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Rest In Peace Irvin Kershner

1923-2010

Yes We CAM!

Tuskens

I have lots of Star Wars shirts. I have shirts with Stormtroopers, Darth Vader, Boba Fett, Darth Maul, Emperor Palpatine, and maybe even one or two that feature members of the Rebel Alliance. What I don't have is a shirt with a Tusken Raider on it themed after the Oakland Raiders NFL team logo. Yesterday, Teefury fixed that for the small price of $9, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Who taught you how to fight?

Happy Thanksgiving

Walking with the Walking Dead

So that's what "Vatos" meant! Completely outside the comic again this week, but this is the first episode that Robert Kirkman's written himself, so it's forgivable. Not to mention the fact that this is the best episode to date, in my opinion. Did anybody else get the feeling that this could easily have been a "deleted scene" from the comic? I can totally see where Kirkman would've used this, it fits perfectly with the tone of the book. Of course several details would've needed to be changed, but stll.

Episode 4: Vatos

So far there really hasn't been much need for this, but as of this week I think it's for the best that I add a huge SPOILER ALERT to these posts. If you haven't seen this episode yet, or are waiting to watch the whole season at one time, do NOT read any further. You've been warned!

This week kicked off with Andrea and Amy fishing in the quarry, noticing the little differences in their respective style, which both found strange being that their father had trained them. Another little bit of emotional drama for the series, and a good scene, but so far I don't much care for Andrea in the show. In the book she's one of my favorites though, and hopefully as the show progresses she'll start turning more and more into that. Amy as it turns out, doesn't last long enough in either iteration for me to form much of an opinion one way or the other. But more on that later. Before getting back to Rick and co.'s search for Merl, we get a quick look at camp, where Dale notices some unusual behavior from Jim, which I totally called, and again, more on that later.

After discovering Merl's severed hand on the rooftop last episode, Rick and crew begin following the tracks left behind trying to find the rest of Merl. He managed to get outside the building after cauterizing the stump where his hand used to be, and of course Daryl wants to follow. Rick tells him they'll look, but first they need to grab the guns out in the street, and after a little scuffle, Daryl agrees. The plan is for Glenn to run solo to retrieve the bag, and then meet up with either Daryl in one alley, or Rick and *ugh* "T-Dog" in another if the path isn't clear. Of course things don't go exactly as planned, and after grabbing the guns, Glenn is attacked by what appears to be gang members, or "vatos" (cool mexican guys, similar to homies- thanks Urban Dictionary!). They grab him and the bag, but before they can get in the car, Daryl shoots one of them in the ass with his crossbow. Vato drops the guns, but they drive off with Glenn, but not before Daryl captures one of them.

After some convincing, Rick, Daryl, and T-Dog (I seriously hate that, and is this supposed to be Tyrese because I really hope not) get the captured vato to bring them back to his camp to meet with his leader "G", to attemtp to negotiate a hostage exchange. Unfortunately, G isn't as interested in exchanging hostages as he is getting his hands on the guns, and he recommends Rick leave and decide whether to return ready to hand over the guns, or "locked and loaded" and ready for a bloodbath. 

Well, how about Rick this week?! It took three and a half episodes, but this week I finally got a "GO RICK!" moment when he returned to the garage with the bag of guns, and no intentions of leaving without both them and Glenn, ready to get all "O.K. Corral" up in that bitch. G threatens to cut Glenn up and feed him to his dogs, which he assures are 3 of the meanest, man eating bitches on the planet, bought from Satan at a yard sale...

Before things pop off though, a sweet old lady walks in and the entire situation is diffused. Turns out G and crew are holed up in a nursing home, with G and one other being the only former employees who refused to leave the guests behind when the zombies attacked. The rest of the vatos are children and grandchildren who came to visit family, and ended up staying to help out. This is exactly what makes The Walking Dead so great, this easily could've gone the stereotypical route with the "gang bangers" and all, but Kirkman completely flips the situation, and basically shows us that the two groups are pretty much exactly the same, just a group of people trying to survive in a bad situation. Absolutely loved this entire scene. 

So after parting with almost half of the guns, and getting Glenn back, the gang returns to find their van stolen and decide that only Merl can be responsible. And where's the first place Merl would head toward? Camp. So they take off on foot after him. 

Now, for that strange behavior, earlier Dale noticed Jim up on a hill by himself digging, and he's been at it all day, in 100 degree Georgia summer weather. Anybody who's ever lived through a summer in the southeast knows that clearly this dude is off his rocker a little bit. Worried about him, eventually the group heads up to see what he's really up to. Not taking kindly to being questioned, Jim eventually has to be wrestled to the ground and handcuffed by Shane. That night at camp, chained to a tree, Jim explains that it must have been the heat, and that he's fine. He had some sort of dream, and that's what prompted the digging, but he couldn't remember any details. As mentioned before, I called this, as soon as I saw him I said "he's digging graves", and I knew this episode wasn't going to be ending well.

And it didn't. While the gang sits around cooking up all the fish that Andrea and Amy caught, the zombies attack camp. First they get Ed, who has refused to leave his tent after the ass-whipping that Shane handed him last episode, then Amy who had left the group to pee. Several of the group are taken during the attack, mostly show-only characters who had existed mainly in the background thus far, you know the "red shirt" wearing types from Star Trek. Rick and crew arrive just in time to help fight off the last of the zombies. Right before the credits roll, Jim remembers his dream, and why he was digging, he was digging graves.

So as I mentioned, this was my favorite episode so far. I know you'll probably assume it's because of the carnage at the end, and you're not totally wrong, but it was the scene at the nursing home that really did it for me. Even though there wasn't much from the book, this is the first time I really felt like I was watching a moving issue of The Walking Dead. You can accredit every bit of that to the fact that Robert Kirkman wrote this one himself. Nobody gets these character and this story the way he does, obviously. I say let him write the rest of the show too, provided of course that it doesn't interfere with his comic book writing in any way. Only two episodes left, and then we're forced to wait a whole year for season 2....

Infinite Playlist Special "New Solace Lost" Edition - Despite All, We Remain

Yet another entry into Mister Bones' Infinite Playlist, as if you're not tired enough of them lately. But most of you already know, this is a friend of mine's band, that's his handsome mug up there on the top right, I'd mention the fact that I also know the guy on the top left, but then I'd just sound like a braggart. I totally do though.

Anyway, always the one to do whatever he can for a friend, this guy right here is. So, get used to my pimping the hell out of Solace Lost here in the Batcave. I'd likely pimp their music anyway, even if I didn't know half of the band personally, because they kick ass. This is their new demo, "Despite All, We Remain" from their forthcoming second album. Turn up your speakers!

Clown

How freakin' cool is this faux trailer?! And more importantly, how freakin' cool is Eli Roth for this:

It's not unusual for fan-made trailers for films using either intellectual property or names they have no legal right to to be contacted by lawyers of the actual rights holders. It is unusual, however, that the reason for the contact is because the rights holder actually liked what they saw and wants to turn it into a real movie. In the case of 'Clown,' it went a little something like this:

Step 1. Make a trailer for a non-existent horror movie about a man who turns into a murderous wereclown.
Step 2. Insert title cards faking the legitimacy of the movie, including one that claims 'Clown' was made by 'Hostel' director Eli Roth.
Step 3. ???
Step 4. Profit!

The wildcard that is Step 3 is normally when things fall apart, but for 'Clown' creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, it actually ended up netting them a meeting with Eli Roth, Cross Creek Pictures president Brian Oliver and Vertebra Films head Steven Prince. Roth, Oliver and Prince not only liked what they saw, but they clearly liked what they heard and so they've agreed to fully finance and produce a feature length version of 'Clown' for Ford to write and Watts to direct. From the press release: 

"I was blown away when I saw that "Clown" trailer. Everyone thought it was real, or that I had at least made a fake trailer. I called the guys right away and their first response was "Thank you for not suing us!" I said "Sue you? Let's make this into a real film!" They are incredibly talented, smart guys ready to make their feature debut."

Loves me an evil clown movie, and my God, a murderous wereclown?! Why hasn't this been thought of before? More importantly, why didn't I think of this before? It's safe to assume that seeing this movie has now become my sole reason for existence.

He's Super-FREAKY!

A panel from this week's Superman/Batman #78, in which Superman gets his superfreak on and tries to talk Batman into a superpowered menage with Wonder Woman and himself...

Ok, so that's not what really happens, but this issue is absolutely hilarious nonetheless. It's a story narrated by two kids, one a Superman fan and the other a Batman fan, who are arguing the age-old question of who would win in a fight between the Dark Knight and Last Son of Krypton. Upon setting up the rules for the fight, they ask each other what would Superman and Batman actually fight about, and both decide that it would never be over a girl, hence the image above. 

Lots of great stuff like this throughout the issue, making it one of the more enjoyable issues in the series as of late. It's also a one and done, which is nice every once in a while, especially following a multi-part arc. Good, light hearted fun, don't see much of that in comics today.

Mister Bones' Top 5

Zombies, we all love them, yes? I love them, you love them, we all love the brain munchers. That's not all I love though, I also love Batman. What's better than Batman? Batman fighting zombies, of course. It doesn't happen all that often, but with Blackest Night this Summer, and heroes returning from the dead left and right all over the DC Universe, Batman has had his hands full with the undead lately.

You might say to yourself at this point, "What better time, Bones, than now to post your top 5 favorite zombie related Batman comic covers of all time?" Don't mind as I do, friend. Don't mind as I do.

Top 5 Zombie Related Batman Comic Covers

5. Batman Confidential #46 by Tom Mandrake - You don't often hear mention of horror comic artists and not hear the name Tom Mandrake. He's probably best known for his Spectre run from the 90's, but he's also fond of drawing the Batman. He recently finished this Batman Confidential arc, which you might remember my mentioning was a direct sequel to last year's "Superman and Batman vs Vampires and Werewolves and This is the Longest Title We Could Think of for this Comic". Ok, maybe that wasn't exactly the title, but I didn't add much.

4. Blackest Night Batman #3 by Andy Kubert - I know you're probably wondering why these particular zombies are dressed like disco dancers. It's because they're the reanimated corpses of Dick Grayson's parents, Grayson as in the first Robin, then Nightwing, now current Batman, son of circus trapeze artists "The Flying Graysons". I'm not the biggest Kubert fan in the world, but I have to admit I dig the perspective of this image, looks good with Batman almost reaching off the cover as his parents attempt to drag him down into the grave with them.

3. Blackest Night #5 variant cover by Rodolfo Migliari - Have to come clean here, I'm not very familiar with this artist, aside from his Blackest Night variant painted covers, I'm not even sure I've ever seen any of his work. These were great though, with this particular one obviously being my favorite.

2. Batman Gotham Knights #29 by Brian Bolland - Simply put, Brian Bolland is a genius. There's no other word to describe his artistic talent. He primarily does covers now, but you'll of course remember him from The Killing Joke. He can draw anything, his Batman is very nice, but it's his Joker that really isn't to be fucked with. You ask me who draws the quintessential Joker, and I'll say Brian Bolland every single time. We're not here for Joker though, we're here for zombies, and he can obviously draw those pretty good too.

1. Batman #453 by Mike Mignola - Ah, Mike Mignola, the father of Hellboy, and artist responsible for one of my absolute favorite Batman covers ever printed, zombies or not. This cover has been burned into my brain since the very first time I laid eyes on it in the drug store where I bought my comics as a kid. I love, love, love this cover. I love the hands reaching out of the ground, I love the way the zombies are clawing at Batman, and I love the statue behind them all. I credit Mike Mignola as one of my biggest horror comic influences, going back to way before anybody had ever even heard of Hellboy.

And just for fun, here's this...

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I'll buy a cookie for anybody who knows what this is from , and was brave enough to sit through it too.

Green Lantern Trailer

Call me crazy, I know a lot of you fanboys are underwhelmed to say the least, but this doesn't look all that bad to me. You can't judge a whole movie from it's trailer, but this looks much better than I was expecting. It's not going to be the next Dark Knight by any means, but it looks like it could be fun. It looks every bit as good as Marvel's Iron Man films to me. We'll see I suppose.

Walking With the Walking Dead

Looks like those new characters may be around for a while, eh? We're three episodes in, and just as in the comics, it looks like the main focus here is going to be the people and how they interact with a zombie outbreak, with the actual zombies themselves being in the background. In my opinion, exactly the way it needs to be for this to succeed as a television show.

Episode 3: Tell it to the Frogs

I'm not entirely sure my attempt to read the comics along with the show is going to be worth the effort, aside of course from my enjoying the series again from the beginning. With these new characters, I'm thinking the show might become more and more it's own monster, primarily just using characters and a few situations from the source material. I'd be lying if I said that wasn't a little disappointing, especially knowing and loving the book the way I do. It's understandable that the show needs to be able to stand on its own, and is catering to an entire new audience, but this show exists because of comic nerds like me, and I want to see what I've read when I turn on the tv. But I promise not to bitch about this for the entire season.

Episode three began with Rick, Glenn, and the rest of the crew returning to base camp from Atlanta. Rick is the last one out of the truck, and we get what is easily one of the best scenes so far when he's reunited with his wife and son. I thought it was really well done. Amy's reaction to her sister Andrea returning was a bit much I thought, she acted like Andrea had been missing and thought dead longer than Rick had, but maybe that's just me. Perhaps her relationship with her sister is just different than my relationship with my own brother, as I'd imagine a "sup" would likely suffice for the both of us in a similar circumstance.

The first zombie scene this episode with the deer I liked, this also happens in the book. Different situation, as in the comic it's only Shane and Rick that run up on the zombie chomping away on Bambi while they're out hunting. Of course in the show, the entire group show up and take turns beating the hell out of the zombie before Dale finally removes it's head with an ax. At this point in the comic, Shane and Rick are already butting heads over how the group should be lead, and what the next move should be, Rick wants to pack up and move further away from the city, and Shane wants to stay put and wait for the military to drive by and rescue them. The hunting trip is where their differences begin to turn from discussion to full blown argument, and the show hasn't touched on this at all yet. This leads me to believe that the first season will be ending about where I think it might be, with Rick and Shane's feud coming to a head.

We also get another new character introduced, Daryl, played by Norman Reedus of Boondock Saints fame. Daryl is Merl's brother, Merl you might remember was handcuffed to a pipe on the roof of the department store and left behind by Rick and company when they escaped Atlanta. Daryl is none too happy to hear the news about his brother, and after some arguing and a fight, he, Rick, T-Dog, and Glenn set out to rescue him and retrieve the guns Rick lost when he was swarmed while riding the horse into town. All this is pretty much tv only stuff, except for one thing when they get to the roof and find Merl gone. Apparently he managed to reach a hacksaw, and sawed his hand off to escape the cuffs. Comic readers should be familiar with a one-handed character, but it's not Merl, and it didn't happen this way, so I'm interested in seeing how this little twist plays out. Why Merl decided to saw through his own wrist instead of the chain on the cuffs, or the pipe he was cuffed to, we may never know. My guess? He's stupid.

One last thing I wanted to mention, the Shane and Lori relationship. It may have been going on a little longer in the show than in the book, but it looks like it's just as over as soon as Rick comes back. So tv Lori is in agreement with comic book Lori in her assessment that her and Shane was a huge mistake. Lori drops a little bit of a bomb at the end here, when she says that Shane is the one who told her Rick was dead. Wonder if he truly thought that, or if he already had feelings for Lori in the past. The show also gives us a little glimpse of psycho Shane, when he beats the living shit out of Ed, who wins the award for biggest douchebag in the show so far after he slaps his wife, Carol, for laughing while washing clothes with Andrea, Amy, and Jacqui at the quarry.

And that's what I thought about episode 3. It's still too early to tell, but The Walking Dead has some definite potential to dethrone Sons of Anarchy as my current favorite show on television. Next week's episode is entitled "Vatos", an interesting title, can't wait to see what Frank throws at us next.

Infinite Playlist - You Be Tails, I'll Be Sonic

One of my personal favorite bands, A Day to Remember, release their third full studio album today, "What Separates Me From You". At this point, I'm honestly not all that thrilled with it, as it's by far their most mainstream effort to date. ADtR has fallen into that unfortunate category of "band makes video for song not reflective of band's normal songs to get MTV play, plan works, band makes money, band makes album full of songs like song from video". It's happened a million times before, and most bands never recover from it. I'm looking at you Blink 182, and don't think I don't see you over there too, Korn.

Negativity and major disappointment aside, What Separates Me From You does have about 3 songs that I don't totally hate, so I thought I might as well post at least one of them before never listening to this album again, and pretending that ADtR never made another record after "Homesick". Here's You Be Tails, I'll Be Sonic.

 

SEC West Champs!

Walking with The Walking Dead

You didn't really think I was done talking about The Walking Dead on AMC yet, did ya? My original plan was to re-read the comics along with the show as it aired, and talk about each episode afterwards. Unfortunately for me, I have somewhere around a half million comics, and my issues of the Walking Dead ended up spread all over the place throughout the course of three different location changes the past few years. However, a friend asking me if they could read the comics, and myself always being one to promote comics whenever possible, prompted me to rent a backhoe and dig all 78 issues out and get them together.

This also gives me the opportunity to do what I had planned on doing, and enjoy the series all over again, in both print and televison formats. It's going to be somewhat difficult to not read ahead of the show beforehand, as I won't be sure before the episodes air when and where in the story they'll break. I remember enough of the series to stay pretty close though I think. That's the plan anyway. For this first post, I'm gonna catch up on the first two episodes, in preparation for the third tonight.

Episode 1: Days Gone By

So far there have been lots of things that seem to be pulled directly from the books, especially in the first 90 minute episode. The scene when Rick is shot was  of course important for setting up the entire story, but in the show it was way more fleshed out and took longer to get through. Nothing really important to note as far as differences to what happened, but in the comic it was I think literally no more than three or four panels on one page. The flashback sequences with Rick and Shane in the patrol car talking, and with Rick and Lori didn't happen in the book either. I thought these were nice additions, particularly the Rick and Shane scene as we get a glimpse of their past friendship, and adds a little sadness to what is coming for those two.

The meeting of Morgan and his son Duane also ended up being pretty different detail wise, and for the better. I thought Morgan's reaction to Rick in the show was far better and more believable in the show. In the book, Duane cracked Rick on the back of the head with the shovel, Morgan ran over, looked at Rick, helped him up and took him home for dinner without much question. In the show, same thing, only Morgan never took his gun off Rick, even after he got him home and cleaned and bandaged up until after much deliberation, and explanation on Rick's part. Granted, in the book the first thing Rick did after waking up in the hospital was put on clean clothes instead of waltzing around town in his tattered, dirty hospital gown, so "comics Morgan" was dealing with what probably appeared to be a perfectly normal human being. Still, during the zombie apocalypse, it's going to take more than clean clothes to make me comfortable with a stranger, especially if I'm considering bringing him to the home that me and my children are living in.

The other stuff before they part ways was overall the same in both, Rick took them to the police station, gave them supplies, thanked them and they went their separate ways. The book never gives us a look at Morgan again after this point, the show adds what so far has been my favorite difference. Morgan returns home with Duane, tells his son to read his comic books for a while, and proceeds upstairs with the rifle that Rick has just given him. I'm not sure if I'm exactly right, but to me at this point it seemed as if maybe Morgan had decided to move on, because he no longer seems worried about alerting the walkers outside to his and Duane's presence and begins shooting from a second floor window. He eventually trains his crosshairs on his wife, but can't bring himself to pull the trigger. Again, not entirely sure why he decided to do this, unless he and Duane are taking their car and relocating.

The rest of the episode was pretty close to the book, with no notable differences. The tank was new, and pretty cool. It did appear in the comic, but only for a splash page, and there wasn't any interaction with it. The poor horse was in both, but his ending was far more unsettling in the show, attribute that to the addition of sound though.

Episode 2: Guts

Episode two was a completely different story, literally. I promise not to be as long on with this one, and honestly couldn't be if I tried. The Asian kid who rescued Rick is Glenn, at this point in the comic, Glenn and Rick escape the department store by climbing the scaffolding and leaping to the roof of the store beside it, then climbing down and running back to camp, where Rick is reunited with his family and meets the others. The show at this point introduces us to several characters in the store, including four that don't appear in the comic. As far as I remember, and can tell from what I've gone back and read, Morales, Jacqui, T-Dog, and Merle exist in television continuity only. Amy, Andrea, and Jim exist in both. Again, nothing wrong with changing things up, but from what I can tell it looked as if this group had maybe left camp in search of supplies, and had run into Rick. In the comic, no one seemed to know exactly why, but Glenn always made supply runs alone. Maybe easier for him to get in and out by himself? Not sure, but if we're going to add characters, I really hope they all aren't as annoying as these few were.

The only other real difference worth mentioning is Shane's relationship with Lori, which seems to be secretive in both, but much more "ongoing" in the show. I got the impression that Shane and Lori had been routinely sneaking off the be by themselves and getting it on, in the comic it's only referenced once and Lori is of the opinion that it was a mistake. Apparently "tv Lori" is ok with making this "mistake" into a bad habit maybe. Again, a subtle difference, but makes what is looming there a little more uncomfortable.

So all caught up and ready for episode three now! I've finished the first 6 issues of the comic as of this writing, so I'm probably as far ahead as I need to be for a while. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the season finale wasn't what happens at the end of issue 6. The show is off to a fantastic start though, with a lot of good buzz, especially amongst the horror blogging community. I also read online today in several different places that the show has been given the go ahead for a second season. It's exciting, being a long time fan of the series, it's really nice to see so much love for The Walking Dead right  now.

I'm gonna hit ya....and you're gonna fall.

Today Bonestube proudly presents a  video of Ren Hoek, of "Ren and Stimpy" fame of course, doing his best impression of me returning home after leaving my children alone with their grandmother in my house for an hour or two.

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You know, Benjamin Franklin once said "Eat to live, don't live to eat"...

Infinite Playlist - New GWAR edition!

I know what you're thinking.."new GWAR already?!" Me too friend, me too. It was just last year that I waited impatiently for the release of "Lust In Space", and now here we are again. No such thing as too much GWAR though, if over 15 years and 12 studio albums has taught us nothing, it's taught us that....so bring on the Bloody Pit of Horror!


The album itself released yesterday, but the first official video has been online since back before Halloween. I've purposely waited until the album released to post it though. The wait is over kids, enjoy "Zombies, March", which while not the group's best song ever, is definitely one of their better videos.

BOOM!

Evil Dead + Doom = $10 more for Teefury.

Mister Bones' Top 5

Still working my way through Dead Rising 2, and still loving every second of it. One of the best things about the game is Chuck's ability to create new and exciting ways to dismember the walking dead by combining items and weapons using nothing but his imagination and a roll of duct tape. It's every bit as awesome, and often hilarious, as it sounds. While I've nowhere near tried every combo in the game, I've grown quite fond of a few, and if you're thinking I'm going to list my top 5 favorite here, you're right!

Top 5 Dead Rising 2 Weapon Combinations

5. Boomstick - Combines a pitchfork with a shotgun

4. Paddlesaw - Combines chainsaws with a canoe paddle

3.Laser Sword - Combines gems with a flashlight (it's a light saber!)

2. Heliblade - Combines a remote control helicopter with machetes (machetes not pictured)

1. Knife Gloves - Combines boxing gloves with bowie knives (like Wolverine, but cooler!)

Honorable mention to the Port-a-Mower, which is a nod to a classic scene from Braindead, combining a lawnmower with 2x4's, used as a portable, spinning machine of death. Hilarity ensues.

There are lots of other fun things to experiment with, and time spent coming up with new ways to eviscerate zombies is always time well spent. These are my favorites though, anybody else have any?

Treehouse of Horror XXI

I don't know about you, but at my house Halloween isn't officially over until after the annual Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons!

30 Days of Night: Dark Days

Dark days indeed, my friends. You know when a sequel comes long that is so mind numbingly atrocious that it actually detracts a little bit from the original film? I'm looking at YOU Robocop 3, and Boondock Saints II...Well add another one to the list kids, the sequel to 30 Days of Night will have you wishing you were a Barrow resident the first time around.

I can't even decide really where to begin here. I have absolutely nothing good to say about this movie. Granted, I hold the first 30 Days of Night film, as well as all of the comics, in the highest regard so I'm probably being a little too hard on it. Regardless, I sat there open mouthed the entire time, unable to comprehend the mediocrity transpiring on the screen. That's right people, I hated it so much that I'm using the big words.

The acting was laughable, and it was hard to tell if that was because the script was so terrible, or if they were just bad actors. There wasn't a lot of blood, and what was there was mostly CG, and not the good kind. The vampires looked like albino inhabitants of the planet Remulak, and although some were capable of speech, they just stood around and screeched at each other. Not the unnerving screech from the first film either, this sounded more like when Marc Singer would talk to his eagle in The Beastmaster. Half the time it annoyed me, and the other half it made me laugh.

The story is my biggest gripe, you're basing this off the comic book sequel to Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith's original masterpiece. Admittedly, the comic version of Dark Days wasn't as good as the first series, and it has been a while since I read the books, but I recognized exactly two scenes in Dark Days, the very first scene and the very last scene. Everything in the middle was completely new to me. And it wasn't good.

I'm not going to even bother doing a plot synopsis here, this movie took one ridiculously stupid turn after another, it borrowed heavily from better movies (Blade and Blade II particularly), and there were inconsistencies and plot holes you could drive a truck through. Do yourself a favor and read the comics if you're interested in the continuance of the 30 Days of Night saga. As bad as the film version of Dark Days was, I highly doubt there will be any more movies.

Remember, Remember....

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...

Happy Guy Fawkes Day Motherfawkers!

Cthulhu on South Park

Ok South Park fans, I don't watch the show, in fact other than the World of Warcraft episode, I pretty much hate it. But tonight I was flipping channels and happened to see this:



My question, why the hell didn't anybody tell me about this?! This episode had superheroes, evil cultists, goth kids, and The Great Old One...it was practically made just for me. Watch the whole thing here!

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The pap smear from HELL

Hellboy/Beasts of Burden: Sacrifice

Ask me why I love comics, and there are lots of answers. Writing, art, characters, an unhealthy obsession that goes back over 20 years, etc. Every once in a while though, a book comes along that becomes the answer to that question all by itself. Hellboy/Beasts of Burden: Sacrifice is why I love comics.

 I'm going to go ahead and assume that at this point, pretty much all of you know who/what Hellboy is, and pretty much none of you know anything about Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson's Beasts of Burden. I really can't recommend reading Beasts of Burden for yourself enough, it's absolutely wonderful, but the short version is, Beasts of Burden are a group of cats and dogs who belong to the Wise Dog Society, sworn to protect the small town of Burden Hill and it's human inhabitants from paranormal threats. It may sound childish and not all that exciting, but believe me when I tell you that there are a LOT of comics that I would stop reading long before I would this one.

As you may have surmised from the title, Sacrifice teams the Beasts with Hellboy to look into some mysterious cat disappearances. Three bodies have been found, apparently killed in some sort of sacrificial ritual, outside a strange tunnel deep in the woods. Of course once they get inside they find more than they bargained for, and are in desparate need Hellboy's assistance after discovering that the ritual was an attempt to revive a certain zombie priest that they'd dealt with in the past. Twice.


The thing that makes Beasts of Burden so great is that it would make a great children's book if it weren't so damn creepy. The writing is absolutely brilliant, somehow managing to have a light tone to it even when dealing with such dark and disturbing subject matter. The same can be said for Jill Thompson's beautiful painted artwork. The beasts themselves all have their own personalities and mannerisms, and it comes across flawlessly in her art, the colors are bright and cheerful and at the same time filled with blood, creatures, and all sorts of creepy imagery.

My love affair with all things Hellboy is well documented here in the Batcave, so I'm not going to bore you yet again by gushing about how much I love Mike Mignola's little hellraiser. I will say that Sacrifice did the character plenty of justice, but that was to be expected being that Mike co-wrote the book. In fact this team-up comic managed to do what few can, it felt like both a Hellboy comic and a Beasts of Burden comic.

Do yourself a favor and see if your comic shop has any of this book on the shelf, and if not ask them to order it for you. If you like what you see, and you should, give the rest of Beasts of Burden a shot. I love it, and we all know I only like things that are awesome. Plus the only way I will get more Beasts of Burden to read myself is if it sells well, and I want more, so go buy it!