Pop Irrelevance

Issue #2: 2-for-1 Deal

Ok, so I'm a little behind. Two, blogless weeks must be leaving some of you in serious withdrawal.

Comic Wednesday
Here's what I picked up at the local comic shop: Comics, Toons & Toys.
 

The past two weeks have been pretty slow.

Wizard Magazine #189 - It used to be subtitled "The Guide to Comics," now it's more apparent that the magazine is completely driven to promote the large comic companies. It used to be a price guide and news outlet, which it still does to an extent, but if you've been reading for as long as I have, you can see the corporate slant. There are some good interviews like the Bendis/Millar interview.

 

 

 

New Warriors #1 - I have to say that Wizard sucked me into this one after their article. It follows the aftermath of Civil War, which was a pretty damn good story other than the millions of tie-ins. I have a feeling that this will either set up for something big, or be a major let down. At least the art is pretty good.

 

 

 

New Avengers: Illuminati - I picked up a book that reprinted issues 1 & 2. The overall concept is pretty interesting. A group of individuals each representing the super-powered population secretly form in the to serve in "best interests" of, well, basically everyone. The book takes place in certain key moments in the Marvel Universe and the groups' actions have affected major events.

 

On the Nightstand & Anime'd

Continuing with the 2-for-1 theme.

Welcome to the N.H.K. - I just finished the first issue and I have already watched the first episode of the manga. Both are strange, perverse, offbeat and very well done. Hikikomori is a term used to describe adolecents and young adults who are reclusive and pretty much do not contribute to society. This story follows one such individual and his struggle to identify who he is and who he wants to be.

Et Cetera

If you've clicked on the links in this blog, you'll notice I use Wikipedia quite often. Seriously, the best resource especially for back-story reference or summaries for comics, manga and anime. And they warn you of spoilers.

Well, that's it for issue #2. Look out for issues 3 &4. They'll be right behind and of course, they'll may be unusual and sometimes downright irrelevant.

-Ian

 

Issue #1: The Beginning

Welcome to the first, of which I hope, are many blogs. Here, you'll find reviews, previews and just plain random things which may or may not be relevant to you.

Comic Wednesday
Here you'll find what caught my eye at the local comic shop: Comics, Toons & Toys.

This was a slow week as I only picked up ONE book! Usually the wife and I have no problem dropping a pretty penny or two.

X-Men #199 – Now I've been an on-and-off again reader of the X-Books. Nowadays, I usually pick it up for the artist. This issue contains the great art of Chris Bachalo. His style is very angular, but has a certain energy that translates into the sequential page. Not much of a story here, probably due to the fact that the big #200 issue is dropping next month and a huge X-Men crossover is planned for later this year.

Anime'd
Here you'll find whatever animated goodness I'm watching.

Deathnote-I've still only watched the first episode, but it has one of the most interesting premises I've heard of in while. High school student, Light Yagami, is a top student, yet is bored with his life. He finds a notebook, which says that if any humans name is written inside of it, the human dies. You find out where the book comes from, what it does and what Light is going to do with it all in the first episode. Look around the web, and some certain video sites still have episodes up…unless you want to wait for Viz Media to release the DVDs.

On the Nightstand
I try to read books to get inspired. Writing is harder than drawing, but doing both is just plain crazy. I guess that makes me crazy.

Cell by Stephen King-Super-highly recommended by the wife. People go crazy, chaos ensues and the characters know just about as much as you do. The pace starts fast and just keeps going from there. Excellent read so far.

Et Cetera

Watch out for Paprika coming out in limited release this week. Anime in theaters come few and far between, and this one looks good. I don't know much about it other than the good reviews it got on movies.com and Rotten Tomatoes and that it was directed by the guy who did Tokyo Godfathers and Perfect Blue. Hopefully it's sub-titled as I can't stand most movies/series NOT in their native language. I had the good fortune *sarcasm* of seeing the dubbed Escaflowne movie in the theater. Now, Princess Mononoke was a well dubbed movie because they got REAL actors not just voice actors. Why do you think the Disney movies and the Shreks do so well?

I highly suggest stopping by Albertaco's in Mission Viejo and ordering the Carne Asada Fries with sour cream and guacamole.

Well,that's it for issue #1. I'm sure I'll be adding and/or subtracting sections of this blog as I go along. So watch this spot for the new, the unusual and sometimes the downright irrelevant.

-Ian