“Why do I get the red suit with the I on it? Is it because I’m…” “…not related to us? Yes.” “But am I considered one of the Incredibles?” “Ask Brad.”
The Incredibles movie adaptation #4
FINAL ISSUE
Dark Horse Comics (February, 2005)
SCREENPLAY: Brad Bird
PENCILER: Ricardo Curtis
INKER: Ramon Perez
COLORIST: Dan Jackson
COVER COLORIST: Kate Moo King-Curtis
LETTERER: Chris Eliopoulos
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Katie Moody
EDITOR: Dave Land
DESIGNER: David Nestelle
The trailer just came out for the upcoming Bumblebee solo film, the first of the Transformers movieverse attempts to create solo adventures similar to what Star Wars is currently doing. I don’t have much to say so let’s check it out real quick.
Apparently Bumblebee is a serious music critic.
I haven’t been following the Bay movies since I rage-quit Age Of Extinction due to how crap things have gotten. At what point do humans and Autobots finally become friends? Not for very long before humans are actually WORKING WITH DECEPTICONS TO HUNT AUTOBOTS! What is even? However, this movie is directed by Travis Knight. He’s primarily worked on stop-motion animated films like Coraline, Paranorman, and Kubo & The Two Strings, all movies people seem to like. Maybe this will be better.
I do like Bumblebee’s design here. He seems to have learned from Michael Bay’s mistakes and approved designs that make him and whomever the plane is have some distinct differences that you can tell them apart from others. It still has the aesthetic that fans of the live-action movies are used to blended with something closer to traditional looks and I can get behind that. The story is a prequel set in 1987 where a girl comes across a…wait, he’s actually a VW Beetle in this movie? Not some kind of sports car? Extra bonus points right there, Knight! I haven’t seen since the Aligned continuity and IDW’s decided to mimic the movie vehicle. I’d even accept a compact car if they couldn’t get the Beetle (Volkswagen has problems with war depictions based on their past) but they actually went with the right car. I approve.
I won’t know more about this until we continue on of course. The “movie site” is just a Facebook page because why put effort when you can just create a URL and direct it to a Facebook, but I’m actually interested in the movieverse for the first time in quite some time. Please be good. This isn’t just some other Transformer; this is Da Bee!
Look, if I can make it through Fredric Wertham, Rob Liefeld, and the constant desecration of my childhood, YOU can put up with Nickelback for a few minutes, okay?
Frankly I don’t understand the hate and ridicule the band gets. I’m not a die-hard fan but there are two songs of theirs I really like: “Hero” from the Spider-Man soundtrack (because nowadays closing credit music is considered part of the soundtrack) and this song, a story about revisiting the glory days of your youth. There’s just a nice relaxing tone to the song that’s kind of soothing.
Coming off of their All The Right Reasons album and released as a single along with a cover of Queen’s “We Will Rock You”, “Photograph” is about the singer’s character going through old photographs before leaving his past behind him. There’s a lot of heart to the song and there should be: it’s based on the songwriters’ actual lives.
I guess Iron Man 4 is out of the question after all.
Iron Man volume 3 #9
Marvel Comics (October, 1998)
“Revenge Of The Mandarin” part1: “Field Of Honor”
WRITER: Kurt Busiek
PENCILER: Sean Chen
INKERS: Eric Cannon & Sean Parsons
COLORIST: Steve Oliff
LETTERER: Dave Lanphear
EDITOR: Bobbie Chase
R. John Wright Winnie-the-Pooh Bear, picture taken at RJW studio in Vermont. (image source: Wikipedia
I’m not as sure as I’d like to be on this one. Disney just gave us the trailer for their next liveification of an animated work (never mind cartoons are what MADE the company) with Disney’s Christopher Robin, which follows a grown-up Christopher reconnecting with his old friends in the Hundred Acre Woods while dealing with life post WWII. I’ve seen this plot before and it’s usually not done very well. But there does seem to be more heart than some of those others according to the trailer. I don’t know, it might work but I have my doubts.
Last time we began our look at the period of mourning of Superman’s death. We saw that the main focus was on the usual characters who were close to Superman but time was also given to the rest of the world. That was what set this temporary comics death apart from so many that followed after it: the aftermath. People did mourn, people did react both positively and negatively to the hero’s death as well as people figuring out what they could possibly gain. Westfield wanted to mine Superman and Doomsday like a science experiment because he had no love for Superman and only saw the potential benefit to “real humans”. Lex (as Jimmy noted) used the opportunity to boost his popularity by deciding to build a monument to him, with nobody knowing this isn’t Lex Jr. and this is less about business benefits than personal revenge. We saw Lois in shock having lost someone even closer to her and not being able to tell anyone. This wasn’t just another shock death. This death mattered to people.
Think about the death of a really popular celebrity or political figure. Probably the most recent example was musician Prince but you can also look at Michael Jackson (controversial as he was near the end) or Ronald Reagan as a former President or former Princess Diana Spencer. We sought a reason for their death, with only Reagan dying of natural causes, whether that was his advanced age (he was 93) or his Alzheimer’s. People mourned these deaths in masses (unless you were bothered by Reagan’s politics or Jackson’s actions but celebrating their deaths does still make you an @#$hole by the way). There were huge showing for fans or whatever the equivalent is for politicians and royalty. Funerals were televised and visited live, both with huge numbers, and showings were held for non-family.
You could make the case that Jackson and Prince were treated like a new form of royalty (Jackson was known as “The King Of Pop” and…well, it’s right there in Prince’s stage name, isn’t it?). The same claim could be made in-universe for Superman, only he was known for all the lives he saved, no matter how inconsequential it may seem to others, and trying to do good without forcing others to follow his way but to “lead” by example without being our leader. The last chapter did a good job with this and hopefully this chapter continues that.
The Clutter Reports (my other site) Atop The Fourth Wall Crisis On Earth Prime Lean Into Artcast Bully Says “Comics Oughta Be Fun” Siskoid’s Blog of Geekery
Cartoon Hero’s Lair SF Debris Four Million Years Later
BW Versus Variety: Darker Stories Need Balance
I haven’t done a good versus article in some time. While not as strong a disagreement as I’d like for one of these, I do want to comment on a recent article from Variety‘s website. Contributor Danielle Turchiano’s topic is “The Importance of Leaning Into Dark Dramas During Dark Times in History”. Look, everyone has their own tastes and opinions. My apologies to Elton John but sometimes a sad song will only make things worse. It depends on the person. And since I’m one of those people who prefers to challenge darkness with light instead of more darkness I thought I’d log my own two sense on this article. So read her thoughts first, draw your own conclusion, then come back and see mine.
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on June 6, 2018 in Internet Spotlight, Television Spotlight, Uncategorized and tagged commentary, Hulu, Star Trek, Streaming media, television ratings, The Handmaid's Tale, The Orville, Variety.
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