Holiday Catch-Up: Comics Mishmash

Figured I’d crank out one more game of catsup before the new quarter starts. Like I’ve said before, I’m going into the American comics world completely blind outside of things like movie and cartoon adaptations, so take that as you will.

The Amazing Spider-Man #666-675 (Spider Island / Vulture)

I’ve been following with Spidey’s Ultimate universe from start to finish (to uh… re-start), so I wonder what exactly I was waiting for to get me into the webhead’s main universe title. Well… guess it was a massive crossover event.

Not gonna lie—I’m usually not too keen on massive crossover story arcs. I remember reading one of the Crisis events for DC and feeling completely and utterly lost. Random characters popping in and out without much to do or say; references to events a billion issues ago; not to mention the expected techno-babble which is made even worse since I’m not even familiar with the universe or characters… it was just a bad first time.

Spider-Island is different.

The crossover works well in that it’s able to get new fans into the series right off the bat. You’re starting at the start of a new arc, where past interactions with characters doesn’t mean all that much outside of the slightly distracting but still not too bad overall little asterisk notes you get from time to time. The level of danger present is clearly on a grand enough scale to warrant the use of so many of Marvel’s heavy-hitters, but it’s executed in a way that you’re not swamped with so much information that you’re immediately turned off. There’s some kind of virus around the city that’s giving Average Joe’s Spidey’s powers, and it’s up to the original Spidey to bring a stop to it all before things get too out of hand. It’s a simple story at its core presented in a way that can get new readers immediately rooting for Mr. Parker and booing the baddie in Jackal, even though the most noteworthy thing he’s been a part of was turning off readers to the comic via the Clone Saga.

As for the following short Vulture arc, it works as a good short little story to get readers back into the (get ready for it…) “swing” of things. I don’t know why, but the Vulture’s always seemed like a good introductory type of villain to get the story running again. He’s nowhere near on the knowability level as the Goblin or Dock Ock, so the amount of danger he presents comes off as bad, but not too bad.

The Avenging Spider-Man #1-2

Yes, another Spidey title.

From Marvel’s description of the series leading up to its release, I was kinda getting the vibe of a Wolverine and the X-Men (the animated series) in that I didn’t want it all to be about Spidey with some random heroes shoehorned into the series. Though so far, it works. The writers are well aware that it’s ridiculous how many teams Spidey’s part of in the main universe (the Future Foundation, and the Avengers?) and they have him bring it up a number of times in a mocking sort of fashion as he lays the beatdown on the baddies… which looks excellent bytheway. The artwork in this series has been complimented so many times, but I feel like I have to bring it up anyway: the art in this series reminds me of the best mix of East meets West, with its clear attention to detail and nice full page spreads where everyone’s poses look just right—definitely a series to keep an eye out on.

Wolverine & the X-Men #1-3

… not to be confused with the animated series that goes by the exact same name.

Like Avenging Spider-Man, this title is the kind you’d buy because the cover just popped out to you. Unlike Avenging, it comes off as kinda meh.

The series is coming right off the heels of some kind f X-Men crossover I never read, but unlike Amazing Spider-Man, its mentions of past events just end up flying over my head and don’t work to push to plot forward in any way. Besides those, you’re presented with Wolverine who ends up being the head of a new institute for mutants, though many are reluctant to let him go forth with the idea. In the middle of an attack on the school, we’re also introduced to the kids that’ll no doubt make up the bulk of the cast and they’re equally aged villains.

In general, I feel like this series was just messily made all around. Besides the artistic stylings of things that give off a Teen Titans (animated, not comic) vibe, I couldn’t really get behind anything else. The writing reminded me of an American action cartoon on a bad day with the obvious character set-ups and cheesy (even for a comicbook) dialogue. Very much a series you’d pick up for the cover and not the plot.

Bakuman #1-161

Well, it’s been a while, but I’m finally caught up with the one current Jump title I actually care for.

With a manga about two kids following their dreams and making a manga, it does take an overly optimistic mindset. Then again, I don’t think I’d want to read about about a couple dropouts that quit on their dreams and go into the black market business. The duo that makes up the penname of “Ashirogi Mutou” seems to jump through the obstacles they’re faced with a bit too easily at times, as do the rest of their  manga-ka comrades that also happen to be around the same age as them. Not to mention, you’ve got the love interest character that’s decided to go into the voice acting business herself and doesn’t seem to be having too much in the form of any real trouble with making her dreams come true, either. On one level, it’s refreshing to see something to optimistic as to think that hard work alone is enough, but on the other hand, it just makes me want to roll me eyes every other chapter.

What really makes the series for me are the interactions between each character. Between most, it’s a rivalry in wanting to make a manga that ranks higher than the other’s. On the other spectrum of things, you also have the editors overseeing the manga-ka and trying to one up their fellow editors. It gives off a sort of “gods influencing the humans” vibe at times, which makes for an interesting read.

Not to mention, all the details about this particular universe the authors aren’t delving into. The premise for each manga-ka’s series is enough to peak anyone’s interest, with titles like Otters 11 coming off as something that could work on adult swim if the idea were actually followed through in the real world. On another not, keeping in mind that this is the same team behind Death Note, it makes sense that the author is obsessed with having a solid timeline to the plot. You’re not told it often, but every now and then, you’re reminded the exact time period, up to the month, day and year, which leads to so many questions. The characters clearly mention other, older, manga titles and yet are able to top the top 5 on Weekly Jump’s list without having to worry about titles like Naruto, One Piece, or Bleach. For a while, I thought it was ridiculous to think that this oddball group of younger manga-ka are able to beat out such titles. Then I considered that the current time period the manga is up to is a time when all those series have long gone… what an optimistic series, this Bakuman is.

Holiday Catch-Up: Breaking Bad

The Incredibles is one of the only (if not the only) movie I own with a commentary track I’ve listened through multiple times, since it’s so crammed with interesting tidbits about the movie that it warrants multiple watches. One thing director/writer Brad Bird mentions multiple times throughout the commentary track is the movie’s use of alternating between the mundane and the fantastic—two polar opposites that built off the other’s unique type of energy (or lack of).

Breaking Bad is the cable TV equivalent of this.

We start with the mundane: Walter White—an ordinary guy with an ordinary job as a high school Chemistry teacher trying to make ends meet for his family. Then we’re introduced to the fantastic: Jesse Pinkman—local drug-dealing dropout well known in the underground world for selling meth with a hint of chili powder… and who happens to be a former student of Walter.

While the two aren’t exact caricatures of the average man and the superman—Walt is actually shown to have something of a temper from time to time while Pinkman is more of a humble dealer that’s fine with his position in the chain of command—the theme of the mundane and the fantastic is still able to work to an extent from episode to episode, showing Walt’s trials and tribulations from the everyman perspective and seeing him in a completely different light when the trials and tribulations are given the backdrop of making meth on the side for the sake of his family.

The amount of detail to the story in terms of intertwining characters is also admirable. Maybe not Durarara level admirable, but still pretty admirable. Characters you’d think were mere throwaways begin to slowly develop a backstory and are brought on screen with more frequency as the story progresses, making you think just how far in advance certain plot points were made. The downside to this, though, is that it makes the less story-intertwined characters stick out that much more, making you care for them that much less. To see multiple generations of a single family fall into the underground world of drug dealing only to have it interrupted by Walter’s kleptomaniac sister-in-law is less interesting than you’d think.

That’s not to say all of Walt’s “normal” life is nothing more than a means to show just how much more interesting his meth-creating life is. On the contrary, his brother-in-law happens to be an agent in the Drug Enforcement Administration, causing Walt’s separate lives to begin to seep into each other, and causing a Light/L type of relation with his in-law in the series’ later seasons. While Walt has the best intentions in mind, each step he takes forward as a meth “cook” under the name “Heisenberg” begins to warp his sense of morality. Meanwhile, in-law Hank is running out of options as Walt’s misdirections and accidental missteps have led Hank to jump to multiple red-herrings, thus putting his job on the line. The little similarities make me anticipate the final season that much more where I’m assuming shinigami and Death Notes are finally revealed.

A fun watch overall, giving me hope for American programming and its slight plot mimicking from our friends in the East.

Great Snakes! The Adventures of Tintin Review

While I can respect that Nickelodeon’s been able to reach such fame coming from such small beginnings, I still think its early era of broadcast was its best, airing their new material alongside some classics: Heathcliffe, Dennis the Menace, Tiny Toon Adventures, and of course The Adventures of Tintin. Although my memories of the series are vague, I trusted that the series held up enough for me to pick up the first season release on DVD a while back. Long story short: not great, but not bad; the kind of entertainment I’d watch while multitasking on something else.

Still, while rather slow by today’s standards, The Adventures of Tintin still lies in the hearts of many old-schoolers worldwide as the epitome of the action hero. A mild mannered journalist that went on adventures and solved mysteries all for the sake of getting the scoop… and an adorable dog sidekick that was neither bipedal nor capable of speaking English. It was only a matter of time before Spielberg adapted it into something.

And thankfully, that something is quite well… something.

The Adventures of Tintin movie brings back an element of adventure to the adventure genre that’s been lacking as of late. Sure, there’ve been plenty of fantasy and sci-fi adventure for the masses, but for the longest time we’ve been without a good old fashioned non-super-powered non-fantastical adventure. The kind of adventure where all you need is a map, compass, and whatever names you wish to give your fists in a ballroom blitz.

The movie is an adaptation of series creator Hergé’s “Secret of the Unicorn” story arc, though takes elements from other arcs as well, sending Tintin globetrotting through deserts, palaces, alleyways; the works. Serving as the first of hopefully many other adaptations to come, the film does a good job of establishing the titular character as not only a journalist, but a journalist on a mission to capture whatever the hot new story is at any cost. This time around, however, it seems like trouble’s found him when what seems like a random purchase at a market ends up (literally) holding the key to Tintin’s latest adventure.

As Tintin begins his latest quest, his search leads him to a one Captain Haddock—certified drunkard and scene stealer. Without spoiling too much, the old lush is more than meets the eye, providing quite the backstory to better flesh out the movie’s villain from what I remember watching in the TV adaptation. He also serves as the perfect comic relief to Tintin, who can come off as a bit too much of the straight man at times. Together, the two form an odd pairing, but to say that something of a bromance forms between them would be overstating it. I can’t imagine the two characters spending down time together in any other circumstances, but their back and forths are enjoyable enough.

What really makes the movie, though, is the action. As mentioned, the film doesn’t rely on any fantastic elements like energy blasts or the like for their action scenes, and rather focuses on what each character can do with their bare hands. As such, audiences are exposed to fisticuffs, shootouts, and on more occasions than one, drunken bottle throwing. You’d think with all the raw fights in the movie, the series would have gotten harsher treatment, but leave it to the Nickelodeon brand to guarantee a PG rating or lower for their films. As long as it introduces a new generation to the kind of wanton destruction my dad would talk about when he watched Popeye as a kid, then I’m fine with it.

On a technical level, I’m sure most people were concerned about the choice of using motion capture for the film. The technique hasn’t exactly garnered that many fans with its uncanny looks, but rest assured that such a problem doesn’t exist in this film. Rather than making the people look as realistic as possible, the motion capturing techniques are used merely to capture the realism of textures such as clothes and skin while still sticking to the cartoony design from the original works, which don’t look as bad as you’d think. If motion capturing were done in this fashion more often (read: Gollum and King Kong over Beowulf and Polar Express) maybe more people would be open to its use in future animated works.

Sadly, the same can’t be said about the 3D aspect of the movie. Oddly enough, I found that in every theater in my area, only one 2D showing was available for each place, with each of those showings only being in the morning, essentially forcing me to watch the movie in 3D. As gorgeous as the film looks with its number of scene changes, the 3D effect doesn’t do much, and I’ll go as far as say that it kills the experience, since the only times I really noticed the effect were during scenes taking place in dingy areas where I was greeted to 3D dust and one particular scenes involving the antagonist pointing a cane to my face in the most blatantly 3D friendly way possible. If anything, I want my money back for this. 3D is still nothing but a hokey experiment that studios think they have to fall back on even though they’re perfectly capable of making movies that can stand well enough based on their script alone.

Short version: excellent movie and I hope they continue with the franchise, but wake up early for a 2D screening.

Christmas and a Movie; Sherlock Holmes: a Game of Shadows Review

My family’s not exactly the most traditional of families whenever it came to Christmas. My parents would never pester me or my sister to help decorate the tree; caroling and cookie decorating were never really “things;” the stop-motion specials always creeped me out; as of late me and the sister would usually end up ordering our own presents with our parents paying us back and wrapping the gifts themselves. On paper, we’re probably about as festive on Christmas as your one Jewish neighbor that puts up the one plastic snowman model in his front yard to avoid neighborhood gossip.

Though, now that I think about it, I guess I can think of a couple traditions. Going to church with the family and noticeably complaining about how the “fair weather” church-goers always end up taking the pew seats, leaving everyone literally standing on the sidelines; making fun of the music teacher’s twenty-something son still being in the choir; attending a potluck dinner with the extended family only to go home in a worse condition than you were beforehand after all the backtalk your nosy aunt gives you… as half-hearted and semi-cynical as they may be, they’re traditions of a sort nonetheless and they’re what makes my family that much more quirky.

As of late, I’ve also noticed another unintentional tradition I’ve had with the sibling and the cousins: movie-outings on Christmas Day. Last year was Black Swan (aka Fight Club’s less attractive sister as far as any of us were concerned) and the year before was Sherlock Holmes. So, we figured it was only fitting that this year we hit up the second Holmes movie: Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

But first off, some quick impressions on the trailers:

• I can’t believe Hasbro’s moving from Transformers to Battleship. With Rihanna. If anything, you’d think she’d be better fit for a Bop It adaptation. /innapropes
• Anne Hathaway’s singlehandedly taken away any pretentious cred the third Batman movie had going for it.
• The only reason I’d consider seeing Rock of Ages is for the possibility of some kind of physical harm on the part of Tom Cruise.
• The Woman in Black’s trailer didn’t play, but just seeing the poster for it creeped me out. Then I heard Daniel Radliffe was in it and it made me want to rent Ballet Slippers, Driving Lessons, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes in a feeble attempt to rinse my mind of the Potter mindset I’ll always be in whenever I see any of those actors in any other movie.

While I wouldn’t call the first Sherlock movie featuring Robert Downey Jr. a masterpiece, I did enjoy it enough to pick it up once the Blu Ray came out. It did a good job of establishing the characters from Conan Doyle’s works for a more action-oriented audience without making any compromises, and for that alone I was thankful. Very rarely have I ever heard of titular characters being known for their deductive reasoning on top of their physical capabilities in a battle.

That said, I felt at least a bit more stupid after watching the sequel.

Not because of the material itself, but because the characters blaze through plot points so quickly that I tended to forget just exactly who the bad guy was and what his motivations were for doing whatever it was he wanted to do in the first place. In the first movie, the antagonist was introduced while in the middle of some kind of Satanic Ritual that Holmes immediately chocks up to have some kind of logical explanation. From there the movie goes on, with the audience fully aware of the antagonist, his shtick, and how he plays off against Holmes. I wasn’t exactly given the same thing this time around. Something about a gypsy’s brother being in relation to some criminal mastermind that wants to cause a world war and how he rivals even Holmes in terms of deductive reasoning… a majority of it just ended in scenes with talking heads without much action, which in turn made the action (some of which was pretty blatantly made for 3D audiences, btw) not that interesting and making for a “meh” middle section of the movie overall.

If anything, the beginning and end are where the movie shines.

You’re immediately re-introduced to the main core cast up to the same shenanigans as usual: Holmes drugging Watson’s dog; Watson now about to enter married life with his beau from the last movie; Holmes’ will-they-won’t-they beau off on her own schemes. The introductions are done in such a way that they refresh your memory for the cast without spoon-feeding it to you, which is a lot more than can be said about some of the film’s dialogue. I hate it when I hear the title of the movie worked into someone’s lines.

The final act of the movie is where the film shines brightest, however. While Watson is off stopping the antagonist’s master plans from coming to fruition, Holmes chases directly after the antagonist, ending in a literal battle of words on top of a fitting yet incredibly overused by this point game of chess. While the chess game was somewhat eye-roll worthy, it did work well with the dialogue as it bounced between Holmes and Watson’s final confrontations with my only real gripe here being that I wish there were similar exchanges between the movie’s baddie earlier on just to demonstrate how similar he is to Holmes to really drive home the feeling of cat-and-mouse. Though I guess that’ll be all worked out in the next sequel that was oh so obviously hinted at by the end of this film.

In short, it was an okay film. Do your laundry while watching the middle part, but just make sure to finish it by the final act.