I always wondered why nobody did it before me. I mean, all those comic books movies and television shows, you’d think at least one eccentric loner would have stitched himself a costume.
Seriously, out of all the millions of people who love superheroes you’d think one would give it a try.
Is everyday life really so exciting? Are schools and offices really so thrilling that I’m the only one who ever fantasized about this?
C’mon. Be honest with yourself. We all planned to be a superhero at some point in our lives.

Kick-Ass is a comic series by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr published under Marvel’s creator-owned Icon imprint.

Dave Lizewski is your average teenager. He’s not the class jock or even the class geek. He’s not the class clown or class genius or class anything. He just merely exists. Until one day, fed up with his boring uneventful life, he decides to do something about it. He creates a makeshift costume, arms himself with a pair of batons, and hits the streets in search of civilians in need of assistance. While he’s in it for the “leaping over rooftops” and “pithy put-downs of purse snatchers” he soon finds out the reality of it is, you get FUCKED UP when you mess with the bad guys.

I typically like to read the collected editions of comics, so Kick-Ass was initially under my radar when the first few issues were released. Even when I saw the poster for the movie I brushed it off, thinking it was gonna be some spoof flick like those Scary Movie spin-offs (Superhero Movie). I had no prior knowledge of the series so I didn’t know it was a comic book film adaptation. I decided to watch the trailer and consider it for a Trailer Tuesdays post a few months back. I was literally in awe after what I witnessed. I little 10 year old girl in full superhero costume killing some bad mofos with her pistols and blades in gruesome violent scenes. Fuckin’ AWESOME! More on the movie a little later.

As I mentioned before, I like waiting for collected editions, and boy was it an incredibly long and brutal wait. More so after I watched the movie and was dying to read the book. After 4 months of being in queue, my local public library finally got me a copy. I read it in one sitting, could not put the book down. In contrast to the film, the comic is a lot more violent but I loved every page of it. It’s funny, bloody, sad, and a whole mess of other things which combined make for a great read.

I’m a big fan of Millar though I’ve only read Civil War, Superman: Red Son, The Ultimates, and Wolverine: Old Man Logan. I very much enjoyed each of them. The man has a nack for telling some epic stories. That paired with Romita Jr’s beautifully crafted artwork, is a match made in heaven.

NOTE: let ye be warned that there be some hidden spoilers down below

What works on the page doesn’t always work on the screen. Nonetheless, here’s some babble about my gripes.
Click to Reveal ▼

Direct Download: – 1080p –
HD-Trailers.net

This is very much a movie for fanboys by fanboys. It’s the comic book movie that we’ve always wanted. Sure, the Spider-Mans, Iron Mans, and Dark Knights of the world are all fine and dandy, but not all comics are suitable for kids and teens, despite the stigma. It’s quite understandable that this movie didn’t make a splash at the box office. It’s not a well established comic franchise.

“the language [was] offensive and the values inappropriate – without the saving grace of the bloodless victory of traditional superheroes” -John Morrissey (Australian Family Association)

The point is, this isn’t your “traditional” superhero and it’s not meant to be. They don’t have super powers or anything fancy. These are regular people trying to make a difference in the real world. If Hit Girl has to do that by slicing off the heads of bad guys, then so be it.

The casting for this was spot on. Aaron Johnson was more than believable as the run of the mill teenager. The always beautiful Lyndsy Fonseca was so sweet and charming as Katie that you really could not hate her, unlike the comic version. Together they made a great on screen couple and you can’t help but cheer when they finally got together. Mark Strong was the perfect mobster. Christopher Mintz-Plasse was funny and being the son of a mobster, you kinda feel for the kid. Nicolas Cage…he’s in everything nowadays…but I actually liked him in this role. Even more so for the fact that he payed homage to Adam West. By far the best acting came from Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl. She literally stole the show and was absolutely wonderful in every scene. This girl really has some acting chops.

Rounding out the cast were Clark Duke and Evan Peters as Dave’s friends. Both very funny and I only wish there had been more scenes between them and Dave.

Overall, this is a great and fun action flick you should watch with a few buddies. It’s as faithful to the comics as it can be, without needing to be a direct translation of the material (Sin City, 300, Watchmen). Reading the comic, whether it’s before or after watching the film, is highly recommended.

The DVD/Blu-ray releases August 3rd. The HC collection of the comic series is already out. Buy it at Amazon or visit your LCS.

GameTrailers: – HD –

Uh, not much to say about the game, really. It looks like a poorly made budget title which was rushed into production to coincide with the film’s release. This just makes me sad. While it may be fun playing it with a buddy or two for a few minutes, I don’t think I could get any sort of extended enjoyment out of this game. For shame.

As is the rule around these parts, I try to mask my very poor writing skills and lack of actual written content. Thus, I’ve included many images and videos for you to enjoy while you try to make sense of what I just wrote.

Scott Pilgrim is 23 years old, living in the big city with his gay roommate, just trying to get by in this crazy world. He’s in a band. He’s lazy. He likes video games. Scott Pilgrim likes the new girl in town, Ramona Flowers, but to win her heart, he has to defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. Seven! Evil! Ex! Boyfriends! Lucas has muscles! Todd plays bass with his psychic powers! The Twins are twins! Matthew Patel is an Indian guy! AND MORE!

I have to admit that personally I was never interested in this series. I occasionally saw it here and there, but whenever I flipped through the pages I just wasn’t feeling it. It’s a black and white manga style comic. A genre of which I’ve never cared for. If it were in color, I might have been enticed to read through it.

When the movie trailer was released I decided to look into it. I found out it’s directed by Edgar Wright, whom also directed Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Two films that are just as hilarious as they are awesome. I defy anyone to watch this trailer and not be giddy about it like a teen girl crushing on one of those Twilight dudes.

MediaFire Download: – 1080p –
HD-Trailers.net

Update: Here’s the new International trailer.
Less about action, more about story, but just as awesome!

Meet charming and jobless Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera). A bass guitarist for garage band Sex Bob—omb, the 22—year—old has just met the girl of his dreams…literally. The only catch to winning Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)? Her seven evil exes are coming to kill him. Genre—smashing filmmaker Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) tells the amazing story of one romantic slacker’s quest to power up with love in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

Scott Pilgrim has never had a problem getting a girlfriend. It’s getting rid of them that proves difficult. From the girl who kicked his heart’s ass—and now is back in town—to the teenage distraction he’s trying to shake when Ramona rollerblades into his world, love hasn’t been easy. He soon discovers, however, his new crush has the most unusual baggage of all: a nefarious league of exes controls her love life and will do whatever it takes to eliminate him as a suitor.

As Scott gets closer to Ramona, he must face an increasingly vicious rogues’ gallery from her past—from infamous skateboarders to vegan rock stars and fearsome identical twins. And if he hopes to win his true love, he must vanquish them all before it really is game over.

I love the look of it. I’m hoping it’ll be like a mix of Kick-Ass and Speed Racer. The stylized eye-candy of Speed Racer and the comedic yet bloody awesome violence of Kick-Ass. That would be a fantastic mix and I wish more comic book flix were made in this fashion. Granted certain comic books, Batman, probably shouldn’t be adapted that way. But where applicable, I would love to have more of this kind. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is set to release in August 2010.

I’ve read through the first 4 volumes of the series, and am going to read the fifth one later this week. The final volume comes out in July but it appears that the entire series was adapted for the film. It’s one of the very few comic books I’ve read that actually, genuinely made me lol. Not in the crazy screaming sense but it definitely made me let out some odd sounds that I can only imagine were giggles.

There are a lot of gaming references as well. Even going as far as recreating the opening scene of Ninja Gaiden in one of the Evil Ex battles. It’s a great series that I’d recommend to any comic or gaming fan. Each book in the series is digest size. Less than 200 pages each but they read rather quick. It’d be perfect for someone with ADD as there’s lots of quick action-y things and witty dialogue with Gilmore Girl-like speed.

As mentioned earlier, if this series were in color, I might have been more interested the first time I came by it. Volume 4 has the first few pages in color which I only see as a wicked hurtful tease by creator Bryan Lee O’Malley. Give me the full series in color, dammit!! It really does look beautiful in color. I get why he did it in black & white, though. It cuts down on the work that goes into each book and after all, it is just one dude making this thing. He probably also meant to make it like an homage to manga but I chose to believe it was the former reason.

One draw-back to it being black and white is that a lot of the female characters look similar. Especially the ones with short haircuts. If it were in color it would have been easier to distinguish between them and read along in the story without any confusion. Other than that, this series has great writing and art. At less than $10 each, it’s a steal!

Pick up the 6 volumes over at Amazon or visit your LCS:

• Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
• Scott Pilgrim vs The World
• Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
• Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
• Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
• Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour

GameTrailers: – HD –

Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game is an adaptation done in the style of classic old-school side-scrolling beat ‘em ups ala TMNT and Streets of Rage 2. With an amazing chiptune soundtrack by Anamanaguchi and just as incredible art direction by Paul Robertson. Robertson previously created a short-film done in the same side-scrolling beat ‘em up videogame style called Pirate Baby’s Cabana Battle: Street Fight 2006. You can view those videos here: Part 1 and Part 2.

The game will support up to 4-player local co-op. Unfortunately you won’t be able to team up with some online buddies to enjoy this epic adventure. It’ll presumably have 7 stages, to coincide with the Evil Ex boss fights. It’s set to show up on the PlayStation Network just in time for the movie’s theatrical release in August. It is unknown at this time but rumor is that it’ll appear on Xbox Live as well at a later date.

After many months of inactivity, I think this is a fitting post to return with. Took me countless hours to create but I feel it was worth it. I even decided to upgrade some plugins and tinker them until I got everything working properly to give this particular post the look I was going for. I hope the very few people that actually see this, enjoy reading the post, watching the vids, and seeing the pics. At least, I hope it’s coherent enough to read.

This book takes a lot of criticism for making Batman a lot more violent than his true nature as a hero is. And it’s by no means one of the better Batman stories told by Frank Miller. That aside, though, I really enjoyed reading it and seeing a different side to the Dark Knight.

It’s a retelling of the origin of Batman’s sidekick, Dick Grayson aka Robin. Bruce Wayne goes to the circus with is hot date, and witnesses Dick’s parents get murdered right in front of him. Dick is placed in taking in by some corrupt cops and Batman saves him from them. He takes him in but news hits that Batman kidnapped an orphaned 12 year old boy. He mentally tortures the boy by leaving him in his dark cave with only rodents to eat as a food source. He tries his best to scare the kid, because he believes it would leave him to time to grieve for his parents.

“I’m TORTURING this boy. TORTURING him. Just LOOK at him. He’s a BABY. And I’m TORTURING him. It’s a TERRIBLE thing to do. But it’s the only WAY. It’s the only WAY. If I don’t keep the PRESSURE up, he’ll find time to GRIEVE. I can’t let him GRIEVE. GRIEF is the ENEMY. There’s no TIME for GRIEF. There’s no ROOM for GRIEF. GRIEF turns into ACCEPTANCE. FORGIVENESS. GRIEF forgives what can NEVER be forgiven. NEVER.” – Batman

This eventually backfires on Batman later on in the book with a little altercation between Robin and Green Lantern.

Upon hearing the news of the boy’s kidnap, Superman gets pissed off at Batman and fears that his actions will taint the reputation of the JLA. He calls a meeting with Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and some shape shifting dude that I don’t know. Wonder Woman thinks they should kill Batman to set an example but Superman believes in justice and thinks they should turn him in.

“I told you Diana, I told you all. From the first moment I heard of that maniac, I knew his methods would make us all look like monsters. We’d all be soiled by him in the public eye.” -Superman

In the end, this whole conflict with Superman went nowhere. I was hoping to see a battle or at least some dialogue between the two but it didn’t come to fruition.

Much of the criticism of the book comes from the depiction of Batman. In this story he’s violent and sadistic. He loves bringing fear to his victims and he loves to mentally and physically beat the scum of Gotham City. I like how they often referred to Batman as “the goddam Batman” because in this story he truly is.

There many brief cameos; Black Cannery gets an entire issue (#3) and appears briefly in others. Joker and Catwoman appear for half an issue (#8). Batgirl very briefly appears in an issue (#6), even though she’s on the cover. Superman and Wonder Woman appear in half an issue (#5). It just all left me wanting more. This series had a lot of potential but it couldn’t deliver.

It’s currently in hiatus, which is a fancy way of saying it’s production got cancelled. There are currently 10 issues available but the HC edition only collects the first 9 issues, as a Volume 1.

The best thing about the book is the art by Jim Lee, and I’d recommend it as a purchase even if just for that. You can pick up All-Star Batman & Robin, The Boy Wonder, Vol. 1 over at Amazon or visit your local comic shop.

“Locke & Key tells of Keyhouse, an unlikely New England mansion, with fantastic doors that transform all who dare to walk through them…. and home to a hate-filled and relentless creature that will not rest until it forces open the most terrible door of them all…!”

Locke & Key is written by Joe Hill and illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez.

This book was a great read. From cover to cover I could not bring myself to stop reading. It was suspenseful, thrilling, mysterious, with tones of fantasy, and played out like a movie. It’s very well written and I highly recommend it to any mature reader. The art is also very crisp and some scenes are beautiful even in a haunting way. I’d delve more into the story but I don’t want to spoil anything. This story deserves to be read. I personally can’t wait to read the next book in the series. Welcome to Lovecraft acts as a prologue to a massive ongoing story and it’s definitely made a fan out of me.

I also loved the hard cover. This is how it should be done. The art is printed on the cover itself, no plastic dust sleeve to cheapen it. It even has a ribbon bookmark sewn to the top of the binding. The kind you find on large old dusty books. This alone makes it worth the price, which is less than 20 bucks. You have no excuse not to buy it.

Head on over to Amazon and purchase your copy of Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft or visit your local comic shop.

Book Two “Head Games” is also out with Book Three “Crown of Shadows” currently in progress.

The story follows an orphaned 12 year old girl named Dorothy. She lives in a farmhouse “in the midst of the great Kansas prairies” with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. On one stormy day the farmhouse, with Dorothy in it, is caught up in a cyclone and carried far away to the mysterious land of Oz. In order to return to Kansas, Dorothy must travel to the Emerald City and ask the great Wizard of Oz to help her. And so begins her journey.

If you are only familiar with the story from The Wizard of Oz movie, then you’ll find this to be quite different. I never personally read the original but it’s said that this is a faithful adaptation of it.

The writing was a bit simplistic, even repetitive at times. It felt as though I was forcing myself to read through each page. In all fairness, though, the original is in fact a children’s novel. Despite this, I think it’s still a good enough read for young teens/adults (I’m 22 myself).

The art is what really got my attention. At first glance I fell in love. Every single scene is remarkably beautiful. If this book had no words at all, you could still enjoy seeing the pages come to life as the story progressed through each panel.

All of the characters are drawn so lovingly and with much detail. I defy anyone to look at Dorothy in this book and not have your heart melt for her.

“Dorothy is the soul of this story and if I couldn’t convince you to love her within two seconds of seeing her on the page, then I should take another job.” – Skottie Young

I hope in the near future the collaborative team of Shanower and Young work on other projects. I would love to see them adapt Alice in Wonderland (or Fantastic Mr. Fox) with the same art style that this book has.

Head on over to Amazon and buy the hard cover edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Or visit your local comic book shop.

My only gripe is with the hard cover edition. It has the usual dust jacket thing glued onto it. It makes it feel a little cheap. I wish the art had been printed on the actual cover. I’ve always hated those plastic dust sleeves but maybe that’s just me. The book is still worth the money.

I can tell you that it has good humor, great art, and some great animated action/fighting sequences. The characters don’t look exactly like they do in the show but they look close enough for you to recognize who’s who (Morgan looks amazingly hilarious). Only thing this comic book doesn’t have that the TV show does is romance, and up to where I’ve read there’s no sign of it. It’s no big deal though. The characters seem to have the same personality as their TV counterparts and the witty dialog is close to that as well, which is a huge plus.

If you’ve seen the show, which I assume you have (I hope) then you know Chuck always seems to be getting into trouble one way or another. The same thing happens in the comic which is always fun. All of the Chuck characters also make some sort of appearance, including Anna, Lester, Jeff and everyone’s favorite character, Captain Awesome…which is awesome.

What I don’t like, is that sometimes the characters say stuff they wouldn’t normally say on the show. It happens rarely so I don’t mind it much. Besides that, I like everything on this book and I’m very happy with my purchase. All in all it should satisfy Chuck fans and the casual comic readers as well.

Will Chuck survive his first trips to Japan, South America, Eastern Europe and Singapore? Who knows, you’ll just have to buy yourself a copy at Amazon (or your local comic book shop – help support them, they need and deserve it) and read to find out! It’s quite the bargain at less than $14 and If you’re a Chuck fan it’s a no brainer! People still say no brainer, right? Whatever, it’s worth it.