Where I talk about Marvel movies, getting behind but being ok with it, organizing, and Free Comic Book Day.

Mar didn't have to work over the weekend so we just spent time together reading, eating, and last night started watching Marvel movies leading up to the Avengers. That meant I had a great weekend but I didn't get a chance to do much of anything else; which I'm fine with that because the woman I love is the most important thing in my life and no matter what these types of simple weekends, you can't take them back from me, because they mean that much.

We watched Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk last night. Still love Iron Man so much but I'll say something here that I've argued with friends over and over about this point- The Incredible Hulk wasn't a terrible movie. What it was, was a movie that didn't need to be made. It felt when it came out and still feels like they made largely the same movie as the first one. The only real purpose this movie had was to fit in references that would tie into the other Marvel movie line. People say Wolverine Origins and Captain America were made to tie in, and I disagree those movies stood on their own, but I will say the only purpose whatsoever for The Incredible Hulk was a look ahead to the future and the Avengers movie.

Oh, and my favorite between the Hulk and the Incredible Hulk was the Hulk. At least Ang Lee saw that a Hulk movie needed something different in its look or it was just going to be a lazy in story boring action film. Hulk has and always will be a better fit as a TV show. Hell, if you write well crafted stories the Hulk wouldn't even have to be in every episode. Bruce Banner as a character is a very interesting one but with a big blockbuster movie people want blockbuster payout and unless you turn it into a disaster film, which I think is the only way to go with a Hulk movie, then you will fail.

I didn't even open my laptop over the weekend. I needed to get away from the computer and writing so bad that being away felt so great because when I picked up a notebook to write for a few minutes last night after Mar went to bed it was a glorious feeling. You just need to step back sometimes. But with that having been said I still need another day or two to finish off Chaos Read #5 which was due to release today. I hate missing deadlines. I'm sorry to anyone who was waiting to read it today. I'll have that ready to upload by the end of the week for sure.

On to more serious subjects, I didn't play Madden 11 Sunday so no Monday Madden 11 update on my team the Richmond Bulldawgs. I'll play their third pre-season game this coming Sunday and update on the following Monday.

Sometimes even if it makes more work for you later you need to step away from things before said weaknesses in said things that are a huge part of your life drive you off the cliff you may have been standing near. Stated with more clarity- My stupid was getting the best of me.

This week for me will mainly be filled with finishing up Chaos Read and trying to get our apartment organized. I need to get my writing area streamlined. To actually use the filing cabinet we have will be a good start. To organize my reference materials. Then after I get my stuff straight I will tackle Mar's crafting area and then the rest of the apartment. Need to get these tasks started to see what I need to do more in the future to keep us from almost drowning in our own mess.

Again no regrets on taking a weekend off from everything but I am behind now. I hope to get the chance go to Free Comic Book Day at my local comic shop Famous Faces And Funnies. They always have a great FCBD but even if I can't attend the day I'm going to head there a day or two after to pick up some trades I've been looking forward to reading. And always remember your local comic shop pays for those "free comics", they don't get them for free; so make sure when you attend the event to buy something.

I do know one thing about this week I'm going to see the Avengers because even though it might be tough for me to miss one of my favorite holidays, FCBD, I'm  not going to miss something I'm been waiting for all my life.

*throws up geek gang sign*

I wanted to write a really short blog update today. That sure didn't happen.

And as always here are some of the places you can find me online:

CHAOS READ: Bimonthly Short Story Series.You Pick The Price!

TIN UNIVERSE: Bimonthly Short Story Series.$0.99USD

Facebook

Twitter

Smashwords Store

Where I talk about Marvel movies, getting behind but being ok with it, organizing, and Free Comic Book Day.

KIRKMANS RULES

I was talking about this earlier today with people on Twitter. Remember a few years ago when Robert Kirkman went on his little rant after becoming one of the heads at Image, his rant about how creators should never work for Marvel or DC and are basically a discredit to the industry by not self-publishing? Remember that. At the time I said he was a douche because just as its easy for creators who've made their cash say piracy is ok its easy for him to say that about work for big publishers. But today a thought hit me when it was announced AMC is going to produce another of his series. Why isn't Mr. Independent independently self-producing his own shows? Just saying.

C.

KIRKMANS RULES

REVIEW: SILVER SURFER - IN THY NAME

Marvel Comics

Written by SIMON SPURRIER

Art by TAN ENG HUAT

Color Art by JOSE VILLARRUBIA

Letters by VIRTUAL CALLIGRAPHY’S CORY PETIT

Covers by MICHAEL TURNER & PETER STEIGERWALD, GABRIELE DELL’OTTO, PAUL POPE & JOSE VILLARRUBIA, and TAN ENG HUAT & JOSE VILLARRUBIA

Editor AUBREY SITTERSON

So many people know of the Silver Surfer but I feel not enough people know how great of a character he is really is. In my eyes he is one of the top Marvel characters of all time. I haven’t been the biggest fan of outer space superhero comics but I do love reading Silver Surfer self contained stories every chance I get. I think that format of comic story telling works for the Surfer.  With the setting of a monthly ongoing series I think the shine of how unique of a character he really is falls off the board because most writers have a good Surfer story in them but most do not get the character enough to keep telling his stories on a regular basis.

Pun tried above.

Pun failure above.

And if you might ask me what outer space superhero comics I have enjoyed, off the top of my head I’ll mention The Annihilation stories at Marvel and Green Lantern stories at DC. There are many more but maybe that will have to wait until maybe a day when I have time to explore it more in depth in a blog entry.

I found Silver Surfer: In Thy Name at one of my local libraries on a random trip and took it home with a stack of books not thinking much about until I picked it up one day to read between editing one of my own stories and watching the MLS All-Star game.

When I started it the first thing I noticed was how much I loved the art of Tan Eng Huat and the color work by Jose Villarrubia. I think more than any other kind of story in comics a colorist makes or breaks an outer space tale.

This one once again finds the Surfer being very emo in space; which is his characters nature. He has always been a mixture of emo and hippy and when people attack that part of the character the criticism really doesn’t hit because that’s who he is. It’s like calling Tony Stark a dick. Really? Ok, yea, that’s him.

The Silver Surfer is very much a character about the very nature of life and living. Though I’ve sort of made fun of him for being by nature emo and hippified, The Silver Surfer is very complex in how in the hands of a talented team he can be used to explore such things as whether a utopia is possible and do so without jumping outside his character and standing out for being too preachy.

Like Superman the Silver Surfer is a very hard character for a lot of writers to get a hold of beyond the basics of how people see him. If you write his life an superhero then you are already going down the wrong track.

In the world of Marvel’s outer space stories he should be the key, just as Green Lantern is with DC Comics.

That’s doesn’t mean that they should always be the focal point of outer space adventures but they should be used to expand and tour that side of these universes.

The Silver Surfer can go head to head with the most powerful beings and situations the Marvel Universe can offer up against him but he is also such a human character that he never gets lost in seeing the very nature of not only life but living. And in being this way he should be one of the best characters Marvel has but it seems like so many has a hard time writing his outside of just making him a measurement of how powerful other characters are.

Silver Surfer: In Thy Name is great story whether you have read any Surfer stories in the past or if this is your introduction to the character. This book has great art without so much energy and life to it. The story goes into the deep lines of life that all stories involving the Silver Surfer should do.

And a final note. The cover to issue number 3 of the limited series is one of my all time favorite images of The Silver Surfer. Just love that and wish they had used that for the cover of the trade.

Ok, now I’m going to try that things called sleep.

SILVER SURFER: IN THY NAME

3 out of 5 Stars

REVIEW: SILVER SURFER - IN THY NAME

DARK REIGN: ACCEPT CHANGE

WRITERS

Brian Michael Bendis, Jonathan Hickman, Jeff Parkers, Adam Felber, Jim Mccann, Matt Fraction

ARTISTS

Alex Maleev, Stefano Caselli, Carolo Pagulayan, Paulo Siqueira, David Lopez, Mitch Breitweiser, Daniel Acuna, Mike Deodato

PUBLISHED BY

Marvel Comics

I know a lot of people who would and have agrued with me to the point of yelling about what I'm about to say but I've enjoyed Marvel's big crossovers from Civil War to Dark Reign and most of the tie-in books. With that said this is my first introduction to the Dark Reign storyline which follows on from Secret Invasion.

But before we get into the review I have to say $24.99 for half a book of stories and half a book of so called extras is a rip. Not a rip in bad content but a rip in God Loving Dollars. Come on Marvel, $19.00 would have been fine but $24 is just too much for a book of reprints, that a lot of fans would probably already own from other collections they have purchased, is just a case of playing games as the dealer with the addict.

Alex Maleev draws Namor like a total Douche. Just thought I would say that. Been on my mind for a while. I was thinking about saying he draws Namor like The Situation from Jersey Shore but I was told even referencing him would throw a little content Douchiness my way. I don't watch the show but I do watch TMZ while cleaning the apartment...What? I don't like Soaps and the only other thing on during the day is House reruns and I've seen all of them 800000 times already.

I enjoyed reading this trade even though I had already read some of the stuff like the issue of War Machine which is included here. Even though I think this trade is overpriced for what you get, I do think its worth adding to your collection as an introduction to the Dark Reign storyline. If you have been keeping up with all of the Marvel crossovers in trade form this should probably be in your collection also.

As I stated before I'm a big crossover fan and in the market I'm a bigger fan of Marvel's big crossovers than those by DC Comics because there seems to be a cause and effect historical move to the crossovers from one to the next with Marvel. Civial War, Planet Hulk, Secret Invasion, all in my eyes have been worth reading. Marvel doesn't always live up to the ideas they come up with but I give them a tip of the glass for trying the things they have been trying over the past few years.

Marvel keeps coming out with good core ideas, DC only has Green Lantern crossovers that have grapped my attention...and yes I consider Blackest Night a total Green Lantern crossover.

I hope I get the chance to read more Dark Reign books and isn't that what they want from a reader, to ask "I want more." and "What's next?" and "Can I sale my truck to buy all of these trades?"

Oh, and if anyone is interested my all time favorite comic book company crossover is Unity.

REVIEW WRITTEN BY brian c. williams

DARK REIGN: ACCEPT CHANGE

THE TITLE IS: Direct To My Brian

From the library yesterday came the SUPERMAN/DOOMSDAY direct to DVD animated movie. I enjoyed the movie and thought in their first one out in the direct to DVD animated movie race DC hit a better mark than Marvel did with any of theirs so far. The big thing going in for both companies was to be able to be a little more adult and for some reason Movie did not really do that even though they were clearly, at least at a point basing their stuff off their Ultimates line of books which tend to be more adult. SUPERMAN/DOOMSDAY is not...is not THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN comics. Don't go into it expecting that great story and you will enjoy the story they created. Oh, and I love the Lex in this story. More how I see him. Not since he made the city rain supermen in 52 have I enjoyed a Lex moment like I did with one that takes place within this animated movie.

Look up in the sky...wait, I'm in doors. Forget it. What the fuck is that then?
C.

(c)brian c. williams
SYSTEM*PRODUCTIONS

THE TITLE IS: Direct To My Brian