Sunday Trade: Blue Beetle

Blue Beetle: Shellshocked written by Keith Giffen & John Rogers, pencils by (mostly) Cully Hamner (but also Cynthia Martin, Duncan Rouleau & Kevin West), inks by (mostly) Cully Hamner (but also Phil Moy, Duncan Rouleau & Jack Purcell), colors by David Self & Guy Major, letters by Phil Balsman & Pat Brosseau

Jaime Reyes is the latest hero to carry the name of Blue Beetle. He was just a teen-age kid from El Paso but thanks to the weird blue scarab he picked up hes now hes now fighting strange magicians, angry Green Lanterns and attempting to explain to his friends and family where and why he vanished for a year...

What makes Jaime more than just another DC legacy hero is the strong supporting cast Giffen & Rogers built in when they introduced him. The friendly bickering of his best buds Paco & Brenda. The bratty little sister. And especially his parents. The only problem with this first volume is it doesn't have the first meeting between Jaime's mom and Guy Gardner...

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

So the titular doctor is an immortal ex-monk with a tendency towards making deals and/or bets with the Devil. Which leads to his daughter rescuing a hanged man from a bridge. Who could be Parnassus' salvation or destruction. From director Terry Gilliam, this reminds me at times of Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, another movie that dwells much on the power of imagination and story. The movie is also notable as the late Heath Ledger's last. And how the dream world sequences with Ledger's character are filmed with Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Ferrell filling in...