v for venture

I likes my independence.

V FoR VenturE

I want a perfect man.

V for Venture

Oscelot powers! Gee Whiz! 

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v for venture

Super villain brain storming, genius. 

V FOR VENTURE

I wanna be a famous lion tamer. 

V for Venture

Night court was huge at the time. I miss night court. 

sorry

I apologize for the delayed absence. Financial woes have kept me from the comic shop, along with the beginning of the school year and simply trying to figure out my schedule. The only reason you've been seeing venture clips is because I automated them like a month ago. I have a lot to discuss. I have like 3 movie reviews left to type up, some graphic novel reviews of: the dark knight returns(didn't like it), the dark knight strikes again(liked it surprisingly), batman year one(loved it), superman: red son(liked it), and infinite crisis the hardcover edition(undecided as of now).

v for venture

I wish I had a robot like H.E.L.P.E.R.

Don't you?

ThE rEaD pIlE - 9/04/08

DETECTIVE COMICS #848 - I'm greatly enjoying the heart of Hush. Dini has a good handle on the character and it bothers me how much people hate Hush. He's not that bad of a villain.

TRINITY #14 - This series is kicking ass. I like the new characters they've added and I like the way they give the Multiverse more depth. 

HOUSE OF MYSTERY #5 - I was going to drop it but I think a series like this needs twelve issues to figure out what it will be in the future.  

EL DIABLO #1 (OF 6) - This looks promising. 

FRINGE #1 (OF 6) - This is based on the tv show let's see if it's worth a crap.

JONAH HEX #35 - Pick it up. 

GREEN LANTERN #34 - This is the book I'm most excited to read this week. 

VENOM DARK ORIGIN #2 (OF 5) - First issue was good, don;t know if I like the characterization of Brock as a liar, but let's see how they elaborate on this theme.

TWELVE 1/2 - Ooh the Fiery Mask. 

SECRET SIX #1 - I've read all the past Secret six since Villains United. I don;t know if this book will really be all that interesting but I'll give this issue a shot. 

TOR #5 (OF 6) - Still haven;t read 1-4 but I will.

TITANS #4 - It seems like this book has taken forever to arrive. 

V FoR vENTURE

Grover Cleveland's Presidential Time Machine. What a beautiful string of words?

Pick up Jonah Hex number 34

This is the first page of JONAH HEX #34. Which boldly tells of an attempt by Hex to quit bounty hunting and killing. To live a life of peace and tranquility.  This story really defines Hex. It touches upon his relationship with his father, and shows the way Hex deals with women. 

Watching Hex flirt and turn away some one who is kind to him for fear of losing them or being dragged into combat. Palmiotti and Gray have become masters at plotting these Hex stories and Mark Sparacio draws a beautiful comic.

He is especially good at drawing beautiful busty women. However, he does it with class and a sense of period. Despite the beauty of his women it never feels like he's exploiting them or being salacious.

Of course things go bad for Hex and his would be girlfriend. 

Which allows Sparacio to show off his skill at drawing emotion. He really pulls great performances out of all the characters. This is quite possibly one of the best issues of the series.

Hex saves the day as per usual in his own special Hex way.

If you don't read this book I highly recommend it It's by far one of DC's most consistently good books and it's always one and done. 

I wonder if Palmiotti and Gray's run will go down as an all time classic run?

V FOR Venture

"Walter Melon" will be my new alias.

the read pile - 8/28/08

DC UNIVERSE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT - I'm excited about this. I am a Meltzer fan. Not sure I totally understand the cover. Who is superman sharing a face with?

BLUE BEETLE #30 - I like this border opatrol story, it fits his characer and it can really go places.

REIGN IN HELL #2(OF 8) - If this issue sucks I'm dropping it. 

WOLVERINE #68 - This book is great, I think it'll be a classic.

SKAAR SON OF HULK #3 - This is working for me.

FAMILY DYNAMIC #1(OF 3) - I'll give it a chance, is this original?

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #18 - Uh-oh. I don't like the look of that cover.

X-MEN LEGACY #215 - This book always ends strong and doesn't deliver, I'm going to drop it and save money.

FINAL CRISIS ROGUES REVENGE #2(OF 3) - I like this book but the plot to this. Making Inertia the new Kid Flash, and Johns's Legion of Three Worlds redeeming Superboy prime. It feels like Johns is recycling Ideas a bit. 

FINAL CRISIS SUPERMAN BEYOND #1(OF 2)-Not sure what to expect out of a two issue mini.

STAR TREK YEAR FOUR ENTERPRISE EXPERIMENT #5 - Great book, strong art, good writing, and the story feels dense and rich.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #18 - Johns you are all over this week.

WOLVERINE FIRST CLASS #6 - Love this cover.

NEW AVENGERS #44 - Secret Invasion sucks. This issue promises some big reveal. I predict it'll be lame.

KICK ASS #4 - It seems like this book never comes out. Is it shipping late or on a bi-monthly schedule?

MIGHTY AVENGERS #17 -  Meh.

SUPERMAN #679 - Robinson isn't doing to bad.

TEEN TITANS#62 - Finally lets build up some of these new characters please.

TRINITY #13 - I love this book. Is it going to go a full year?

Good or bad?

Kid Devil is now Red Devil.

 

Is this good or bad? 

Also, is the new costume an upgrade or downgrade?

moment of weakness

Wish this was real?

I wish...

This is a new fixture I've just invented I call it.

I wish...

...that this was the current Fantastic Four.

This is probably my favorite what if story ever simply because it opens up so many story telling opportunities. I mean you consolidate the Spiderman villains, Wolverine's villains, Hulk's enemies, Ghost Rider's enemies and the Fantastic Fours. Imagine all the crazy villain team ups and teams you can do. Plus it would make the Fantastic Four the thing it was meant to be, be the rival to Justice League. Stan Lee says he invented the Fantastic Four because his boss told him to write a team book because JLA was selling well. This could be Marvels JLA forget the Avengers(Iron Man is a dick!).

If you haven't pick up this issue do so. This team works well because Ben Grimm approves of it. Heck if this were a real book I would make Grimm their dispatch guy, who manages their home, and makes sure they stay organized. 

It's also interesting how these four fit with the old four. Wolverine has the toughness of the Thing, and the power level of Sue Storm. Spidey has sort of Johnny Storm's wise cracking, and Mr. Fantastic's trapping ability and fluidness thanks to his webs. The Hulk has things clobberin and monster aspects, with Reed Richard types of smarts. Ghost Rider has Johnny Storms flaming nature, and rebelliousness.

Track down this book it's worth every penny. Here's a little two page spalsh to entice you. 

Oh and this is the last work of the much beloved Mike Wierengo who I'm sure you've been seeing around DC and Marvel as they have cleared up advertisement space to honor him.

V FoR VENture

Do not dabble in super villainy kids.

Marvel Super Heroes = Celbrities?

Comic By Comic has a great post about celebing up the Marvel Universe. Check it out then return for my two cents.

I totallly agree with all of Rich's points, he's got the archetypes right and it's interesting that this really can't work on a total universe wide scale with DC like it could with marvel. Marvel comics has always had the aspect to its universe that there is a public at large and it may not fall in love with superheroes the way that they do in Metropolis.

The best example of using celbrity in superhero comics is Peter Milligan and Mike Allred's X-Statix. Which as I have said before is one of my favorite comic runs ever. This book really looks at the superhero life as more celebrity driven than heroic.

What no one ever talks about though is the celebrity associated with villainy. How would the world deal with some one like the Shocker or Rhino as a role model for troubled youth? Would Hank Pym go on the surreal life? Does America still root for Moon Knight after 9/11? Hasn't there also been some super hero story lines based around superhero paparazzi? Wow this post sucks I ended up rambling alot. Rich is a lot better than me.

6 reasons to LOVE Tropic Thunder

I saw a double feature of war movies this Sunday. Back to back Tropic Thunder and Star Wars The Clone Wars. I enjoyed them both so here are my thoughts.

TROPIC THUNDER!!!

6. Unconventional Casting - You've probably already heard about Tom Cruise being in the film. He is, and he is funny. I don't want to spoil it for you but Stiller really has a great eye for casting and this decision is inspired. Mathew McConaghey is in the flick also and he is funny as ever. His agent would fit perfectly in the world of HBO's Entourage. I'd love to see a Pecker Gold buddy agent flick. 

 

5. Tugg "Tuggernuts" Speedman - Stiller's action movie hero would fit in perfectly with Derek Zoolander. Speedman isn't smart, but he looks awesome with shit blowing up behind him. Stiller spends half the flick acting like a mentally handicapped person. I don't really understand how people are offended by this. It's not done with negativity it is simply a little bit of politically incorrect comedy. 

4. The Presentation - The film opens with a fake drink commercial starring one of the stars of the fake film in Tropic Thunder Alpa Chino. This fake advertisement is hilarious and surreal because for the length of it your not sure if this ridiculousness is actually real or not. It's then followed by fake trailers for Stiller, Black, and Downey Jr.'s characters. It's genius even though it looked a lot more realistic when Tarantino and Rodrigues did it in Grindhouse.  Also this film succeeds where Pineapple Express failed it delivered fun unique interesting and large scale action and mixed it effectively with comedy.

3&2. Jeff Portnoy and Kirk Lazarus - The performance everyone talks about at the end of this movie is usually about Robert Downey Jr.'s awesome performance. In fact, my favorite line in the film comes from Downey. This is really his summer between Iron Man and this Downey is at the top of Hollywood. 

I love Jack Black Nacho Libre is one of the funniest movies ever as far as I'm concerned. Black's performance is really over shadowed. He spends half the movie strung out and in withdrawal spouting insane statements, and screaming his head off. The character he plays in the film although understated is that sort of tough talking city guy in every war movie. 

 

1. The Ensemble - This group of actors together really works well. It almost feels like the comedy version of Ocean's Eleven. The character's play well off of each other and watching them go in and out of their characters is hilarious. Danny McBride also kicks ass in this flick as a pyromaniac special effects guy. Nolte also owns as a Vietnam Vet.

  

Each character is clearly defined and has a lot more comedy to mine. I would be all for Tropic Thunder 2, with a maybe a bigger more diverse cast  possible collaborators Dave Chappelle, Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Chris Rock, Dane Cook, Bill Murray, etc.

 

Changes

For thos of you who haven't seen Pulp Secrets last episode of the stack.  The Stack is nor more. As you know I'm a big fan of The Stack, but I'm not distraught. Alex, Justin, and Pete are still talking comics on youtube. Hopefully they keep this up for a long time to come and get a new site up and running soon. So subscribe to them. 

ThE ReAd PiLe - 8/20/08

I'm trying to save money on comics so I'm trying to stick to ten books a week. Let's see how that works out. 

FINAL CRISIS LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1(OF 5) - Johns is the best. I'm really excited for this. I wonder how this really plays into Final Crisis. 

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #24 - I like the cover and hopefully after this arch the JLA can stretch it's wings and move on from Meltzer's plots.

DC WILDSTORM DREAM WAR #5(OF 6) - This isn't working for me it feels weird and it doesn't feel like anything of importance has happened. In fact there isn't even any cool crossover moments since the first issue. 

TRINITY #12 - I love this cover. Makes me wanna say Fuck Yeah!

IRON FIST ORIGIN OF DANNY RAND - Iron Fist is the best book marvel has as far as I;m concerned. Anyone disagree?

TANGENT SUPERMAN'S REIGN #6(OF 6) - I like this comic, I don't love it. Read it if you gto money to blow but by no means a must read. 

MARVEL 1985 #4(OF 6) - I wish this book had more action.

BRAVE AND THE BOLD #16 - Superman Catwoman team up odd pairing usually these odd pairing s work at well. I'm curious to see how this plays out. 

TRUE BELIEVERS #2(OF 5) - I liked the first issue enough to pick it up again. That speaks for itself. Also what a good cover.

YOUNG X-MEN #5 - This book sucks. Bring back the New X-men!