TheRaySays

Speaking of Stephen King, has anyone on here read the Dark Tower series?

I'm just beginning Volume V, The Wolves Of The Calla and really into it, having just read Volume IV on holiday earlier in the month. I lost a little bit of interest at the end of the third but still engrossed in the story. Usually I stick a couple of books between each volume but decided to go straight ahead with the new one.

So yeah, anyone on here reading/read them? I'm interested to know if the ending is worth the lengthy journey.

I'm about halfway through volume 3, but haven't messed with it in some time. Thoroughly enjoying them, tho.

I've only seen a few shows of ASIP and I'm on the fence. Its funny, no dobut, sometimes though the humor seems to be really low brow.

You say that like it's a bad thing. I watched the first 2 season 4 episodes and loved them both. "We're going to hit you where it hurts." "Yeah, in your dick!"

I just started reading "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski while I'm still reading Neil Gaiman's "Fragile Things" at work.

"House of Leaves" is a bit pretentious and unwieldy, but undeniably creepy, and I'm less than a hundred pages in. (Y)

My mate loves House of Leaves. Or at least I think it's that one. Is that the one with about four words per page? ¬_¬ Seriously, some pages are pretty much blank, right? Never read it, I assume there's some sort of 'artistic' reasoning for it?

I always assumed it was because he was Welsh and couldn't cope with more than a few words per page.

I haven't gotten to that point yet, so I don't know, but I do know that I've read some pages that were crammed with text and footnotes and whatnot, so it'd be quite challenging to the... uh... Welsh?

I also know that the format of the text is related to the subject matter at times, so I'm sure it has 'artistic' purpose.

I just started reading "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski while I'm still reading Neil Gaiman's "Fragile Things" at work.

"House of Leaves" is a bit pretentious and unwieldy, but undeniably creepy, and I'm less than a hundred pages in. (Y)

Right now, I'm reading "Fragile Things", a collection of short stories by Neil Gaiman, and it's predictably brilliant.

Right before that, earlier this week in fact, I also finished Haunted by Chuckie P. What a weird coincidence. In any event, I think the short stories range from ho-hum to brilliant, while the framing story's pretty overwrought and gratuitous and repetitive and overwrought. The characters are fairly unlikeable, yes, but they're also meant to be unreliable narrators in the vein of horror anthologies like the original "Tales from the Crypt" (the one with Joan Collins and Peter Cushing and Ralph Richardson as the Crypt Keeper, not the puppet). Hell, he even draws the comparison to Canterbury Tales and the Villa Diodati, so it's not like he was hiding his intentions. Whether or not it worked for you, though, is obviously subjective.

That being said, to say that the sole purpose of "Guts" is gross-out is really selling it short. Unfortunately, I think Chuck's doing himself no favors with all of the "fainting hype" that's surrounding that story. It's like when people overhyped "The Blair Witch Project," saying it was the scariest film they'd ever seen. "Guts" is really not that gross, at least no more disgusting than dead baby jokes or Faces of Death or other juvenile nonsense me and my pals dreamed up when we were kids.

The point of the story is made evident in the explanation of l'esprit d'escalier, The Spirit of the Stairwell. What I liked was that the point of the story is NOT that French expression, but what the expression leaves out. There are some things even the French don't have names for, things people don't like to talk about, like your mother finding your gay masturbation carrot or having to explain what happened to their son. That's what the story is about, how everyone has to suffer some secret shame or embarrassment in their life, but he's seemingly got one that trumps them all. I know I wouldn't want to trade places with St. Gut-Free.

And, yes, none of the stories are remotely realistic, but I also think that was intentional. They're all written in second-person narration as I recall, which is a really weird tense ("Don't laugh, but I'm going to tell you a secret..."), and utilize the whole "unreliable narrator" gimmick (coincidentally, that was also Gaiman's plan for most of the stories in "Fragile Things", which I didn't know before I started reading it right after "Haunted"). It's why I also take the self-mutilation with a grain of salt. All of the characters are prone to gross exaggeration and are engaged in the act of creating fiction, so none of their claims or experiences are to be taken as gospel truth.

Sorry to go off on a little rant, and I don't want to sound like some English teacher, I just really like discussing literature. I'm just glad, but not surprised given the high signal-to-noise ratio, that folks on EWB still read books. We're a dying breed, my friends. (Y)

I loved it and actually found the trio of main characters (I don't count Reddick since he's more of a mentor figure) quite compelling.

I don't know, maybe I'm just predisposed to liking shit like this.

Fuck Nickelback. Fucking whiner.

They're like emo without the Japanese-inspired fashion trappings. It's "working class emo" and that's the worst. No one gives a shit about your poor relationship with your daddy or the poverty that's now long behind you, you limp dick Mellencamp wannabe.

There. Glad that's out of my system.

All Star Batman And Robin?

And I understand not liking Loeb, but I took it to mean he disliked the art.

All Star Batman And Robin at least looks pretty, but yeah, not FM's best work.

On the flip side, I like Tim Sale's art when it jibes with the text. I remember being specifically pissed about a scene in Long Halloween where a character describes a manner of death that seemed inconsistent with the art (2 in the back of the head vs. slit wrists in a bathtub seems to come to mind, it's been a looooong while since I read it). I wrongly perceived it as a clue and the end solution to the mystery ended up being WTF? It's been so long (since it first came out, actually) that I don't recall specifically WHY I hated it, but HOW vehemently.

Okay I'm just going to put this out here, and have at me if you will but...

Is anyone else REALLY not impressed with The Long Halloween and all the other books of that style? To me it's just all over the place, drawn to be confusing and just ugh in general.

I'll be the SECOND Teej has heard of. I have no use for Jeph Loeb Batman. I DID enjoy Superman for All Seasons and Catwoman: When in Rome made clever use of Tim Sale's sparse Euro art deco style at least, but I'm generally not a big Loeb fan.

Frank Miller, on the other hand, is a golden god (who clearly should've ALSO rested on the 8th day when he created The Dark Knight Strikes Again, but that's the exception that proves the rule).

Justice League Unlimited is greatness.

Seconded. Hell, I think I'll throw the Season One DVD in right now...

I especially loved the Defenders tribute where Solomon Grundy = Hulk, Hawkgirl = Valkyrie, Dr. Fate = Dr. Strange, and Aquaman = Namor. Rob Zombie even voiced the Cthulhu knock-off. It was like a souffle of homage. (Y)

Next Avengers Trailer

Okay. I hate everything about this, from the concept to the art style. Who is this for? I can't see kids getting into it and it's too kiddie for us old-timers.

If they're trying to copy the style of Teen Titans Go!, aren't they a little late? Hasn't that already run its course?

No problem going back that far on Caps. I'm already going back a ways on Batman stuff, so it works out pretty well. It keeps me swamped with stuff to read without getting too bored of any series, switching between them.

If that's the case, and you already like Cap, I recommend you go all the way back to #1 of the current series and just catch up from there. It's been an awesome epic.

I think Harley Quinn works, especially if they have any cut dialogue of Heath Ledger as Joker. I mean, we don't actually have to SEE The Joker for his influence to be felt in the film. It'd be limiting, sure, but good acting can cover it.

For example, Harley reads a poem The Joker composed during therapy. It's creepy and psychotic and a little uncomfortably funny. The other psychiatrists are aghast. Harley proclaims it beautiful.

It remains true to the character as presented by Nolan and Ledger without needing Ledger to be physically present. Good writing, acting, and directing can make it work.

Unfortunately, Harley just doesn't have the chops to be a marquee villainess. I see the third movie having a sort of rogues gallery effect with NO one major villain. Mayyyybe The Riddler as chief antagonist trying to solve the riddle of "Who is Batman", perhaps for the authorities since Batman's an outlaw now.

I also think the gadgetry on display for The Dark Knight opens the door for a toned down Mr. Freeze. If he's a guy in a containment suit that can't survive at room temperature and has gadgets on par with Batman, it's a fair fight without being all cheezy with polar bears and penguins and shit like that. No one really calls "bullshit" on the tractor trailer full of liquid nitrogen in T2, do they? They could keep it on that level of action sci-fi.

I really can see Nolan using the roided up Bane as his next villain. The only problem is if Bane breaks Batman's back, what happens? Do we introduce an Azrael to step in for Act II? Will fans accept Bane as a threat if he DOESN'T break Batman's back?

The name "Knightfall" even fits the trilogy they've set up. Maybe "Batman: Knightfall"...

I think Josh Brolin would make a spectacular Deadshot. Not big enough to carry his own film, but as a hired gun, he'd be tremendous.

I also have no problems with Phillip Seymour Hoffman making a cameo as the current take on Penguin. Batman will be working without the benefit of the Gotham PD in the next film, and it's likely he'll cultivate underworld informants and the like. The Penguin's been known to serve that role.

Wow did Ray just equate Planet Hulk with Watchmen and TDKR? Really? Oh this I need to hear reasoning behind.

LOLz~! I really didn't think of it like that. I was trying to present a continuum, not three of a kind. I kind of didn't really present them in order.

For the record, I consider Watchmen revolutionary. Changed the medium. Considered one of the great novels of the 20th century.

The Dark Knight Returns changed the way the world looked at a character who'd grown tired and stale. DC's still riding that gravy train.

Planet Hulk was a rollicking good time and found a fresh take on a simple character.

I'd generally rank Brubaker's Captain America above Planet Hulk, but it suffers from 2 caveats:

1) It kinda panders to Cap fanboys. I don't think I would like it as much if I wasn't already a huge Cap fan and suffered thru so many shitty Cap stories.

2) It's not over. I think it unlikely that it'll finish on a sour note, but I still need to reserve my final judgement.

Sure, the finish of Planet Hulk really just serves as a set-up for World War Hulk, but the story does have a discernible end and you can (and I did for the most part) stop reading there.

I also echo the love for Detective. I can't recommend it highly enough to anyone with even a passing interest in Batman. If you LIKE Batman, it's a must read. You should give up breakfast to buy Detective. Important note is that Dini has created such a style on Detective that he hasn't even written every arc, yet they all feel part of the same run. I really liked the "Siege" two-parter by Stuart Moore and "Triage" by Royal McGraw.

In the world of story decompression, these are brilliant short stories with underlying subplots that continue through the run. In the hands of Brian Michael Bendis, we'd still be reading about The Riddler hiring a secretary...

And Grant Morrison's Batman?... Not a fan, sadly.

I have secret wars, and yes while the style of the storytelling is somewhat dated it is well worth reading all the way through I feel. You have to remember also, that this was the first crossover of its kind so they probably felt the need to introduce everyone in such a fashion.

Yeah, readers were much bigger loyalists back then. Lotsa Spidey fans didn't read Cap or X-Men and vice-versa and forget about Marvel fans reading DC. That was blasphemy! It was the first attempt at a mega crossover and was a huge success. Like all huge successes, it ended up sadly overrated and emulated ad infinitum.

I think it still holds up on a nostalgia level and as a watershed moment, but would hardly put it amongst the ranks of Watchmen, Planet Hulk, or The Dark Knight Returns.

I hate this whole idea. Here's a thought... replace "dark" with "good". Warner Bros. needs to realize that the key to Batman's and Nolan's success isn't its "darkness," but it's dedication to quality.

Superman should be awe-inspiring. I thought Hancock did a better job of making his feats superhuman than Superman Returns, and Hancock's a pretty half-assed movie overall. Trade Will Smith for Brandon "the Bulge" Routh, and you've got a "trainwreck." Superman Returns was much more concerned with giving Superman a son. Can't believe anyone thought that'd be a crowd-pleaser.

I think a Superman movie could be done since it's a gimmick that's so well known. It's a modern myth. All you have to do is embrace the myth and tell it full force. There's no need to reinvent the goddamn wheel. You don't even need to convince the audience it's plausible. It's a man who flies and is super strong and invulnerable. "He's Superman" is all the justification a writer needs.

I just wonder how many bad Superman films it'll take before the franchise is effectively dead to modern audiences. This might be their last chance...

Oh man, that looks really promising. Last image, second panel is my favourite part of those previews.

I agree. That looks a lot of fun and somewhat similar to the beginning of the Joe Kelly/Ed McGuinness run, both in tone and art style. I want those panels where we see the world from Wade's off-kilter worldview. I DON'T want Wade stuffing firecrackers into Punisher's pants or any other Bugs Bunny-esque over-the-top nonsense. He's a hired gun, after all. A crazy hired gun, but he should still be somewhat good at what he does. He's not Madcap or The Joker. That's the problem I had with the way Way used him in Wolverine: Origins.

Way Way... ?

I think part of the problem is the change in the way comics are read and packaged. When Watchmen came out, it was in monthly installments, and is structured to be read as such. Nowadays, most people burn through that shit in a weekend, even skipping over the "slow stuff" to see what happens next. Sadly, I think that takes away some of the power of the work, not that you have to ration it out over the course of a year, but even taking your time on a second read through, you'll find the pacing works better.

The Tales of the Black Freighter were an interlude, but now it feels like "Get the fuck outta the way, I want more Rorschach!"

Just an observation.

It's kind of scary how similar TGC and my Avengers tastes are.

It's kind of scary how similar TGC and and MPH and my Avengers tastes are.

Oh, and so this isn't so postwhorish, the 4th Simonson/Art Adams FF member was the grey Hulk. At least they knew how over-the-top they were being and had the masthead changed to "The World's Most Commercialist Comic Magazine".

There are few runs from my youth that I absolutely COULD NOT miss and would ride my bicycle to the next county to get:

Avengers from # 241 to about # 280. I just couldn't take Dr. Druid as leader.

Captain America from Nomad in # 282 to the end of Cap-Wolf in # 407. Man I hated Cable back then. He was shoe-horned into everything. Fuck, that run covers 1983 til 1992, from riding my bicycle at 11 to driving home from college at 19. Ouch.

Fantastic Four under Byrne from "Trial of Galactus" # 256 on through to Simonson, finally giving up during the She-Thing era # 317. Ugh.

Oh, and what was worse? The WCW/ECW InVasion or Marvel's sodomization of the Ultraverse?

I'll miss him. He was always the only actor I could see reprising Jackie Gleason's Sheriff Buford T. Justice should they ever remake Smokey & The Bandit. He just did the "angry and exasperated" schtick so well.

Well fuck, my local Chapters is messed... they have a lot of portions but not a lot of completes... I guess I'll just return it and buy Planet Hulk.

Planet Hulk is worth all 4 volumes of Age of Apocalypse (and Age of Apocalypse ain't bad). It is the only story that got me to full on mark out for the Hulk.

So what does Marvel do? They let Greg Pak have Jercules and relaunch Hulk with some shit-ball Red Hulk and Jeph Loeb writing some of the worst fanboy drek ever. And what happens? The Incredible Hercules ends up being a thoroughly enjoyable book. I don't think Pak gets enough credit and got slagged too harshly for the World War Hulk anticlimax. That felt like booking that was pushed upon him rather than a plotline he proposed.[/rant]

I used to have a VHS tape with Ronin and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels on it. Nearly wore it out. I always thought it was a great double bill with a mix of action, suspense, and comedy in all the right proportions.

"Get away from her you BITCH!" - Ripley

I think Aliens has the greatest false finish in the history of filmmaking. Return of the King... not so much.

Hush kinda confuses me a bit because i've seen two versions of it

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Batman-Hush-Jeph-L...5053&sr=8-2

V2 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Batman-Hush-v-Jeph...5053&sr=8-1

Are they two different books, are they the same book but reprinted or are they something I shouldn't be looking at until Book Z or is it not worth the money.

You're looking at Volume 1 and Volume 2. I found it to be surprisingly enjoyable, but it's a bit nerdcore and perhaps unapproachable for someone new to Batman comics. I'd say give them a shot and see what you think.