Backed Up Comics

I finally had a chance to read some books today. I trimmed a few books from my pull list, so each week is maybe 2 or 3 now. I didn't pick up last week's books so it's been a good 2 week gap in reading. Add to that company overtaking my house for the last week......I've had to change my routine.

I was happy to get a little quiet time though and check out a few that I had picked up. This week was:

Batman #7

Wonder Woman #7

Aquaman #7

Daredevil #10

I dropped All-Star Western for the time being because they were not making the Gotham/Batman connection I was hoping for.

As you can see from above, this week's Daredevil cover is probably one of the coolest covers ever. Seriously. It looks like an old engraving; monotone except for the dulled red of Daredevil's suit. If you look close you can see how the linework was done with a marker. EXTREMELY time consuming. I would love a huge print of it. DD#10 was another good issue. This series has been really good. The story is solid and the art has been retro good. Sometimes it comes off a little weak, for example in this issue, Matt's suit is more neon magenta than red. I love the Mole Man. He has to be one of my favorite villains in comics. Disgruntled, bullied, geek gone evil, followed by his underground minions the Moloids. This issue was good, but there were some quirks. The bright,

neon colors really didn't fit the gritty underground setting. Also, DD brings back a sack full of diamonds to compensate for the theft of a graveyard of bodies. The stones are set in each headstone as a tribute. Ummmm does anyone see a problem with that?

I was pretty sure Batman would be my pick this week. The Court of Owl story arc has been great, adding another dimension to Gotham that never existed before. This issue was a quick cool down though compared to the action filled story to this point. Bruce unveils some nifty detective work and sets some heads spinning by revealing that Dick Grayson, Nightwing, formerly Robin, was intended to become the Owls' next Talon. Best scene is when Dick throws a little tantrum and Bruce pimp slaps him, knocking his tooth out and revealing a hidden electrum implant. Good story, really a link to the new Night of the Owls event coming up.

Wonder Wom

an I've liked and disliked up to now. I love Cliff Chang's art. Its chunky, the colors are a little muted, and it's been a big attraction. The story though, has been a little hard to follow. The flow is sort of broken. Things happen that are hard to keep track of. In this issue, they visit Hephaeston, the weapon maker of the Amazons. He is telling a story about the fate of male Amazon babies, they cut to another scene, and then POOF, all of the sudden Hephaeston is tied up with Wonder Woman's lasso, no struggle. What happened? If this doesn't smooth out pretty soon, WW will be on the chopping block.

Finally, book of my week. Another return of a classic villain, great art, and a good start to a new story arc. The opening pages follow a chase through the jungle, a mysterious beautiful woman, and her dark pursuer. After a dramatic explosion, we learn that the bad guy is actually BLACK MANTA!!!! Back lit by roaring flames. Excellent. He steals an artifact from Atlantis and the stage is set for Aquaman and his shady new group of pals "The Others" to get it back. High paced action and the quality art. Aquaman has been good. It's slowly built up to this story about Atlantis and waited to introduce its supervillain. I'm excited for more.

So thats it. The Merman wins. If I get more quiet time this weekend, I'm gonna eat some tofu, drink a lot of water, sleep in a bed, watch a Kurosawa movie and maybe go to the pool.

Invisible Scam

Look at these fashionable hipsters. Aren't they cool? Slightly edgy, unique, on their way to the top? Do you recognize them? They are the triumvirate of Invisible Children, a "charity" organization created with the intention of helping people in Uganda. Noble cause, yes?

I've always had a problem with them.

Compare these upstanding young men with this

photo of them in action in Africa.

Here's the same three do-gooders modeling for

the cameras. See a difference? The sweet, almost feminine feel to these wonderful guys is lost

in a humid swarm of machismo and potential violence. Look at the intensity with which they hold their weapons. Note the almost thug-life gangster attitude Laren (center; sporting the fabulously curly locks) emotes as he fondles his tube of human destruction. You can tell he has a dark side, born on the mean streets of sunny San Diego. The bandana is such a delightful accessory; icing on this vanilla white cake of charitable intention.

My problem with Invisible Children, has always been the feeling that they wanted my money. They are privileged, silver spoon, white kids from high class suburban neighborhoods; using their means to promote their own pampered lives in the name of charity.

Apparently Invisible Children started out as a school project about water shortages in Darfur, Africa. Where most American high schoolers would be hard pressed to write a 5 page essay on the subject, these over-achievers took off on an international flight to get their grades. During the process, water shortages must have seemed too simple a problem for them to tackle, so they shifted their focus to the armed, bloody conflicts of Uganda.

To support their habit, they have set up a "Not For Profit" organization called Invisible Children. Basically, they recruit high school graduates or young college students, and send them packing in a slick, rock star, tour bus around the United States, hawking their wares at local high school campuses. Amazing strategy, and quite effective. You have to figure, at a school of 2000 kids, you could probably wow enough to make substantial donations, and they have. Kids gobble this crap up. Slick videos, a real live groupie on stage telling how awesome it is to travel around the country, and the tease that maybe you too can join the movement, and win a trip to Africa, IF you raise enough money.

I read recently that Jason, one of the co-founders, makes nearly $80,000 for his film making prowess. Umm, what happened to non profit? A graduate of USC cinema school, Jason was recently caught, naked, in broad daylight, freaking out on a San Diego street corner. Apparently the stress of his hit KONY2012 video had gotten to him. Hmmm, give me that stress. I'd like to try walking in those $80,000 shoes, premier photo shoots, Fall Out Boy style, and all expense paid trips to Africa. Keep it together Jason, you and your friends have a lifetime of Esprit/Guess style photo shoots lined up if you can keep the ball rolling.

Invisible Children needs your cash. Donate. Come on, you high school kids can get some dough from mommy and daddy. Be hip, someone a world away needs your help. If you give, you're part of the movement, don't be left behind. By the way, the next big planned event is coming in April, 4/20 to be exact. Why on earth would they choose that day? I'm sure PC schools across the nation are proud to be affiliated with this fine, upstanding organization. So much better than raising and donating money to a local cause.

Winter Dreams...or Nightmares

I've always had an affinity for winter. I don't mean fluffy, powdery, Santa Claus winter, I mean 20 below, snot freezing blizzard winter. Growing up I used to wander out into the snow, often at night, and imagine I was alone in a frozen wasteland, which I was basically; Iowa. My dad would call me Nanook. I liked the cold, the quiet, the solitude. Maybe that's why I like stories about the Arctic.

I am watching Antarctic Journal right now, a Korean movie about a team of explorers attempting to reach the furthest point inland on foot. Why this would be necessary is besides the point. Their purpose is to do something no other man has done. Facing isolation, windstorms, -80 temperatures, and the approaching 6 months of Antarctic darkness, the explorers are on a tight schedule. Do they really need the ghosts of a failed 1922 expedition haunting them? No, they probably don't, but otherwise this would just be a movie about 6 guys walking in the snow.

Arctic, or Antarctic, stories are almost always slow paced out of necessity. Some people can't appreciate that. Antarctic Journal, is a slow paced movie. The team trudges on through the snow, headed for their goal. One by one, strange things start happening to them. Stranger so is the fact that their troubles seem to mirror the troubles of a failed British expedition from 1922. A combination of hallucinations and supernatural events, mixed with some good ole fashioned craziness keeps you waiting for the next tragedy. For example, down to four members, lost and freezing, the captain of the Koreans rolls up their map and starts smoking it. Funny. Something else I found interesting was that they had to pee in bottles in order not to pollute the pristine Antarctic environment. The Koreans blame this stupid rule on "crazy white people".

Antarctic Journal isn't scary, rather it's uneasy, uncomfortable. There is a sense of hopelessness for the team. You get the feeling that they are doomed. Asian horror movies are more psychological, with a few gut wrenching surprises thrown in. Uuggckk frostbite amputations can be gruesome!

I Hated Dale

And little Carl needs an ass kicking.

Finally. Dale is dead. Enough of his whiny, holier than thou, cry baby preaching. He became more annoying every episode. It was poetic justice that he was torn apart and had to be put out of his misery with a shot to the head, the same end that he so enthusiastically opposed during his last show.

Dale embodied the ultimate of sweet goodness, the moral hero. I've never liked characters like that. They are too good, too moral, too perfect. They are so caught up in their own self righteousness that they cannot understand other, less perfect people. They never stray from their nobel convictions, even if it means less than favorable consequences for others. He put a stop to almost every tough decision the group had to face, whining and complaining about how they weren't acting "civilized" anymore. Ummmmm, Dale, excuse me, Dale, would you look around for a sec? There are zombies, flesh eating zombies wandering around, trying to eat you...

I, on the other hand, am a fan of Shane. Oh I know, that's bad and I am probably in the minority, but for the most part, Shane has been right on. The only questionable thing has been the weird awkward relationship he has had with Rick's wife.(Thats another story though, I'm not a fan of her either) I guess I've always been more drawn to the darker characters; Darth Vader, Josey Wales, Captain Ahab. They've always seemed more real, more lifelike, than the do-gooders. I suppose this mirrors my personality. Not evil, just, necessary. Shane, for example. He saw a barn full of zombies and said "We need to get rid of them." Why this caused a need for discussion, I don't know, but to me it was a simple fix. Sometimes tough decisions require tough action. Not everything needs to be discussed. Not everything has to be politically correct. So, good riddance Dale, maybe now the show can go on.

I love the 60's

We've effectively hacked into mom in laws Netflix account and have been watching now for a couple of weeks. Initially I was upset at the lack of movie choices they offered, few and far between. The upside though, has been the TV choices. I'm not a big TV watcher, I mean a regular TV watcher. I flip channels a lot, maybe stop on something interesting. The only regular shows that I've been following have been the Walking Dead, and Doctor Who.

Netflix however, has opened a whole slew of choices. I just read an article where Netflix described their TV series options like "30 hour" movies. No commercials, full seasons, wherever you want them.

What I've really been excited about has been the choices from one of my favorite decades, the 60's. It started with a couple of episodes of Mad Men. Great show. Fully engrossing. Where the 60's really like that? I dig it all, except for the incessant chain smoking though. Chase that with an episode of Archer. Not technically a 60's invention, the international man of mystery super spy, mixed with incredibly high speed comedy is nonstop laughs. Then, the ORIGINAL Star Trek series. My favorite as a kid. Still good. Stories are good, special effects are....fun, and who can deny the power of Captain James Tiberius Kirk? No one. And if you do, DEATH GRIP from Spock!

Dwarf: Grunbar

Grunbar is a keg carrying pugilist of a dwarf. He's a character that one of my friends, JJ, plays in our ongoing Wednesday night campaign. He's actually a replacement for the druid & ranger characters that died in a horrible fireball explosion a while back thanks to Dave rolling 1s on his saving throws.

I was asked to paint Grunbar a couple of weeks ago. JJ had a picture that he had found on the internet somewhere that gave me a good vision for what he was supposed to look like. The mini itself is nice. It's made of resin, pretty solid stuff. JJ got it from a company called scibor? minis. A little expensive I think, but good detail. I really like how the wood and his beard turned out. They have a few more coats of progressively lighter dry brushed highlights. The base was rather plain looking so I took a micro pen, .05 tip, and drew some runes around the base. Overall I think it came out pretty well.