Random Crap

The Watchmen Movie

Personally I don't see what all the hype is about with the new Watchmen movie that is due out on the sixth. Sure it is supposed to be the most talked about movie to come out since 2008's The Dark Knight, but I don't see where all this excitement is coming from. Everywhere I go on the internet, there's always some kind of ad for the Watchmen movie. I've seen the television commercials and they don't make me want to see it even more, while the commercials for the new Star Trek movie really make me want to see it. The original Watchmen comic was produced back in the 1980's before the fall of the Soviet Union; when we were all scared for our lives because one little thing would cause the Soviets to launch a Nuclear attack on us. Being a child of that era, I tried to read the Watchmen when I was about fifteen or sixteen and I could not get through the whole thing. It just seemed so boring and was filled with so much stuff that went over my head that I quit reading it halfway through. From what I understand about this production of the movie is that they have altered the ending from the comic version. I'm not going to spoil the ending, but if you've read the graphic novel before you see the movie you may not like the ending.

 

A 5th Printing for Spider-Man 583

Marvel comics has seen fit to re-print Amazing Spider-Man 583 for a fifth time (as of this writing). I just don't get it, is there such a demand for the issue to justify a fifth printing? I know that Image Comics' Savage Dragon with an Obama story has been into a fourth printing. I can understand four different printings of that story because Image is not Marvel or DC Comics; who can print the hell out of a story and not have to worry about re-prints like Image who only has a smaller part of the market share. I guess Obama mania has really swept through the country. I saw the Amazing Spider-Man third printing in the comic book store a few weeks ago and almost picked one up, but I know I'll be able to get it when the issue comes out in trade paperback form and not be one of those people that has to have it right now. I don't think that there has been a fifth printing of any comic book before. Going to a fifth printing of popular fiction books is not unheard of with books like Marley and Me, but the fifth printing of a comic book to me is just unheard of.

 

Dear Grant Morrison

You owe me $28 (US) for all the issues of Final Crisis that I purchased over the past approximately eight months. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Fool me seven times; you owe me money for the absolutely crappy ending of Final Crisis. If you ever come to a convention in the state of Texas I will stand in line and when it reaches my turn to come up to you, I will demand payment of both $28 and an apology for your crappy writing to be published on every comics web site. I got into the book because it was supposed to explain this whole thing with Countdown and Death of the New Gods. I never once found a clear explanation in any of the issues that were written by you for what happened. Your bad writing has sworn me off of all major crossover events that comics companies produce because I get all emotionally invested in them and then you kill off a favorite character of mine for no reason and then give us one of the biggest mind screws for the rest of the books. Libra was supposed to be some big badass guy who killed off Martian Manhunter and in issue six he dies like a punk. Why even introduce him and have him kill a major character if he's going to die like the punk-ass he is in later on? It would have spared us all the drama of killing him off, and he would still be alive and all would be right.

 

Toy Fair 2009 Star Wars Presentation

Back in February the big toy show that will set toy makers agendas for the year was held in New York City. I didn't get to go, but some of the web sites I frequent have people there and RebelScum.com has the slides of Hasbro's Star Wars presentation for 2009. I'll try to hit some of the high points. The average action figure price has gone up to $7.99 retail. (Yikes. I have a hard time justifying to myself the $8.00 for one action figure) Some the deluxe vehicles of ARC-170 fighter and Clone Wars Y-Wing will have a $59.99 price point. (I purchased an ARC-170 back in 2007 for $40.00 retail and cannot justify another $20 and tax for those ships now.) The Clone Turbo Tank will be released thanks to good sales of the AT-RT from last year. It will be sold at the same price point. (Hmm, does this mean that we might be getting another Big Millennium Falcon type of vehicle in the future?) A Qui-Gon Jinn on Eopie will be the mail in figure to celebrate the release of Episode I. Look for stickers on figures some times starting in September. Mighty Muggs will be a Toys R Us Exclusive starting in the fall. (I just think those things are just the ugliest things in the world and people think they are so cute.) Every slide from the presentation can be found at this link: http://www.rebelscum.com/TF2009/Hasbropanel/default.asp Just click on the next arrow when you are done viewing each slide. There are about forty slides in all.

 

GI Joe Toy Fair 2009

Someone from the YoJoe.com web site managed to get access to Toy Fair 2009 and put up pictures from the show. So far it is mostly just stuff about the movie that is due out in May of this year. I'm not that hot on a GI Joe live action movie or any of the ways they have tried to re-boot the franchise since it stopped being produced back in the early 1990's. It appears that they have gone the Clone Wars route on figures and included some kind of weapon that shoots toy missiles. Here's a link to the site that has the pictures: http://photos.yojoe.com/showgallery.php?cat=625 I'm really hopeful that the movie will bomb and Hasbro will go back to making figures based on the 25th anniversary of the 1980's line rather than a movie that will more than likely suck.

 

DC Solicits for May 2009

Here's one of the previews for the Final Crisis Aftermath books that are due out in May 2009: FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: RUN! #1 Written by Matthew Sturges Art by Freddie E. Williams II Cover by Kako The Human Flame is a dead man. Literally just waking up after the events of FINAL CRISIS, he realizes all the heroes in the DC Universe target him as the lowlife who taped the murder of the Martian Manhunter with his cell phone. On top of that, all the villains in the world want to kill him for selling them out to Libra. He's powerless and penniless, and his only chance for survival is to run! This 6-issue miniseries examines the underbelly of the DCU and what happens when the wrong choices catch up with you. Nothing can prepare you for this chase. On sale May 6 o 1 of 6 o 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US So they are making a six part miniseries about the guy who filmed the death of Martian Manhunter about how he is on the run from both the heroes and villains of the DC Universe. So he has no quarter in the universe and yet they are going to some how stretch this out to six issues. I can't think of any way to drag this out unless there is some anti-superhero/villain element in the DC Universe that is going to shelter him. Also, what kind of lame name for a villain is The Human Flame? I know he was one of the characters that was in Martian Manhunter's Rogues Gallery, but who is he? Does he have super powers or is he more of a one trick pony with an asbestos suit and some kind of flame thrower gun. According to the writer, apparently The Human Flame is going to be one of the one of the most powerful villains in the DC Universe and is going to be a force to be reckoned with. I'll believe it when I see the reviews.

 

Here's a Palate Cleanser Link

Are you like me, sick of all the grim/darkness in the comic book industry? Then here's a link to something that will make you smile and want to go out and buy the comic book Tiny Titans. http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?aid=26072 For me, comic books need to be something fun and let you escape from the real world; not something that drags you down deeper into a funk that might make you worse off than you are now. That is why I'm still going to be picking up two of my regular series, Justice League of America and Booster Gold, while changing the rest to Johnny DC, Marvel Adventures, and Simpsons Bongo titles. At least with some of them I won't have to worry about continuity and I already know the characters. Plus some of the stories actually seem rather funny. That's all for this month; see ya'll next month where you know I'll have something to talk about.

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