Who Can Save Us Now?

So I've finished this new super-hero themed anthology. And I'm pretty well disapointed by the book. Not only are most of the writers more inclined to other sub-genres, but many of them are just terrible. The opening story "Girl Reporter" is obviously meant to be some kind of parody on the Lois Lane/Superman relationship. Except its about two hateful worthless characters, one who sometimes acts as a super-hero...

In fact the few LIKABLE stories with up-beat endings stand out for their rarity. Editor and contributor Owen King's "The Meerkat" is probably one of the best of the bunch. And then its followed by another pack of poorly written stories until George Singleton's "Man Oh Man - It's Manna Man" which is one of the few to take an interesting concept (a hero who can change what televangelists say on their shows, so that worthy small charities get their flock's donations) and craft a decent story. After that its more interesting idea/poor execution until the final three; Kelly Braffet's "Bad Karma Girl Wins At Bingo", Jennifer Weiner's "League of Justice (Philadelphia Division)" and David Haynes' "The Lives of Ordinary Superheroes"; which manage to end the anthology on an up-note with good stories...

So out of twenty-two short stories, there were FIVE I'd recomend. And two (John McNally's "Remains of the Night" and Sean Doolittle's "Mr. Big Deal") where the concept almost works enough to make up for pointless downer endings. And the remaining fifteen I'd tell anyone to basically pass by...

Gustav/NOLA aid

Your assistance is urgently needed to help low-income women of color and their families evacuate safely if need be, stay safe for the duration of the evacuation, and return to the city as soon as possible so as not to fall prey to the pushout that has kept so many folks from being able to return to New Orleans since Katrina.

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Teen Superhero Pregnancy Scare

Black humor about teen sex and pregnancy and abortion, yoinked from creativedv8tion

Sunday Trade: Cover Girl

Cover Girl written by Kevin Church and Andrew Crosby, pencils by Mateus Santolouco, inks by R.M. Yankovicz and Andre Coelho, letters by Ed Dukeshire, colors by Pablo Quiligotti and Brian Miroglio

This mini-series from small press comics BOOM! Studios is about Alex Martin, a bottom of the barrel actor who gets catapulted into the a-list after rescuing a mysterious women from a car crash. Soon he's getting the full push to the top and starting filming a big budget spy/action franchise he's signed to star in. And suddenly it looks like someone is trying to kill him. But a regular bodyguard would spoil the tough guy image the studio and his agent want. Enter Rachel Dodd, gorgeous and lethal celebrity bodyguard. She'll keep Alex alive while masquerading as his boyfriend...

Very much a buddy/action movie in comics form. Church and Crosby are both sharp writers and keep the plot moving at a high pace. Fun book, though on re-reading I did notice how EVERYONE has very "quip" driven dialogue. Even the nameless goons. I blame Joss Whedon. Or Tarantino. One of those dudes...

Spoony Music Video

Be Kind Rewind

The basic concept of the movie: a corner video rental store (actual vhs) has all its tapes magnetically erased. So the clerk and his friends decide to film their own quick and dirty versions. And the parts of the movie that show that concept? Great. Jack Black, Mos Def and Melonie Diaz are all great in those scenes (which make up the majority of the middle of the movie). But the rest of the story they attach to it? Bad. The opening sequences are too slow and the end too simplistic. Plus the whole "Save the Store from demolition" plot was both overdone and cliched...

Still, those parts where they "swede" movies actually make a fairly terrible movie worth giving a look...