kingmob

Tokyo STorm Warning was dull and I may not have finished it either, but Ocean was a sweet treat. I read it all in one sitting, borrow copy as so much of what I review is, and thought it a much better movie script than Snakes on a Plane as a vehicle for our beloved Samuel L Jackson. One of my favorite Ellis traits is his ability to do realistic sounding science stuff. Go Team Science!

Kind of like syphilis.

I never gave you kudos for this seriously-perfect burn.

I just downloaded and read #13-19 and I fucking loved them. I'm with the two (?) people here who liked it. I've been buying X-men since issue #131 and damn if this isn't the reason I started buying comics in the first place. I've re-read the Dark Phoenix saga dozens of times. Isn't that recycling?

The dialogue in this book is flat out some of the best I've ever seen. The issue where the FF helped take down a giant NY city monster, with Wolvie thinking 'I like beer', then seeing him pop back into character from looking at a beer, so cool.

Cassady's art is gorgeous. That same beer scene had two panels, one in foucs beer and one out of focus beer, that really makes me drool.

Are all the haters here from Europe? Not Christian, I know, but the rest of you, methinks Jerry Springer doesn't get good ratings over there. Different sensibilities, I guess.

Damn, people with over ten thousand posts? Is that all from regular use?

If you used to read the old series, pre-Ennis, you'll want to get In the Beginning, it resolves the situation with the character Micro.

I buy all the Punisher TPBs by Ennis and find them a lot of fun. Welcome Back, Frank is one of the 'intro' tpbs I hand out to my non-comic reading friends. The MAX ones are my personal favorites. Tim's covers rock!

'I'll hold them off, you run.

.

.

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Sounds good on paper'

Plus a katana in his hand and some great panel layouts. The second issue was excellent.

As I was reading the bratty kid in the third issue throwing a tantrum scene, I asked myself how I'd handle it. 'Enough! You dishonor your sensei with this lack of composure!' was great; as a student of karate we hear this kind of thing all the time at our dojo. Excellent way to handle junior's outburst. Calling dress up crime 'novelty crime' was fun too. A full page with a dismembered head (did I use dismembered correctly?) stuffed mouth and all.

The fourth and climactic final issue of the arc was a bit of a letdown, but I was expecting much worse after the reviews on this site.

Ummmm I know you guys always disagree with me and you all figure I must be a tasteless boor by now, but I just read the first issue of Morrison's run on Batman and I really liked it.

One issue, I know, three more in the pile and it may go downhill, but the art reminded me somewhat of Neal Adam's stuff, which was my favorite ever Batman year until Miller did his Year One arc.

The opening pages with the Joker, Gordon's dialogue on the hospital bed, and Alfred's primping Wayne before the fundraiser were all spot on by my measuring stick. I was only going to read one but I'm at work and reading them on a website and decided on an early lunch cos I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Excelsior!

I stopped being bothered by message board posts about ten years ago. And as for smilies, I mentally block them for fear of going mad. I suggest you all do the same.

Completely unjustified post.

I was simply letting lurkers out there know that the oft-repeated Downfall of the Walking Dead might be premature and/or exaggerated.

Some of us continue to enjoy the comic and don't feel it needs 'rebounding', of course.

It's the N-zone arc I'm reading right now. I didn't think I'd like it after the lackluster Ultimate Nightmare, which I'm pretty sure he did, but this arc is winning me over. Plus I'm pretty jazzed about Annhilus after the excellent fun I had with the Annhilation event.

Has the Ultimate FF Ellis run been covered in this thread? I've been following this for al ong time and don't recall, and 43 pages is too much to sift through.

I've been reading the run online and am really enjoying it.

http://groups.msn.com/ultimatespidermanonlinecomic/ for thos of you who don't mind stealing media. Scans online with no reader necessary!

Except for the ridiculous publishing schedule, I remember being very jazzed about each issue of that Ellis' Iron Man run. Maybe I was not as familiar with Ellis, but to see an old favorite done by a writer I liked was great. The chat with the old hippy, the Mike Moore style interview was interesting, and the tech talk was right up my alley.

I haven't read Iron Man since the eighties when Bob Layton was doing the art chores. That alcohol issue used to be a hot item back in the day. I missed the whole armor wars storyline because I wasn't buying comics in that period.

Scarface. Repetative but addictive. Not as good as GTA but better boats.

 

James - would you mind telling me a little more about Bully/Canis Canem Edit if it's not a huge pain for you. Ta.

I was at the store to get Bully myself, and was told they canceled the 360 version due to poor sales on the PS2. Very sad. And Scarface was canceled due to low sales as well. Dammit, still being trumped by Sony.

Not counting childhood records like the score from Lost Horizons,

LP Rubber Soul - Beatles (present from my dad who was a huge fan in his teens)

LP Trooper - Hot Shots (Boys in the Bright White Sports car and Raise a Little Hell)

First cassette - I think it was Head on The Door by The Cure

First CD - Columbia House 11 for a penny, included Nirvana's Nevermind and Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger and Ten from Pearl Jam.

Back in the eighties I was buying the over sized Love & Rockets mags for about two years, so I knew something of the stories as they were first coming out. That amounts to maybe eight issues of the originals. So I was aware of the book and had an affection for it, but I wouldn't call myself a fan until now, if only because I wasn't actively seeking it out. These giant HCs are gorgeous and the perfect way to digest all this material.

Is this only for TPBs printed this year?

If not, I am in love with Locas, the Maggie and Hopey 700 page HC extravaganza. I haven't been this excited about a comic in ages. I've been a fanboy many times this past year, but not in love like this. A touching and gentle love. A feel good inside and daydream about her type love. And it is so BIG, this 700 pages of heavy contrast black and white expressive faces and wonderful punk 20-somethings. 700 pages for $70 Canadian, thats 10 pages for a buck, damn! Maggie, Hopey, Izzy, Race, Penny, even our demonic billionaire, all with no Palomar to distract me from them. So clean and true, thanks Jamie Hernandez.

I have a rental of Project 8, the new Tony Hawk game, and it is great. I've played every incarnation of the series but at this point I'd have to admit that it is habit rather than fervor that keeps me coming back. It's a good time renting them and having friends over to smoke and drink while taking turns beating goals.

P8 has vastly improved the experience. The play area is one big free roaming world, much of it needs to be unlocked but after that the transition is seamless. The graphics are ace, of course, and the skating has a few new twists thrown in, such as the slow-mo close up of your feet while you are in the air utilizing the two joysticks to do some awesome tricks.

I love how the goals are now part of the environment. You can play three skill levels without having to be in a sick/pro/am save game, all three are available all the time.

There is new bail/crashing buttons to press that are hilarious too.

But the best thing is the level design. Somebody knew how to organise this programming team to pump out levels with amazing Z-heights with bowls and ramps and wires to make access, once you know them, a snap. And they are so pretty. The Capitol building kicks ass!

Not a bad guess, I've been wondering when Kirkman would have them flee the prison. I hope it doesn't happen. I still haven't read #33 though, Xmas has kept my supply lines busy.

I've noticed a ton of Venture brothers avatars all over the board since seeing James'.

Love your avatar, James! I just discovered the show and it makes me laugh. Alot.

If you are a GTA fan, put God of War down and fly through the delightful Liberty City Stories, since it is a loaner anyway. Well worth a few hours of your life.

It warms my heart to see Fallout fans on this board and around the globe. My favorite C64 game was Wasteland, the original Fallout RPG, and I loved it dearly. It was my first real love in the RPG world. When Fallout came out I played it for ages, same with F2 and even the Brotherhood of Steel Playstation co-op game.

36 out of 46 Marvel achievements done, by the way. I'd have more but it is exam time!

Rented Marvel Ultimate Alliance 360 and I cannot stop playing it. Do not rent games during finals.

I've played through on normal and hard, unlocked every character, 36 out of 46 achievements. Most of the others require Xbox Live.

Best. superhero. game. ever.

PS I don't like Halo either. Someone out there must...

I'm with Pooka.

I spent a year volunteering for a shelter for battered women, not at the centre itself as no men are allowed in but as an actor touring junior/high schools. I played an abusive boyfriend. While doing so, I got to know a lot about the industry, for lack of a better term. They were a great bunch and I don't recall ever hearing them talk about stuff like this. I ate a lot of meals and stayed at a lot of hotels with them because we toured over an area bigger than France, and their concerns were with real women and how to get funding and chopping abusive men's dicks off and such like that, I didn't hear any of this liberal left wing stuff from any of them. Half of them were lesbians and were very against any form of censorship.

In fact, I love what she just said. The italics were perfectly placed, Pooka.

James: Kirkman, and any other artist of any sort, shouldn't need a 'free pass' to create what they want. If someone writes a skinhead racist song, then don't buy the single. Stop buying Walking Dead.

"well go on then, you draw/write something better" doesn't apply to anything Pooka or I have said. She said the feelings of indignation should be aimed at reality instead of a damn comic book.

You've stated that you find this book tired and boring anyway, haven't you?

By saying that you are not sure if this defense works, you infer that there is a right or wrong absolute defense. That defense totally works for me. Does this make me wrong?

And does every artist (musician/writer/painter/sculptor/whatever) have to defend any of his work, much less all of it? You started your reply with "responding professionally to reasonable criticism is part of his job". I disagree with this on many levels, not the least of which is that, despite my lack of any sort of talent, would keep me away from the profession.