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Manga Fridays: Is That a Giant Sword in Your Pocket, Or…

This week: four manga series featuring protagonists who carry very large, sharp objects. Hmm… Overcompensate much? I’ll take them in size order, starting with the smallest and least impressive:

Togari, Vol. 1
Yoshinori Natsume
Viz Media, 2007, $9.99

In Togari, Tobei has been in hell for the last four hundred years (being tortured unceasingly, yadda yadda yadda). He’s still utterly unrepentant and completely focused on getting out, which may be why the upper-level functionary Lady Ema hands him a wooden sword and sends him back to earth.

His mission: to kill a hundred and eight Toga (sins), monstrous vaguely-anthropomorphic creatures that attach themselves to humans and cause those humans to commit evil, within a hundred and eight days. He has all sorts of restrictions, such as the fact that any harm he does to a human is immediately replicated on his body. Along for the ride is Osa, a young demon-dude who was his primary tormentor in Hell, and who doesn’t think much of the plan.

So, to sum up: Tobei’s a bloodthirsty doomed soul and Osa is a tight-ass minor demon. Together, they fight crime!

Tobei learns that there have been many wielders of the Togari (that wooden sword, which is more than it seems), and that none of them succeeded in their mission. But that’s okay, because he’s uniquely powerful and special.

Everything about Togari is generic: the set-up, the characters, the art. It’s the manga equivalent of the Superman of Earth-7895; some of the details might be slightly surprising, but the overall plot goes exactly as expected. On the other hand, Togari is solidly professional and entertaining; it’s not likely to surprise you, but the same goes for most Top 20 comics in any given month. Togari’s pleasures are just as derivative as a random issue of an X-comic, but they’re just as real.

 

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‘Hellboy 2’ Roundup: ‘Hellboy 3’ a Possibility?

Well, it looks like embargoes were lifted today for on-location coverage of "Hellboy 2: the Golden Army," as there’s a flurry of interviews, set visits and other material hitting the ‘Net.

SuperHeroHype has posted interviews with Selma Blair (Liz Sherman)Anna Walton (Princess Nuala) and Luke Goss (Prince Nuada). While you’re there, check out their visit to the set of the film, too.

One of the highlights from their interviews is this bit from Blair, who hints at director Guillermo del Toro’s plans for a third "Hellboy" film:

SHH!: Guillermo has said he has an idea for the next film. Has he talked with you about it?

Blair: Yeah, I mean, he has shared it with me. I’m just praying that he’ll do it. I mean, I’m praying the third one will come, because for me that would be the strongest one for my character. So selfishly I want that. But I also think the story of the third one will be so haunting and just such a major story that I think it would be such a shame to cheat it and just end with the second.

 

On This Day: Janet Jackson’s Wardrobe Malfunction

janet-3301443It happened four years ago today, but football fans still feel the pain.

Who are we trying to kid? It might have been Superbowl’s greatest moment – heck, maybe even cable television’s greatest moment, when Janet Jackson’s breast accidentally popped out during a Halftime Show performance with Justin Timberlake.

It went into the record books as a "wardrobe malfunction," but commentators still talk about it on sports shows like it was the greatest tragedy in sports history.

The best part? Check out Timberlake’s expression. Kinda priceless.

 

‘The Rock’ Interested In Playing Black Adam?

Billy Batson will have his work cut out for him if "Shazam!" director Peter Segal has his way.

According to this report on IGN, the "Get Smart" director likes the idea of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson donning the pointy ears of Captain Marvel nemesis Black Adam. And Johnson doesn’t sound opposed to the idea, either.

According to Segal:

We were looking for something else to do together. [Johnson] said, ‘What are you working on?’ And I told him among other things Shazam!. And he said, ‘Do you think I can read a draft when you’re ready?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ John August is writing it and then we went on strike, so I don’t have a draft to show him yet. But I just started telling him the story and I thought that he might be a great Black Adam.

Segal also teased that "Shazam!" wouldn’t be the light-and-fluffy affair that "Fantastic Four" turned out to be. Instead, he said Batson’s desire to avenge the loss of his parents would provide a more serious

tone to the film.

 

Scaring Up ‘Halloween: Nightdance’

Ah, as Valentine’s Day nears, it’s time to turn your thoughts to… Halloween?

Comic Book Resources has an interesting interview with Stefan Hutchinson, the writer of Halloween: Nightdance, a four-issue miniseries hitting shelves in February from Devil’s Due Publishing. The topics of discussion include, of course, "Why February?"

What’s really interesting about the interview, however, is what Hutchinson has to say about the "Halloween" film franchise and when he believes it lost its edge.

As Hutchinson explains it:

The first half of [the first "Halloween" film] is all in daylight, with very ‘normal’ characters, and it’s really, really creepy. You can’t really get that when you have Busta Rhymes performing Kung-Fu moves on a villain that worked principally due to his uncertain and ethereal eerieness. It’s the same sense of disappointment that comes from finding out the Wonderful Wizard of Oz is just an old man.

Even if you aren’t the sort to buy into the Halloween comics, you’ll be certain of one thing after you read the interview: Hutchinson knows his "Halloween" history.

The Worst TV Show Ever – Part 2, by Michael Davis

Last week I decided to write the worst TV show pitch in history since that is all that seems to get on the air these days. My show is called I’m An Asshole If I Watch This Show.

It’s Fantasy Island meets Bambi meets Lord Of The Rings meets Don’t Forget The Lyrics meets any reality show meets Leave It To Beaver meets Cheers!
 
Last week I introduced you to the regulars of a karaoke bar called Ass Funk. A young Asian lady named Denise Lee had come into the bar to drown her sorrows because her daddy had presented her with what he said was proof that the man Denise was going to marry was a Hobbit. Her fiancé Bilbo Baggins assured her he was not a Hobbit and that her father was just afraid of losing her.
 
When last we left Denise she had fallen off the Karaoke bar stage and been pimp slapped… 
 
Hey…wait a sec.
 
You see that link in my first paragraph? Well click on it and you’ll get last week’s column. Why the heck am I rewriting all this? On my horrible show there would be no damn recap. So here’s the rest of what a typical story line would be on my show…
 
Bilbo Baggins is staring at his ring while he tells Denise to go ahead and have him checked out. That way she will have an answer her father can never question. Denise resists this but Bilbo insists, saying “I have nothing to hide. I’m not a Hobbit. There are a lot of three feet tall people who don’t wear shoes and have the ring that rules all rings out there. Your father has raised the question, it must be answered beyond any doubt.” Denise sees the logic in this and decides to take the envelope her father gave her to the police department so she can get the proof she needs. Before she leaves she turns and asks Bilbo where he’s from. “I’m from the Shire.” He says without thinking. “Where’s that?” Denise asks. “It’s eh…in the hood near South Central.” He blurts out.
 

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‘Lost’ Season 4 Premiere: Spoilers, Easter Eggs And Reviews

The wait is over, and so is the Season 4 Premiere of "Lost." If you’re anything like me, the first thing you did after the end credits rolled was to hop on the InterWebs and check out the chatter about tonight’s episode.

Here’s a quick roundup of some interesting pre- and post-episode buzz:

It’s nowhere near a necessity for "Lost" fans to play this game, but it made the time between the end of Season 3 and the start of Season 4 go by quickly for those who played it. Now that Season 4 is in full swing, you can jump right to the end of Chapter 5 and fill in the pieces between a few dangling plot points in the "Lost" mythos. My Advice? Navigate back through the Find815.com updates on LostBlog.net and see how it played out.

  • LostPedia’s Episode 4 Spoiler Section has a decent rundown of the episode’s flash-forward segments, as well as a mention of the new character introduced at the very end of the episode, whose name appears to have changed.
  • Last, but certainly not least, keep checking back on LostEasterEggs for all sorts of screencaps and hints about some of the things you might be wondering about in the Season 4 Premiere. At the time of this post, they have a great series of screencaps from the scene around Jacob’s cabin. Whose eye appeared in the cabin? What was on the painting?

Free Online Alan Moore Documentary, Issue

A few interesting bits of Alan Moore history have found their way online recently, and you won’t have to pay a dime for them.

AlterTube has posted "The Mindscape of Alan Moore," a 78-minute documentary about the creator of Watchmen and V For Vendetta that explores his growth as a storyteller and modern-day, magical… Well, you should probably just read the plot synopsis:

The film leads the audience through Moore’s world with the writer himself as guide, beginning with his childhood background, following the evolution of his career as he transformed the comics medium, through to his immersion in a magical worldview where science, spirituality and society are part of the same universe.

If you like what you see and want to purchase a copy, check out ShadowSnake Films.

DC/Vertigo has also made a full issue of Swamp Thing #21, the start of Moore’s critically-praised reinvention of the character, available online. It’s creepy as heck, but a great example of why Moore is one of comics’ living legends.

 UPDATE: The video no longer seems to be available on AlterTube, but it’s now available on YouTube. Go figure. So here you go: Free Alan Moore Documentary on YouTube.

‘Cloverfield 2’ Planned

No surprise here: "Cloverfield" will receive a sequel, according to a report in Variety.

Paramount is in "early talks" with "Cloverfield" director Matt Reeves, producer J.J. Abrams and writer Drew Goddard to produce a sequel to the record-breaking, low-budget (if you consider $25 million "low-budget," that is) horror film. The film earned nearly twice its production costs in the first weekend it hit theaters, and set a record for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.

According to the report, Reeves is also in talks to direct a film titled "The Invisible Woman," but production of that film will likely be held off until after the "Cloverfield" sequel.

 

Scott McCloud: Comics On Comics

"Comics Theorist" Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics) is the subject of this English-language interview by the crew at ComicGate, a German comics news site.

The interview touches on a variety of subjects, from McCloud’s early expectations for Understanding Comics to what exactly his job description is these days. Apparently, it’s not easy to come up with a title when you’re creating comics as a study of comics.

McCloud explains:

When somebody asks me what I do, how do I answer? What words do we put down on the catalogue, or whatever? These days I say cartoonist and author. That pretty much sums it up. I do a lot of public speaking, but I am doing it as a cartoonist and an author. I would like to be a little more cartoonist and a little less author for a little while. I would like to create a graphic-novel next and I plan to spend the next two or three years of my life doing that. I think it is time after writing about how comics work to actually put those ideas into practice and try to create a work of fiction.

It’s a fairly long interview, but certainly worth a read for anyone interested in comics theory and the evolving role of technology in the comics scene.