Can YOU Find the A-Team?

I posted my thoughts on the new A-Team movie, and the phenomenon surrounding the franchise, here.

What Batman Can Teach You About -- Immigration?

I think this Huffington Post writer -- an obvious fanboy -- is using today's "Return of Bruce Wayne" release to push a socio-political agenda that really doesn't have anything to do with comics, let alone Batman. Needless to say, the Clayface connection to immigration is a stretch, but I can't help but admire anyone willing to take two buzz-worthy topics and combine them in a keyword-rich article, if that's what it takes to garner some web counter hits.

Spider-man Foils Comic Book Theft!

One of the best stories to come from Free Comic Book Day. Unfortunately, stealing a comic book on Free Comic Book Day seems like a crime with its own built-in defense. "Uh . . . I thought they were free?" Hey, they can't all be Doc Ock knocking over a bank, okay?

This just in: I've read the Flash and some Jedi guard were available to help capture this mastermind. This is turning into a multi-title crisis, for crying out loud!

Weekend Box Office

Unfortunately, The Losers and Kick-ass failed to impress at the box office this weekend. Doesn't help that I haven't seen either of them yet.

Peripheral Comics News

In peripheral comic book news today:

Spongebob Squarepants saves a kid's life!

Leonard Nimoy retires from Star Trek!

Ah, the ups and downs of geekdom!

Kick-Ass Kicks . . . Well, You Know

Kick-ass and How to Train Your Dragon were neck and neck for the number one spot in this weekend's box office, but Mark Millar's brain child pulled ahead. From Kick-ass to The Losers to Iron Man 2, the next few weeks promise to be very generous to comic book fans. Let's see if the fans will return the favor . . .

Holy Trivia, Batman!

Nic Cage and Adam West had a Batman trivia face-off on The Tonight Show last night. I won't spoil the victory, but Cage does pull out an impressive piece of knowledge that not even I knew.

New York's Real Superheroes

Via Yahoo. I'm grateful the article treated these folks with respect, but it's a fine line before they face their greatest Kryptonite: mockery.

Graffiti Art

Last night's Fox 10 news in Phoenix featured a story about the legitimacy of graffiti art. Keep an eye out for a certain symbiotic Spider-man villain in the background throughout.

More Action Action

Another copy of Action Comics #1 broke the bank this month, as reported by the Associated Press. The story reports only 100 copies of Action #1 exist, so we're only 98 more headlines away from having them all accounted for.

Tiger Woods Action Figure

Now you can play the night after Thanksgiving with the Tiger Woods action figure, now on clearance at Toys 'R Us!

So Close, But Still So Avatar: A Quick Treatise About Science Fiction

Allow me join the Internet discussion: Avatar didn't win the Academy Award because it didn't tell a new story. It used advanced technology to depict an engaging allegory, but it didn't offer anything new. Star Wars didn't tell a new story, either. They're just amazing moving pictures -- like most science fiction. Think about that; true science fiction can't offer anything new, because then it wouldn't be scientific. The genre uses science in different ways, spins it through a different perspective -- hence, the fiction -- but it needs some foundation in reality to make it a believable alternative thereof. Oftentimes, that foundation is raw humanity, like the brashness of a Captain Kirk or the naivete of a Luke Skywalker. The sensationalism of the future and/or other worlds is more attainable through their eyes, through the science of human nature above all else. Cool space ships help, too. In Avatar, James Cameron encourages an escape from our inherent humanity. He's created an entire fictional culture as an alternative. (In fact, his film is exactly the opposite of Star Trek in its violation of the Prime Directive!) We've been enticed by the unknown via science fiction for years -- like I said, that isn't new. Introducing mankind as the enigma, finally understanding that these amazing fantasies aren't external adventures but introspective discoveries -- feeling comfortable in our own skin -- now that would be award worthy.

Stark Does Hollywood

Robert Downey, Jr. mentioned Tony Stark on the Academy Awards tonight. So, while my favorite animated short of the year, "The Kinematograph," didn't earn a nomination, I'll take it.

Superman Pop Toppers Candy

The earthquake in Chile knocked the earth off its axis. If that doesn't sound like the fruits of a Dr. Doom plot, I don't know what does.

Before the world ends, enjoy this shot of some Superman lollipops at my local 99 Cents Store.

We Are All Doomed

I just took in the animated short films that have been nominated for the Oscar at Tempe's Valley Art Harkins Theater, and while Logorama is by far the most daring, Poland's The Kinematograph is the most emotionally compelling. Most of these short films exploit death to elicit an emotional response, but The Kinematograph actually retains an universal life lesson, as well -- with an allegorical homage to the power of film itself.

This Dr. Doom adorned Phoenix New Times stand greets attendees outside of that particular movie theater, one of the successful entries from the paper's decorate-a-stand contest this year. Its inscription parallels the animated shorts' shared, consistent theme: we're all doomed. Yet, if your life is an animated one, it might be worth it.

Tiger Woods, Steampunk Art, and Remembering Batman

A quick rundown of My Life in Comics, the past twenty-four hours:

Steampunk at ArtSpace

My girlfriend and I went to a steampunk art exhibit at ArtSpace in Scottsdale, where we saw cool faux weapons like this by Ed Schenck, and other images of mankind's potential metalpocalypse:



My girlfriend was picture-happy, so more images to come (with her permission, of course).

Remembering Batman

Upon spotting the Justice League Unlimited Batman action figure on my desk, a coworker excitedly recounted the memory of winning a contest when she was five-years-old and watching a show in Mexico, where Batman and Robin descended live from a helicopter. The light in her eyes as she remembered seeing the heroes in real life was brighter than any Bat-signal could be.

Tiger's Wood

Finally, I drew this comic strip last night/this morning to commemorate Tiger Woods' press conference.

This strip is one of five "Versus Current Events" I've drawn over the past year or so. Check out the rest here.

So, I sought the influence of comic book culture, and listened to it come to me, and made a little of my own in the last twenty-four hours. Where was your comic a day?

Too Fat to Fly

Kevin Smith's debacle with Southwest Airlines doesn't involve comic books directly, but in this context Smith's well established love of and contributions to the comics industry beg the question, "Are all fanboys just fat, embittered slobs?" The Simpsons have succeeded in painting that picture for a mainstream audience with Comic Book Guy, but is it true? My average build proves otherwise . . . but when I look at my ever expanding collection, my obsessive need to visit the Target toy aisle every time I'm running errands, heck, this blog and its pining for at least a comic a day -- I see I'm gluttonous in other ways. I'm cool with that, because, like the brilliant Kevin Smith, I'm comfortable in my own skin. I'll squeeze into my place in this world when I have to. We geeks are so grounded, we're all too fat to fly.

Four More Years . . . Or Just 15 Fifteen More Minutes?

The celebrity of Barack Obama during last year's Presidential election enticed the attention of the comic book industry more than any other real world event in history. While I persist that Erik Larsen first used Obama in Savage Dragon, rather naturally since his series has always been set in Chicago, so many other comics exploited the President-elect's likeness that the line between fantasy and reality became blurred -- and just Google old CNN headlines during the Amazing Spider-man cameo ruckus to prove it. Fortunately, DC Comics' avoidance of ties to reality dodged the Obama gravy train, but they still took advantage of the election to explore a corner of their universe oft untouched -- their heroes' politics.

In DC Universe Decisions, when the Justice League endeavors to protect Presidential candidates in the crosshairs of assassination, the media twists their varied public statements into endorsements for the election. The Green Arrow/Green Lantern dynamic established in the "hard travelling heroes" era propels the series, with Superman's tight-lipped perspective billed as a bigger mystery than the killer. In the end, little more is confirmed than the obvious -- that superheroes are both celebrities and vigilantes, so while their opinions are coveted, they're ineffective in their legal hypocrisy -- but at least it was entertaining to watch.

Wedged between Final Crisis and Blackest Night, Decisions hasn't carried much if any weight in the DC Universe, but its parallel to pop culture happenings is still important in our world as the line between politician and celebrity becomes more and more blurry. This Presidents' Day, as Obama still appears in comics if only now as a barbarian (thank you, Larry Hama), the question persists: Which is a more reliable Washington news source, CNN or TMZ? The decision really is yours.

Never Toy With An Octomom!

The media's willingness to call Nadya Suleman "Octomom" is a comforting notion for fanboys like me eager to see superheroes in real life someday. I mean, if real news people can say "Octomom" with a straight face, names like "the Shocker" or "Bronze Tiger" would roll right off the tongue. Considering this connection to comics, I thought I'd draw one about the infamous Octomom, in her inherent role as a super villain. I called the strip "Vs. Current Events" with the hopes that in the future other celebrities or fame-seekers will adopt aliases with similar appeal. Fingers crossed!

Putting the "Bat" Back in "Bat Crap Crazy!"

Christian Bale's tirade on the set of Terminator: Salvation has swept the mainstream news this week, and I love that most outlets are equating his rage with his role as Batman. Here are my favorite highlights of this week's Bale-istic tantrum:

- TMZ releases audio of Bale's rant against the Director of Photography on the set of Terminator: Salvation.

- "Christian Bale" calls and curses out David Letterman. (I couldn't find an on-line clip of that, but The Tony Mendez Show hilariously jumps on the Bale-wagon . . .)

- Jimmy Fallon satirizes the rant on the blog promoting his upcoming late night talk show.

- A Batman flips out for tourists and passers-by in front of the Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

When I played that last clip for a co-worker, he astutely pointed out that, as much as comedians and wanna-be Internet superstars are riffing Bale, none of them have been as funny as the real thing. Agreed!

Addendum: Apparently, Bale has publicly apologized for his behavior. Over twenty-two pages' worth of comments on the MSN story about his regret practically exclusively chastise the actor's initial tirade, and then even the apology itself, so I took the opposing stance with the following post:

I'd love to put a recorder or video camera in any of your cars, you hypocrites! Or maybe the last time you and your significant other really went at it? Everybody flips out sometimes, and sometimes it lasts LONGER than four minutes! Who cares if he's sorry for the sake of publicity or damage control -- Don't you make your kids say "I'm sorry" even when they don't mean it? His attitude is EXACTLY why we like him -- everybody loves the tough guy. That's why he's been in Batman, and now Terminator, two of the biggest film franchises ever. We want to see him kick butt . . . and we're hypocrites when we can't take him doing it for a few minutes in real life, especially if he and the DP really cleared the air and moved on THAT DAY, MONTHS ago.

Re: Bale as a role model. Your kids will only hear this rant if YOU let them access TMZ or the nightly news. Heck, ever think that maybe a few seconds of the rant might be a good chance for parents to talk about anger management? Remember when parents used chances like this to teach lessons about life, rather than rave about the perpetual victimization of their kids?

And I bet your daughter HAS dated "that nut." You just don't know it yet.

Yes, many of the comments addressed Bale as a role model, and that last jab was intended for the dude that said he'd never let his daughter date a nut like that. Talk about rubbing another man's rhubarb . . .!