John42

May 11, 2012 10:08 am Whoa Josh! That community episode was amazing! But you might be right, Daredevil 12 might be better. And, as a writing feat, it's really hard to pull of a plot twist between page 1 and 2. Waid is proving his mastery of the craft with every issue.

May 10, 2012 3:27 pm I used to be really into the whole sensory deprivation tank think. It started out all cool with crazy colors and the meaning of life, but then I took it too far and devolved into an ape. But seriously, I really really related to this article. I totally do that headphone etiquette thing.

May 7, 2012 10:36 pm fantastic review of a comic difficult to summarize. and, trying to avoid spoilers but the 'only an adolescent would confuse....' line is the one of the best lines ever, not just about superhero comics' dark age but about how we view life. morrison's post-modernism is meaningful because, like whedon (still on avengers high), he uses reflexivity not just to comment on the art itself, like, say, kevin smith (that's not entire fair), but to show what the art means to us in our real-life and how we can use it to help get out of bed in the morning.

May 7, 2012 8:35 pm This was your best, most appropriate music choice ever. You could have just done handle with care and it still would have worked, but you picked a deep cut that was appropriate to the film. The more I think about Avengers the more I love it, not just on an 'it was cool' level, but I think it was a really meaningful movie. Beat 'Donnie Darko' as my favorite superhero movie. I think it was Ron who said the coolest moments in the past marvel movies were the 'character moments' in-between the big action. The coolest moments in this movie were all in the end battle, and that was because the big action moments WERE character moments. Hulk had the best examples. The transformers comparisons anger me deeply, because, aside from being horribly shot and edited, they were, from a narrative standpoint, just ROBOTFIGHTBANGBOOMBANG. Good action scenes are not made from a-lot-of-expensive-shit-flies-faster-than-you-can-process-while-big-things-blow-up, they're from memorable moments: jaws oxygen tank, indiana jones just shoots the sword guy, indiana jones sticks a pole into the nazi's motorcycle, luke hops off the plank and catches his lightsaber. The applause moments. The final battle in avengers had those in double-digits. The whole every-character-had-their-moment thing was made all the more poignant for me by this Whedon quote: "That moment, where you stand up and say, ‘I have the right to exist.’ I’ve written a lot of times, and I never get tired of writing it. And if I could just believe it about myself, I think I could stop writing it.” I think it's safe to say that many of us fanboys/girls can be pretty insecure. But the kickass character action moments remind me there are many many moments when we stand up and show the world why we, as individuals, are forces for good in the world, be it helping someone with a baby-carriage up subway steps or contributing a good idea at work or holding your kid while they're crying or whatever. More often than not, I feel like Clark. But sometimes I take off my glasses. And this movie helped me see that those times happen more often than I recognize.

April 29, 2012 9:36 pm they called lobo clown-face. If they called him 'juggalo' I would have tolerated his appearance. seriously, why oh why does he keep getting used? other than that, very intrigued. can see both sides of the time-jump argument. it would have been cool to flesh out what's come before and lots of new characters always makes me smell toy-company. However, lots of new mystery and potential. And the last time-jump i remember on tv led to probably the most radical Iraq metaphor in media history. I think that's a cool precedent. I'm excited to see where it goes.

April 27, 2012 12:18 pm If it's a machine it's much less impressive, but the end-credits music features some excellent double-kick-pedal death-metal drumming.

April 24, 2012 3:58 pm The complete Zot! is of my favorite books. If you only know Scott McCloud from his non-fiction, you should really check it out. Emotionally resonant and deceivingly complex. And he writes an awesome essay about each issue, so it's great if you're into process. And he wears a Zot shirt in understanding comics, so maybe he should be on the list.

April 22, 2012 12:09 pm on the superboy/superman/batman/robin fight, it's a rare thing to see fight scenes that have real, character-based emotional stakes as well as being super well-choreographed. I loved the kisses at the end: The made the risky decision to answer almost every 'will they/won't they' plot pretty early in the run of the show, and I for one am interested to see these characters deal with actual romantic relationships. And it's really nice to see McDuffie creations live on in the animated form. Just found the first Icon trade in a $5 bin, and it really holds up.

April 1, 2012 2:17 pm you must remember this a kiss is just a kiss a sai is just a sai Elektra and Raphael apply as time goes by Even without the Casablanca reference, this show impresses me more with each episode. The characters are increasingly compelling, and the writers hurt them so hard! After listening to a lot of Nerdist Writers Panels I get the impression that this is a writers' room that spends more of their time talking about characters than plot. I love Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes but they're characters are a set of archetypes that deal with a this week's plot complication. Ironic reversal! DC surpasses Marvel in characterization! In silver age DC, everybody on the Justice League had the same voice, everyone could have exchanged word balloons and nobody would notice. Then the FF came and introduced melodramatic archetypes. You could recognize a character just from the word balloon. Young Justice takes it to the next level, which is not just viewing a character as a melodramatic archetype, but as a complex psychological being who- MOST IMPORTANTLY- Cha-Cha-Changes. Turn and face the strain. My feelings about each of these characters has evolved and devolved a lot since episode 1. As cool as the plots in Avengers are, I know pretty much how their Iron Man archetype will react to a given situation. I can't say the same for Wally or Artemis, because their characters are growing. As they should, a show about teenagers should be a show about growing.

March 5, 2012 3:37 pm Sounds awesome, put it on my pull list. And yeah, it's beatiful here too is one of superchunk's most overlooked, most awesome songs. Excellent choice Ron!