Yearly Archive: 2008

Review: ‘Dexter’ Episode #301

dexter-season-3The Crime Scene: “Our Father”
From Showtime: “[[[Dexter]]] begins to question his blind loyalty to his father’s memory. In an act of spontaneity, he wonders whether The Code of Harry is a necessity anymore. Dexter’s relationship with Rita intensifies. Angel becomes Sergeant, replacing the deceased Doakes. Dexter goes to desperate measures to cover up his latest murder, while meeting assistant district attorney Miguel Prado, who has history with Lt. LaGuerta. Meanwhile, the team discover the victim of another killer, which could just be bigger than the Bay Harbor Butcher.”

Blood Spatter Analysis

[[[The Dark Defender]]] is back, and he’s ready to kick ass and take blood samples.

Last season, blood spatter analyst cum vigilante killer Dexter Morgan nearly found himself on the wrong side of a prison cell. Sergeant James Doakes discovered that Dexter was the man behind the grizzly Bay Harbor Butcher slayings. Luckily, Dex was saved by the belle, the highly obsessive Lila, who killed Doakes to prevent Dexter from being discovered. Not so luckily for Lila, Dexter murdered the woman for killing Doakes, but not before pinning the murders on the deceased officer. With that monkey off his back, Dexter was free to resume his vendetta against Miami’s criminal underground… and resume he has!

As the third season begins, Dexter reflects upon his highly successful summer. His game has stepped up in every sense of the word. He’s back in the killing business, taking out all new bad guys and making up for lost samples with a new blood collection. He’s also upped his acting abilitiy, particularly notable when Dexter poses as a junkie to attain recon on his next victim, a murdering drug dealer named Freebo. Dexter’s social skills are at an all time high as well, both around the Miami Metro Police Department and at home with his girlfriend, Rita. In fact, Dexter’s progress as a killer might be second to his relationship progress with Rita. Let’s just say that he’s had his hands very, ah, full.

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Baltimore: Bendis Vs. Kirkman

  • News
  • September 29, 2008

Over a month ago, Robert Kirkman (Invincible, Walking Dead) posted a video mission statement on the idea that many who work at DC and Marvel are there because they do not realize that creator-owned books can provide a stable living with healthy profit and that such titles are the way to enhance the industy.

Brian Michael Bendis immediately responded by saying that things weren’t that easy and that it was irresponsible to tell people that, speaking as a man who works on many Marvel titles and has had success with his creator-owned Powers series.

The two sides of the argument have been tackled, discussed and disected across the board on message boards, in comic stores, in bars, possibly even in secret lairs hidden beneath wealthy manors.

And so, at Baltimore Comic-Con, Bendis and Kirkman met to continue their debate and elaborate on their points before an interested audience. (more…)

Kenneth Branagh in talks to direct ‘Thor’

  • News
  • September 29, 2008

In a move that may be construed as either a gift from the Gods or the coming of Ragnarok itself, Variety has announced that Kenneth Branagh is in negotiations to direct Thor for Marvel Studios. Branagh’s previous directing and acting credits include Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing. He also starred as Gilderoy Lockart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

The trade reminds us that Branagh is joining a pantheon of well established directors such as Bryan Singer, Chris Nolan and Jon Favreau that have crossed from arthouse film to big studio projects. What they aren’t emphasizing nearly enough is that Branagh is a Shakespearean actor at his core, bringing the kind of gravitas that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan lended to their roles in X-Men.

The movie has been written by Mark Protosevich basing it on the early Journey into Mystery stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby involving mortal doctor Donald Blake, who finds Mjolnir and trasnsforms into the god of Thunder. Other rumors peg Thor as an entirely mythology based film. Given that, can you imagine a Shakespeare inspired, all-out war between Norse gods? Verily, so can we!

Although no mention of whether Branagh will also star in the film, it’s a safe bet that he’ll step in front of the lens in some capacity, as he’s done several times before. It’d be a bit of a stretch to see Branagh wielding Mjolnir, but maybe he’ll step into the trickstery boots of Loki… assuming, that is, they aren’t going with the chick version. And hey, even if they are, we’ve certainly seen weirder.

Thor is the next in Marvel’s 10-picture deal with Paramount Pictures where the studio releases the films, giving Marvel Studios creative control as they self-fund from a $500 million credit line still secured by Merrill Lynch.  The first film in the deal, Iron Man, proved the deal a smart move for Paramount. Also included among the ten pictures are Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, First Avenger: Captain America, Thor and Avengers.

The film is another building block to July 2011’s Avengers film so fans can expect Easter eggs and cameos.

Baltimore: DC Q & A

  • News
  • September 29, 2008

black-lantern-corps-large-2476224Saturday morning at Baltimore Comic-Con, DC Comics held their usual DC Nation panel featuring Jimmy Palmiotti, Geoff Johns, Sterling Gates, James Robinson, Sean Mckeever and Ian Sattler. The panel was hosted by Dan Didio who actually invited a mustached fan named Brian onto the panel after he praised the weekly series Trinity. Geoff Johns complimented the same fan for being able to “rock the ‘stache.” When the same fan referred to the Green Lantern Corps as “NYPD Green”, Johns stated he would be stealing this title.

After fan Brian spoke highly of Trinity, Didio added that the main focus of the series is the great influence of the three heroes and how important they have been not only to the DCU but to the multiverse as a whole. He commented that this made the series a complete counterpoint to 52, which explored the mainstream DC Earth spending a year without the three icons. In the same vein, he clarified that the current Batman R.I.P. storyline is exploring whether or not Bruce would still operate as Batman "if you took everything away", as well as showing how his absence affects many, not just the Gotham-centric characters but also people like the Outsiders.

DC had several things to announce in terms of upcoming projects.

A few years ago, DC did a fifth-week event called "New Year’s Evil" involving several one-shots that did not relate to each other but all centered villain-centric stories. Operating on a similar note, DC will be release "Faces of Evil", a month-long project launching next spring. Each issue will be a one-shot focusing on a particular villain and the covers will be done in the same style as the recent “anti-inspirational posters” ads. Johns announced that he and artist Scott Collins would be working on a one-shot focused on Solomon Grundy. Other villains who would be focused on include Parasite and Despero. When a fan asked if any of the Rogues (from Flash) were going to have a one-shot, Johns simply said that the future of the Rogues will be set-out at the conclusion of the miniseries Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge.

Geoff Johns also added that Solomon Grundy would become a Black Lantern, though he also said the same thing of any other character mentioned during the panel who is deceased. Concerning the upcoming "war of light" stories in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps, Johns again spoke about Agent Orange, the leader of the Orange Corps dedicated to Avarice, as a major villain. He also said that the Orange oath was his favorite. Throughout the remainder of the panel, questions about seemingly dead characters usually involved Johns saying , "(Fill-in-the-Blank)’s a Black Lantern."

  (more…)

Oblivion, by Mike Gold

  • News
  • September 29, 2008

So we’re headed straight into another 1930s-style depression, or so our politicians and the media would have us believe. Maybe that’s true, although the attempted cure – the socialization of our investment bankers and the insurance industry – just might work. It’s the perfect solution in the Age of Irony: our neocon president nationalizing the very companies that control so much of our economy. Franklin Roosevelt must be rolling over in his grave.

But the real question that concerns us is – how might this affect us as comics and popular culture enthusiasts?

First, I’ll address the most obvious. If you lose your job, you will have less discretionary income and, despite our self-image, comics and movies and action figures are more discretionary than the rent, electricity and food. Even if you’re 45 years old and you live in your mother’s basement, if she’s living off of an annuity and her insurance company goes blooie, you might be cutting back on those X-Men titles.

If enough people find themselves in that position, the friendly neighborhood comics shop will go blooie as well. If enough comics shops go down, the smaller publishers (the “back of the catalog” people) will see retailers order their wares more conservatively than they did before. Some publishers will vaporize. It’ll certainly be tougher for creators to sell those more interesting yet less commercial projects.

Movies… well, that’s another matter. Movies have this rep for surviving the 30s Great Depression, but only among those who aren’t aware how many movie studios got sold, went bankrupt, or almost went bankrupt at the time. Today’s movie-going experience is a lot more expensive than it was for our grandparents. Even in constant dollars, $10.00 tickets are a lot more than 25¢ tickets… and our grandparents didn’t have to spend as much (relatively speaking) on popcorn and soda. More significant, most were able to walk to their local movie house. Today, we have to drive. Even the low, low price of $3.50 a gallon would crank the entire movie going experience up to $50.00 for a couple; more, with dinner. A movie date will cost you a cool hundred.

Television is no longer free. Sure, only a few people will need to get those digital adaptors for their rabbit-ears this February, but most of the rest of us get our fix from cable or satellite (or, in the case of my bestest friend, both cable and satellite). If food, rent, gasoline and utilities cost a family of four two grand a month or more and either one of the breadwinners is no longer winning bread, those premium channel packages are going to look real expensive.

Comics retailers order their stuff from Diamond on a non-returnable basis and, literally, bet the rent each month on their order form. They will have to be even more conservative. They’ve already been ordering what they know will sell; now they have to factor in the fear factor: how many of their regulars will lose their jobs, how many will be so afraid of losing their jobs that they’ll make immediate cut-backs in their purchases? I already said the “smaller” publishers would suffer; so would those companies that manufacture licensed material – action figures, posters, tie-in apparel, (more…)

Review ‘Pathology’ DVD

  • News
  • September 29, 2008

pathology-3543402There has to be a certain detachment when it comes to slicing open a human body.  After all, it looks just like your own body and once you cut into the skin, you get to the inner mechanics and it can either be fascinating or repulsive.  The art of pathology requires that emotional detachment while at the same time can remain fascinating as one tries to determine the cause of death.

While a fascinating premise for a character study, 20th-Century Fox’s Pathology used it more as a backdrop for a thriller that failed to thrill.  The movie opened last spring to middling reviews and was immediately rejected by the movie going audience, vanishing after 21 days and earning a meager $109,045 at the box office.The movie, starring Milo Ventimiglia, was released on DVD this past week by 20th and it can be a diverting experience.  Unless, of course, you like characterization.  Milo’s Ted Grey has been invited to join a prestigious Pathology program in some nameless city.  Being the newcomer, he’s easily dismissed or razzed by the team already in place, being tutored by the somewhat observant, somewhat creepy John de Lancie.

The quartet of residents is all attractive white folk who harbor a secret.  To unleash their emotions and experience something, they have formed a club to play a secret game.  Targeting and killing people then challenging one another to determine how the death was actually caused.  Jake Gallo (Michael Weston) is the ringleader and sees the brilliant Grey as a rival so seduces him to play along. At first, Grey is justifiably repulsed at the notion but is brought into the circle and commits murders, slowly losing himself in the process.

Things begin to get out of hand when Grey begins sleeping with Gallo’s girl friend, fellow club member Juliette Bath (Lauren Lee Smith) and Grey’s life begins to spiral beyond his control.  He’s killing people, doing drugs, cheating on his girl friend Gwen (Alyssa Milano) and no longer recognizable.

(more…)

ComicMix Columns & Features for the Week Ending September 28, 2008

  • Uncategorized
  • September 29, 2008

Between sleeping away the morning and watching the last Mets game at Shea Stadium in the afternoon (okay, after the umpteenth IFC airing of A Hard Day’s Night was over), I almost plumb forgot to remind y’all of what our regular columnists have brought you this past week:

Newly added to our list of regular features are Chuck Rozakis’ two webcomics columns.  Hope the folks down in Baltimore see this in time, and I hope I can catch up with all my other stuff before the new year!

ComicMix Radio: Baltimore ComicConWrap Up

  • News
  • September 28, 2008

Direct from The Baltimore ComicCon, it’s our Extra ComicMix Radio extended broadcast, starting with a look at the economy of the comics selling business. Graham Cracker Comics owner Jamie Graham talking about what’s hot and what is likely to get hotter with collectible comics. Want to know where the next big investment might be? Jamie shares that and more, plus we introduce you to another of those hidden gems we love to find on the floor of the con – a new publisher with a fresh approach and some interesting new titles.

Curious aren’t you? Then Press the Button!
 

 

And remember, you can always subscribe to ComicMix Radio podcasts via badgeitunes61x15dark-6773781 or RSS!

 

Marvel’s Cup of B

  • News
  • September 28, 2008

Rather than the usual "Cup of Joe" panel, Marvel decided that Baltimore Comic-Con would feature "Cup of B." Marvel super-star Brian Michael Bendis appeared, alongside Dan Slott (Avengers: Initiative), Steve Savolski (X-Infernus) and executive editor Tom Brevoort. 

Bendis confirmed the previously announced departure from Mighty Avengers with #20, the post Secret Invasion issue which will show a dramatic shift in the title. He will then begin Dark Avengers with artist Mike Deodato and Slott will jump into Mighty Avengers, which means he’s leaving Initiative, which Christos Gage will pick up. More Taskmaster is promised. 

Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD will begin March 2008, full art by Alex Maleev, reuniting the duo since they produced Daredevil. The series promises to be “very different” from others at Marvel. But is it Jessica Drew? No answer was given.

While the Inferno crossover was spread across the DC Universe, it’s follow-up X-Infernus will be more X-Men focused, specifically on the New Mutants, with characters such as Magik showing up. 

On Amazing Spider-Man, Marc Guggenheim and Barry Kitson will present a single-issue story featuring what happened to Flash Thompson. Joe Kelly will be doing a two-part Hammerhead story and then Mark Waid will be introducing new charatecters and secrets to Spider-Man’s universe. Dan Slott promises a “completely logical, non-magical explanation of why Harry Osborn’s alive.” He added that villain Molten Man was returning with the intention of killing Harry Osborn.

Bendis was asked for his reactions to the Secret Invasion Jacket I made. Bendis was a good sport about it and simply laughed, saying "Listen, I love him. You can buy it, roll it up, shove it up your ass. I don’t care.That’s not even in the top 20 sh*t I’ve had to deal with online." I then identified myself to the Marvel panel. When Bendis asked me why I didn’t wear the jacket to the con, I was sad to explain that it was not functional in the rain.

I then asked my own question to Bendis, concerning whether or not the Skrulls now had the Space Gem since they had replaced Black Bolt, the gem’s current owner. Bendis then informed me that he had explained this already but that I must have turned the issue into a pair of shorts. He then admitted that the Space Gem would be a future plot point. (more…)

‘Eagle Eye’ Captures Box Office Crown

  • News
  • September 28, 2008

Shia LaBeouf is the new man of action as his Eagle Eye narrowly exceeded estimates and took in $29.2 million at the box office according to Box Office Mojo.  The movie averaged well over $8000 per screen and despite tepid reviews, brought in audiences.

“Eagle Eye jumpstarted the fall box office, and we couldn’t be happier," said DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan, adding the movie drew men and women in roughly equal numbers. The conceit of the film is intriguing to all. Between GPS, employee codes, bank PIN numbers, this could conceivably be within the realm of possibility within a few years."

Among other opening films this weekend, the drama Nights in Rodanthe, reunited Diane Lane and Richard Gere used up a lot of tissues and took in $13,570,000. The indie film Fireproof opened to just $6,514,000, running on fewer screens, but averaging nearly $7000 per screen, much better than Rodanthe.  Spike Lee’s Righteous Kill had a poor opening with just $3.8 million earned.

Films in their sophomore week saw reasonable drops with Samuel L. Jackson’s Lakeview Terrace losing 53.3% of the crowd and brining in $7 million, good for third place. Ricky Gervais’ Ghost Town has been a disappointment, though, with just $9,239,000 to show after two weeks in theaters.

The Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading did well, with $6,514,000 added to their totals, which now stands at $45,540,000.

September tends to be a mixed bag of releases as the shift in content goes from light to serious as witnessed by Rodanthe’s romance and Lakview’s drama.  MGM’s Igor, for kids, has chugged along, in sixth place this weekend with $5.5 million.

Believe it or not, some theaters are still showing The Dark Knight and after 11 weeks in play, it has earned $524,465,000.

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