TheRaySays

One of the directors is the comic creator, Frank Miller (who both writes AND draws the comic), so it's faithful down to the frame at times. There are some omissions, but nothing to get all worked up about. The most notable is the lack of nudity, but you'd have to be a total dweeb to think they were going to take an NC-17 for Clive Owen cock or convince Alba to run around naked half the film.

Yeah, it was meant to be a small self-contained side story that could be finished early to show as a teaser trailer of sorts, to kind of give folks a view of the style and tone of the movie. I think it worked awesomely, as most people I showed it to were intrigued at least.

I'm fairly certain the Legend of Zelda song is real as some of my friends were marking out over it last night.

1. Suicide Kings - Nina Siemaszko 2. Lonesome Dove – Nina Siemaszko & Tommy Lee Jones 3. Black Moon Rising – Tommy Lee Jones & Linda Hamilton 4. Terminator 2 – Linda Hamilton & Joe Morton 5. Of Mice & Men – Joe Morton & Gary Sinise 6. The Stand – Gary Sinise & Ed Harris 7. Creepshow – Ed Harris & Gaylen Ross 8. Dawn of the Dead (1978) – Gaylen Ross & Ken Foree 9. Dawn of the Dead (2004) – Ken Foree & Ving Rhames 10. Pulp Fiction – Ving Rhames & Christopher Walken 11. The Dead Zone – Christopher Walken & Tom Skerritt 12. Alien – Tom Skerritt & Yaphet Kotto 13. The Puppet Masters – Yaphet Kotto & Keith David 14. The Thing – Keith David & Richard Masur 15. It – Richard Masur & Tim Curry 16. Legend – Tim Curry & Tom Cruise 17. Minority Report – Tom Cruise & Max von Sydow 18. Conan the Barbarian – Max von Sydow & Mako 19. Rising Sun – Mako & Tia Carrere 20. Wayne’s World 2 – Tia Carrere & Drew Barrymore 21. Donnie Darko – Drew Barrymore & Daveigh Chase 22. The Ring – Daveigh Chase & Brian Cox 23. Sharpe’s Rifles – Brian Cox & Sean Bean 24. Lord of the Rings – Sean Bean & Christopher Lee 25. The Last Unicorn – Christopher Lee & Alan Arkin 26. Edward Scissorhands – Alan Arkin & Vincent Price 27. Dr. Phibes Rises Again – Vincent Price & Peter Cushing 28. Star Wars – Peter Cushing & Harrison Ford 29. Blade Runner – Harrison Ford & Rutger Hauer 30. Merlin – Rutger Hauer & Sam Neill 31. The Piano – Sam Neill & Harvey Keitel 32. Reservoir Dogs – Harvey Keitel & Chris Penn 33. True Romance – Chris Penn & Val Kilmer 34. Tombstone – Val Kilmer & Billy Zane 35. Titanic – Billy Zane & Leonardo DiCaprio 36. Romeo + Juliet – Leonardo DiCaprio & John Leguizamo 37. Moulin Rouge! – John Leguizamo & ??? Admittedly, some of these are kinda loose (connecting the 2 "Dawn of the Dead" movies via cameo and using voices from "The Last Unicorn"), but I was still kinda amazed.

I'm probably judging the show unfairly based on marketing, but I can't sit down to watch any show that has commercials like

EWB's semi-official Comic Book Guy says... "Wow. You guys have good taste. Bravo." :thumbsup: I'd recommend these as well (and welcome any thoughtful dissenting opinions anyone would care to venture): Conan by Dark Horse - Classic sword and sorcery done in a semi-painted style that makes it comfortably familiar yet different from anything else on the market today. Planetary - The X-Files meets The X-Men. Explores just about every cliche theme in fantasy/sci-fi and tries to put a new spin on it, from ghostly Hong Kong cops to Monster Island to Tarzan. A little convoluted at times, but the conspiracy is part of its schtick. Sin City - Like the movie or not, the comics are pretty classic noir fare. Frank Miller took the dead crime genre and reinvented it for a modern audience. 300 - Frank Miller takes his style from Sin City to a tale of 300 Spartan soldiers faced with the onslaught of the entire Persian Army. An amazing true story expertly told. The Walking Dead - Anyone marking out for Monsieur Hamstah's latest Cube offering should definitely give this a look. Zombie holocaust comics have never been so... dare I say?... literate. Enough gore for the genre, but enough actual drama to make you care about someone when they get eaten. Watchmen - Alan Moore's classic deconstruction of the super hero genre. Stories within stories and characterizations that have strongly influenced the modern characterizations of many marquee characters. Almost a primer in how to do super heroes without pandering to children.

Complete Book of Scriptwriting Can't recommend this book enough. It has some sad, ugly truths to impart, but a little reality check never hurt any prospective writer.

The TV series actually kicked ass ratings-wise (it was okay as far as superhero TV of the time goes), but got canned from the conservative CBS schedule when series star John Wesley Shipp announced he was gay in an interview for his performance in Broadway play "Dancing at Lughnasa". A shame, really, in an era when FOX was producing truly atrocious Generation X and Nick Fury movies.

Gangster No. 1 with Malcolm McDowell, Paul Bettany, and David Thewlis. Underrated British mob flick. Ronin and Spartan. The former stars Robert DeNiro, Sean Bean, and others while the latter has Val Kilmer as a kick-ass Secret Service agent. Both are about covert ops and are both smart and tense, a rare combo in these days of dull explosions and lame, hackneyed dialogue. That's all I got off the top of my head. Hope that helps, TheRay

Well, given your specific request, I'm going to try to offer some suggestions. I second the Dark Tower recommendation, as Roland is truly a self-pitying loner on a quest that threatens to destroy him and everyone around him, but he's willing to make bitter sacrifices to fulfill his destiny. Very Ravenesque, especially his early NWA:TNA push. It's not your conventional fantasy series, however, and non-Stephen King fans might be left cold by the constant cross-referencing. King seems eager to tie together everything he's ever written with this series. I don't mind, as I'm an SK mark, but the drama of "Oooh! I remember him!" might be absent for others. For more conventional fantasy fare, I'd offer the classic Elric series by Michael Moorcock, at least up through Stormbringer. After that, it becomes a series of random Elric adventure which are pretty uneven. The basic synopsis is Elric is the heir to the throne of Melnibone, a decadent kingdom of sorcerous beings, somewhat like elves, who lord over the human Young Kingdoms with callous ruthlessness. The albino Elric finds himself an outcast, both due to his frail health and his conscience, and when faced with a bloody rebellion at the hands of his cousin Yrkoon, he's forced to draw upon foul sorcery and the black soul-sucking blade known as Stormbringer to wrest the throne back from the usurper. Given his work within the comics industry and interviews, there's no doubt in my mind that Scott Levy has read and been inspired by this series. Lastly, in the realm of fantasy series that influenced Levy, but perhaps don't reflect his in-ring persona, I'd recommend C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. Now, a prospective reader should know that these are thinly veiled fantasy retellings of biblical fables, but Lewis' series is nearly as influential as The Lord of the Rings. Raven drew heavily upon scenes from the first book (The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe) when he booked his Hair Match vs. Shane Douglas & Minister Mitchell in NWA:TNA. His facial expressions are straight out of the animated adaptation. If you know what you're getting into and can put aside religious differences, it's actually a rather imaginative series with heel turns and sacrifice and such. For a more historical approach, Bernard Cornwell's Grail Quest series starring Thomas of Hookton as a lowly English archer fulfilling prophecy during The Hundred Years' War is excellent. Well, at least the first two books (The Archer's Tale and Vagabond) are, I haven't yet read the concluding volume in the trilogy, but it'd have to be utter crap to ruin this series. It's not really fantasy, per se, but there's more than enough self-loathing and "victim of destiny" situations to fit the Raven vibe. Hope that helps, TheRay

Good to see that overreactions aren't just limited to The Ring. Seriously, Heel Turn, you quote the information from Avengers #500 and then go on a rant about material not remotely included in that issue. Now, I'm probably going to absolutely loathe Wolverine and Spider-Man on the team, and just re-read the first year of the Busiek/Perez run last night (great stuff), so I'll probably end up on the same page as you, but I'm limiting my reviews to specific issues. Let's wait for #501 to arrive before we take a massive dump on it.

Here are the... Comics Releases for August 18, 2004: Cable & Deadpool #6 Publisher: Marvel Writer: Fabian Nicieza Penciller: Patrick Zircher $2.99 Okay, so I likes the Deadpool, but I hates the Cable forever. That's really the only reason I've avoided this series, but what Cloudy wants, Cloudy gets, so I'll give this issue a try. I'm daunted at first that this is Part 6 of "If Looks Could Kill," so the odds are pretty good that'll I'll be completely and utterly lost. Thankfully, we open with a "Previously" page that recaps the story thus far, and in a pleasantly funny and sarcastic manner, even using the word "sumbeech." Cool. The skinny is that some nutjob named Anton Kruch and his One World Church have come upon a virus that'll turn everyone the same color in a crazy effort to eliminate racial differences. Okaaaaaay... The obvious side storyline involves the disfigured Deadpool wanting to use the virus to change his scarred face. Cable and the villainous Lightmaster get infected as well, so Cable telekinetically destroys Lightmaster, bathing the entire planet in an infectious glow that turns everyone on earth bright pink and strangely isn't mentioned in any other Marvel comic. But that's explained easily enough by the events of the issue, which have Cable sacrificing Deadpool to appease his own need to be a martyr, a metaphor that just gets hammered home when the last page promises "The Passion of the Cable Begins" next issue. Bleh. The art is gorgeous, with some nice use of shadow and lighting effects, but the storyline is convoluted and clunky. Like Grant Morrison on New X-Men, Fabian Nicieza has big ideas, but it just doesn't seem like he has the tools to turn them into compelling stories. In the end, Cable gives us some sci-fi mumbo-jumbo and it's on to the next big showdown. I guess I'd recommend this to die-hard fans of Cable and 'Pool, but I probably shouldn't have to. If they're die-hard, they're already getting it. To anyone else, even a Deadpool mark like myself, it's an easily ignored pass. I might check in later if a cover intrigues me (like Taskmaster showing up, hint-hint Marvel...), but it's not something I'll go out of my way to read again. :ohwell: Soon... Batman: Gotham Knights #56...

Okay, I posted two more reviews for last week, Soulfire #1 and Iron Man #87, so scroll up and check them out. Here's the list of stuff that's on the racks this week: Adventures of Superman #631 (DC) Alpha Flight #6 (Marvel) Astro City Special #1 (DC - Wildstorm) Batgirl #55 (DC) Batman Adventures #17 (DC) Batman: Gotham Knights #56 (DC) Birds of Prey #72 (DC) Books of Magick: Life During Wartime #2 (DC - Vertigo) Cable & Deadpool #6 (Marvel) Cosmic Guard #1 (DDP) CVO: Human Touch #1 (IDW) Daredevil #63 (Marvel - Marvel Knights) Dark Minds: Macropolis #4 (DW) DC Comics Presents The Atom (DC) DC Comics Presents Superman (DC) Doctor Spectrum #1 (Marvel - MAX) Exiles #51 (Marvel) Ex Machina #3 (DC - Wildstorm) Fantastic Four #517 (Marvel) G.I. Joe #33 (DDP) Hawkman #31 (DC) Human Target #13 (DC - Vertigo) I Am Legion Book One (DC - Humanoids) Invaders #1 (Marvel) JSA: Strange Adventures #1 (DC) Loki #3 (Marvel) Manhunter #1 (DC) Man-Thing #2 (Marvel - Marvel Knights) Mary Jane #3 (Marvel) Moth #4 (Dark Horse) New X-Men: Academy X #4 (Marvel) Olympus Heights #2 (IDW) Powerpuff Girls #53 (DC - Cartoon Network) Robin #129 (DC) Rogue #2 (Marvel) She-Hulk #6 (Marvel) Singularity 7 #2 (IDW) Spider-Man: Marvel Age #10 (Marvel) Starjammers #3 (Marvel) Ultimate Spider-Man #64 (Marvel) Ultra #1 (Image) Voltron #8 (DDP) Weapon X #27 (Marvel) Witchblade #78 (Image - Top Cow) Wolverine #18 (Marvel - Marvel Knights) X-Men #160 (Marvel) X-Men: The End Book One #2 (Marvel) Any requests, I'll do my best to oblige. I'm probably going to read Batman: Gotham Knights, since that's part 4 of War Games and parts 2 and 3 were bagged as part of the Sky Captain and the World of My Sphincter ad campaign so I couldn't read them.

"Free Beer", tho I understand they had difficulty getting their name on the marquee for gigs...

Um... There's only TWO Fast Forwards, and they're both first come, first serve, so there's little to no chance that a last place team will even *see* one let alone get a chance to take it. ←

Far and away, I'd recommend 100 Bullets as the best of the lot. The premise, with the mysterious Mr. Graves presenting folks with 100 untraceable bullets to right some wrong they've suffered is really the focus of the first trade, with two stories as Numbahs indicated, and with very different outcomes. While the series primarily moves from one self-contained story to another, around about the third trade or so, things start to tie together and you'll find yourself going back to earlier stories with a new perspective. The art isn't the usual superhero big-breasted chicks and roidraged guys stuff. It's more noirish, with heavy shadows and almost cartoony caricatures, but I find it to be refreshing and so utterly suitable to the stories that I can't imagine anyone else drawing the title. If you do get it, please let us know what you thought. :thumbsup: EDIT - Since you indicated you were open to suggestions, I'd also recommend Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons under DC Comics. You have gritty, mature comics as well as superhero stuff on your list, so I think you'll find it to be a cool intersection of the two if you haven't already read it. Sadly, it doesn't stand as revolutionary as it was at the time it came out as it had a great influence on the whole wave of mature superhero stuff, but it's still a high quality read.

I cannot recommend this game highly enough, and I LOOOOATHE the usual online gaming experience. Some quick points I find important: * NO PvP... at least not until City of Villains comes out next year, and even THEN, it'll be a toggle, so you don't have to fear getting griefed by some lamer with time on his hands when you just want to mission with your buds. Buuuut, if you feel like testing Doctor Cube vs. the local loudmouth, toggle it to PvP ON and go to it. * The game FORCES most characters to team to survive at middle to high levels, but this isn't a bad thing, it's a good thing. For starters, it keeps the loner nuisance players clumped at lower levels since it becomes harder for them to advance. Secondly, it plays into the whole comic book superteam concept, which is reinforced with cool game mechanics like Superteam Info Pages for team leaders to post messages and the addition of a second, team color coordinated costume that doesn't force you to abandon your solo look. Thirdly, it forces a balance in superhero archetypes. Sure, there's lots of low level Blasters or Tankers who can wade into hordes of villains and lay waste, but there isn't a time that I'm on that some mid to high level group isn't clambering for a Controller or Defender for healing and crowd control. * The game is $15 a month, but as Midget said, you can have up to 110 separate characters at present, and that might actually increase as more servers are added. Also, they've already updated the game twice with new zones and missions and villains and cool minor features like capes (the initial absence of which is explained with an amusing backstory). These updates are absolutely free and took me less than 5 minutes to download using a cable modem. The creators are still VERY jazzed about the game, and I'm happy to find that they're not content to just sit on their laurels and let the game run itself, instead looking for constant ways to add to and improve the game. * The only downside, which isn't NECESSARILY a downside, is that the game actually encourages tactical thinking. Sadly, that fact ends up lost on most of the folks one would randomly team with and the possibility of getting killed because Eugene the Retard ran through two mobs of Tsoo and trailed them all back to you is very, very likely. I have a few friends and loved ones I team with frequently and even then, there're some folks that I'm friends with but absolutely cannot play CoH with. I most often play on Freedom as The Incomparable Pneuman, the titanium Defender, or as Oxford, the stone-fisted asskicker. Fire off any questions (other than technical ones, ), and I hope to see some of y'all around Paragon City!

I don't know... Something about her nose weirds me out. :blink: