I saw Cloverfield

And it was GOOD!

I'll tell you what was good about it.

Cloverfield was the BEST attept at Lovecraftian Horror you will ever get in the modern film making era. Sure you can have Reanimator, From Beyond and Dagon on your list if you want but I'll just say High School, High School and Netflix during college.

JJ Abrams didn't make a film that reminded you of any of his other projects either and he could have. There would have been plenty of room for some Lost Alias Heroes to crrep right in there and battle a big assed Mystery monster for 2 hours.

He didn't do that but you know what he did do? he delivered on the promise of his viral marketing campaign.

SOMETHING scared the shit out of us! Night Nurse declared that she wasn't even gonna deal with the POV camera stunt and Ice Queen bolted when one of those many bridges in NYC ate a crown of people but Eris404 and Xtine stuck it out. Eris talked to the screen in a good way too. You know, laughing and screaming like you do when you're actually engaged in the film as opposed to yelling and laughing because you think the actors need your advice.

You really don't get a good look at the monster til damn near the end of the movie and I'm not sure you should have gotten one then. They also do a good job of not letting you see a lot of the "fleas" either, which I like. This gave it a little bit of "The Warriors" meets "Aliens" kinda feel.

You know, 4 Yuppies are forced to turn off the old Sparta and Radiohead CDs and trot themselves across town to find a 5th yuppie whme the 1st yuppie had a thing for before all hell broke loose.

"Hey Guys, Lets take the tunnels!"

Ok look, of Chicago is ever attacked by a 60 foot tall Cthulhu, I will NOT walk down in the Red Line tunnel to get away from it to find my way home. I'd really just as soon take my chances using Jackson to get to Ashland to get to Lincoln to Get to McCormick to get to Main where I'd totally make a right to get over to Crown Park and BAM, home free.

The Monster would get to Chicago, attack Navy Pier cruise on up to Lincoln Park and then probably head South West to Naperville. I'd be way ahead of him by the time he crossed a street I'd used.

In the end, JJ Abrams stick with his plan. The army guys don't explain what the monster is. They don;t intercept an ancient message from the "Old Ones" warning us about the dangers of polluting the oceans.

No one melds minds with the creatures.

They drop bombs on them.

That's f'n right.

They f'n drop bombs.

Just like you'd want them to do.

If you saw Independence Day, Godzilla (Matthew Broderick) or I am Legend and were a lil pissed, JJ Abrams has stolen money from those film makers ala Robin Hood and given you the film you deserve.

Unless the POV camera makes you sick. Then I feel for you and JJ should have added Dramamine with the price of the ticket.

Comics Terry is Excited About: Nixon's Pals

Ok so over Newsarama.com there was a press release for a new upcoming Joe Casey OGN. Normally I sort of start out lukewarm about things written by Joe Casey but the truth is, lately that guys writing has really begun to grow on me.

Here's the press release:

This March YOUNGBLOOD's Joe Casey and rising star Chris Burnham dig deep into the hidden super-villain underbelly of Los Angeles this March in the 120-page graphic novel, NIXON'S PALS."The 'Nixon' in NIXON'S PALS is Nixon Cooper, parole officer to Los Angeles' ever growing super-villain scene," said writer Joe Casey. "This is hard boiled storytelling, basically putting a superpowered spin on what I love in crime fiction by writers like Elmore Leonard and Jim Thompson."Casey is not comparing NIXON'S PALS to Leonard's work lightly. The world of NIXON'S PALS is far from bright, with Burnham bringing a refreshingly unique twist on the conventional grim and gritty super tale.Burnham said, "Not only is Joe the type of writer who lets an artist run free, but NIXON'S PALS is exactly the type of comics I love to draw. It's an insane romp, filled with giant furnance robots, sentient breasts, and a ton of really vile bastards. It's fun for the whole family!"NIXON'S PALS (JAN082057), a 120-page black and white graphic novel for $12.99, will be in stores March 26th, 2008.

Here's a link too with would give you about 5 pages of Chris Burnham's art too.
Very nice...

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=142558

Terry Moore is Back

And boy is my wife happy...

He's basically doing a new series called Echo, Mary Jane Loves Spiderman or something for Marvel and Runaways, besides.

Essentially, the Spiderman thing will matter to my wife but I'm wondering how long it will take before she realizes that Peter Parker's life has ALWAYS been a SiP level soap opera but that she is now forcing her self to read about it by just because Terry Moore is delivering the goods.

It's like being forced to have to watch WWE programming just because Ira Glass has become a writer on Smackdown.

She should like Runaways. There is no reason not to like it even before Terry Moore comes on board. It's got little girls with super strength, space aliens of indistinct gender, magic involving blood and, a telepathic Dinosaur.

You people should be all about it just because i wrote that.

I got no idea what Echo is all about BUT if that book is late, I'll probably be raked over the coals bad enough to make me travel to Texas to hand Terry Moore that ass whupping I wanted to give him that year at Wizard World Chicago when my wife and a friend of hers stood in line while Terry Moore signed every damn comic in some dudes short box and talked to some woman for like an hour, who happened to have many life affirming moments while perusing the pages of SiP.

Honestly, Moore could have broken sooooo many ethical tenets if he'd just gone into counseling comics geeks instead drawing comics.

Not that I want him to change vocations. I just want him to approach his current one with regards to what my wife goes through when he slacks. I don not want to hear all about the rigors of making comics either. Those damn brits can jam out the ultra violent magi-porn at the drop of a fucking hat just to make sammich money when the muse is preventing them from giving us issues of Fell or Planetary.

Yeah Ellis, I'm looking at you, so why can't Moore, just so Wifey doesn't think i've instructed Diamond to hold up shipments of the book until keith Giffen returns to the Legion of Superheroes?

At any rate, fans of Terry Moore can rejoice...HUZZAH!!! The King is Returned to f'n Gondor but if he takes a break to find himself, I will bust the ass of whichever fan stands in my wife's way as I turn her loose on him at Wizard World.

You can also just read all about it here as opposed to hearing me rant about Terry Moore all week...

http://www.terrymooreart.com/blog/?p=179

The Venture Brothers

OK, the only reason I am making this post is as a public service announcement to all of you who make have totally slept on the Venture Brothers show.

This show is the shit and if you like Jonny Quest back in the day (as opposed to whatever they were doing in the 90's) you'll f'n love this shit.

Unless you have a problem...

Seriously Brock Samson is a true cartoon bad ass, the likes of which have not been seen since Sgt. Slaughter beat the crap outta that guy with the wings in GI Joe: the Movie.

Dean and Hank Venture are Idiots. Really. Just...Idiots but they bring the funny.

The best stuff is actually almost anything surrounding Dr. Thaddeus Venture, from his financial status to his less than stellar past.

I love the villains too. The Monarch may have some sort of contractual obligation to appear in every third episode but each appearance is better than the last and you will find your self cheering for Dr. Girlfriend...but you will also wince at her voice.

GET THIS DVD!!!!

Or netflix it or something. Just do it. Then go and watch more Linda Carter...

Next Up: Wonder Woman

We bought Season 1 of ABC's Wonder Woman show. Was it as camp as we remember? Was Lynda Carter as hot as we remember? Was Lyle Waggoner? Find out with us!

Moon Knight Reloaded: Counterpoint

Part 3 of 3: Under the Hood

Regarding Moon Knight #13: KUDOS to Charlie Huston for not only illustrating the "Old Testament" attitude we were speaking of earlier, but also for seeming to back up my next point.

Denny O'Neil, who wrote Batman in the 60s and edited Batman in the 80s, famously declared that Batman disguised himself as Bruce Wayne, not the other way around. He also said lots of other rubbish like Batman is impotent and he never caught his parents' killer, but that's an outraged rant for another day.

As Batman has Millionaire Bruce Wayne (and on occasion, Matches Malone), so Moon Knight has Millionaire Steven Grant and Jake Lockley (and Marc Spector, and Khonshu, and in the Ultimate Universe, a little girl with no eyeballs). Pretty much the primary way writers express the "Moon Knight is CRAZY" concept is by emphasizing his many identities.

Um...yeah. What say we leave the multiple-personality shtick to Bruce Banner, ok?

So who's really under the hood, Mr. Moon Knight? Jake Lockley?



You can't fool us. That's just how you pose as your own stoolie to the get the word on the streets. Steven Grant?



Nah. That's how you infiltrate high society and finance your operations. Are you the Avatar of Khonshu?



Nice try. You'd have to be an idiot to fall for that one. But are you Marc Spector, ruthless mercenary and killer?



I submit that Marc Spector was dead inside long before he started wearing a cape. I submit there is nobody under the hood. And that may be even scarier.

A man who has no sense of self at all. Every face he shows is a tool, a step to carry on his mission. He is unknowable, because there is nothing there to know. He's a blank slate; only the mission of vengeance matters. I find this direction intriguing. However, it requires the supporting cast to carry the emotional load. Fortunately we have Frenchie and Marlene, and perhaps Doc's idea of "The Moon Knight Family" has a use after all. I say if you're going that way, the answer is move him into the realm of The Shadow rather than Batman. The earliest days of The Shadow, mind you, not the radio bastardization--back when he was an unknowable force operating behind the scenes, as his agents wondered just who that manipulative bastard was who gave them their marching orders and saved them from certain death.

Well, readers? What's your counterpoint? Who is this Moon Knight, and why has he endured this long?

Moon Knight Reloaded: Counterpoint

Part 2 of 3: How do you solve a problem like the Moon Knight?

Villains. Moon Knight. This is an uphill climb. Still, Daredevil had pretty much nothing in the way of bad guys until Frank Miller stole Kingpin & Punisher away from Spidey and threw in a couple of hardcore assassins. What then can we steal for Moon Knight, who spent a lot of his career fighting a mercenary, a bunch of corrupt businessmen, and a werewolf?

Let's free associate. Moon...Knight...wolves howl at the moon...phases of the moon...moon sign, Sun sign, rising sign...knight to queen's bishop 4...Egypt...disguises...false faces...vengeance. Hmmm.

A vigilante who dealt vengeance on "criminals" with intense random violence. He was a crazy man, who only appeared during a full moon. He was...a LUNATIK.



But that was just one face, one phase, of a more complicated man. Another face was a suave sophisticated fellow, Harrison Turk.


But his true self was the evil wizard king Arisen Tyrk, arch-enemy of...the Man-Wolf.




Not bad for a start. We can do better. In Moon Knight's first solo story in Marvel Premiere, he fought the lame-ass "Conquer-Lord" (less said about him the better), who put him in a chessboard deathtrap. Let's remove everything from that last sentence except "chessboard." We can steal a page from Alpha Flight (who'd notice?) and bring in...the BRASS BISHOP and his CHESS SET.




Oh dear. They're a little TOO "Batman" don't you think? King Coal?! Overknight?! Its a wonder they didn't have a guy named Pawn Cocktail. We are getting closer though. It's nice to have MK go against a group, have him outnumbered, make him the underdog. Yes...a team. Ya know, for a guy who isn't supposed to play well with others, he did manage to be on two super-teams. First a cup of coffee with the Defenders. Then a brief stint with the West Coast Avengers.



Hey that's weird. He was on both teams just long enough to fight ZODIAC.

A-ha. now we're getting closer. Corrupt businessmen criminals, colorful outfits, ruled by the movements of the Sun and Moon. Now, all we need is someone to lead them. The world doesn't need another robot double of Nick Fury's brother though.

Fortunately, I have found another candidate. A real mastermind. Cruel and sadistic. Likes disguises. Always looking for vengeance on the world that created him. And best of all he looks like a GOD DAMN WEREWOLF.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you
the MAN-BEAST.




Man-Beast, or Super-Beast. The Bastard Son of Wundagore Mountain. Evolution gone wrong. Tough enough to go mano a mano with Thor and Adam Warlock. Smart enough to create an army of animal-men (say...aren't most of the Zodiac animals?). His first words were "I live...AND I HATE!"

But why lead the Zodiac? Why not? Look at this guy's history. Put all of his insane plans together and you've got a guy whose sole motivation is f*cking with people for the hell of it. He fancies himself the modern-day Satan (back when Warlock was the Counter-Earth Jesus). He disguised himself as the Hate-Monger for a whole year in the 70s, and why?! BECAUSE HE COULD. Don't believe me?



Ok, I admit it. My number one reason is still that he's a FRICKIN' WOLF MAN. Wolf man + Moon Knight = GOLD. You can't argue with science, folks.

Oh and what's that Egyptian deity with the head of a dog? Oh yeah, that's right: SET the Lord of Evil.

PS: Just to have some more Egyptian trappings around, steal OZYMANDIAS away from the X-Books.



Cheers. In part 3 we look at Moon Knight's "multiple personality" shtick and see if it's worth saving.