Brief Mentions: Avengers The Initiative #19

(This is a review. I tried not to spoil too much but no promises.)

Writers- Dan Slott & Christos N. Gage
Artist- Stefano Caselli
Color Artist- Luca Malsan
Cast- Buy the issue and find out on your own. I guarantee you will love them.

Avengers Initiative has been one of my favorite books since issue #1. I just about passed on this whole “third” Avenger book but I’m a Dan Slott fan. Could I live with myself if I was to turn my back on Danny boy? No I could not! Danny boy… I heard the pipes a calling and I am so glad I did.

This book is an absolute gem over there at Marvel. Now… how about we get down to brass tax. The greatness that is the Avengers The Initiative # 19. This was brought to us with the Secret Invasion banner and yes, there was Skrull o’plenty. In this issue we get introduced to the Skrull Kill Krew, who are totally badass, as well as She-Thing. (yep she-thing) Now, with us knowing 3-D Man can see who is or isn’t a Skrull, obviously, the Skrull Kill Krew (who prefer another name) could use him. Use him they do.

The pages in between the Skrull-fuckers (that’s what they prefer, I use it out of respect) adventures we get a glimpse of what is going on back at Camp Hammond. War Machine, Yellow Jacket, Baron van Blitzschlag, Irredeemable Ant-Man, and plenty more is what’s going on back at the camp. Question… Have you ever wanted to know how you could see the true colors of a Skrull? Within these pages lies a recipe for you, brought to you by your friends the Skrull-fuckers. BBQ anyone?

These pages were action packed. So action packed it called for the Howlers to emerge. Eric O’Grady finds himself in a very awkward situation, which is how we usually find him. We discover another traitor amongst the Initiative crew and some wonderful insight into what the Kill Krew will be up to. To place the cherry on top, we leave this issue wondering what will come next or should I say how big of fight will come next.

All and all this title is a must for any Marvel fan anywhere. My advice is starting at the beginning. (that’s just me) I believe there are 2 beautiful hardcovers available if you are that kind of person. If not, I think it would be easy to track down the back issues. Please, Marvel fans do yourselves a favor. Get down with this book!

- Rob

Saturday Night Theater: Fall TV

We're mere weeks away from the beginning of an all new season of television ... which is the first season after the writers strike that crippled Hollywood last winter and ended all of our favorite shows early.

So, now it's time to start looking at what is coming this season, what's new, what's returning, and perhaps most importantly what died too soon thanks to he abbreviated 2007-2008 season.

Monday Nights:
September 1st -

Prison Break 7pm Central FOX
For those of you who haven't checked out Prison Break yet you can be rest assured that you are missing out on one of the most exciting series currently on television. With the way season 3 ended it must be noted that this season might just be the best yet!

September 22nd -

Heroes 7pm central NBC
Many people gave up on this show with the start of season 2 and the knowledge that this wasn't a superhero team show and was going to remain a super powered ensemble show. Look forward to the introduction of some all new characters who might find themselves on either side of the hero/villain line.

Californication 9pm SHO (moves to Sundays starting the 28th)
David Duchovny's totally kick-ass new comedy/drama series returns to Showtime.

September 29th -

Chuck 7pm NBC
I was late to the game on this one and it wasn't until they announced that DC/Wildstorm was going to be doing a mini-series to take place between season 1 and season 2 that I decided it might be worth checking this series out. And boy was I pleased that I did. Check out Chuck and find an incredibly funny, action packed, and totally engaging series

Life 9pm NBC
I have always been a fan of cop dramas and mystery series. This is a really unique series and the characters are incredibly engaging. A detective back on the streets after he spent a whole lot of time in prison after being falsely accused and found guilty of a murder.

Tuesdays:
September 2nd -

The Shield 9pm FX
The final season. I need say no more for those who know how amazing this show really is.

September 9th -

Fringe 7pm FOX
JJ Abrams new show, not sure what it's about yet but he has a great track record.

September 16th -

House 8pm FOX
Television's most popular show. Gregory House returns in just a few weeks.

October 14th -

Eli Stone 9pm ABC
Comic writer Marc Guggenheim's baby returns for a second season as the lawyer who has discovered prophetic powers continues to help those in need.

Wednesdays:
September 3rd -

Bones 7pm FOX
I just recently started checking this series out have been really thrilled with what I have seen.

October 1st -

Pushing Daisies 7pm ABC
This was easily the most exciting new show of last year and it is wholly imaginative and completely unique.

Friday Night Lights 7pm DirecTV Channel 101
Best. Show. You. Aren't. Watching.

Dirty Sexy Money 9pm ABC
For fans of Sports Night and Six Feet Under.

Thursdays:
September 11th -

Kitchen Nightmares 8pm FOX
Gordon Ramsey tours some of America's most dysfunctional restaurants.

September 18th -

Supernatural 8pm CW
Perhaps the true successor of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer

September 25th -

The Office 8pm NBC
One of the funniest shows on television.

October 9th -

Life on Mars 9pm ABC
Yet another in a long line of remakes of BBC Drama's

October 30th -

30 Rock 8:30pm NBC
A great show full of laughs.

Fridays:
October 3rd -

Numb3rs 9pm CBS
I love this show.

October 17th -

Crusoe 7pm NBC
A new show with a new take on the story of Robinson Crusoe.

Sundays:
September 7th -

True Blood 8pm HBO
Vampires feast on synthetic blood in an attempt to get reintegrated back in to society.

September 21st -

Valentine 7pm The CW
A story of modern Greek gods who inspire romance in others.

September 28th -

Dexter 8pm SHO
One hell of a controversial show.

The Unit 9pm CBS
One show I never expected to like but have totally fallen in love with.

Let me know what you guys are looking forward to this coming season, tell me what you think of the new shows that are coming out this season, let me know what I am missing out on.

Blog Log # 2 (Quote of the Week)

“Where’s Bruno?” Last I heard he was in California. That’s unless you mean big Bruno who is still representing STL. I’m sure they both appreciate your concern but last I heard they were both doing just fine. Right now you are probably wondering what the hell I am talking about. You see, this quote of the week is killing two birds with one stone. First, it is filling my quote of the week quota and second, it is giving me a chance to give a shout out to my friends. Yes, Bruno did own a restaurant but he sold it. His establishment was not blown up. The fine residents of Rolla, Missouri knew of this magical place. It was magical because they allowed the Atomic Earwig a.k.a. Muff Potter to play live music there and feed us free drinks while doing so. I know Bruno’s is still around but ever since Bruno sold we have not been asked to come back, therefore, the magic is gone. Actually, I haven’t celebrated St. Patty’s day since those golden years of drunken debauchery.

Straight From the Donut Hole: A New Look on The New Frontier Vol. 1

Darwyn Cooke, a name I had never heard before, but now a title I will not soon forget. The New Frontier (if you are as ignorant a comic reader as I and have yet to read this beautiful work, or at least seen the sweet animated film) is a story of Cold War America and how the DC super hero population lived in that time of America’s confusion.

Im not writing to summarize the book to you readers, but merely to express my own thoughts on how KICK ASS this story was!! Also the reason I am writing this article on only volume one is because I personally want to see if I change my views after finishing the final volume.

Lets begin, First off I love the character introductions that Darwyn makes for these already beloved DC heroes. The epic landing of the martian, the news report of a police scientist being struck by lightning and leaving only with bruises. A masked man who has the intelligence and spirit of the devil himself, the Alien that wears our flag, a goddess who fights with our steel, and a pilot who so often finds failure…

Who are those heroes? (if you don’t know stop reading now because I hate you) The true beauty of this story is that we already know these famous paragons, but what we so often ignore is their humanity. So often when reading a super hero comic we are put under the impression that “hey these are supes, they save the world everyday” but this story shows that they are more than just masked crusaders devoted to saving the world. They are people like you and me, who use their gifts to provide for our country in anyway that they can. But in the era of Red fear, we as normal human beings became scared of such power and resented it in our ignorance.

It’s that point that makes me love this book, that mankind is so quick to love and hate. When the people believed there were no longer threats that called for superhero answers they banished them, but when it came to situations that we didn’t want to deal with we embraced them with open arms. And its not only that but it shows how scared we are of something different, something that isn’t of our everyday must be wrong…

And it’s the role of our favorite Martian that shows us what America needs to know, that change will come and it must be accepted. As Jon Jonzz studies our culture and becomes Jon Jones police detective, he knows that showing his true form would do nothing but scare the people who don’t want to understand. So he does what is necessary to help the world the way he can and leave us all feeling safe and sound. Its his uncanny wisdom that has caused me to fall in love with this character, his truthful judgment and pristine spirit that he lives by no matter what the situation.

I thank this book for further helping my compassion in the world of comic books and its events. For now that I have this new perspective on the “Green Man from Mars” his death is that much more of a loss to me. As I learned to love this character, I instantly felt sorrow for his death. In the dramatic Irony of watching him embrace hope for our world and that omnipotent knowledge of his death that the future will bring him that really had this book it home to me…

So what did you guys feel reading the New Frontier? Well don’t be shy let me know. So until my next reflection of comics from the past, This is your Donut Dork peacing out…

What I’m Reading Now: Robots Killing Stuff… What More Do You Want?!?!?!

“I’m Jesus with a laser gun… and you’re all going to hell!” These words belong to a Heart Breaker series 1373 model robot assassin named Scud. Scud: The Disposable Assassin is a fascinating, not so distant future, story about how revenge can be bought from a vending machine. The main character’s name is Scud, who is a robot from one such vending machine programmed for only one thing, vengeance. But who’s vengeance exactly? The function of a scud is it's first purchased by someone with a grudge. The person then sets the level of “vengeance” he/she wants and the robot eliminates the target and concludes with the self-destruction of the robot. What makes our hero different than the average scud is that he becomes self-aware and learns that if he destroys his target he will be destroyed. Upon this revelation the story begins and becomes a story of survival and of course… robots killing stuff. So who creates such a crazy and maniacal comic? The creator and artist is Rob Schrab, a comic creator, writer, actor and film producer. His most recent work was writing for the Sarah Silverman Show which airs on Comedy Central. Kate Fruend (Rob’s other half) states, in the forward, that, “The truth is, Scud’s creation was born from rejection. There’s no coincidence that the protagonist adorns a broken heart on his chest. Rob was dumped by a girl he dated for less than a month and instead of wailing in his own pity, he decided to draw a comic to impress her. Ironically after the completion of the first issue, he had completely forgotten about the girl.” Nineteen others followed the first issue and Scud gathered a sizable fan base but in 1998 Schrab ended the Scud series on a cliffhanger and stated that he did not like the direction it was taking. After a seven-year hiatus, Image Comics approached Schrab with an offer to repackage the scud series and Schrab took the opportunity to finish the series as he intended with a four issue miniseries. Schrab finished the series in May of this year and Image collected scud in a twenty-four-issue volume of Scud: The Disposable Assassin. The series inspired two video games and a copious (word of the day. meaning a lot; use it, abuse it, wear it out) amount of one-shots and spin-offs. The “whole shebang” collection costs a cool $30 but is a little more than a dollar an issue and is totally worth the price. It is a great science fiction pulp collection and is one of the best original ideas I have stumbled upon for a long time. And as confusing as this book and this article is, let me leave you with a confusing quote… “Revenge is a dish best served by a robot.”

Living Up To Expectations: Guerillas #1 (of 9)

Guerillas #1 (of 9)
Written and Drawn by: Brahm Revel

So, I am about to tell you something very, very contradictory. I have an absolutely incredible fascination with Monkeys. Especially talking ones who wear clothes or costumes. And yet I have railed against Marvel Apes like a firebrand with a cause and a bloody pulpit to proselytize from. But that is not what this review is all about. It's about Brahm Revel's incredibly unique tale of the dark days in Vietnam in 1970. The main character is John Francis Clayton the son of a soldier who finds himself in the unenviable position of being sort of without direction during wartime and who starts to believe that the "regimentation of the Army sounded like a better and better idea". He is walking into the kind of life that no one should ever want but that his father wanted so badly for his son. To go off to war as a boy and come back as a man. Private Clayton watches in defenseless horror and utter cowardice as his entire squad is wiped out. He is on the verge of dying himself when he is saved by perhaps the most unlikely of all saviors, a squad of American BTU clad monkeys carrying M-16's. There is something that I also love about war stories. I have a list as long as my arm of comics that I absolutely love that are all war stories: The Other Side, Last Day in Vietnam, The Unknown Soldier, The 'Nam, Punisher: Born, any of Garth Ennis' war comics, The Light Brigade, and more and more and more. There is something about the camaradiere that is shared between soldiers. There is something about Brahm Revel's artwork that is also very reminsicent of the work that Cameron Stewart did on The Other Side. Go, seek it out, it's totally worth every penny of the $5.99 cover price, and it's not often that I would say something like that but this issue has 52 pages of uninterrupted comic in this issue and it will be a bi-monthly book ... so definitely check it out!

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: Sneak Peek Reviews 08/26/2008

Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 3-D #1
Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: Doug Mahnke

Want to get me excited about a book? Tell me Grant Morrison is going to write it. Want to get me really excited about a book? Tell me Doug Mahnke is going to draw it. Want me to lose my mind? Combine the two and make it 3-D! This was a phenomenal book that contained an absolutely stunning combination of incredibly progressive writing and unbelievably mind-bending artwork. This takes off from a moment in Final Crisis #3 and focuses on the Supermen of many of the 52 Universes and a rogue Monitor. We follow as they attempt to thwart the coming crisis in their own way, or at least that is what we are lead to believe. We also see what might be the only record of the birth of the multiverse. This is the kind of mind-expanding experience that we have all grown to expect from Grant Morrison and while I would like to say that this is the kind of artwork that we have grown to expect from Doug Mahnke I think that he is truly one of the few artists currently working in the industry who can, project to project, continually defy expectations (in many ways I think that this artwork is even in subtle nuances superior to the work that Mahnke turned in on Final Crisis: Requiem just a little over a month ago). This is definitely one to check out this week! And don't worry they provide the 3-D glasses!

Northlanders #9
Written by: Brian Wood
Art by: Dean Ormston

This is the first of the two part Lindisfarne story-arc and perhaps more importantly (at least to me that is) the first issue by artist Dean Ormston, a 17 year industry veteran whose artwork I have come to really love over the years, mostly from the work he did on Books of Magick: Life during wartime. Long gone from the Sven, The Returned story-arc we are now well into the era of the the first Viking invasions into Northern England. Lindisfarne is actually the name of the monastery where they made their first landing. What we see here though is thematically similar to what has come before in this series. This is a series that, among other things deals a whole, whole lot with fathers and sons. In Sven we saw what happened when the son tries to return home and prove that he has grown out the shadow that his father cast. This is going to be much more a story of watching a father/son relationship fall apart. And what a son scorned will do to his father if given the chance.



Runaways Vol. 3 #1
Written by: Terry Moore
Art by: Humberto Ramos

Brian K. Vaughn must be riding cloud nine these days. Years ago he created a rag-tag group of characters who were bucking their parental authority and making a life for themselves far earlier than anyone should ever have to consider. Sure their parents were super-villains and a bunch of them wound up having powers and stuff but ultimately this is what the story is about. It was launched as part of Bill Jemas' big plan to get new readers who were way into Manga to check out Marvel comics. Skewed towards younger readers and with Runaways as the single exception all of them failed (Sentinel received a second mini-series but I think that was just an attempt to boost the name of Sean McKeever). Now 8 trade paperbacks and 2 volumes later we arrive at this weeks issue. The reason that BKV should be so proud is that his creation has been so enjoyed by the fans that such talented creators as Joss Whedon and now, one of the most acclaimed and popular independent creators of our generation, Terry Moore have been dying to continue his work and see these characters live on and go on more adventures. So, we've seen what a new creator can bring to this band of vagabonds, and we've seen what one of television's most creative minds has had to say, and now it's time for the indie kid's take.

Blog Log # 2 (Can you smell that?)

It's Scotty and he is another year older! Let's all wish Scotty a Happy Birthday. Say it loud so he can hear you...he's old!

(Yep, that guy only older and a bit more hairy.)

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 5

Fear Agent #23
Written by: Rick Remender
Art by: Tony Moore

This is much like Criminal. One of the greatest books on the shelf that far too few people are reading. This is a book all about Heath Huston, think alcoholic Han Solo, one of the last surviving of a band of Texas Ass-Kickers known as The Fear Agents. He's basically an intergalactic exterminator who does very little thinking before acting. It's simple and fun on many levels and is complex and wonderful on so many others. It's a book that can bend genres and be anything that it really wants to be. I Against I has been a story arc where we have seen Heath get stranded on an unknown planet that has seemed one part Oz, one part Old West, and one part ... a planet where packs of giant ants try to eat you ... y'know? Heath is easily one of the luckiest sacks of skin to ever lace up combat boots but at the same time he is an absolute curse to all those around him. If you're missing a book that can have a 5 page foot chase scene where the protagonist is naked and is being pursued by seemingly invulnerable hot women who appear to be clones ... then look no further, you've finally come home!

Madman Atomic Comics #10
Written and Drawn by: Mike Allred
Colored by: Laura Allred

Seriously this is one of the best titles that Image is putting out, and nobody seems to know. Mike Allred is one of my all time favorite artists who has ever worked in this industry. I have been a huge fan ever since I was first introduced to him many, many, many years ago ... if I remember correctly it was when Tim Kaiser showed me an issue of the original mini-series back when I was in like the 5th grade. But it wasn't until I encountered his work on X-Force (which eventually became X-Statix) with writer Peter Milligan that I realized that he was an artistic genius. So I started going back and rediscovering how amazing his work on his creator owned projects had been. Recently Image has been releasing trade paperbacks of all of his Madman works and they have been great. Each one containing tons of extras and all of them looking just like you remembered. Two weeks ago the first trade paperback of the Atomic Comics run was released and it collects some really stunning material. What Allred is doing with this comics should be looked upon in awe by all those who read comics ... but ... it wouldn't be on this list if it was.

Scalped #20
Written by: Jason Aaron
Art by: Davide Furno

So, we've gotten the Criminal revolution started. Everyone who has taken home Criminal on our (either in store or due to the show) reccomendation has recognized the brilliance. So, not it's time to start the Scalped revolution. What Jason Aaron has done with this book is create a character who is incredibly compelling to follow and is simultaneously one of the most flawed human beings I have ever read a story about. I guess that is something that I love ... I'll be honest, I know that is something that I love. Heath Huston from Fear Agent, Leo from Criminal, Teeg Lawless from Criminal, Spider Jerusalem from Transmetropolitan. Scalped follows Dashiel Badhorse, a Native American badass from the Oglala tribe, he grew up on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation in South Dakota but ran away when he was around 13 and is now returning under suspicious circumstances. Watch as the world around Dash unravels at a truly stunning pace. This is seriously one of the greatest books that is currently coming out right now that too few people are reading right alongside books like Fear Agent, The Walking Dead, Criminal, and Invincible.

ComicDorksCast Episode 029

ComicDorkscastEp029.mp3
(Download Directly: Right Click and choose "Save As..." and save locally on your computer)

Running Time: 01:15:03

• 00:04:50 - Punisher #61 receives positive reviews ... from those who read it.
• 00:13:22 - Scott's Pick of the Week: Ghost Rider #26.
• 00:17:44 - In Captain America #41 the Villain Cadre unravels even further.
• 00:27:06 - Rob's Pick of the Week: Birds of Prey #121.
• 00:38:18 - Trinity #12 features one of the best Riddler stories in recent memory.
• 00:45:14 - Darren's Pick of the Week: Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1
• 00:55:02 - E-Mails:
• - JohnLennonLives wants to know what we thought of Two-Face: Year One #1.
• - Stonez wonders what Martian Manhunter stories The Dorks recommend.
• 01:02:08 - Brief Mentions
• 01:05:18 - Anticipated Books

If you have any questions or comments drop us a line at: Comicdorkscast@gmail.com

Go to www.FantasyShopOnline.com and check out the growing community on the Message Boards.

Check out our website at ComicDorksCast.Blogspot.com.

The Music at the opening and closing of the show was: "Rebellion (Lies)" by The Arcade Fire.

Brief Mentions: Stormwatch P.H.D. #13

StormWatch P.H.D. #13
Written by: Ian Edginton
Art by: Leandro Fernández

The final of the new World's End titles was released this week. Now there are 4 rather good ongoing Wildstorm titles and that means that I have 4 titles to buy every month that I didn't have at the beginning of the summer. StormWatch P.H.D. was a really fantastic title that was unfortunately short lived. Christos Gage created a great cast of characters while he penned the series and it was one of my favorites. Many people speculate that because after the "WorldStorm" relaunch of the WildStorm Universe that the titles didn't take off like most people had hoped because the flagship titles "WildCATS" and "The Authority" weren't what anyone would call "on-time". With only 1 issue of the Grant Morrison penned, Jim Lee drawn WildCATS ever seeing release and only 2 of the Grant Morrison penned and Gene Ha drawn The Authority having ever come out the line sort of slowed and eventually stalled. Gen 13 was the only one that really stayed on track. But now three mini-series events have lead to the World ending in the WSU. It all started with WildStorm Revelations, then transitioned into Armageddon and finally, Number of the Beast. Now the StormWatch team is truly a last resort for those who have survived the horrific events of Number of the Beast and SkyWatch 3 has become more than just a base of operations but salvation for those unfortunates that have found themselves on the wrong side of the super-humans who have taken over what is left of the world ...

I am rambling ... that happens when I really like something.

So, you should check out the recent releases, The Authority #1, WildCATS #1, Gen 13 #21, and the most recent addition to the line StormWatch P.H.D. #13.

Blog Log # 2 (The Quote of the Week)

Is it just me or is the theme of this week, trust? Anyway here is the quote of the week. “Boy, you’d think after all this time, they’d have gotten rid of the last of the gasoline-powered cars, wouldn’t you?” Yes, in fact I do think. What did ever happen to the electric car? (if you are interested check out a doc called “Who Killed The Electric Car?” ) Due to the fact I hit rock bottom by delivering last week’s quote of the week so late, I gotsta another one for you. (I do believe it will take two quotes to destroy the "quote of last week" demon.) “'Trust' what do humans know of trust? You can’t even agree on one god.” There’s a taste of the trust theme I mentioned earlier. At least you all know you can trust me… right? - Rob

p.s. Make sure you check out the breakdown of what you can expect from us weekly. (It is listed just below this post. You Heard?)

A Reason to Check Out The ComicDorks Every Day!

So, we came up with an idea.

I know that sounds dangerous, but trust me ...

We got together for a meeting just before Darren headed back to Columbia for the start of a new semester and we decided that as much as we all love doing the podcast, that we felt like there was more we could provide content for the folks who are coming by the website all the time, and that perhaps it might become one of the places you check every day for stuff like reviews, editorials, columns, concert reviews, album reviews, thoughts on movies, television, novels ... hell, all kinds of stuff. But we wanted to make it more regular. Something you could rely on.

So, we put our brains together and we put together as schedule of sorts. Something that you, the regular visitors to the website, and hopefully regular readers of our columns, and perhaps, even more hopefully, regular listeners of the podcast, can expect.

It breaks down like this:

• Monday - You can expect to see the new episode of the ComicDorksCast (barring any kind of irregular event). But as well you can expect to start seeing regular issues of my new column "The Best Comics You Didn't Read This Week". So that means that in addition to being able to hear the episode you'll be able to get an idea of what you missed on the racks on the previous Wednesday.
• Tuesday - "First Look Reviews". Every Tuesday the comics show up at the Saint Charles Fantasy Shop in order to be broken up into the orders for each particular store, and each week I read a couple and review them, now you can see what I think of a few comics the day before they hit the shelves!
• Wednesday - "Living Up to Anticipation". Each episode we all pick 3 books that we are anticipating the release of on the coming Wednesday. Now you can find out if those titles were worth anticipating. Each week whomever hosted the previous week's episode will pick at least one of their anticipated books and let you know the truth about them!
• Thursday - "What I'm Reading Now". Darren is the newest of the three Dorks to the world of comics and so he has a lot of catching up to do, and his fellow Dorks are making sure he has plenty to read. Each week Darren will let you know what he has been reading and what he thinks of it.
• Friday - "Quote of the Week". Rob's great feature finds a permanent night and now every week you can get the best quote from the pages of comics, or just where ever Rob happens to find the best thing he has heard or read all week!
• Saturday - "Saturday Night Theater". Anything can happen on Saturdays, but no matter what, it won't be comics! Saturday is when you can expect to hear us talking about what we're listening to, watching, thinking about ... Saturday Night is the night for everything.
• Sunday - "Brief Mentions". Each week at the end of the show we mention 2 books that we didn't have time to talk about during the show. Now you can find out a little bit more about why we decided to mention them at all. Whomever is going to be the host of that week's show will let you know about the books he plans to "Brief Mention" and he won't be quite so brief!

So, that's what you can expect from us, starting this Sunday when I will let you know about at least one if not both of my Brief Mentions. Though don't think that those articles will be the only ones you'll see on the site, anytime our fairweather blogumnist Donut wants to grace us with an article you'll see it. And any time one of the other Dorks gets a wild hair and decides to write more you'll see it when you see it. But those are the ones you can expect.

Thanks so much for checking out our website, we appreciate every last one of you.

Let us know what you think, either click on the comment link at the bottom of a post, head over to www.fantasyshoponline.com and click on the message boards tab or shoot us an e-mail at ComicDorksCast@gmail.com

-Scott

Living Up To Expectations: Air #1

First Impressions are always hard, whether it be with your teacher, your girlfriend's parents, and first issues of any comic. Today, I picked Air, written by G. Willow Wilson (OGN Cairo) and M.K. Perker (OGN Cairo), and was the first comic I read out of my stack. I don't know whether it was the stunning pencils by Perker or the sheer shock of a stewardess free falling, but needless to say it sparked interest. Enter the mind of acrophobe flight attendant Blythe Cameron, as she battles multiple terrorist groups and her fear of heights. At the beginning of the issue, Wilson uses poetry and narrative to portray the story of Blythe and the dangerous world of the airline industry. A great aspect to this comic, is the interesting look into the mind of a flight attendant, especially post 9/11. And although the plot of is obscure interesting characters are established and the reader can connect and actually care for their fate. Perker's pencils are also very detailed and are reminiscent of Darick Robertson and Pia Guerra but more influenced than copied. Despite the excellent wordsmanship and art the overall story was a little fast paced. Scenes seem to fly by and some parts were choppy but in a first issue things are always fast paced so that the tone of the story can be established. But overall art receives four dorks out of five and story receives three dorks out of five (Yes, a new system not stars or points…dorks). My mind was not blown by this issue but was intriguing enough for me to get the second issue. So go out to your local comic store a pick it up It’s worth the good old price of $2.99 and deserves to receive the mantle of a Vertigo book.

Blog Log # (Hello, my name is Johnny Come Lately)

I know… I know! Geez… get off my back guys. I was unaware the quote of the week was so important to you. The thing is, I don’t want to choose a quote until I complete my weekly stack. You know, to be fair and all. So here you go the very first quote of last week. “We’ll market the cologne after I bludgeon you.” To spare you an epic yarn I could spin, I’ll blame the entire comic industry for putting a mountain of books out the same week My Morning Jacket is playing a hometown show. (That’s important because I don’t live in the same state as Louisville.) There will be more on MMJ later. Rest assured I feel horrible about making you guys wait so long for this blog log but I am only one man. (Man but or Man butt… hair mostly) Return here Friday for another installment of “the quote of the week.” That’s right this Friday! In the meantime return here for all the other sweet goodness we offer. – Rob

(It's true, don't ever be late on a quote of the week)

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: Punisher Without Ennis

The Punisher #61
Written by: Gregg Hurwitz
Art by: Laurence Campbell

For nine long years Garth Ennis owned Frank Castle, The Punisher. Marvel may have published the book but in all honesty it is as though Gerry Conway created the character in 1974 in order for it to be around for Ennis, who was 4 at the time, to one day write. But now Garth has moved on. Over 119 issues Ennis crafted and honed a character that many had toyed with in the past but few had truly managed to get a handle on. So, it is very, very understandable that people would be worried that the title would lose quality when a new writer took the reigns after Ennis left with last week's issue #60. And to be honest I was one of them. And also in all honesty there is no way that I can say whether or not Gregg Hurwitz can live up to the craft of Ennis after just one issue. But what I can say is that it was a very enjoyable issue. Hurwitz has a certain skill for comics as he has already done a bang up job with the recent Foolkiller mini-series, and did a very admirable job on his recent Wolverine: Deathsong Annual. What he has done here is stay pretty true to the style of story that Ennis had established. Girls in White Dresses certainly grabs you by your shirt collar and pulls you into it's story in a way that barely gives you time to notice that Ennis is gone, and the art by Laurence Campbell is pretty darn good as well, it's dark and moody and awfully reminiscent of another artist currently working at Marvel who has a pretty good following for himself, Micheal Lark. One thing that most people will forget in the throes of missing Garth Ennis is that also gone is cover artist Tim Bradstreet, but in his place is another cover artist who has become rather well known for working on another crime book intended for mature readers, Dave Johnson. All in all I have to say that this is really a pretty good first issue for Hurwitz and that in all honesty I think that it should be considered a good first issue whether you think of it as the beginning of a whole new title as some people have mentioned or if you take it into context with the whole of the Ennis run as others are bound to. My recommendation, check it out. Just remember that Hurwitz is on the title for 5 issues and then Duane Swierczynski comes on for 5 issues and then Victor Gischler will follow for 5 issues ... if things work out then we've got 3 different writers and 3 different artists working on the title and hopefully, if they are all as good as this first issue, we can have a rather good Punisher book for the foreseeable future ... I'll keep my fingers crossed.

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 4

Golly! #1
Written by: Phil Hester
Art by: Brook Turner

Several years ago there was a television show on HBO that caught my attention and held me rapt for two seasons before it was ultimately and untimely canceled. The show was called "Carnivàle " and it introduced the concept of magic into the time of the Great Depression. It was a truly brilliant show and if you are looking for something really great to add to your DVD collection I highly recommend that you head out to a Best Buy or something akin and get the two box sets that comprise the entire series. It was brilliantly dark, had such a great dramatic flair, and featured the unique language of the 1930's combined with the even more unique nomenclature of Carnival folk that it instantly became one of my favorites (the creators of this show, Charlie and Daniel Knauf now work at Marvel comics and part of me hopes that someday they might finish their story in the pages of comics). Phil Hester must have watched this show. And he decided that there was a place for this kind of story in the world of comics and what he came up with was "Golly!". The main character is Golly Munhollen, a carnival ride repair man/race-car driver at the carnival's demolition derby/dirt track race. He has just been chosen by God's angelic representative to be a force for good on earth. Apparently due to lack of interest on either side of the afterlife have lost interest in having an apocalypse altogether and while it has been agreed upon by the forces that be that many of the agents of hell who have already come to earth in order to enact their own machinations of something to do as we draw towards the end times ... sadly their plans are about to come to a stop. Golly is surrounded by a weird cast of characters and it is totally awesome and incredibly hilarious, I highly recommend that anyone who wants to laugh check this book out and anyone who was a fan of Carnivàle or Preacher check out this awesome little book.


Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1 (of 4)
Written by: Joe Pokaski
Art by: Tom Raney

Once Heroes went live on television it became a certainty in my mind that more and more of the creators of the show would eventually start working in the world of comics. Some have shown promise others have yet to make their voices known. Joe Pokaski is a writer and Executive Story Editor on Heroes and is very close friends with fellow writers Jeph Loeb and Jesse Alexander and now can add to his writing resume, Comics Writer. I have always had sort of an odd fascination with the Inhumans, it all started with the Paul Jenkins penned series with art by the absolutely brilliant Jae Lee. It continued in the pages of Sean McKeever and Matt Clark series that debuted under the Marvel Tsunami imprint. Now the time has come for the creatures created by the technology of the Kree to take part in the war between Earth and the Skrulls. When, in the pages of New Avengers: Illuminati #5, Black Bolt was revealed to be a Skrull it was certain that it was only a brief amount of time before the rest of the Inhumans would become involved, and now that time has come. Understandably they have all become wary of their fellow Inhumans and a sort of martial law has been declared in their city on the moon and once again a tie-in has much more action than the pages of the actual Secret Invasion mini-series event. All in all I would recommend this issue to people who are fans of the Inhumans but think that ultimately there isn't much reason for the story aside from a chance to see how the often unlit corner of the Marvel Universe is reacting to the "universe-wide" event.

Antoine Sharp, The Atheist #1
Written by: Phil Hester
Art by: Kevin Mellon

I have already written a rather in depth review of the first trade paper back from this series and I have to say that I was hugely excited to see this series return, anything I say here would just, ultimately be repeating what I said I loved about the previous mini-series so instead I will just link you to the previous review, click Here

ComicDorksCast Episode 028

ComicDorkscastEp028.mp3
(To Download Directly Right Click and choose "Save As..." and save locally on your computer)

Running Time: 01:18:03

• 00:02:42 - Walking Dead #51 leaves us all in shock
• 00:10:45 - Scott's Pick of the Week: Final Crisis: Revelations #1
• 00:18:44 - The action and suspense really pick up in Secret Invasion #5
• 00:26:30 - Rob's Pick of the Week: Action Comics #868
• 00:33:42 - A truly awe inspiring run on a semenial character ends with Punisher #60
• 00:41:21 - Darren's Pick of the Week: Welcome to Hoxford
• 00:46:30 - Best Trades of Last Month
• - Rob - Bigg Time
• - Darren - Ex Machina The Deluxe Edition Vol. 1 Hardcover
• - Scott - JSA: The Golden Age
• 01:04:44 - Brief Mentions
• 01:08:31 - Anticipated Books

If you have any questions or comments drop us a line at: Comicdorkscast@gmail.com

Go to www.FantasyShopOnline.com and check out the growing community on the Message Boards.

Check out our website at ComicDorksCast.Blogspot.com.

The Music at the opening and closing of the show was: "Highly Suspicious" by My Morning Jacket.

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: America Hates Smart People

Okay, first off, it's just plain true. When smart musicians or smart novelists or smart filmmakers or ... hell smart people ... start to become popular the first thing that happens is that everyone, not just The Left, not just The Right, not just Hollywood, not just the South, not just the West Coast, not just the East Coast ... Everyone starts throwing rocks at them. And that just plain sucks. America has become a place where everything, music, film, television, theater, talk radio, media ... almost all media ... is praised for it's mediocrity. That I live in a country where programs like The Wire can be on the air for 5 seasons and almost everyone I have ever talked to has never seen it ... I mean I realize that it's on HBO but just about everyone alive has seen an episode of Sopranos ... and that was on HBO as well. I am talking about this at least in part because of what Robert Kirkman had to say over on CBR (see I told you he changed my life). But also because I decided to start watching one of my all time favorite television shows again from the beginning. It debuted on September the 18th in 2006 and was watched by 13.14 million people ... a little over six months later it was cancelled. It's final episode aired on June 28th, 2007 and it was seen by 2.7 million people. It was created by two of the most publicly and critically acclaimed men to work in television in this young century. And after just one season it was cancelled. It was, it is, called Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

It was the second, maybe third, smartest show I had ever seen on television. It is in my top 5 favorite television shows of all time. Two of that top 5 and three of my top 10 are all created by the same guy. Aaron Sorkin. He's maybe one of the most brilliant writers who has ever worked in television, he's also one of the most brilliant playwrights who has ever worked on the modern stage, he has also written some of the most intelligent films of our generation. He has done a good majority of his work in the last decade or so with an equally incredibly intelligent producer by the name of Thomas Schlamme, or as he has been referred to by his friends and those who work on his shows "Tommy Schlamme" (which I personally think is hilarious to say out-loud).

Seriously it was my favorite show of that season of television, and in that season we also got Heroes. But it was too smart. Which is ridiculous. Just like the brilliant show Lost when the network got it's hands on it tried to interject too much inter-character romance to appease to the masses. I am of the opinion that the highest form of art must always exist in a vacuum, separated at all costs from the nagging voices of the public and the unwarranted interference of those who are not truly creative. It is my belief that there has never been a show where the interference of the network executives have made a show better. Every time a show is toyed with by the people who only care about the money end it is dragged kicking and screaming toward mediocrity. The same could be said about comics, music, movies, novels, stage plays, paintings, sculptures, radio shows, any form of artwork. There is too much interference in the world.

When Marvel started putting it's grubby fingers into the JMS run on "Amazing Spider-Man" it suddenly started getting bad reviews. When DC got to mucking around with Rucka's run on
"Wonder Woman" it lost quality. When Marvel pushed Bruce Jones to write a particular kind of story during his stint on "Incredible Hulk" it made the whole of his run feel bloated and the story feel schizophrenic. And I don't think that there is a better example of what can happen to a great book when too many cooks start wandering around the kitchen is what has happened over in DC's once epically good title "The Flash". Intelligence ... being thrown out for appeal to the masses.

So, stop the insanity. Start supporting intelligent art. Start buying books like Criminal, Fear Agent, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, House of Mystery, Resurrection, Queen & Country, Fables, Daredevil, Powers, 100 Bullets, Walking Dead, Invincible, Jack Staff, Terry Moore's Echo, The Sword, Manhunter, Locke & Key, DMZ, Wasteland, The Spirit, Elephantmen, Hawaiian Dick, Scalped, Ex Machina, RASL, The End League, Godland, Madman: Atomic Comics, Boy Who Made Silence, Atomic Robo, Rex Mundi, Young Liars, and on and on and on ...

Support intelligent art. Just do it for gods sake.

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: Robert Kirkman Just Changed My Life

To understand what I am talking about click HERE



Alright ...

I admit that, since I was 8, I have wanted to be a comic book writer. Whether it was something that I wanted to do that I felt was a "front-burner" desire or a "back-burner" desire it has always been in there somewhere. But, curiously enough I have never really had much desire to write the big characters at the big companies. I never had a desire to do that one great Spider-Man story or that one great Green Lantern story ... I mean sure I have wanted to do that one great Harvey Bullock story wandering around in my head and a great Foggy Nelson story that bumps into the walls sometimes. So, when I listened to this editorial it made me realize that I should be writing the ideas for comics that are in my head, that I should be doing every last thing that I can to get published ...

So, if you are a comic artist of any style I am now interested in looking at your portfolio of work and an interested in starting to share some of the ideas that I have banging around in my skull somewhere with people who might be interested in contributing creatively to some ideas that I want to start working on.

click on name on the sidebar for contact info

P.S. Here's an interview that John Siuntres did with Robert Kirkman
P.P.S. Here's Brian Michael Bendis' response
P.P.P.S. Here's what the guys at Around Comics thought
P.P.P.P.S. Here's what Ron Richards over at iFanboy thought

What Do You Mean They're Not Superheroes?: This Week's Stack 08/13/2008

So, I have already admitted that I have a problem ... so here is this week's stack:

Dark Horse Comics

BPRD: The Warning #2 (OF 5)
Goon #27
Hellboy: The Crooked Man #2 (OF 3)

DC Comics

100 Bullets #94
Action Comics #868
Batman #679
Booster Gold #11
Checkmate #29
Chuck #3 (OF 6)
Final Crisis: Revelations #1 (OF 5)
GEN 13 #21
Green Arrow/Black Canary #11
Green Lantern Corps #27
Simon Dark #11
Trinity #11
Wonder Woman #23
Young Liars #6

Image Comics

Firebreather #2
Golly! #1
Transhuman #3 (OF 4)
Walking Dead #51

Marvel Comics

Astonishing X-Men #26
Captain Britain AND MI: 13 #4

Small Press Comics

Antoine Sharp, The Atheist Vol. 2 #1
Atomic Robo: Dogs of War #1 (OF 5)
Burn #4 (OF 6)
Lone Ranger #12
Mack Bolan, The Executioner: Devil's Tools #5 (OF 5)
Necessary Evil #7
Station #2 (OF 5)
Zorro #6

That's 31 total books ...

Hi, I'm Scott and I am a comic -oholic

A whole lot of promising stuff this week but I think the stuff I am most excited about is the Phil Hester stuff: Firebreather, Golly!, Antoine Sharp, The Atheist ... he also has a Darkness One Shot ... pretty crazy.

You can find the full shipping list HERE or you can go to www.fantasyshoponline.com and sign up for the comics mailing list and get the full shipping list e-mailed to you every Tuesday afternoon.

Straight From the Donut Hole: A Sorrowful Ode, from a fellow Dork

Dear fellow Dorks,
This is your truly beloved Donut with a confession to make, regarding the topic of our melodic podcast that we hold so dear to our hearts....
I have found it painful, and saddening that I have been unable to fully listen to one of our podcasts for some time now. But fear not, I do this only in technical fault and to no intention of my own feelings. The reason is that I, as the broke ass, teenage comic lover that I am have yet to be able to catch up with the comic world to the point where I'm reading new books as they come out. That means unfortunately having to wait most times one or two weeks after the infamous Wednesday release.

It pains me to sit by and be able to do nothing on that most magical of days in our mortal weeks, and only dream of what new tales and events have been unfolded to the masses. But I am only one man, with a shitty job (pushing carts at a protestant owned slave emporium) and no escape in sight...

I promise to my fellow adventurers of the comic broadcasts, and its creators (my dearest Dorks) that I will push myself to a limit that I have never endured before to achieve equilibrium with my comic universe...

ComicDorksCast Episode 027

ComicDorkscastEp027.mp3
(Download Directly: Right Click and choose "Save As..." and save locally on your computer)

Running Time: 01:14:51

• 00:03:38 - Hush isn't so quiet in Detective Comics #847
• 00:12:39 - Scott's Pick of the Week: Invincible Iron Man #4
• 00:22:16 - The Seven aren't as heroic as we were lead to believe in Boys #21
• 00:31:10 - Rob's Pick of the Week: NYX: No Way Home #1 ( Want to know more? )
  
• 00:37:37 - Final Crisis #3 left our jaws on the floor
• 00:53:03 - Darren's Pick of the Week: Criminal #4
• 01:00:17 - Best Single Issues of Last Month
• - Rob - Powers #29
• - Darren - Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge #1
• - Scott - Thor #10
• 01:18:41 - Brief Mentions
• 01:10:45 - Anticipated Books

If you have any questions or comments drop us a line at: Comicdorkscast@gmail.com

Go to www.FantasyShopOnline.com and check out the growing community on the Message Boards.

Check out our website at ComicDorksCast.Blogspot.com.

The Music at the opening and closing of the show was: "In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins.

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 3

Authority #1
Written by: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (with back up by Christos Gage)
Art by: Simon Coleby (with back up by Trevor Harsine)

The World's End continues here in the pages of The Authority. And everything I said last week in my review on WildCats #1 can again be said about Authority. If you ever enjoyed a Wildstorm Universe book and thought that the time where those books could be enjoyed were over then now is the time to check them out again. What they are doing is something that all companies that have a sense of cohesiveness to their universes should look at as an example of how to do things properly. Number of the Beast, a rather good mini-series that just concluded a few weeks ago shook up the whole status quo of the Wildstorm Universe and then from that the characters are now doing their best to react to what their world has become. There was no tie-in or ancillary titles, just Number of the Beast. The world has completely fallen apart and now it is time for the heroes who could do nothing to save the world as they knew it to do everything that they possibly can to make the world they now live in as livable as possible, to truly become heroes in a time of need. Now is the time to read the Wildstorm books without question, and even if you never want to go back to the Number of the Beast mini you can still just jump in and explore the world in it's decimated state and enjoy watching the heroes who had such ego, such power, such sureness to their every action, who now have no idea what to do from one moment to the next.

Criminal 2 #4

Written by: Ed Brubaker

Art by: Sean Phillips

Seriously, the numbers on this book aren't high enough yet. BUY THIS BOOK! It is easily the best book on the market and it is ridiculous how often I find that people haven't started reading this yet.

Just listen to episode 27 to hear all about how awesome it is.

Hellblazer Presents: Chas - The Knowledge #2

Written by: Simon Oliver

Art by: Goran Sudzuka

Man, what a great little horror story. And to think that crazy shit happens in England when John isn't around. And Simon Oliver is going to be writing Hellblazer when Diggle's run is through so now is a great time to get an idea for what you can kind of expect from his take on the Hellblazer world. And he has a really great take. Plus great art by Sudzuka who most probably thought only did fill in issues of Y: The Last Man ... foolish mortals.

Blog Log # 2 (blah… blah… blah, fo sho!)

Yep, quote of the week time once again. “You know, for a writer you’re not very grammar oriented.” Imagine that a writer that aint got no grammar skills at all, me think that is redickulus, what a stupid… Wait. Oh…No! How embarrassing. -Rob

Blog Log # 2 ( Wait... What?)

Apparently, some people may have misunderstood the last blog log. It seems people are reading way too much into it. I have looked and looked but can’t find the part where I called Erik a female hygiene tool. Maybe it seems like I implied something. (If you say so) I just don’t see it. I do see the part where I said Erik played with donut holes. (But I don’t even know what that means. Probably something with a glaze.) What kind of person would I be if I used the blog log as an agent of hate? (Don’t answer that) Obviously, Erik is a person and not to be used for cleaning genitalia. (Stop reading into that… you creep!) We are one big happy family here at the ComicDorksCast. Maybe the cards I’ve been dealt is to be the crazy uncle that can’t shut his trap but I’d never intentionally hurt a family member. I’m so sorry about the misunderstanding, Erik.

We all can learn a valuable lesson from this incident. Life is like being in the 5th grade forever.

Welcome aboard Donut. I’m happy to have you in my family. –from the year of the monkey your crazy Uncle Rob

P.S. Columnist- a person who writes a newspaper or magizine column. ( from merriam-webster dictionary, obviously printed before the blog was invented. i'm a poet and didn't know it.)

Straight From The Donut Hole: Lighting with a Vengance

In the DC Universe's Final Crisis, a light of salvation has shone through like a streak of lightning against the night sky.... In Final Crisis: Rogues' Revenge.

Famed writer Geoff Johns, and artist Scott Kolins once again team up to tell another tale of the villainous Rogues. When you open to the first page of this book, it just feels right. This is definitely relief from all the pain the current run of Flash has been bringing to comics fans. And anytime Geoff Johns comes to a book he brings a breath of fresh air. Anyone who knows Geoff Johns' run on Flash, knows the one rule all Rogues follow.."Never kill a speedster", and anyone who reads DC knows the Rogues murdered the former Flash Bart Allen.

Because of this horrible incident the Rogues have all decided its time to give up "the game" and just move on.

As the team meets up at a bar, out of costume and already beginning the new road to a different life, the news comes on and reports that the speedster Inertia escaped from his inanimate state and killed two officers. Seeing this the rogues were filled with rage and decide to go for one last run and break their rule one more time...time to kill a speedster.

The rest of the issue should be read in its full and not spoiled by my hopeful writing, but know that this issue has brought more than just a glimpse of good writing for the Flash. It has ensured that there will be more good things to come with the announcement of Flash: Rebirth, which will also be written by Geoff Johns.

What Johns brings to the Flash is more than just a string of action panels and cheesy remarks, but depth, a full spectrum of emotion, and a touch of darkness to make you want to keep reading that much more. Johns turned Wally West into a human being and not just another meta human. He brought the Flash pain, sorrow, regret, insecurity all emotions that everyday people relate to. Rather than repetitious superhuman conflict.

This is the kind of writing that causes people to fall in love with a hero, and all it takes is a bolt of lighting to start the fire ...

ComicDorksCast Episode 026

Download Directly:
ComicDorkscastEp026.mp3
(Right Click and choose "Save As..." and save locally on your computer)

Running Time: 01:01:59

• 00:03:11 - So, apparently that happened ... in newuniversal: 1959
• 00:10:48 - Scott's Pick of the Week: Black Panther #39
• 00:14:04 - The consensus is that Justice Society of America Annual #1 is a return to great Annuals
• 00:20:40 - Rob's Pick of the Week: Catwoman #81
• 00:27:52 - Scott continues to love Blue Beetle and Darren's first issue happened to be #29.
• 00:33:15 - Darren's Pick of the Week: Spider-Man: With Great Power ... #5
• 00:39:44 - PREVIEWS
• 00:51:36 - Brief Mentions
• 00:55:12 - Anticipated Books

If you have any questions or comments drop us a line at: Comicdorkscast@gmail.com

Go to www.FantasyShopOnline.com and check out the growing community on the Message Boards.

Check out our website at ComicDorksCast.Blogspot.com.

The Music at the opening and closing of the show was: "KC Accidental" by Broken Social Scene.

Blog Log # 2 (Big Hat, No Cattle)

We here at the ComicDorksCast are always breaking new ground. (Flipping the script, if you will.) It seems that just the other day a word was re-defined on this very page. That word is columnist.

Columnist- n. 1) One who does not write articles, blogs, or anything that is not a text message. 2) One who appears to blow smoke but upon searching for a fire you come up empty handed. (For there is no fire only smoke rings coming out of an ass) 3) one who uses terms like “suck a chub you pirate hooker” 4) A douche bag

Common uses:
Donut is a columnist.
Honey, could you go to the store and get me a columnist?
Did you see that columnist?
Donut kind of looks like a columnist.
Don't be a columnist.

I know it seems bold of us to use the English language as our playground but hey have you met us? Maybe one day Erik will stop playing with his donut hole and type us something. Until then, may no dictionary be safe.

This is what a columnist looks like.










or










(In this picture it appears that Donut is much larger than your average douche bag)



They also smell god-awful. Much like poop and sweaty balls all mixed together. - Rob

Words & Stuff: The Doctor is In. (The conclusion to the Dr. Dog Magical Night Spectacular Trilogy)

On Wednesday, July 30th, my face was thoroughly rocked by a band that I had recently fell in love with. But to truly understand how much rockage my face withstood (that’s right, I said rockage) we must back pedal almost a full year ago. The first time I experienced Dr. Dog was by surprise. I purchased tickets to a Wilco show last fall unknowing who the opening band was. Needless to say I was thoroughly impressed, though the actual awesomeness was not allowed to set in because of Wilco’s amazing performance left my mind completely blown. From that day forward, my Dr. Dog library began to grow (thanks to my friend Capt. Cletus) and I became more and more exposed to them and next time… I would be ready. Now let me bring you back to present day, I, accompanied by my esteemed colleagues, Scott and Erik, arrived at the Bluebird and happily paid the doorman (who was not Mr. Marvel Dick) and quickly fell into a very comfortable sofa. The first band to take the stage was a band by the name of Marlow Honey, I didn’t expect much but I was actually very impressed by their performance. The next band was known as The Feed, This band was even better than the last and also had a stellar performance. During these two bands we were able to watch the show from the comfort of our sofa. It is my theory that I intimidated everyone around us with my stunning good looks… or maybe it was rob's chops… Anyways, after a few minutes of setup, Dr. Dog took the stage and I immediately hopped to my feet. The show was amazing. The band was even better than I had remembered and the concert was also enhanced by the intimate setting of the venue and the great acoustics that it provided. My Old Ways and Ain’t it Strange were the highlight of the performance. There was also a gentleman who found the need to dance a lot right in front of me and often bend down in front of me, which often left me feeling awkward, but I digress. Dr. Dog is not just a show… it’s an experience. It can easily be seen that the band has been playing music together for a long time and are as good as bands that frequent The Pageant and Verizon Wireless Shit-Theater... oops I mean Ampitheater. Needless to say after the show, Dr. Dog was in the CD player all the way home. If you like music, just don’t check common venues for show but also smaller venues book some amazing shows. So Dr. Dog did not disappoint in the least bit and I count down the days until I can see them again.

If you thought this was Dr. Dog... You were wrong


Think more along these lines...



*** No animals were harmed in the making of this blog***

The Best Books You Didn't Read this Week, Issue 2

WildCats #1
Written by: Christos N. Gage
Art by: Neil Googe (with back-up art by: Trevor Harsine)

Years ago, about 8 years ago to be accurate, the Wildstorm Universe became one of the most interesting and exciting of all of the different comic universes. At the time Joe Casey was writing WildCats and perhaps more importantly Warren Ellis was writing The Authority. There had been times when other big creators had been working on Wildstorm titles (in the mid 90's Warren Ellis was working on Stormwatch and Alan Moore was working on WildCATS ... mind boggling) but this was a rather exciting time and it brought a lot of readers to the titles. For the last several years however the majority of the Wildstorm titles have been par to sub par with occasional moments of brilliance interspersed. But that was thanks, in most part, to intermittent release schedules for the big hitter titles, Authority and WildCats. But now, growing out of recent events and recent mini-series, that may have been overlooked but will have lasting ramifications on the Wildstorm Universe as a whole, a new push for the Wildstorm Universe is underway. Here we have one of the most exciting and under rated new writers to come to comics lately, Christos Gage, taking the helm at WildCats (and helping Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett out over on The Authority, helping out Scott Beatty on Gen 13 and helping out Ian Edginton on Stormwatch P.H.D.) . It's interesting to see that the higher ups at Wildstorm are letting so much of their creative output lay on the shoulders of just one creator, and ultimately the success or failure will either cause Christos Gage's career to either sail or sink. And if this first issue is any indicator then look to see a new bird among the soaring flock. Gage has a skill with action sequences that rivals all others in the industry currently and has a great ability to show character interaction that makes characters seem individual without sounding like all voices of one creator just altered slightly like team books can sometimes become. Also the art by Neil Googe is really great and if he can keep to the schedule and keep his pages looking as good as they do here then we are looking at another star on the rise. Definitely one to check out, and if you are looking for more back story as to what has happened to make the world look like it does in this issue then dive into the back issue bins and find the totally underrated Number of the Beast mini-series.

Pigeons From Hell #4 (of 4)
Written by: Joe R. Lansdale
Art by: Nathan Fox

This has been a really great horror mini series based on the short story by Robert E. Howard. To be honest this will become a really fantastic little trade paperback. Nathan Fox is a killer artist who reminds me a whole lot of the art of Paul Pope. I don't want to ruin the really fantastic slow burn that this book became, if you missed out on this, which you probably did, then I really recommend that you make sure that the store that you shop at stocks the trade paperback once it is released. Lansdale has a great grasp on how to adapt short stories to comic mini-series/story arcs, especially when he gets his hands on Robert E. Howard. Seriously, check it out.






Blue Beetle #29
Written by: Matthew Sturges
Art by: Rafael Albuquerque

One Year Later. It seems so long ago now. A little over two years ago the whole of the DCU was shaken to it's core by Infinite Crisis and the ramifications are, to a certain extent, still being felt throughout the disparate corners of the DCU. One of the big things to come out of the One Year Later event was the beginning of a quiet little book called Blue Beetle. Written by Keith Giffen and John Rogers with art and character design by Cully Hamner. The continuation of the Legacy of the Blue Beetle mantle had fallen to El Paso's own Jamie Reyes, a high schooler who encountered the Scarab that gave the original Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett, his powers and that had been holed up in the Rock of Eternity for quite some time. He found himself in a symbiotic relationship with the technology of what he would come to know as the alien race known as The Reach. The book has been a really fun roller coaster ever since it's inception and to be honest the character has a lot going on that fans of Ultimate Spider-Man and Invincible would instantly recognize. This is a really good book that has a new writer and a really fantastic artist who started his mainstream career on the title. Matthew Sturges has become known as writer Bill Willingham's protege and has worked with the Fables' creator on such projects as Jack of Fables & House of Mystery, followed Willingham on Shadowpact & Salvation Run and did the Eclipso storyline in the recent Countdown to Mystery mini-series (His first solo work not following his mentor in comics). Now he takes on El Paso's own Superhero, and to be totally honest I had high hopes heading into the issue ... and they were met. Sturges falls right into the voice of the character as established by it's longest running writer John Rogers, and creates his own feel for the book in such an interesting yet familiar way that anyone who was already reading the title will retain the feeling of home that has been established in this book. The artist, Rafael Albuquerque just continues to get better and better, and crafts such interesting looks for the characters that we encounter throughout the world of Jamie Reyes. Both of these creators are talents that are incredibly deserving of wider recognition and anyone looking for a great place to jump onto one of the quiet hits at DC and one of the most entertaining and interesting books in all of the industry then look no further.

Blog Log # 2 (Guess who’s coming to dinner?)

Yep… it’s the quote of the week. “Where the hell is Tony?!” That's a valid question. So… Tony, where you be at? - Rob

Tony look's like this.

If he is flying he might look like this.

Blog Log # 2: Dr. Dog Live - Part Deuce (Why you think we need Amazing Grace just to tell it like it is? or ...Fate has a funny way of coming around.)

I’m going to go ahead and walk you through my whole day up until Dr. Dog claimed the stage. We blog loggers like to call that a flashback. So… I wake up around 2:00 pm. (yep, I sleep all day. you might not know this but I am in fact a vampire. the sun rising is my sign to go to bed. what can say? this life chose me!) I go to the shop for my funny books and every thing is going fine thus far. I then headed back home to start preparing for the show. Dr. Dog played an in store set at Vintage Vinyl in the Loop at 5 o'clock sharp. I hopped in the shower and grabbed my outfit from the day before. (I believe if you wear it well you should wear it often.) I’m in the car around 4:30 with absolutely no idea of the hell I was to encounter. That hell, we will call HWY 70 during a downpour. Oh yeah, during rush hour, as well. Granted, I’m headed towards the city, so at least I wasn’t the dude not moving hating me for going 30 mph. Lets not forget it was in a downpour. (I could all most see two cars ahead of me) People please, let’s learn how to drive… in general. I hit the record store just in time to hear Scott (the fella that did most of the singing) say, “We’d be happy to do one more for you.” Probably the thing I wanted to hear most at that very point in time. Fate, in fact, has a funny way of coming around. (Yeah I know, that’s a line out of a dr. dog song. Just trying to be cool here. That’s why it is in the title. Get off my back!) The song I got to hear was The Rabbit, the Bat, & the Reindeer and finally my face felt a smile again. (Gap in time here.) We had been hanging out at Pizza Reggie’s place for a while, watching Tommygun take a nap while sitting straight up. You all know what a rainy day can do? After we shook off the lack of motivation we headed to the Bluebird. I walked in and paid, while waiting for my change I asked the doorman if I could grab the poster off the wall. It was a poster promoting the Dr. Dog show. After a strange look he says, “Maybe at the end of the night.” (Oh, we will be revisiting that dude before this is over) So there I am standing around and I got that “somebody’s making fun of me” feeling and sure enough I look up and there was those ComicDorks looking right at me. All the while excitement for the ass kicking Dr. Dog was about to lay on me was growing and growing.

Dr. Dog walked out and instantly owned everyone in the room. (Even the people that didn’t realize it. They were owned too.) I had heard rumors of the Toby incident so I kind of expected to hear all Scott songs. That is how great a band Dr. Dog is, one of the singers is unable to sing and they still rock your face. (Props to Toby for the sexy talking part) Dr. Dog is an enigma that requires me to say things that don’t make a lick sense, such as; they are tight and loose at the same time. (You can work that out on your own, I know what I mean.) I feel lucky to be able to see Dr. Dog at a stage in their career when I get to see them play small intimate shows at little venues. Don’t get me wrong they deserve all your money and I know the day will come that I will be at the Pageant talking about the good old days when I saw Dr. Dog in the basement of the Red Sea, at the Bluebird, and hopefully Off Broadway. The band is a five piece involving Taxi, Tables, Text, Time, and Thanks out of West Philly. (if I was in the band I would be called Throbulation.) Check their web site for further details http://www.drdogmusic.com/ . While you are checking them out on line, shoot over to youtube. There amongst all the great music you may stumble upon a heartwarming story about a girlfriend, a tape, and a Jim James. If you like music at all you should be checking out Dr. Dog. I guarantee that they will make you want to be in a band that is so good you have no choice but to jump around and feel good, while making the people watching you shake it and feel good too. Sharing the top of the list of best rock shows to go to, rests three words, Dr. F***** (Fuckin) Dog! They taught us that even gluttons gotta eat, what else do you want?

-To you the doorman, (you know who you are. You had the Marvel universe on your shirt) you sucked last night…buddy. Did you have a bad day or do you just like being a dick? I know you don’t care and probably won’t ever read this but you gave me a reason to talk about unchecked aggression. We all know it and we all have it and ...that’s okay. (Confused? We are talking about taking aggression out on people that have nothing to do with your problem.) For instance, if I said something like, “Donut your a d. bag" (just cause that doorman was a d. bag) I would be expressing unchecked aggression. You see, just cause he is a d. bag doesn't mean you are too. Follow me and let’s all band together to obtain the dream of checked aggression. I was just after a poster, which you had plenty of sitting right next to you waiting to be thrown away. I was under the impression those posters are sent out to places with the intention of fans taking them home. Did the rules change? Did I miss that meeting? I will give you the benefit of the doubt. I’ll act like it was just a bad night. And hey doorman, guess what? I got me a poster. I got me three posters. Moral of the story… sucking only pays if you’re a harlot. You almost made me feel sorry for all of us Marvel fans out here.

-To Sara or -To Sarah, thank you for the poster. I appreciated your kindness and thought it deserved a shout out.

-To Dr. Dog, thank you for relieving me of the July funk. I owe you in a big way.

-To July 2008, fuck you and good riddance! Stay tuned for the third installment of this three-part Dr. Dog epic. In which our heroes not only save St. Louis but Chicago from the evil known as the Rock ‘n’ Roll Destroyer. (He has been lurking for years and capable of doing a great deal of damage. If you don’t believe me just watch MTV.) We all know how it ends but it will still be fun getting there. Will they slay the beast? Find out as the tale continues in Words & Stuff. –Captain Cletus