marvel
Marvel 1602
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I am absolutely in love with this TPB. I always loved Neil Gaiman as a writer, but only read him in other comics (I just recently picked up Anasi Boys) but I never knew why. I mean, I loved his stories and all that, I always finished a comic feeling great about it, but I was never able to actively critique a writing style in an actual comic.
Well, he most definitely writes this series in ‘character’ of the time, and I love it. The artist did a fantastic job on environments, I love the way the characters are adapted to the time and I especially love the same-but-different shit they go through.
I have actually, on many a time, close my Anansi book because I really wanted to see what happened with “Javier” and “Scoticus”
It is even written with gender-roles of the time in mind. The reactions to the powers of the “witchbreed” are constant with how you would think of them in the time and there is an actual excuse, that is semi-canon with the rest of Marvel, as to why it is written in the 1600s.
It apparently won the 2004 “Quill Award”, but fuck that shit, it has just won the “2008 Andrew Likes Comics Award”
Writer + Director + Sorcerer Supreme
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This is possibly the best news since del Toro announced he was directing the classic ‘Hobbit’ film. Personally, I am disgusted at myself for not thinking of this marvelous trio before I found about it on the IMDb page. Yes, my friends, they are planning on releasing the Doctor Strange (Sorcerer Supreme) movie in 2010.
But that is not even the best part of it. Besides direction by del Toro, the screenplay is being written by the illustrious Neil Gaiman; screenwriter of films Stardust and (upcoming) Coraline, as well as Beowulf. But that is not even the tip of his talent. he wrote the novels (graphic and non) of the former two movies mentioned. He has also written, and received many awards, on his novels (besides Coraline and Stardust) The Anansi Boys, American Gods and The Sandman and Marvel: 1602 graphic novels - and a lot more. He also wrote the English adaptation of the amazing Miyazaki film Princess Mononoke. Besides noting his myriad of credentials, as a rabid fan of this man, one of the major reasons he is more than just a great choice, and actually a perfect choice is this: Neil Gaiman just loves mythology. There is too much to write about, a prime example would be the introduction to Marvel: 1602 (written by Peter Sanderson) and this list here on Wikipedia. I do not claim to be a master in the story of Stephen Strange, but what I do know is how cemented in mythological lore the Sorcerer Supreme’s powers are. Just look at this role in the Marvel: Civil War; he withheld his powers (which could have easily ended the entire war) on request of the beings that powered Strange, oftentimes, the Vishanti. He is an amazing character, and most definitely high in the ranks of Marvel warriors (he was one of the founding members of the Illuminati, after all), but he is still under the ‘management’ of said beings.
Neil Gaiman is but only one third of this Triforce of Supreme talent. 
You see what I did there? Heck yes you did. If keeping with the Triforce image, Gaiman would be holding onto the right Triforce of Courage, and our next would carry the one on top, the Triforce of Power. The joke cant be that hard to get, as Guillermo del Toro was mentioned only two paragraph above this one. As Gaiman was the perfect writer for this script, del Toro is the perfect director. He has brought humanity to characters that are everything but. I loved Hellboy. I love Hellboy. The reason for this is how human he is. Superhero’s are exaggerated archetypes, they are the modern Greek god, and sometimes worshipped just as much. That being said, I must admit that I have a personal affection towards the red-horned hero, and the movie was not as critically acclaimed as I did on my own. It was not until Pan’s Labyrinth that he really shone. As aforementioned, del Toro has been signed, perfectly as well, to direct The Hobbit. Why? del Toro is fantastic at directing fantasy, he is unbelievable at making the unbelievable believable, he… er… is un real at things th at are not… really, real. He is the best there is. With the amazing success of his LOTR trilogy, Toro was the first director Peter Jackson summoned for this prelude. I believe it was because PJ knew the book to be an entirely different type of story, as close connected they are. The Hobbit is a much more character based and personal story, and del Toro rocks at that more ravenously than a Uruk-hai and a Hobbit at a kegger.
This fact makes me cry myself to sleep every night. As well written and inked, penciled and lettered a comic book character is, they are not real. While replacing Zelda as sole recipient of the Triforce of Wisdom, Steve Ditko actually helped create Doctor Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Surpreme with the one and only Stan Lee. It is a shame that Ditko has not recieved the amazing credit Lee has, as he helped co-create some of the fan favorites (Spider-Man, Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Kraven the Hunter and The Lizard). And thusly, the Sorcerer Supreme is aptly added to my hilarious blog title, as the brain and soul (if not, at least half) is helping Gaiman write the script.
The movie will be smack full of more canon fodder than Henry IV, Part 1. Punny!
Wolverine: Origins (#25-26)
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I got into this series after the Origin TPB. The last few issues, with Deadpool and Wolverine battling emptily have been boring me lately, But I really do like these too comics this month.
#25 is the end to the Deadpool vs. Wolverine battle that has been going on for a few issues. It is is where Draken finally finds Logan but has a favor settled between Buckeye and Logan… in the back of the head. Logan’s WWII days were first looked at in this series in issue 17, and during that story arc, Logan and Buckeye build a semi-relationship. Anything referenced in this series, until now, is answered in those last few pages.
#26 was amazing. Stephen Segovia replaces the artist Steve Dillon is a horrible Wolverine artist, I haven’t read anything else of his so I cant really critique any further.
Segovia did the Witchblade series (and some other stuff) and this issue starts off with Logan taking Draken to a super-secret-hideout where he worked for a company on some experiments (he was the watch dog). It ends with those experiments finding him.
I am now excited for these books again, and not just buying for the sake of collection
The Incredible (Edible) Hulk
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Are you interested in how damn cool I am? I went to see the The Incredible Hulk, starring Edward Norton by myself. This would be the the new Marvel-produced sequel to Ang Lee’s horrible crapfest of a movie. It was freaking awesome. I would leave it at that, but that hardly makes for a good article, especially when everyone is saying the same thing about it. A friend reassured me I did not go alone as a loser, I went as a true fan.
Although the Bruce Banner that I envisioned when reading the (few) comics of his I did, and watched in the animated Ultimate Avengers series. I do not mean to say that Edward Norton did any less than a great job, he most certainly did, but it was a less pathetic and annoying Banner than I am used to.
Comparisons will most obviously be made between the Ang Lee film and the new Louis Leterrier one. I am a very big Edward Norton fan, but Eric Bana did a semi-half-decent job on Banner (his name also sounds a like), the last film’s flop was hardly his fault. But the best way to bring production to an ill-fated film as such is to show producers a totally new shot.
Alas, Marvel is shedding a new light on super-hero movies, a genre tainted by the likes of Elektra, Catwoman and Daredevil. This awesome-ness insurgence weighed heavily on the success of Iron Man, starring RDJ. Iron Man was the first to show Marvel had it in them to kick some serious ass, and they have been doing so all Summer.
The new Bruce Banner was hiding in Brazil. A bloody cramped Brazil. His peace did not last long, however, as he was attacked by the same (although different actor) Mr. Ross that was after him in the movie. It was this scene that summarized how well Norton was. Some of the best scenes were that of Bruce Banner as Bruce Banner. You finally got to see what stress Banner was going under, and what lengths he was taking to protect his family and his city. This was more than a movie about a green giant (not the Jolly one) jumping his ass around the dessert.
Of all the awesomeness that was in the movie (spoken as a nerd jaded by nerdy glasses, admittedly) was how damn real the Hulk was. Emotion in CGI characters is as hard to come by as a date in my actual life. They were not just CGI beings dukeing out, they were the two actors. The scene in the cave had emotion, and you felt really bad, and Hulk looking freaking terrible.
This movie also showed that Marvel is capable of making a movie without a secret ending, But who needs a secret ending when the real one is this?
Tony Stark: What would you say if I told you we’re putting a team together?
Gen. Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross: Who’s “we”?
The Avengers
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From what we have seen and heard of so far, the top 3 Avengers, the ones we know most about the movie production, are laid out like this, assuming the years they were set in:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) -> Iron Man (2007) -> The Incredible Hulk (2007) -> Iron Man II (2010) -> Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) -> Thor (2010) -> The Avengers (2011)
Now, from what we know (or at least I do) of the nature of Thor, he was initially reluctant to join The Avengers. That is why I placed his movie after Cap’s. My theory is that the major set-up of the Avengers will be at the end of Cap’s own movie. The title even has the title of their group in it! Nick meets Tony Stark in Iron Man, and he has his thing in Iron Man II while Stark is out looking around still. At the end of The Incredible Hulk, Fury has contacted him. As there is no Hulk sequel even hinted at, any other development (and conflict, is is the Hulk after all) will happen in the beginning of/ body of The Avengers movie in 2011 or against Thor in 2010 (after all, who else can even battle Hulk than Thor?). As being the ‘first Avenger’ Cap will bring justice and completion to the entire team. A Nick Cage movie is rumored (as well as the rest of the Avengers) but as there is no signing, one cannot theorize that he has much to do with this initial idea.
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