Comics: January Roundup

Couple of quick points from the comics released in the last couple weeks.

In All New X-Men #22; Bendis, Immonen, and Von Grawbadger created this moment of Iceman singing "Tricky" by Run DMC while making snow angels. It's a scene that makes me immensely happy. In fact, I think I like it so much I may get it tattooed on my neck.

For those of you who enjoy Saga as much as I do you may need to know that this week's issue was the last until May as they're taking another break on the title. But expect some cool stuff when they come back as the story will jump forward a couple years and Hazel will have grown from baby to toddler.

Last week's Hawkeye was #16. Eagle eyed readers (or Hawk eyed?) would have notice that #15 has not been released yet, so why skip an issue? According to Matt Fraction on his Tumblr David Aja's artwork to #15 was running late and so rather than push back the schedule they decided to release the already finished #16 by Annie Wu. Considering that the even numbered Hawkeyes are Kate's solo story it wouldn't effect the readers. While I agree with the decision it was a little strange for Fraction to blatantly throw Aja under the bus like that with his statement. That's comics for you though!

And finally X-Factor is back! It was only gone a couple months but it's back! I've read the first two issues and I'm waiting until the team is fully assembled before writing a detailed report. Lets just say I'm on the fence for now. But the reason why I mention them is this cover to issue #2. The X-Men have their "fast-ball special", so what do we call All New X-Factor's version?

Live at Dragon Con 2013: Thank God You're Here

Myself and the multi-talented Joseph Scrimshaw put on an improv comedy show of epic proportions at Dragon Con 2013. It featured the talents of James Urbaniak, Bill Corbett, Paul & Storm, Mike Phirman, and Phil LaMarr with special appearances by Phil Plait, Ken Plume, and Molly Lewis. Somehow we were able to fit that all star line-up into just 20 minutes. If you weren't there, fret not! Because now you can watch it in 720p (whatever that means) online! As many times as you'd like.

Bit of a warning, there were some problems with the audio on the night so you might have issues with it in patches but hopefully not enough to take-away from the show.

Video Credits:-
Directed by Jon Boutelle
Filmed by The Unique Geeks
Edited by Aaron Poole

Aaron's WWEport - Rumble Reaction (w/ Lance Storm)

NOTE: This article was originally published by me on TheWebsiteofDOOM.com

Last night saw a rather vicious reaction from the fans towards the rather disappointing Royal Rumble. Even some WWE related pros commented with Jim Ross declaring that not much worked after the first match, Mick Foley threatening to throw a brick through his TV, and even Daniel Bryan himself saying that he hopes the company men start listening to the fans. The fans themselves were slightly more scathing in their opinion. I was included in that angry mob but this morning I've had a bit of time to think about it and, while I still feel let down, I think I can state more clearly my reasons why thanks to Lance Storm.

For those who might be a bit too young to remember, Lance Storm was a great wrestler for WWE, WCW, and ECW. He's also a wrestling teacher and is highly respected in the industry. He was more pragmatic about what went wrong and what the fans might be able to do to really sway opinion with the backstage men of WWE.





This is very true. But while we did get exactly what was promoted I think that's also the problem. Everything about the night was entirely predictable. The beauty in wrestling is when we get something surprising. I often cite CM Punk/Cena from Money In The Bank 2011 as a perfect example of wrestling at it's finest. The crowd were going crazy and we got a surprise ending that was also extremely satisfying with the story. It was the perfect storm (no pun intended). The Rumble last night had the potential for the same. If Daniel Bryan came out at #30 and won, the crowd would have lost their minds. It would have been a surprise even with the amount of people hoping for it. It goes down as a lost opportunity and I think the mundane, predictable nature of the Rumble in the end reminded people of just how boring and unsatisfying predictability is.

The Drive-In of DOOM - Daredevil

January's Drive-In is the much maligned but not-as-bad-as-everyone-thinks Daredevil.

Ben Affleck has gone on record multiple times about his dislike of this film. I think he's just disappointed that it wasn't the film it could have been. It's the possibilities that make you angry because it could have so easily been much better.

Listen as JJ and I discuss casting, visual choices, and the irrepressible performance of Colin Farrell while watching the movie.

To listen CLICK HERE or to download directly CLICK HERE.

TDMTLTUT: Minder

The late 70s/early 80s was a golden time for TV show theme tunes. They always managed to get something catchy to match the show-encompasing montages at the start of every episode. Take Minder for an example. Over a minute of every episode was dedicated to this sequence and while most TV producers would think that's time wasting these days, it helped ingrain the show into the minds of everyone who watched it.

Weekend Justice #200: Live @ Dragon Con 2013

And the videos keep on coming! This took me way longer to edit than I'd care to mention but it's here now for your viewing pleasure. A highlights package from the marathon 3 hour Weekend Justice panel. 

Credits:
Shot by The Unique Geeks
Directed by Jon Boutelle
Edited by Aaron Fever

Weekend Justice #208: Christmas on Trenzalore, Labor Day on Alderaan

Weekend Justice is back! And for once, I was actually free to join them. With so much good TV over the Christmas break it was a good one to get in on too.

This week features (along with myself) Widge, Jon, Rox, Scott, Kim, Tuffley, and Rob. We talk about such things as:

Lovecraft in art class, could try harder

Sadistic Hangman

Tom Green, semi-famous hobo

Testosterone smoothies

Aaron's search terms

The Blacklist, actually good

SHIELD (SPOILERS)

Ant-Man casting

Non-talking about Sherlock

Doctor Who (SPOILERS)

A year of Capaldi

The Musketeer desk!

Rob's Her review

To listen CLICK HERE or to download directly CLICK HERE.

Tease Me, Baby! - How To Train Your Dragon 2

NOTE: The article was originally published by me on TheWebsiteOfDOOM.com

How To Train Your Dragon was a surprise film for me. Looking back, I genuinely don't know why I had such low expectations going into it but I was definitely won over by a charming and heart-felt film. I didn't expect a sequel but I guess you can never rule one out these days.

The official full length trailer was released on the 20th of December which is really an awkward time if you want it to be seen by the most amount of eyes possible. I think it snook past most people's attention during the busy holiday period. I hope to rectify that problem today.

All the original cast returns - and what a cast: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig - as does the director Dean DeBlois who has also written the screenplay this time around (while having a writing credit on the first film he did not write the screenplay itself).

Weekend Justice: The 2013 Year-End Edition

Every year the wonderful Widge of NeedCoffee.com gathers all the clippings from the Weekend Justice cutting room floor to provide you with an out-take show par excellence. The beauty of Weekend Justice is that the out-take show is almost indistinguishable from the normal show itself as it's all just out-of-context ramblings that has no connection from one conversation to the next anyway.

So have a listen and remember the good-times with myself, Widge, Jon, Rox, Kim, Tuffley, Rob, Scott, Serv, Leigh, JJ, and the soundboard.

To listen CLICK HERE or to download directly CLICK HERE.

Comics: Black Science

2013 was my year of reviewing every single comic I bought and while I enjoyed the experience it was extremely time consuming. This year I'm hoping to get a lot of projects done but most of them will be offline and I'll let you know about them as we go along. So what happens to my comic articles? They will be a little more general from here on in. I'll still talk about what I'm reading and lots of general thoughts but the format will be a little looser. For example this week I want to talk about a comic I was introduced to called Black Science.

Dragon Con 2013: The Relaxation Game

More video from Dragon Con that I've edited together for your eyeballs. This is a fun game we played at the Need Coffee Show of Shows and there are plenty more videos from that event to come in the future too (it was a 4 hour show).

My Favourite Things: December 2013

NOTE: The follow article was originally published by me on ASiteCalledFRED.com

My monthly run down of what I enjoyed online continues!

1) Macaulay Culkin Eating a Slice of Pizza

If you didn't know, Macaulay Culkin has a coverband called The Pizza Underground and they rewrite Velvet Underground songs to make them about pizza. In a weird way, it's kind of genius.

As most people know, Andy Warhol was heavily involved in The Velvet Underground so to honour this Macaulay has immitated Warhol's "eating a burger" video and eats a pizza. It's a second-by-second remake and to prove it here is a side-by-side video.

Listen, I know this is probably the dumbest thing you'll see in your life but it's 4 minutes of Kevin McAllister from Home Alone eating a pizza. Dare you not watch it?

Comics: 31st December 2013

We made it! The last releases of 2013! It's been a long year but I've now managed to write something about every single comic book I've read over the 365 days. Bloody hell.

- New Avengers #13

- Written by Jonathan Hickman

- Art by Simone Bianchi

Hickman roots through his Fantastic Four bag of tricks for this story as he brings back one of Reed Richards' inventions from his run on the series.

The team use The Bridge to look at another universe to see how they're handling the apocalyptic incidents. The problem is that what they see is pretty damn scary.

Hickman has been piling on the doom with New Avengers since issue one and yet somehow he has managed to make things even worse in this issue. It's gotten to the point now that if this title doesn't end with everyone, everywhere, dying a horrific death I'll feel a little short changed.

Just kill everyone already!

- The Manhattan Projects #17
- Written by Jonathan Hickman
- Art by Nick Pitarra

Joseph Oppenheimer is holding our team of super scientists hostage as he tries to take control of The Manhattan Projects proper. General Leslie Groves is being injected with a coctail of drugs by Oppenheimer as he milks him for information. All the while a genetically enhanced alien, who was captured by Albert Einstein and Richard Feynman, is roaming the space station and killing everything in its path.

If that isn't the type of story you'd be interested in, I don't think we can be friends.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that despite all the big work Hickman has done with Marvel this year, this is still his best title at the moment. That's for a number of reasons but I think it's the one title that's most within his wheelhouse. Hopefully he can find a better groove in his Avengers work next year.