler and the occasional visit by Batman, and you have yourself a darn entertaining read that's been consistently so from month to month. Guillem March is handling the art, and he's solid if not a bit too loose at times. My one minor gripe with his art is the cliche comic book fan service to teenage boys, lot's of needless t&a here, especially Ivy. Still, he is drawing one character who wears skin-tight black leather, and another whose entire costume consists of a leaf or two, so it's hard to fault the guy.

3. Detective Comics - I would buy this comic every single month regardless of word balloons or any semblance of a story inside the cover simply for J.H. Williams' art. I don't toss the word "genius" around much, but people, Williams is nothing short. Whether you like Batwoman or not, there's no denying that the art in this comic is easily in the top 3 on the racks right now. Thankfully the story has been pretty good too thus far, though I'm a Greg Rucka fan and always will be, so I may be biased. I will say that while I enjoyed the Alice story, the current origin tale is by far the better of the two arcs. The Question back-up has unfortunately been pretty weak, but then again I like Montoya, and I like the Question, however I don't really like Montoya as the Question. Make sense? Long-time favorite of mine, and all around super nice guy, Cully Hamner is on pencils for it though, so I'm not complaining too much.

2. Streets of Gotham - Despite it being another Paul Dini written Batman comic, I have to admit this one has pleasantly surprised me. The first arc dealt with Hush, who after being bankrupted by Catwoman in Dini's last Detective arc prior to Battle for the Cowl, has returned to Gotham after having reconstructive plastic surgery to make himself look like Bruce Wayne. Hush knows Bruce is gone, and took the opportunity to stand-in, while taking full advantage of the Wayne fortune in an effort to hit Batman where it hurts, the old bank account. No money, no new gadgets to fight crime with. It sounds silly, but believe me it's been great. Dini's long-time Detective collaborator Dustin Nguyen has been knocking this one out of the park. This is easily the best work I've seen from him. For more of his stuff check out his blog, where he posts lots of preview art and such, over under the "Bat-bloggers" header on the right. Worth mentioning also is the Manhunter back-up. You might remember Manhunter as the comic that was canceled, then brought back due to fan uproar, then canceled again, only to be resurrected here. I read it when it first started up, then lost interest when it got the axe the first time. It's entertaining enough here, since Kate has taken on the job of Gotham D.A. and is currently going after Two-Face. Worth the extra $1 for sure.

1. Batman and Robin - If you've ever read any of my Comic of the Week posts, then you know how much I love this comic. In my opinion, it's currently the best one of the racks, Batman related or otherwise. You might also remember that I'm no Grant Morrison disciple by any stretch of the imagination, he's a great writer, yes, one of the best ever, sure, but I was extremely let down by his Batman run. In fact I can admit it, it sucked. I thought Grant hated Batman. Then Dick Grayson donned the cowl and suddenly Morrison is writing some of the best Batman comics in years. I've come to the conclusion that he just hated Bruce Wayne, and not Batman, as this is the only reasonable explanation for the turn-around. This one has had a rotating cast of artists so far, with "god amongst men" Frank Quitely on the first arc, Philip "plz don't compare me to Frank" Tan on the second, and a forthcoming third with Cameron Stewart (which has me so excited that I can't stand myself).

Not mentioned was the only other current Batman ongoing title, Batman Confidential. Remember Legends of the Dark Knight? Where different creative teams came on and did out of continuity Batman stories of varying quality? Same thing here, you really gotta love Batman like I do to be reading this one. The term "hit-or-miss" was invented just for this comic.

And that's the top 5 Batman comics currently being published. Regardless of their respective order on anyone's current favorite list, the fact that there are so many solid Batman and Bat-related comics out right now is cause for celebration. On top of what I've talked about here, there's also a new Azrael book, Red Robin, and Batgirl, all of which are either decent or show promise. At this point I think it's safe to say there's never been a better time to be a Batman comic fan, whether it's Bruce in the cowl or not.

Friday, November 27, 2009

Infinite Playlist - Cellar Door



Been a while since I've dropped some musical gold on you guys, so I'm going to take it easy on you this time. No music that makes you want to punch people, but good music nonetheless. Also going to start posting lyrics where applicable so everyone can scream along!

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a picture of Escape the Fate that doesn't make you embarrassed to listen to them at 31 years of age? Very, trust me. I did manage to find one that almost doesn't look like a still from the set of a Twilight movie though. Regardless of how they look though, these dudes rock. They recently put out a new album which isn't all that great, but their old stuff is killer. This is my favorite track from their 2006 album "Dying is Your Latest Fashion", I give you Cellar Door. Enjoy!


Cellar Door - Escape The Fate

We walk through the doorway, heard you calling from the hall
To find you in the bedroom not breathing at all
I drag your body to the cellar where we lay,
the wax it melts away, I kiss your face...

Now we are starting to love you more
Your body's on the canvas I painted on the floor

[Chorus:]
Now you wait,
Like the drug, like the change in the pain it goes on
For so long
And oh,
How it hurts in the worst way, now that you're gone,
It's so wrong, it's so wrong....

If I could take you somewhere, I'd take you to the darkest place,
scatter you in art forms, admire the whore
beauty in different ways, your hands on picture frames
your eyes in the glass wear your face as a mask

Now they are starting to love you more
a gallery of your beauty, no charge at the door

[Chorus:]
As you wait,
Like the drug, like the change in the pain it goes on
For so long
And oh,
How it hurts in the worst way, now that you're gone,
It's so wrong, it's so wrong....

And down below your veins run dry your vacant eyes
I lost control your face is pale, your body's cold
And down below your veins run dry your vacant eyes
I lost control your face is pale, your body's cold
(your face is pale, your body's cold)

[Chorus:]
Wait,
Like the drug, like the change in the pain it goes on
For so long
And oh,
How it hurts in the worst way, now that you're gone,
It's so wrong, it's so wrong...

It's so wrong.....[x8]

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Cold Slither...maaaaaaan

A discussion with my brother today about Cobra's greatest plans for world conquest led to my picking Dreadnok super-group Cold Slither as the best ever. Here's the proof:



GI Joe always worked best for me prior to the movie, when times were simpler, and shit like Cold Slither could happen in any given episode. It's so endearingly stupid that it almost brings a tear to my eye. When I was a kid watching this stuff, I thought Cobra Commander was awesome, now 25 or so years later, I realize that I was totally right, just for all the wrong reasons. Cobra Commander is awesome because he is a grown man who leads a "ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world" and he actually believed shit like this make steps toward realizing that goal. God bless him.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Closet of Awesome Cry for Help Edition!


Anybody with a Woot! account that is able to vote on shirt.woot PLEASE go vote for the zombie Brady Bunch shirt in this week's derby! I don't just want it, I NEED IT.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

The plague....I has it.

Unforeseen absence due to illness. Here's a recent photo, but I must warn you it's extremely graphic, those of you with weak stomachs might want to divert your eyes....



I will make sure to have someone post the funeral arrangements here once everything is finalized. I love you all.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

I met James O'Barr and came away disappointed.


Eagle eyed reader may have noticed way down there on my Facebook badge thing that my latest status update reads "I met James O'Barr today and he was a DOUCHE." Well friends, the following is an accounting of the events of said meeting as they transpired when my friend Diptastic and myself innocently braved the Banquet Hall of a dowtown Atlanta Marriott with child-like wonderment danced through our heads at the very thought of shaking hands with the creator, writer, and artist of The Crow....

We walked up to his table, where absolutely NOBODY was waiting in any kind of a line or anything, and there were these two guys sitting there. Now, in our defense, nobody was wearing a "Hi, I'm James" name tag or anything, so we weren't exactly sure which one he was. Embarrassing, yes, but we'd never seen the guy, and if we had seen a picture it would likely have been taken at least 10 years or more ago. It wouldn't take Dip's wife long to decipher some carefully hidden clues (I believe her words were something along the lines of "Um, you think he might be the one drawing the picture of The Crow?") and we decided that she was probably right, so we approached him, Crow comics in hand.

I stood there for a minute, not wanting to interrupt him while he was drawing, and waited patiently for him to get to a stopping point, so he could sign my comic and tell me how grateful he was to have me as a fan and such. Well dude never showed any intention of stopping, until some other older guy walked up and he immediately put his pen down to shake hands with the guy.

The older guy proceeded to basically cut right in front of us to speak to James, introduce him to his daughter, etc. He even mentioned that he knew one of James' ex-wives (which is something I will touch on later), and asked James if he remembered meeting him before, which James thought about for a while, but eventually seemed to recall, or at least he told the guy that.

Finally after a couple of minutes with this guy, who by the way showed absolutely no interest in getting an autograph or anything, James finally looked at me and Dip and said "You guys have some comics you want signed or something?"

Wow dude, really? So me, being the extremely polite human being that I am, replied "yes sir" and put my book down on the table. While he was signing, I asked if he would mind if I took a picture, and the guy actually rolled his eyes at me while agreeing to it. So I took the picture, and while I had the camera up, he did ask me if my t-shirt (my Eye Heart Creepy one) was a Dark Horse shirt, and I was so disappointed in the guy at this point that all he got from me was a "yeah".

I grabbed my book, thanked him, and walked away. Dip got his signed and off we went to discuss what a giant douche he was.

Now the ex-wife thing. For those who don't know, James originally did The Crow to help cope with the depression he felt over the tragic loss of his wife. In fact he had to stop doing the book half way through because the story itself was so depressing that it was actually making him worse instead of better. But he did manage to work through it and finish because he did the book to honor her memory. Or at least that's how I read it waaaay back when I first read the comics.

So fast forward to Sunday, when the other guy told him he knew James' ex-wife...James replied with a "Oh really? Which one?" and a chuckle/shit eating grin combo. Now I don't know about you guys, but that right there just trounces all over the story of how the Crow first came about. James loved his wife so much that he wrote and drew this beautiful book to help him cope with the loss of her. Apparently every one of his wives since hasn't made that much of an impact on his tortured, loving soul.

In less than 10 minutes, the guy basically managed to absolutely ruin himself in my eyes. I considered myself a fan before, needless to say that is no longer the case. I still think The Crow is a great book, but the guy behind it ended up being a supreme disappointment.

The show wasn't a total loss though, I had a blast hanging with Dip and the Mrs., I don't get to see them as often as I used to due to geographical complications. I also only had $10 to my name, so I couldn't really hit the con like I wanted, but I did manage to pick up the following for somewhere around $9 total:

  • Age of the Sentry #'s 1-6 - Picked the entire mini-series up for $2.50, I initially skipped it due to my dislike of the character, but I read lots of favorable reviews online as it shipped, and well for less than the cost of 1 issue then, I get to read the whole thing.
  • Elephantmen #'s 1-3 - I actually arrived to the Elephantmen party a little late, so I only had the first 5 issues in trade format. Being the whore that I am for singles, and complete series', I jumped at these when I saw them in a 50 cent box, when I handed all 3 over to the vendor, he says "how 'bout $1?" YES.
  • Hip Flask: Mystery City - Before there was Elephantmen, there was only Hip Flask, the hippopotamus from the series. I haven't read much at all of the early stuff, and got this prestige format special from a 50 cent box. Score!
  • Batman: The Cult #'s 1-3 - Yeah, I already have all four issues of Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson's classic Batman prestige mini, but these were nicer copies than mine, so I grabbed them. Pulled all 3 from a "4 for $1" box.
  • Nevermen: Streets of Blood - For whatever reason I never picked up any of Guy Davis' Nevermen comics. I love Guy's work, but missed out on the Nevermen when it first started, and unless I can get on something from either a good jumping on point, or preferrably from the beginning, I tend to pass on it. This was the fourth book that I grabbed to go along with The Cult. I haven't really looked at it yet, but I believe it's a trade of some sort due to it's thickness. Either way it's a lot of Guy Davis comics for only a quarter and I believe that's the very definition of a no-brainer.


So that was my experience from the Atlanta Comic-Con this past weekend. I think I'll hold off before running out to meet any other of my favorite comic creators for a while. I was genuinely surprised at Mr. O'Barr, as every other writer or artist I'd ever met ended up being really down to Earth. Maybe he was just having a bad day, or was disappointed with the turnout, who knows? In any event, I had a great time regardless and can't wait for the next Con, which hopefully I will have a little money in pocket for.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Separated at Birth?



(L)New X-Men's Fantomex/ (R)Stephen Sommers' Storm Shadow


Who am I kidding? Fantomex would destroy "Storm Faggo" in less than 3 seconds. It's the trench coats! And while it might not make much more sense for a French assassin/thief/Government experimental super weapon to wear a white trench coat than it does for a ninja to wear one, at least Fantomex makes that shit look good.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Frankencastle

Ok so don't tell anybody else this, but lately I've been dipping my toe in the Marvel pool a little again. It's the writers they keep pulling! I've been a Rick Remender fan since falling in love with Fear Agent, and when I read the synopsis for the next Punisher arc, I had to jump on board.



Frankencastle officially began in "Dark Reign: The List: The Punisher" which needs 7 or 8 more fucking colons in the title, but anyway. Osborn is tired of Frank being a thorn in his side so he sends ALL of fucking H.A.M.M.E.R. after him. ALL of them. For one guy. A regular guy. No powers. Nothing but regular guns and such.



So Frank manages to evade the first wave of HAMMER agents, ends up ducking down into the sewers where he runs into Dark Wolverine himself, Daken. And they throw DOWN son! Frank holds his own for a few panels, but eventually Daken gets in close enough and he absolutely slaughters Frank. He literally cuts him into pieces. Arms, legs, head, etc. all removed. It's fucking nasty. Then he kicks the bloody mess down into an alley.



That's pretty much where The List Punisher ends, there's a preview of Punisher #11 though in the back, which has HAMMER agents attempting to retrieve the pieces of the Punisher's body only to find that Mole Man's minions have beat him to it. While chasing the little yellow guys, they run into Man-Thing, and things go from bad to worse for HAMMER.



The arc begins Wednesday, with Rick Remender writing and the incomparable Tony Moore handling the art. Original Walking Dead, and Fear Agent artist Tony Moore. That lone is worth the cover price. Don't know if I'll stick with Punisher following Frankencastle, but damn it's going to be a fun arc, and I can't wait.

Spielberg Level Unlocked!



Saw this on Joystiq, good shit!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

More Random Bonestube

Clash of the Titans


Looks a little too "300 meets Lord of the Rings" for my taste, but it's gonna have Medusa and well, sometimes maybe that's enough. Plus I love the original, so I'll at least give this a watch.

REC 2


I loved REC, as we all did, however I tend to find myself in the minority once again as one who didn't really care for Quarantine. In fact, I flat out thought it sucked. So I'm looking forward to REC 2, but not Quarantine 2, even though they will basically be the exact same movie only with English dialogue and different actors. Got it? Good. On a side note, I TOTALLY got Rick Roll'd looking for this trailer on Youtube. Damn kids! *shakes fist in air*

Kick Ass


Oh the things I have to say about this piece of shit. Anybody else read this comic? Well, read what's actually shipped of this over-hyped abomination? Yeah the movie is done filming, but THE FUCKING COMIC STILL HASN'T MANAGED TO SHIP 8 FUCKING ISSUES. The only good thing about the comic is the art by John Romita Jr. and even then he's good, not great. The tone of this trailer matches the tone of the comic about as well as a Cannibal Corpse song playing over an iCarly commercial would. I don't know if the movie itself just took a light-hearted tone instead of the over the top violence of the book, or if they're just going to see how many people they can end up shocking into a comatose state in the theater. Trust me, the Kick-Ass you see here, is NOT the Kick-Ass from the comic on which the movie is supposed to be based. And that comic? The one that Mark Millar praised as "the most important comic of all time" or whatever he called it? Yeah it sucks. And this movie looks like it's going to suck even more.

Apologies for the mini-rant, but there are just so many more film worthy comic properties out there that will never even be considered, that it just really bothers me when shit like this gets picked up based solely on the hype that the writer himself created before it ever shipped. Again, the fucking this isn't even over yet, and there's already a movie? Bullshit.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Comic of the Week 11/11

Time once again for another thrilling installment of my immensely popular comic of the week posts! No post last week for two reasons, first there really wasn't much worth posting about shipping, and second, as noted on several previous occasions, my laziness knows no boundaries. Some good stuff this week though, including the return of Doc Savage! This week I'm actually torn between the conclusion of two arcs, both of which I've enjoyed a great deal. It won't happen often, but this week Hellboy beats out the Dark Knight by an extremely slight margin, Wild Hunt is ending and I absolutely can't wait to read it.

Comic of the Week


If you've been following along these past couple of months, you've already heard me go on and on about how much I'm digging this latest Hellboy series. It's not that the ones before it were bad, far from it, in fact The Crooked Man was absolutely brilliant. Wild Hunt just really seems to finally be moving Hellboy's story along, and it's something that I feel like has been a little overdue. The solicit, if you care to read it:

"Hellboy finally confronts the truth about his heritage, a moment that the mysterious Osiris Club has been anticipating for over a century, and believes heralds the final days of man! The conclusion to Wild Hunt!"

Honorable mentions this week go to the other book that was truly worthy of Pick of the Week, Batman and Robin #6, the previously mentioned return of Doc Savage in the Batman/ Doc Savage Special, one of my new favorite writers Jason Aaron gives us his take on the Punisher in the all-new Punisher Max #1, and finally go ahead and grab Walking Dead #67 simply because you know you were going to already.

The Pull List
  • Amazing Spider-man #611
  • Batgirl #4
  • Batman #693
  • Batman and Robin #6
  • Batman and Robin #6 Philip Tan variant
  • Batman/Doc Savage Special
  • Batman/Doc Savage Special Rags Morales variant
  • BPRD 1947 #5
  • Deadpool #17
  • Green Lantern Corps #42
  • Hellboy: Wild Hunt #8
  • Punisher Max #1
  • Red Robin #6
  • Vengeance of Moon Knight #3
  • Walking Dead #67

Monday, November 9, 2009

These are a few of my Favorite Things


  • Batman
  • Auburn football
  • Hockey
  • Comics
  • Silent Hill
  • Xbox
  • Philadelphia Flyers
  • Peanut M&M's
  • Amanda Seyfried
  • Mr. Pibb
  • Nike's
  • t-shirts that nobody else gets
  • jerseys
  • Italian food
  • Gary Frank
  • first-person shooters
  • zombies
  • first-person shooters with zombies
  • hockey mask wearing serial killers
  • Katharine Isabelle
  • Twiztid
  • chainsaws
  • ninjas
  • Halo
  • Buffalo Bills
  • buffalo wings
  • trivia
  • Warren Ellis
  • Mudvayne
  • Bruce Campbell
  • The Crypt Keeper
  • Hamburgers
  • Seiko watches
  • Street Fighter games
  • Halloween

Friday, November 6, 2009

Beasts of Burden

Do whatever you have to do to read this comic.

Monday, November 2, 2009