Two for two! But there will be an interuption next week while the family is going to be in Detroit. This week, comics!

And more attention for a shorter stack!

Captain America 607- Baron Zemo continues his assault on WinterCap (BuckyCap doesn't seem right to me, too diminutive), trying to strip his confidence while working towards confrontation. Enjoyable, as all of Brubaker's Cap run has been, but it's starting to feel like plate spinning. Come 2011, Steve Rodgers will be Captain America again. The question then becomes how much mileage can you get out of WinterCap before that time.

Abe Sapien: The Abyssal Plain 1- Kind of disappointing. All the parts are there; Mignola and Arcudi on story, the grossly underappreciated Peter Snejbjerg on art, Hellboy/BPRD related, but to quote Elvis Costello, there's no action. It's the same story as the Drowning and Drums of the Dead. Inexperienced Abe gets in trouble, next issue he get's out, Hellboy or Prof. Broom cameo, the end. I hope for more next month.

JSA 40- A fair wrap to Willingham's 4th Reich story, but can't we move past Nazis yet? And while the whole thing with Obsidian teasing his dad, the original Green Lantern, about being "cured of his gay" was kind of funny, I can see some not appreciating it. Merino did a great job with the shock of the elder JSAers in that sequence, especially after the "No, not really. I'm still gay" from Obsidian. I'll stick around for the JLA crossover with Mark Bagely's art, but my time here may be done.

JLA 46- Speaking of which, aside from the art, this thing was teflon to me. Nothing stuck. I'll have to try reading it again. Bagely does seem to be 'getting' the DCU more and more with each issue. So that's cool.

Secret Avengers 2- Interesting work here, with a number of nice character touches, like Rhodey being harder on the new Ant-Man because of his friendship with Scott Lang, way back when. Still too little info on the big mystery to get really excited, but enough juice to get me to come back next month.

The Flash 3- Getting better. I'm a lot cooler on the return of Barry Allen than most, but still am enjoying the build on this story. A little too obviously laying pipe for Flashpoint, but the Renegades, time traveling Rogue-based cops, are interesting and the inevitable battle with the Roues will be a sight to see. Francis Manipulis doing some very, very nice work here.

Green Lantern 55- More intriguing than the mysteries in the Flash is the hook in post-Blackest Night Green Lantern; Who is hunting the Entities that power the various Corps? And the thought of the various Emo-ties getting avatars like Ion and Paralax will be cool to see. The advertized battle between Lobo and Atrocitus had it's moments, especially under Doug Manke's capable hands, but the mystery is where it's at. The return of Larfleeze next month means hi-jinks will ensue.

And lastly, Best of the Week: Invincible 73- Robert Kirkman, from time to time, likes to throw a densely plotted book at the reader and have them chew over three or four months of story in a single book. To do that in the middle of your big game changing, story so far climax event takes supreme confidence. And it works so well! We touch on all aspects of The Viltrumite War in a single issue; Mark (Invincible)'s recovery from his battle with Conquest, Oliver and Nolan (his brother and father) getting to know each other over the months of his recovery, the progress of the war with Allen the Alien and Tech Jacket and the other allies the team had gathered. Everything works, right up to the cliffhanger ending. It's long form storytelling at it's finest. And it is absolutely beautifully drawn. I don't know what sort of deal Kirkman made with series artist Ryan Ottely to keep him from running to Marvel or DC, but every penny is worth it. Over the course of his work on Invincible, he has grown tremendously, yet still is refining his craft. There are a lot of little gestural things throughout this book that grabbed me. Fine, fine work guys. I can't wait for 74, let alone 75.

And that's it! See you all in two weeks for a two-fer. Have a great 4th!

Jay

Related posts:

1. Review: Wrongrobot’s Comics Round-Up March 2010
2. Green Lantern: Rebirth #5
3. Comics Pull List for 2006

Oh, this gave me the joys. THE JOYS! I love old 3S and I LOVE the maps. This really hit it on the head for me, I say. My buddy Monkeybites loves them also. In fact, this very image is his own lower back tattoo!

http://www.neatorama.com/2010/06/26/thr ... rtography/

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1. Ambigram Inkery
2. Wrong: Grilled Cheese Burger
3. The Hipster Cycle

Here's Mickey.
Made of bugs.

I post this because of the clever use of negative space.

http://www.neatorama.com/2010/06/25/mic ... e-in-bugs/

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1. mickey rourke talks (russian, and) IM2
2. TRDL/R3 sightings — mickey-THREES
3. oscar addendum : why mickey rourke REALLY lost

Now, I don't find this inherently wrong. I love cheese. I love grilled cheese. I love burgers. I love cheeseburger meat.

I think it's just the concept that there's such a market for these beasts that worries me. It's one thing to cook it up at home after a few bowls, but srsly, picking this up on your lunch break? Lethal.

http://www.neatorama.com/2010/06/22/big ... urgermelt/

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1. Wrong: Taco Bell Cheesy Double Beef Burrito In Sausage Log
2. Wrong: Bacon Cheeseturtle
3. Wrong: Pizza Burger

Today's Does Not Compute selection comes in the form of hypertext printed in the newspaper. I kind of hope people write-in to complain.

http://www.neatorama.com/2010/06/22/click-here/

Related posts:

1. Rush Hour Puppet Shows
2. The Hipster Cycle
3. Ambigram Inkery

Yeah, I want to know how young a child can be, to be taught to crochet, and specifically, to crochet CHAIR.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47601086/pe ... mi-pattern via Neatorama

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1. These ARE The Caps You Are Looking For
2. giant cardboard robot arms
3. Crochet Yourself Into Madness

I just couldn't label it wrong, even though I'm that sort of weirdo that likes to keep my eggs and bacon thoroughly separated from the pancakes.

http://www.neatorama.com/2010/06/21/bacon-pancakes/

Related posts:

1. Wrong: Taco Bell Cheesy Double Beef Burrito In Sausage Log
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3. plush bacon

in what's shaping up to be the least entertaining NEWS in human history, that grrl from the transformers movie and that guy who thinks he's black got married.

you know how celebrity couples mash their names together to get a new, couple-y name? like brangelina? these two are so boring, when you mash their names up you get "brian" or "megan." i'm not even halfway joking when i say it's more exciting to try and open the lid of the recycling bin with a bag in each hand.

Related posts:

1. Michael Bay is a bit of a d-bag
2. everyone hates megan fox
3. Megan Fox Ain’t Having Any of This Eva Mendes Business

often times, especially when i see a movie in the theatre, my reaction to it is far more emotionally-charged than it might be if i'd watched the movie at home. this is a combination of the crowd around me, the fact that i paid $12 to see it (plus another $12 for 2 hot dogs and a pop), or maybe that i wouldn't even BE in the theatre if it weren't for SUPER high expectations.

as a result, i've tried to institute a policy over the last several years of giving a second home-viewing to movies that brought me to red-faced rage in the theatre. at home, i'm not subconsciously affected by a crowd, the food is free, the movie's free, and i'm usually way, WAY more stoned and mellow. hahaha!!!

take my INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL review, for instance. or as i called it at the time, "indiana jones and the suckdom of the crystal ass." re-watching the movie last night, i found myself feeling some of the same stinging pangs of disappointment, but NONE of the rage and hatred and feelings of violation. and while i wouldn't say that i loved it, i can definitely say that i enjoyed it, and that perhaps more importantly, i GET it now. let me elaborate...

in the indiana jones mythos, jones is almost exclusively chasing something spiritual (barring the opening sequences, of course). the ark, the stones, and the grail were the first three things. and while the two most successful of the movies dealt with strictly christian religious artifacts, ToD's stones WERE a spiritual object. so in this movie, the crystal skull, and what it was, and what it represented actually DID fit into the mythos. it wasn't a perfect fit, and at times felt super hamfisted and forced, but i think that was less of a change to the dynamic of the series (as i originally thought), and more of an exploration of "where else can we go?" so while it brought instances of WTF along the way, i respectfully withdraw my initial thoughts of the quest feeling out of place in the continuity of the series.

the first time round, i had a big issue with one of the action sequences -- when the amphibious vehicle dropped down the three waterfalls, to be specific. my suspension of disbelief took a real beating with that sequence, as i kept remembering all the action sequences in the previous movies as being outlandish without violating the verisimilitude. well, i was wrong. as i watched the film again last night, i realized that that sequence was no more outlandish than indy, willie, and short round falling out of the sky in an inflatable raft, 1000 feet to the mountainside, and then sliding off the cliff and falling another several hundred feet to the river below. both of those scenes (and several others across the series) were just good old-fashioned over-the-top action sequences, and in fact were perfectly in line with the whole idea of indiana being an everyman tough-guy, from the time when men were men and all that. so i also respectfully withdraw my initial opinion that that particular sequence violated the suspension of disbelief established across the rest of the series.

i also originally felt that the inherent character of jones was changed a bit, and i specifically noted the instance in which he started to grave-rob the mummified conquistador. well, i was just flat-out wrong about that. as i watched this movie again, i suddenly remembered jones crashing headlong through ALL of his adventures, leaving history overturned in his wake. remember in tLC when he was under venice and flipped the knight's coffin over, dumping out the remains and using the air trapped underneath to survive? that was actually MORE disrespectful to the artifact than the scene i initially despised so much in KotCS. so again. respectful withdraw of my initial opinion that the character of jones was changed in any way. in fact, i have to say, indiana jones may have been more fleshed-out in KotCS than in any other movie. as an older man, you got to see how his life up to that point had shaped and defined him. you got to see him fighting against his own age and constructed belief paradigm and a whole shit-ton of other things that actually SOLIDIFIED the character. a quick-thinker who's hungry for knowledge and adventure and just keeps going and going, despite seemingly insurmountable odds.

i'm still only BARELY tolerant of the refrigerator scene, and i choose not to believe that the monkey vine scene even happened, but really, if that's all i can take out of it that's a scathing negative, then this movie still isn't as bad as ToD.

i also still have a point of contention with marion's character. i kept watching her in this movie and remembering her against her original appearance in RotLA, and i simply can NOT see the parallel. in RotLA, marion was a fucking BADASS. she didn't take no shit from no suckas, and she was hard as nails without losing femininity. that's a tough balance to strike, and i know that her age and the fact that she has a kid now contributed to her mellowing out a bit, but i kept watching her and thinking "where the hell is the fire?" it was a huge disappointment.

one thing i didn't really do in my initial review was to note any of the really GOOD scenes in the movie, and that was a mistake. one thing in particular that was exceptional in KotCS was, specifically, the opening chase through area 51. that was VINTAGE indiana jones. all whip-cracks and fists, bullets and kicks, humour and action. i LOVE that scene. all the way up to the refrigerator. i also quite liked the car chase through the jungle. all the way up to the monkey vines. AND i particularly enjoyed the two scenes in which jones was crawling through spider-laden tunnels under the ground, searching for artifacts or pieces of the bigger puzzle. again, VERY classic indiana jones.

in the end, i'm significantly raising my review of this movie to a 7/10 CLANKS! i really enjoyed myself watching this last night. it was fun and outlandish, funny and action-packed, and jones was really entertaining to watch as an older dude. there were a few too many characters in it, a little too much CGI, and two scenes in particular that were just untenable, but in the end, it wasn't as awful as i originally thought.

Related posts:

1. indiana jones and the suckdom of the crystal ass – UPDATED
2. indiana jones and the temple of doom
3. MI:III

OK, so this is a very clever micro-film purporting the strengths of Java over.net as a developer system for net frameworks. But it's also a great satire on the predictability and formulaic nature of film, particularly indie film darlings, trailer construction. It's clever as HELL. I love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzza-ZbE ... r_embedded

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1. The Fantastic Mr. Fox Trailer
2. Goat Bridge Activated
3. A History of Macs in 2 Minutes

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