Occasionally, things in the comic-book loving world are slow and there is nothing to talk about.
This appears to be one of those weeks.
Feel free to talk about whatever strikes your fancy. Whatever has popped into your pretty little head, either in general or at this very nanosecond.
Talk about whatever you want and if there’s anything useful in here, we can do a special weblog, or talk about it in the podcast.
Here’s what I’m thinking about at the moment:
- I love me some true crime, and The Black Dahlia murder is no exception.
- I am wavering between being really excited about and totally indifferent to Snakes on a Plane.
- Reading the second paragraph of this article made my inner geek sit up and take notice, but subsequent paragraphs brought great disappointments.
If I am alone in my thoughts and these do nothing for you, start posting!
This thread shall hereby support multiple discussions on multiple topics.
So says DOOM!
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Snakes on a plane should be worth seeing JUST for the hell of it. We all know it’s going to be really, really bad…so why not just go in and have a laugh? This movie will be a part of pop culture (albeit really bad), just like Fonzie jumping the shark.
Also, we now have some new Marvel Civil War titles (instead of our regular ones coming out on time :JOY), we have a new one shot called ‘Civil War: War Crimes’. Any idea what this is? Seems like it’s gonna be a look at all the OTHER heroes who aren’t highlighted in Frontline or Civil War.
We’re also getting some comics branded ‘Casualties of War’, which include:
CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER SPECIAL
IRON MAN/CAPTAIN AMERICA SPECIAL
And some Moon Knight and Blade.
Looks like we MIGHT be getting an awesome view of Iron Man and Captain America’s REAL view points and reasons of fighting…but who knows? This could just be another money ploy. We’ll just have to wait.
(Official News Article: http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=80636)
The Black Dahlia looks okay, but I’m really looking forward to Fincher’s Zodiac movie. One early review called it The Wire of serial killer movies. We shall see…
Speaking of The Wire, I just picked up Season Three on DVD, and so far I’m not loving it as much as the other seasons. But then I have heard that it builds to an amazing conclusion. Wasn’t crazy about Season Two out of the gates, either.
It’s always a money ploy. The question is just whether it’s good or not.
As far as SoaP goes, this article by my favoritest writer Chuck Klosterman sums it up for me:
http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2006/060706_mfe_August_06_Klosterman.html
Let us assume you’re in the target audience for Snakes on a Plane. Now, it’s possible you inhabit that demographic because you’re interested in how poisonous reptiles would react to high altitude. However, it’s more likely that you’re the kind of person who loves “bad” movies. You find poorly written films hilarious, and you enjoy their implausibility. Such sentiments are common; people who understand film tend to appreciate cinematic failure.
But here’s the thing: This kind of appreciation is based on the premise that the bad movie aspired to be good. If a film never takes itself seriously and originates as satire, everything is different; its badness means something else entirely. SOAP doesn’t fit into either category: It doesn’t take itself seriously, but it’s not a satire. It will probably be unentertaining in a completely conventional way. Which, apparently, is what people want.
We want snakes on a plane and Sam Jackson cappin’ fools!
This is literally the first moment I am finding out Civil War #4 is going to be late, and I think I am having a stroke.
I am usually much more sanguine about these things, but… would somebody go get the foosball table out of the Marvel offices?
How are those Ultimates coming along?
I am having a surprisingly visceral reaction to this news.
Was just on Newsarama and they put up today that JLA 1 is delayed by a week, and then to find out a couple hours later that Marvel�s Civil War is delayed by some months, with no reason why.
Any thought�s on this. Check out Newsarama to read the article.
Why did you have to say it was a slow news week?:
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=80636
And because this is late, Spider-Man is late, and–! November–! Not finished until– Lynchpin of the whole universe, and it’s not–
can’t stop… getting angrier the more I– ngggahhh– rrrrRRRRRR
JIMSKI SMASH PUNY COMICS! JIMSKI LIQUIDATE MINISERIES ON EBAY! JIMSKI PUT ON HULK HANDS AND PIRATE REMAINDER OF PUNY SERIES, PUNISH PUNY PUBLISHER ECONOMICALLY!!! RAWWWR!!!
So, so aggravated.
One week late (Justice League of America) is understandable, all kinds of things can delay a book one week. Fell #6 was supposed to have come out this week too. But delated for a month? I’d imagine some serious problems cause that.
Funny that earlier in the year we were wondering if 52 could maintin its schedule, not Civil War…
I’m very excited for The Black Dahlia. I’m just about to finish the book. If the flick is even only half as good as the book, it should still be great.
Snakes on a Plain? Hell yeah I’m gonna see that. And if it sucks, at least I didn’t pay for the ticket. Since I work at a movie theatre I’m all about watching the shitty movies. Why? It’s FREE!
Shit! I spellid “Plane” wrong! SHIT! I spelled “Spelled” wrong! Ok, thats it! I quite! SHIT!
The Departed and The Children of Men are the movies i’m looking forward to the most
The Departed looks great. A woman I know went to a rough cut sceening and she liked it a lot – and she’s not a mainstream movie kinda gal.
You gotta rent Infernal Affairs. It stars one dude from House of Flying Daggers and one dude from Hero. It rules and The Departed is a remake of that.
I plan on passing on SoaP. Even after having Samuel Jackson himself call my cell phone, I think I will wait for the DVD. Now, I am totally psyched for Rocky Balboa. I might be the only one who believes so, but this movie is going to be awesome. The premise may be absurd, but Rocky needed a sequel. Really, he did. Rocky V was terrible. At this point how could the series go wrong? Okay, it could very easily go bad, but at least it isn’t being directed by Brett Ratner
I am going into SoaP with the assumption that it didn’t become self-aware and ironically detached from itself until after principal photography was completed. My hope is that it will still not be too pre-fab and mostly genuinely… whatever it was originally supposed to be.
I still feel like one of those guys who goes to NASCAR races in the hope of seeing a crash.
Man, that Serenity graphic novel really kind of sucked.
UPDATE ON THE CIVIL WAR FIASCO:
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=80636
Update 08.16.06 8:25am – When contacted for comment by Newsarama, writer Mark Millar said: “All I can say is that I’m as surprised by all this as you are. In fact, I only found out about it when I got up this morning and read my email. But you know what? This is a very cool thing for Marvel do to because it would have been so much easier to just go for a cheap fill-in artist instead of pushing back the books. Steve had virtually no lead-time on Civil War and a title with a million characters has proven much tougher than he expected. He and I both assumed a fill-in would be on the cards at some point, but Marvel credit Steve with a huge amount of our book’s success and, as a creator, I’m genuinely stunned they spread the project out by another seven weeks to make it work for him. Marvel really took a bullet here. This pushes a lot of cash into the next financial quarter for them and they’ve really put product over profit here. I absolutely never expected them to work their entire publishing schedule around an art delay, but it’s cool that they did and I totally take my hat off to them. Sure, it’s horrible when a book we want is a little late, but I can live with a few weeks if it means getting Steve McNiven every issue. Apologies to readers and thanks to many people who were worried this meant I’d got sick again (I’m doing absolutely fine, thanks). This has been the biggest book of the millennium so far and it’s clear people are passionate about waiting. But, honestly, it’ll be worth it for seven issues of pure McNiven.”
Normally I keep these kind of comments to myself, suspension of disbelief and all that, but since this is the “about nothing” week, i�m going to bring up something that�s been bothering me for quite some time know.
What�s up with nitro blowing up wolverine, literally to the bones on wolverine 43,then a minute later wolverine comes walking like nothing. Can�t anyone remeber how wolverine was killed on days of the future past by a sentinel?
A lizard can regenate his tail, but a tail cannot regenerate a lizard. So, any thoughts?
Didn’t you see X3? It’s Canon now. John Bryne is adapting the comic. Just the first three issues though.
heh.
I am thinking, as long as Wolverine’s brain is mostly intact he can heal the rest. Everything else is tissue, nerves, muscle and organs. I assume there was enough microscopic residue of which Wolverine was able to grow himself a brand new body. Although now he has to get any tattoos he had redone. I would have imagined that level of regeneration would take hours if not days to finish.
Simon:
I was thinking the same thing. The explanation that they give is that the closer you are to Nitro, the less effect the blast has on you.
But they showed his bones. Bah. I like the story, as it is one of the only tie-ins I’m getting, butthat was pretty ridiculous.
I wrote this in another thread: “I think Marvel might have just screwed the pooch. 2 month wait between Civil War issues? I mean, I like McNiven as much as the next guy, but they might have just lost a lot of new readers.”
At least YA/Runaways isn’t delayed.
When it comes to Wolverine’s healing factor, I think Marvel Editorial took the express train to crazytown a long time ago. It really does not invite much scrutiny. He can heal so fast that he recovers from the flesh being flayed off his bones? If he has no lungs and his heart’s not beating, his brain isn’t getting oxygen; how does he heal from that?… and so on. Maybe one day, they’ll do a MAX book where Wolverine’s body heals but he’s neurologically reduced to a vegetable.
But probably not.
There was an annual (during the Evolutionary War crossover) in which the High Evolutionary had Wolverine “heal” back to full health when all that remained of him was a single drop of blood. So, comics can always be worse.
Speaking of brain injuries from which people may never recover, I find that somehow I am even angrier this morning about the Civil War delay. I never thought I could become one of those caps-lock Newsarama guys, but… when I read the update above in which Millar says, “well, we figured from the very beginning we’d need a fill-in,” I nearly bit off my tongue.
Nah, I can wait. Steve McNiven has really impressed me. Issue three had some great panels. The White Queen against the ruined Genosha background, Cap’s resistance ducking into the alley and change into their costumes, and Iron Man knocking some teeth out of Cap were my three favorite. I can wait if it means more of the same. I am a fan of the Ultimates, which has come out only twice this year. I can tolerate a one month delay. I don’t like it, but I don’t think it is going to affect my enjoyment of ther series.
Do you think that at this point, all superheroes have false teeth from constantly getting them knocked out in fights?
And how does super strength effect teeth? Wouldn’t the teeth be superstrong, too? And if that were the case, wouldn’t they not get knocked out in fights?
Does Wolverine have Adamantium teeth?
That is the best question ever. Orthodontically, Flavor Flav based much of his look on Logan.
Random Geek Thought: Who would win in a fight to the death? The living planet and Green Lantern Mogo or the planet eating Transformer villain Unicron?
Aside Question: How does Mogo wear his power ring?
Marvel seems to be much more concerned with the final product, and while Millar did some excellent spin, spin, spin on that piece, he’s right. At the end of the day, Marvel will have 7 consistent issues in a row, and they’ll go into a trade paperback that will sell more copies than any they’ve ever done. All that for the cost of complaining fanboys, who will, after all is said and done, buy the issues no matter what. As far as I’m concerned, McNiven does great fucking art. If it takes him a little longer than he planned, I can respect that. It’s not my favorite thing, but as art quality goes up and up in comics, we’re finding that it’s harder to consistently do monthly comics. Maybe that schedule has to change to accomodate artists. I hear a lot that artists are lazy now, but the difference is that artists are good now. The rendering on a given page of comic book art is light years ahead of where it was 20, 30 years ago. I can understand that. Who are the most lateness prone artists? Hitch? Fucking awesome artist. Quitely? Fucking awesome artist. Etc, etc.
Just my thought.
Mogo all the way!
It’s heating up!
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=80735
Steve McNiven:
“Hey folks, just thought I should get a post up here. First up apologies to the fans and retailers of civil war. The responsibility for the art delays lies with me, period. I’ve been working harder than I ever have, (and this is my third profession), but this is the hardest project I’ve ever done and as Mark said, I had little lead time. It was as big a surprise to me as anyone else that Marvel changed its publishing schedule to allow Mark and I to finish the series together.
When I was sent word of this yesterday, I realized the problems that this will cause for readers and retailers immediately. After reading Hitchy’s post I am beginning to understand why Marvel went this way, but it still amazes me. Of course I am proud of the work I have done on Civil War and I am chuffed that Marvel feels the same way, but I worry for the people that could be negatively effected by this. Please realize that the art delays were never meant in a malicious way nor am I being a prima donna with my work. What I’m trying is to do service to the exceptional story that Mark has written. That’s it, and is all that I focus on when I’m at the table. I let Marvel know exactly where I am on a daily basis, from day one, so that they can make the decisions like the one they have made. I’ll continue to work hard to put out the rest of this series with the best work I can do in the time I have been given and I hope that you, the fans and retailers will stick with us, ’cause Mark has written a real gem here.
There’s a lot more in the link, including thoughts from Bryan Hitch and some ANGRY fans.
I totally get it. (NBC fired Aaron Sorkin and replaced him when his episodes of the West Wing were always late… and the show went to s*** immediately thereafter.) Marvel certainly doesn’t owe me anything. It’s not like I paid for the series in advance. I just… sometimes I feel like Lucy has pulled away the football one more time. I always say “I won’t get fooled again” or “I’m totally waiting for the trade from now on,” but then I always end up thinking, “Well, surely this will have to come out consistently. The line depends on it.” I think I’m maddest at myself.
But here’s something I have in my craw: they keep saying they had “no lead time whatsoever” on the project. “No lead time” sure seems to imply that The Big Crossover was going to begin on a certain date whether they were ready with all the issues or not. Civil War starts in May, period. Doesn’t that seem to contradict just a little bit the “it’ll be ready when it’s good and ready” ethos they say they’re applying now?
Well, with all the pimping and promoting that Marvel did of Civil War, if they didn’t get it out on time they would never have sold as many issues of Civil War as they did, I suppose.
Also, Flava Flav pays Logan royalty checks everytime his ‘grill’ is shown. This is why Logan is able to appear in all the X-books: He hires a stunt double with all the money
I think it means he was doing one project, and then they came to him and said, scratch that, you’re doing Civil War. Start now. So from there he’s got to learn how to draw a bunch of characters he’s maybe never drawn before. For example, you can’t just start out knowing how to sketch Tony Stark’s face when it’s agnry, or excited, or worried, or whatever. That takes time to sort out how you’re going to render these characters and stories. It makes total sense to me.
Also, don’t tell me about the impending doom for West Wing. I just finished the first season, and I’m so in love I can’t even describe it.
I wonder if Marvel is keeping an eye towards the growing weight of the trade market as well, and thus is less bothered by a late book, since it won’t really be late for trade.
I do think that the PTB are being pretty straightforward about all of this, and that’s a benefit.
And Dave? Mogo wears his power ring anyway he wants too. 🙂
If a delay means we’re going to get the same level of quality we’ve been getting so far, I’m all for it. Sure, I’m a little dissapointed that Punisher War Journal won’t be starting until November now, but on the up-side we’re now going to get the Cap and Iron Man tie-in issues in the middle of the Civil War story instead of the tail-end.
I wonder if Marvel is keeping an eye towards the growing weight of the trade market as well, and thus is less bothered by a late book, since it won’t really be late for trade.
I can’t imagine this isn’t figuring into their thinking. Think about this.
These books do about 300,000 sales. This is as high as a book has sold for 10 years. Now, those books sell at retail for $3 each. I have no idea what a retailer pays for those books, but the total gross revenue, without printing, shipping, paying creators, etc etc, is only $900,000 for a single issue, and that’s exceptionally high sales numbers. But that’s peanuts for a corporation like Marvel. And the margins are sliiiim.
Now, at the end of the day, you want to put together a trade paperback, and a hardcover, and you want it to be as good as possible. How much money does Marvel stand to lose if their monthly book is a month late? Not much comparable to the value of having an excellent, consistent single piece in collected form that they can sell indefinitly.
My personal theory on Civil War being late is they changed the story. They had it drawn and ready to go, then they came up with something mind blowing and they went back to the drawing bored. Wouldn�t be the first time a story has had that happen for one reason or another. I believe it will be worth the wait�. I hope.
I’m actually a bit relieved about the delay, it’s a selfish reason, but I was spending SOOOO much money on Civil War and it’s cross over books. Now my wallet can take a bit of a rest as my college semester comes up. It’s stupid, but my wallet needed a break.
After watching Samuel L. Jackson on The Daily Show last night, I don’t know how one won’t have fun seeing Snakes on a Plane.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PupI1HytQW4
I just realized, with Civil War being pushed back, does that mean the ending for CW now coinsides with the ending of Planet Hulk and Annihilation…hmm…
Has anyone heard anything about Mark Bagley leaving Ultimate Spider-man? I read it on the millarworld.tv forums (http://forums.millarworld.tv/index.php?showtopic=63086), which links to the Bendis forums (http://www.606studios.com/bendisboard/showthread.php?t=81688) and says it was on this weeks CSN.
So, uh, what is “CSN”?
Comic Shop News, that free weekly you get at the comic store.
I really hope Bags isn’t leaving. He’s quick and he’s the style I’ve come to love on that book.
I’d imagine that Mark Brooks, the guy who does the annuals, will get the next shot, if that’s the case.
Bagley is leaving to finish “Civil War.”
No, he isn’t. But imagine it for a moment.
Josh, West Wing is good for a long time, pretty bad for about a season, and then good again to the end. But its creator Aaron Sorkin used to basically write every episode to some degree, and they were always running up against their deadlines until the network put their feet down. It was the closest parallel I could come up with this morning when I thought, “What other medium would put up with this Civil War bull****? TV would fire them… and, oh, wait, that would be terrible. Crap.”
If you’re on Netflix, check out the pilot for “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” I loved it so much I watched it twice in a row.
While on the subject of Aaron Sorkin. Are there any Sports Night fans in the house? Great show. Probably one of my most watched DVD collections.
Sports Night… One of the best shows. Was just so damn funny.
Watched the you tube clip of Sam L. Jackson…
Conner was right!! Can’t wait.
Gonna be the best movie… ever.
WOW people are pissed. I thought Gamers were hardcore. LOL I could care less if the book is late. Its great I can go buy something else. Also Fell #6 did ship this week =)
As a reader, I don’t really mind. There’s a million titles between now and then that’ll hold me over just fine.
But, that said, I feel really bad for retailers out there. This is the big event of the summer and with the wacky scheduling changes, a lot of them are pretty much fucked.
I’ve been following this blog since it’s creation basically, and the guy (who owns a brand new comic shop in Pennsylvania) has a lot sharp words about the industry from a retailer’s standpoint. Interesting stuff.
http://comicriot.blogspot.com/
wow, busy day at work and all of a suddent his thread explodes…
Good to see other people like Sports Night – one of my prized DVD sets and definitely in my top 10 series of all time. LOVE Sports Night
Also Fell #6 did ship this week =)
So it did… Diamond screwed up!
Although this theory has already basically been denied by the higher-ups, I still think it’s funny. From the blog Progressive Ruin:
“The official line is that the creative team for the main Civil War title needs the time to complete the books. However, the cynical and bitter part of my mind keeps thinking that the Spider-Man movie people said “You did what to Spider-Man? Fix it. NOW!” — and the Marvel folks are now scrambling to rewrite the ending to meet that demand.”
That is funny.
But they’ve been foreshadowing Spider-Man’s turn to the anti-side for a while now.
Hey everybody, I’m a longtime lurker/podcast listener, but first time poster. So hello. I’ve been thinking about jumping into these discussions for a while now, but never really got around to it, but since there was discussion of Snakes on a Plane (much) earlier in this thread, I figure I’ll post since I just got back from seeing it.
Going in, I shared a lot of the reservations expressed by Josh earlier in this thread, but my girlfriend managed to get tickets to an advance showing at Union Square so we went.
It was 100% satisfying and awesome. I loved it.
However, the best part was the fun of everyone in the theatre cheering and yelling throughout. When Sam Jackson appeared in a preview for a different film the place went wild. When the opening credits rolled the place went wild. When Jackson appeared in the actual movie the place went wild. When the plane took off the place went wild. Etc, etc, etc – this continued throughout, all the way to the end.
My personal favorite crowd moment:
(POSSIBLE SPOILERS BELOW)
Movie dialogue: Do you know who’s on this plane?
Entire theatre shouting in unison: SNAKES!!!
(END POSSIBLE SPOILERS)
I’m not sure how it would play if you were watching it at home or in a subdued theatre, but with a rowdy bunch it’s really great fun, so I’d say try to check it out this weekend late-night if you can.
Speaking of westerns, I just finished sam peckinpah’s Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, and it was phenomenal. The whole movie is scored by Bob Dylan, who also stars in the film.
Hell yeah
Are the Christopher Priest who wrote the Prestige and the Christopher Priest who wrote those absolutely fucking awesome first ten or so issues of Marvel Knights Black Panther one and the same?
this trailer looks fantastic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsynohSkrcc
I don’t think so:
Here’s the novelist:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1793993/
Here’s the comic writer:
http://www.digital-priest.com/admin/site.htm
Something about them is different…
Okay, so just got back from SOAP, and I have to say I loved it, I went in expecting cheese and that’s what I got. This movie is most deffenetly a “see with a crowd” film. The energy of the crowd made it almost like a rock concert, I can’t imagine seeing this in an empty theater, but it was a fun film, don’t go in expecting “art” or anything like that. It’s just a fun movie that was great to watch and I thought worth the price of admission.
Snakes on a Plane‘s Rotten Tomatoes rating as of 5:32pm EST: 64%
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/snakes_on_a_plane/?SOAP
Simultaneously, the Tomatometer for superhero film Zoom currently stands at ZERO (0) PERCENT.
As of this morning, it was at 80%. Dropping steadily.
I think this will be like the Phantom Menace effect, where the crowd was so amped and excited the first time out, I had no idea that the movie was no good at all.
I don’t think you’re looking at this movie from the right perspective. It’s not about it being a “good” movie. I think it’s an experience more than a movie. It’s about going to see it with a theater full of people of like mind. Kind of like Rocky Horror.
I am sure that by all tradional measurable standards, it will be a “bad movie” but it will be a “great experience”.
If that’s your thing.
I watched it today and it was great. I had low expectations for this film, but it managed to walk the fine line between B-Movie cheese and A-list exposition perfectly. It delivered to the point I expected when my optimism towards the film was at it’s highest; when the hype was ‘undergroud’ and marketing was non-existant.
Yeah, that’s not really my thing. But then, I’m not what you’d call a “people person.”
“Something about them is different…”
When I saw the pictures of the girl and then the pictures of the guy, I thought “Christopher Priest is a TRANNY?”
Did you read comic book Priest’s bio? It only goes up to 1997, but it’s a strange and detailed read.
http://www.digital-priest.com/comics/adventures/index.htm
That site is full of stories and insights into one of my favorite periods of Spider-Man history. If you like behind-the-scenes intrigue and gossip from Marvel, dig around a bit.
Damn good deal if you’re interested in Queen and Country.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Greg-Rucka-Queen-and-Country-TPB-LOT_W0QQitemZ190020075701QQihZ009QQcategoryZ35784QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem