
A million ideas, Zero to show for it




BRAIN: I was obsessed with Hot Wheels as a kid and the obsession is coming back now that I have a kid. I'll probably never own the '69 Camaro or the '65 Corvette that I covet, but I can own a mint 1:64 scale one no problem... I just read that one of the coolest artests ever, Coop, is designing a two pack for a Hot Wheels Show in Japan. The pics have just been released. It will only be a run of 2000, and they are being sold in Japan, so I doubt I'll never get my hands on these either. Bummer.
BRAIN: It's no wonder it took so long for Art Asylum to announce the new Marvel Minimates line. They were also working on three sets of DC Minimates. Cool. To bad we have to wait until August to get them. Maybe they will have some at Wizard World Chicago...






BRAIN: Zed and I took in Lucky Number Sleven last Wednesday night. I'm always ready to see a Bruce Willis movie. I went into this movie blindly and realized that it's more a Josh Hartnet movie. Bummer. Bruce almost seemed to walk through this movie without trying. He is a professional hitman with one pretty good scene where he tells a back-story and snaps some twenty-something's neck that fits into the plot later. Josh Hartnet tries his best to inject funny and smart-ass dialog that seems unnatural. I think my pre-existing dislike of Josh may of had a factor... The movie wants to keep you very confused until it reveals its self to you at the end when all characters and stories start to come together. Some of the inter-twining of characters didn't need to happen. I found it to be too forced and I called the ending half way into it. The editing and art-direction were great at times, mostly in the beginning during flash backs. The movie is entertaining but not great. I give this a C.
BRAIN: Art Asylum took their own sweet time announcing their series 12 and 13 Marvel Minimates. I really like these things. I'm only missing a few of the chase characters to having a complete set. Series 12 focuses on The New Avengers and 13 is Astonishing X-Men. I'm a little indifferent about these series though. They keep making the same damn characters over and over... I have 2 different Captain America's already. At least 7 different Spider-man and Wolverines. Already have a different Power Man, White Queen, Cyclops and Colossus... How about more new characters Art Asylum? Where is Thor, Hawkeye, Vision, Scarlet Witch or Deadpool?
BRAIN: Here is a link to eyes drawn by Jack Kirby. Really cool! Comics today have some of the best artists ever drawing them. But when I see samples of Jack "King" Kirby's stuff I realize what a master he was.
BRAIN: Add this to the very long list of things that I want. 340 pages with an extended character sketch section, a peek into Ross's own sketchbook, text pieces by Waid and Ross, annotations of the entire series, rare art (from magazines, trading cards, T-shirts, the novel and more), promotional images, a gallery of DC Direct Kingdom Come products, the evolution of a story page.
Hmmm. I was pretty excited about this. I guess it's a good start. It starts with some inner-monologue of Moon Knight telling himself why he does what he does. He takes care of the street crime because other hero's are taking care of the big picture. I found this to be a little generic but hey, let's give this series a few more issues to see what happens. The art is top notch. Finch is one of my favorites. Moon Knight gets his power from the Khonshu, God of the Moon. It seems that Moon Knight and Khonshu have had a falling out and he is trying to get into his good graces again.
Hulk gets dicked over by the Illuminati (see below) and sent to a strange planet. They wanted to send him to a peaceful planet where he couldn't be hurt and where he couldn't hurt anything. Well, Hulk throws a fit when they tell him this via video screen on his space ship. He busts up the ship and sends it off course. He ends up landing on a very violent planet where he is basically turned into a gladiator. On this planet Hulk can be hurt, but he dishes out some pain right back.
This was great too. This one shot explains situations that lead up to Marvel's Civil War. The Illuminati was formed after the Kree/Skrull war to stop catastrophes like this before they happen. It is made up of Iron Man, Reed Richards, Namor, Black Bolt, Dr. Strange and Professor X. I'm not sure if Black Panther is part of this. He stormed out of the room on the first meeting. They start arguing about the Hulk. He destroyed Las Vegas and something has to be done. They vote to trick him and send him off planet. This starts a rift in the group. The rift grows even deeper when they talk about legislation in the government to make all super heroes register with the government and work for SHIELD. None of them like the idea, but some think they should follow the government and some think they shouldn't. Namor is a real prick in this issue but I guess is usually is. You can see and understand everybodys side to these arguements. Story and art were great.
I want to start reading more DC comics so I started here. A re-launch of the classic character Blue Beetle. I'll start by saying that the new costume design is really cool. I like the gadgets he has and seeing him fight a Green Lantern was fun. But I have to say that I couldn't get passed the dialog. When people were talking to each other it was very choppy and irregular. After awhile it really started to annoy me. I guess it's a good start though. Teenager finds blue bug at construction site. It bonds to him and he gets power that he didn't ask for, a little bit more reminiscent of Marvel characters than DC to me.