Halloween Interactivity! Day 7: The League (Part 1 - Movies)

Hey all!

I hope your Halloween weekend is going swimmingly.

Here in Part 1, I'll discuss an underrated SPOOOOOOOOOOOOKY movie.  And then in Part 2 - we'll talk costumes.

My favorite spooky movies are probably:  The Haunting, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Dracula, followed by The Shining and The Thing.  None of these are particularly poorly-known movies.

And, as I've said, I didn't really have an affinity for horror movies growing up.  It was hanging out with our own JAL, Michael Corley and CarlaBeth that I finally saw some real horror movies.

Here's a quick rundown of some movies I think should get a mention.

Halloween Interactivity! Day 6: The Admiral

One funny thing about The Admiral.  Growing up, it was always impossible to come up with a scheme where he wasn't five steps ahead of you.  No matter what sort of bad idea you had, he'd done it first, and he'd done it worse.

The email I got from my father:

Oooo--K,

Not sure if this qualifies, but - in the category of poor taste --> In the late 1950's my best friend Bryan and I came up with the brilliant idea of costuming Bryan as Adolph Hitler and me as a US Army officer.  I carried a toy pistol which I pointed a him every time we went up to a door for treats.  Needless to say the reaction was mixed - at best.  

Dad

Well done, Admiral!  You get most f'd up costume story by a country mile!

Halloween Interactivity! Day 5: Horus Kemwer

Our own Horus Kemwer of Against the Modern World chimes in with his Halloween entry!  I think you'll enjoy, especially if you watch the clips.  

Underappreciated monster movie? Perhaps. Have you ever heard of it? Probably not. Bizarre, inexplicably nutty, yet strangely compelling cultural artifact from across the border? Definitely.

It's Caperucita y Pulgarcito Contra Los Monstruos (1962) from "the other Roberto Rodriguez."

The title is usually translated as "Little Red Riding Hood and Tom Thumb vs. The Monsters," but like everything else about this movie, it works better in Spanish. (Important tip: if you watch it, do so with subtitles, not the by all accounts atrocious dubbing.)

The film pits the tiny tots Little Red Riding Hood and Tom Thumb (along with their trusty, and extraordinarily annoying skunk side kick) against "all the monsters we have known in fairy tales." These monsters apparently hang out in a castle together in "The Kingdom of Evil" plotting against our two heroes. Their sheer goodness (and their apparent ability to sometimes convert monsters from the path of evil) is enough to incur the wrath of the combined monster forces from all fairy tales (and classic novels, apparently, as Frankenstein's monster and Dracula are amongst the bunch).

Another category of "fairy tale" appears to be Disney movies, judging by the appearance of characters both good . . .



. . . and bad.



Still, the camps is hilarious, the kids are charming, and the songs good for a laugh. You won't be scared, but you will be astounded. And let's not forget the fight scenes:



And, as with all genre-crunching artifacts from foreign cultures, there's much that seems oddly out of place—e.g. sexual innuendo between Dracula and the Witch, torture scenes, and an invocation of Satan. Have no fear though, the movie is still resolutely G rated, aimed squarely at children from the planet Mars.

[Sorry, no costume stories - Horus doesn't wear costumes on Halloween.]

Halloween Interactivity! Day 4: Jamie

We cruise into Day 4 of our interactivity responses with some words from my house-mate, pal and beloved bride, Jamie (you may call her McSteans, if you so choose).  


1) Under-appreciated Halloween type movie

Not being the scary movie connoisseur that many of you readers likely are, I was at first stumped by this question. Most of the horror/monster/creepy movies I've seen and have liked are pretty well known and loved. So instead of an "under-appreciated" film, I have two bad movies I've seen too many times, thanks to boredom and HBO, that were not to my knowledge, popular.

The first is Teen Witch, the 1989 Robin Lively vehicle where our protagonist is a cute girl who for some reason (the script says so) is unpopular. She meets a tiny witch (character actress Zelda Rubenstein) who gives her a special witchy necklace which Teen Witch uses to make herself popular (of course). I don't remember much else about the movie, but I think we can safely guess lessons are learned about being happy with yourself or being popular isn't all it's cracked up to be, or something like that. The one scene that has been etched permanently into my brain is the jaw droppingly bad sequence where Teen Witch uses her new witchy powers to make her best friend into a rapper so her friend can impress a group of 80s "toughs" (guys in acid washed jeans with mullets doing a choreographed musical routine next to their car). At least I think that's what was happening. See for yourself, if you dare:



Top That!

The other movie I've seen too much is the sequel to Critters, the aptly named Critters 2. I think the original Critters was conceived attempting to cash in on the popularity of Gremlins and must have been successful enough to green light not one but three additional movies. Being easily spooked as a youngster (E.T. freaked me out, for God's sake) the "critters" themselves seemed relatively unscary. Plus they got style points for rolling themselves everywhere for transportation and assembling in the movie's climax to form a giant Super Critter.



This is why we don't have more cats


2) Worst costume choice

When I was about seven, my mom made me a black cat costume for Halloween. I loved it so much I wore it around the house all the damn time, all year long. It scared the crap out of our actual cat, but that didn't stop me. The cat costume made a repeat Halloween appearance the following year. By year three, I had clearly outgrown the stupid thing, but was determined to wear it once again. My brilliant idea was to scuzz it up a bit, wear weird makeup, colorful socks, and go as a "punk cat". Needless to say, I looked ridiculous. My mom just kind of shook her head and didn't say much, clearly knowing this was a bad call.

You know when you get a group of trick-or-treaters and there's always that one kid where you're just not sure where they were going with their outfit so instead of saying, "oh what a cute pirate/vampire/Batman!" you just blink for a second and say, "Happy Halloween!"? That was me.

Halloween Interactivity! Day 3: SimonUK

Hey all!


SimonUK has pitched in with his response to our "under appreciated horror movie" question.  SimonUK has seen, really, a ridiculous amount of horror.  Its kind of remarkable.


So, I take him at his word when he talks scary flicks.

Unappreciated Horror Movies. 


I'll start with Horror Express, a very weird Spanish/British co-production featuring Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Telly Savalas- shouting alot as a Kossack, and a Thing type monster on the loose aboard the Orient Express. Loony ending and rock funk soundtrack despite being set in the 1800s. Very striking images and some genuinely scary moments. 


Cushing gets to say, "we're not monsters, we're British you know." 


This is the first horror film i remember and I had nightmares about 'red eyes' for weeks. 

Worst Costume


My worst costume was a bumble bee, it weighed a ton, I was very hot and nearly drowned when someone pushed me in the swimming pool in it in my late teens. And it wasn't remotely scary.

SimonUk's costume was remarkably accurate

we kid - the costume was this - 

okay, this is also not SimonUK, but I like to think he looked this charming

Halloween Interactivity! Day 2: Maxwell

We're back for Day 2 of the Signal Watch Halloween Interactivity!

Signal Corps, I'd be lying if I said we wouldn't welcome additional entries.  We'd love to hear what you've got to say!

For a quick review of the interactivity guidelines, just click here, and you're off to the (spooky) races.

Longtime Leaguer and now Signal Corpsman Maxwell (aka:  Cowgirl Funk) has submitted a response to at least half the interactivity.  She gets a gold star!

Maxwell, take it away...

I have a soft spot for the Peanuts gang and assumed that It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown is a treasured and easily recognizable part of Halloween Americana.  In this delightful Halloween classic, Charlie Brown cuts too many holes  in his ghost costume, and only receives rocks when the gang goes out for "Tricks or Treats".

This, like most of my terrible costumes, was an overestimation of cultural relevance, and suffered further from poor execution.  Instead of cutting holes I opted to draw too many eye-holes onto my white ghost cloth.  The costume may have made more sense in a group of other ghosts, with a little more context.  Instead I looked like a ghost dalmatian with a bag of rocks.  Good grief.

A selection of additional poor costume choices:

• Abstract Art 
• Steve Prefontaine 
• A dead model from the 1999 GAP Mellow Yellow, "Everyone in Chords" Campaign

As a quick aside, I would have paid good money to see you in the Prefontaine outfit.

Halloween Interactivity! Day 1: My Brother

Hey Signal Corps!


We didn't exactly get a crippling flood of responses to this year's Halloween interactivity. I don't know if you're still worn out from last year or you didn't feel like putting up with my shenanigans for a second go-round. Maybe its the economy or sun spots. You're an unpredictable bunch.


Its a SPOOOOKY time of year, full of ghouls and goblins and sugar cookies.  And we feel this lends itself to a bit of personal storytelling.  I may personally be very scared of the unquiet dead in ghost form, and you might find the idea of the Moth Man terrifying, but that's what makes it interesting.  We've all got our thing.


This year we had two questions we asked.  Two fairly simple questions, I thought.   Well, not questions you people wanted to answer.


Luckily, we can always count on my brother, Steanso, to make sure I get at least one response.  I should note:  He kept asking me if he "won". So, everybody, he "won", okay. Let him have this.  


Now, from my brother...


1) Favorite underappreciated scary movie:

Does anyone else remember Q?  That giant, flying lizard was somehow both cool and a little scary when I was a kid.  Mostly I just liked big, giant monsters (I was a big Godzilla fan since the time I was about toddler size), and when I saw Q as a pretty young kid, it struck me as some kind of weird American take on the Godzilla theme.

Also C.H.U.D.  They were cannibalistic and humanoid and they lived under our feat.  Who wouldn't be made a little nervous by that?

And I liked Maximum Overdrive.  Giant, killer trucks.  It was funny and stupid, but the idea of being run over by giant, sentient trucks was still both entertaining and a little troubling.  ...I just read on Wikipedia that Stephen King (in his only directorial attempt) has now said that he was "coked out of his mind" during production of the movie and didn't really know what he was doing.  Somehow that movie about the angry trucks makes a little more sense now.

I've never seen this movie, but I always appreciated that the killer truck had the face of The Green Goblin

2)  Worst Halloween costume?

Well, one year I was The Blair Witch.  I wore a set of bobbly antennas and a black tee shirt.  The Blair Witch is muy mysterioso and leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

Another year I started out wearing a cool jawa costume that looked just like something out of the movie.  It had a big hood, a dark cover over the face, and eyes that lit up.  Cool costume for a little kid.  But it was also made of think, burlapish material and it was really hot.  Eventually I ended up taking off the hood and walking the streets as a small, sweaty Obi Wan Kenobi.  The neighbors didn't really get why a little kid would want to dress up as a short, stinky version of the old man from the Star Wars movies, but they gave me candy, anyway.

I've also been various things just involved clown makeup or fake blood (sometimes at the same time).  I used to wear this stuff when my band was playing Halloween gigs because it would be too hot to wear a mask.  Once the band got rocking, though, the makeup or fake blood would usually run, and I'd just end up looking like some kind of bruised, multicolored mess.  Nothin' to be proud of.

Don't Forget: Halloween Participation FUN is FUN

Hey, Signal Corps!  We have a sort of tradition of reader participation around Halloween going back many, many years.

The gentleman in the cape thinks our participation events are a bloody good time

I posted the rules  for the Halloween participation adventure last week, but wanted to put out a reminder.

Tragically, these things DO have deadlines.

Click here to read up on this year's event!

Halloweeeeeeeeeeeen Spooktacular Participation Time!

Hey, everybuddy!

Its time for the 2011 Halloween Signal Corps Partipation Event!

Ms. Lake continues to be very excited about this chance for Signal Corps participation

Last year we ran a participation event in which folks talked about their favorite and least favorite monsters.  Personally, I had a ton of fun reading responses that came in.  It was awesome to see all of the different monsters, creatures and explanations. 

You can see an index of last year's Halloween Event responses here.

a reader, spooked by last year's terrific responses

I floated a query via FB and Twitter to see what people thought might work for an event this year, and I appreciate the feedback!

We'll take a bit of a scattershot approach, and I apologize if we didn't use your idea this go-round.

when I found yet another picture of a woman looking back over her shoulder in a witch hat with a pumpkin, I figured I better post this one, too.

So, the two question categories this year are sort of Charlie Brown questions, which are my favorite:

The SPOOOOOOKY QUESTIONS:

1)  What is your favorite under-appreciated horror/ monster/ creepy/ whatever movie.  What scary movie did you see that you were shocked to either realize nobody had ever seen, or you realized later: everybody else hates this movie but me?

2)  What was your worst costume choice (or that of a friend or colleague)?  What costume do you just completely and totally regret having worn?  Why? 

"and one year, I was just straight up terrifying to the neighbors..."

Timeline:

• Please send in all responses by October 19. 
• We will begin running responses week of October 24.

This Signal Corps Participation Event participant isn't going to go batty worrying about whether people will like her responses

Relax:

Everytime we do one of these, you guys write in to tell me "I'm not sure what to say" or "My answer won't be good enough".  Poppycock.  You've all got stories, and everytime we do this, its a blast.  Just share what you've got.

Guidelines:

• You may submit three answers per question (maybe you have a whole list of schlocky movies you really like or just have no ability to put together a costume.  You tell me)
• Please keep profanity to a minimum.  Remember that my mother-in-law reads this site, and that we love Judy and do not want to make her sad with your swears and gutter talk
• There is no fixed length for your response, but please include a "who, what, where, when, why" in your answer, if possible
• You may answer either or both questions (or neither, but we won't give you credit for lack of effort)
• Pictures are welcome
• As editor-in-chief of this site, I reserve the right to withhold printing your responses with a clear conscience should you go off the rails, but I will be happy to talk through any issues I have regarding content of your submission

Send your submissions (or questions) to:  signalwatch at gmail dot com

Looking forward to your responses!  You guys always do such an awesome job when we have a group participation event.  So let's get scary and see what we can cook up for Halloween!

CanadianSimon is back with Week 4 Guest Reviews! (All Star Western, Justice League Dark and Firestorm)

CanadianSimon is back with another round-up!  I have not yet read Simon's picks below (MythBusters season premier was on, people), but once again there's some cross-over here.  I did pick-up All Star Western and Firestorm. 

Let's see what our friend from the Great White North had to say...



After taking last week off where I didn't bother to review Blue Beetle which did not elicit positive or negative feelings I'm back picking up another three floppies.


All Star Western #1
written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
pencils by Moritat

I did not collect the previous Johan Hex series by Palmiotti and Gray but I was interested in this book. The idea of Jonah Hex being let loose in Gotham City was very appealing. Add on top of that the character of Amadeus Arkham, the guy who goes on to build the lunatic asylum where all of Batman's foes end up, gives this book a dark psychological bent.

The two are brought together to investigate a series of murders. The pairing seems to be odd homage to Holmes and Watson. As they begin to investigate they discover an even greater conspiracy. This mystery really helps to pull the reader into the book. Moritat's moody pencils also contribute to the creepy mood of this book.

In this book Hex's character seems to be pure Id. All he does is drink, fight and generally tick folks off. But, upon further reflection's on Hex you can see that he is actually being driven by his ego as what appears as uncoordinated instinct is actually very organized and calculating as he attempts to uncover the killer.

On the other hand Amadeus Arkham is the super-ego. He is critically analyzing everything that Hex does and this thoughts are shared with us through captioning. Also, Arkham gives off this incredibly creepy Norman Bates vibe which I expect to pay off in future issues.

I can't help but to cynically wonder if the name change from Johan Hex to All Star Western was partially to pay homage to the series from the 1950's but also to distance itself from that horrible, horrible Johan Hex movie that was released last year.

Even though this book is $3.99 it weighs in at 28 extremely well written and drawn pages. I'll be back at my LCS for this next month.

Justice League Dark #1
written by Peter Milligan
pencils by Mikel Janin

This is a book that I was hoping to love and I can't say it completely delivered. It wasn't a perfect issue but it was good enough to leave me wanting to come back next month.

Basically it is a "getting the band together" issue where a new type of Justice League is being formed to combat mystical threats since the main Justice Leaguers like Superman and Cyborg are woefully out of their depths confronting magic.

One of my favourite characters, Madame Xanadu, is pulling together Deadman, Zantana, Shade the Changing Man and John Constantine to be the Justice League Dark (still a dumb name). Sadly, we don't get to see all of the characters together but we can see how all the threads are being intertwined. The big bad in the Enchantress is setup and we are introduced to all of the characters, albiet briefly.

I'm a little disappointed that the JLD doesn't have 7 members as that would be the perfect amount for a mystical super team a la Seven Soldiers.

The Fury of Firestorm #1
written by Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone
pencils by Yildiray Cinar

I really love Gail Simone so I really wanted to love this book even though I can honestly say I've never bought a Firestorm book in my life before. Sad to say this will probably be the last Firestorm book I buy.

I know this book is being co-written with Ethan Van Sciver so supposedly we have one conservative and one liberal writer trying to given Ronny and Jason different voices. Sadly the conflict between the two seemed really forced to me and really paint by the numbers. Maybe I don't understand the jock vs geek mentality as that wasn't part of my high school experience.

As well the amount of violence in this book seemed to turn me off a bit. I know this book is rated teen but SPOILERS having a kill crew off an entire family and a bunch of high schoolers just seems excessive END SPOILERS but I guess this is the way a lot of the new DCnU books are.

I wasn't really familiar with Yildiray Cinar but I did really like his art on this book. So while I can say this book isn't for me it might just be for you.

A Special Announcement Regarding Reviews of DC's New 52 (and thanks to @AustinBooks)

Hello, Signal Corps.

I have fallen into a bizarre and amazing situation courtesy of our friends at Austin Books and Comics (conveniently located on sunny Lamar Boulevard in fabulous Austin, Texas).  I have been extended an invitation to receive copies of all the DC New 52 #1's that I did not read for review.  And I am totally going to do it.

Fortunately, the offer they made works within my own review policy, and will actually be getting these comics on loan (yes, I will return them... except the ones I really like).  Then I'll be handing over more money to Austin Books, which is, I am perfectly aware, Brad's evil scheme.

Austin Book's owner, Brad Bankston

There's no clause that says I need to say anything nice about any books, or even anything nice about Austin Books, but when local merchants go out of their way to see that a customer such as myself is done a huge favor (completely unprompted), and just because they know I am a particularly serious DC dork, then I say:  I AM TELLING YOU TO SHOP AT AUSTIN BOOKS AND COMICS.*

It seems this is a good guy doing a solid for a guy who likes Superman.  And that's what makes the world go-round, people.

You can expect the next round of New 52 reviews to begin this weekend.  Yes, I will cover Red Hood and Catwoman.

Don't worry Brad and Brandon, I will keep my cat away from the comics and will limit the number of grape jelly sandwiches I consume while handling the comics.

*seriously, I've been to shops all over the place, and ABC is still the best one I've visited.

Guest Post - Jamie reads Wonder Woman #1

Hey, Signal Corps!  We've got a guest post I wasn't expecting.

Jamie plays it down, but she actually reads a lot of comics.  She does buy her own stuff from time to time, but mostly she reads my comics when the mood strikes her.  This weekend she picked up my copy of Wonder Woman off the coffee table, breezed through it and then started talking to me about it.  

In talking about the book, I thought she made some good points, so I asked her to put some of that down in a post.

Jamie hasn't been overly curious about the rest of New 52 launch, and as far as I know, this is the only one of the books I brought home that she's read.  But she's a woman of mystery, so for all I know, she's read everything off the coffee table while I'm at the gym.


As Jamie is actually pretty familiar with the last decade or so of Wonder Woman comics (I don't think she realizes those trades are pretty much everything going back to 2000 or so), but isn't particularly invested in DC or their publishing efforts, I thought it would be useful to hear what she had to say.  She also (I think) likes Wonder Woman on her own, and I would think a young, well-read, bright woman such as herself might be someone DC would want to buy their comics.

Ryan asked me to post a short review of the new Wonder Woman (#1 in the "New 52" relaunch).  I am not a regular reader of WW, aside from a few trades and a few issues here and there that Ryan has tossed my direction.  Nevertheless, I still felt a bit sheepish when halfway through the first issue of this reboot I looked up at Ryan and confessed, "I have no idea what's going on".  

I have never been particularly good with reviews, which is why I tended to avoid them on my own retired blog, but let me just quickly tick off a couple of issues I had with this...issue.

1. I admit, I got lost right after Diana and her new friend the Pantsless Wonder were sucked back to Virginia and the black and green voiceover boxes started popping up.*  Who the hell is this talking?  Is it the horse people?  Who are these horsey people?  Ryan kindly explained that the voiceover was coming from Glowy Eyes and his possessed lady friends back in Singapore from the opening pages.  I was embarrassed to have not picked up on this myself, but in my defense it had been 14 pages since we'd even seen Glowy Eyes and I don't like having to flip back through a comic trying to figure out what I'd missed.

Honestly if I didn't know about this relaunch and the book didn't have a "#1" slapped on the cover, I would have no idea this was the beginning of a new story.  It felt like any other of Ryan's WW issues I'd randomly read over the years where I knew I needed to just let some stuff go because I wasn't completely caught up. 

2. Not enough Diana.  For an issue that's attempting to draw in new readers, I would have liked to have seen more Wonder Woman in my Wonder Woman.  I understand that they are trying to lay down a story and it's just the first issue, but new readers are going to be picking this up expecting to see Diana in action.  

Like I said, my knowledge of WW and her mythos is less than impressive so I have no idea if this series is going to truly take her back to her roots or what.  My favorite incarnation of WW so far was the Greg Rucka era around 2004-5 of Ambassador Diana where she had no secret identity and a great cast of secondary characters with which to interact.**  I prefer to read comics that have a little joy in them from time to time as opposed to all violence and angst.  Personal preference, of course.  

All in all, I liked the art, and wasn't turned off enough by the story or the initial confusion to refuse to read any more.  I'll stick around for a few more issues, at least.

*I'm sure it's not called a voiceover box, but please cut me some slack, I don't know the lingo.

**Minotaur buddy? That's pretty awesome.

JimD's Daredevil Deposition of Mark Waid!

JimD, the original Signal Corpsman, and one of the contributors at the always fine Abnormal Use law blog, has landed an interview with comics scribe Mark Waid (one of my personal heroes).

As you may know, Mark Waid is currently writing (Here Comes) Daredevil, and like everything else the man has touched the past decade, its just another darn fine comic.  Our protagonist, Daredevil, is, by day, attorney Matt Murdock.  And thus: our connection.

Don't take our word for it - read JimD's post and then go to your local comic shop this week and find Daredevil #4.  And then buy the previous issues if they're on the shelf.

You have to like it.  Cap AND Daredevil.

Our Own Nathan C interviews Michael Uslan! Uber-Batman Fan and Bat-Film Producer

Longtime Pal and Signal Corps Founding Member NathanC is at Texas Public Radio in San Antonio. In addition to his regular duties making radio happen, he covers cinema and programs the Summer Cinema series for TPR.

He also does a lot of interviews with film-related folk.  Now Nathan has landed an interview with Michael Uslan!

Uslan is a former comics writer, and is now a producer of Batman movies going back to the 1980's and running up to the upcoming Dark Knight Rises.  Uslan's memoir, The Boy Who Loved Batman, has just arrived, and I'd heard about it via the buzz its gotten on the comics interwebs (people were pretty happy Uslan, who is such a champion for comics and Batman, was chatting a bit).

Its a great interview!  Listen here.

Guest Post: CanadianSimon Takes on The New 52 - Week 2

Its week TWO of DC Comics' relaunch, and CanadianSimon is back with another round-up of reviews!

Simon and I picked up some of the same books, and I'll be talking about some of my goods later this week, but I thought it'd be fun to start off with Simon's $0.02.

I won't bother re-introducing our reviewer, but I would point you to his reviews as offered up last week for more official Trusted Signal Corps Opinions.*

Take it away, Simon!

I'm back again picking up another three of the thirteen books available in the DCnU.


Batwoman #1
written by J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman
pencils by J.H. Williams III

Easily the most beautiful book I've read in awhile. This shows that J.H. Williams has lost none of the magic he showed when he and Greg Rucka worked on the Elegy storyline on Detective Comics. I'm always impressed by how J.H. can shift so effortlessly between art styles using one approach for Batwoman scenes and another for her alter ego Kate Kante. Many of the action scenes have the inspired layouts and panel border designs that you would expect from a J.H. book. As well the colorist Dave Stewart continues his stellar efforts on this title.

Hmmm...looking back on what I just typed "on this title" hits upon my only nitpick of this book. It really reads like the next issue of that aforementioned Detective Comics run. The follow up to that seminal run had been oft delayed until finally they had it line up with the release of DC's New 52. For me, it's not a big deal as I've read what comes before so I wasn't lost but I wonder what it is like for new readers. That's not to say that there aren't a few wonderfully designed info dump pages that try and catch the reader up on things.

Anyway, this is a gorgeous book and a good story and I'll be back again to pick this up next month. Although at some point I might just stop getting this titles as I'll want to own art this beautiful in hard cover format and I don't have the budget to start double dipping.

Demon Knights #1
written by Paul Cornell
pencils by Oclair Albert

I will confess, I'm a sucker for Arthurian mythology. One of the first grown up books I read was Le Morte d'Arthur that my Aunt picked up for me at her job as a university librarian. I've been hooked on Arthur ever since. That said Cornell's Demon Knights is right up my alley and it doesn't disappoint.

The first issue is very much a team assembling piece. We get to see the origin of The Demon/Jason Blood shortly after the death of King Arthur and not long after that we see that Madam Xanadu/Nimue are travelling together. At this point I have to mention the amazing Vertigo series Madame Xanadu by Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder Hadley. 

They stop in a small village which, unknown to them, is about to be over-run by a horde of marauders. At the village they run into the immortal barbarian Vandal Savage and the Shining Knight. One doesn't need to know anything else about these characters but for long time readers it's a neat nod to past continuity. As well we meet 3 other characters, although we only get to see two of their faces.

This is all pointing towards the team having seven members which is not only a magic number but is the right number to draw an analogy to The Seven Soldiers teams of yore of which the Shining Knight was a part of. Again, go get the four volume Seven Soldiers trades written by Grant Morrison.

Anyway, the heroes(?) are assembling and the villains are amassing and I just want to know what happens next!

Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #1
written by Jeff Lemire
pencils by Alberto Ponticelli

Once again Jeff Lemire shows that he knows how to write a first issue. There's enough information in here to introduce you to the main and supporting characters but not too much to get in the way of the action. Personally I love the one off reference to a vacation on Mars that Frankenstein talks about which in itself is an oblique reference to the Frankenstein Seven Soldiers stories written by Grant Morrison that I've already mentioned.

But I have a problem with this issue and it's the art. After being treated to a great cover by JG Jones we get interiors by Alberto Ponticelli. I'm not at all familiar with Mr. Ponticelli's previous comic work but I find these pencils to be rough, too rough in fact. I keep thinking that maybe a different inker could have cleaned them up a bit more but what do I know. I mostly read comics for the stories these days but bad art can take me out of my happy place and while I wouldn't want to call this bad it certainly knocked me out of the zone.

I've checked the solicits and Ponticelli is down as penciller for issues 2 and 3. That's going to make my decision very difficult if I keep up with this book as I love Lemire and I love this concept but I just don't love this art.

*If you're interested in offering up your own reviews, don't hesitate to contact us and let us know!

Guest Post! CanadianSimon Reviews Some of DC's New 52

As part of our ongoing coverage of DC Comics' New 52 release-a-stravaganza, we're opening the lines to the faithful Signal Corps and asking you to pitch in with your own reviews (it ain't too late).  

Simon MacDonald is a software developer by day, a comics omnivore by night, and a devoted reader of all kinds of books during the moments the rest of us would waste time sleeping or blinking or something.  He's a proud father and husband, and he still finds time to run and seek the perfect cup of coffee.  

He's got a great perspective on comics new and old, and its always fun when he shows up in the comments or volunteers a Guest Post.  

He took some time off from making Android apps and his own blog to send us the post below.

take, it Simon!

Well's it been awhile since I've gone to my LCS to pick up an actual comic instead of a trade. I've not purchased a new release floppy since Thor: The Mighty Avenger was cancelled and I haven't purchased multiple new release floppies in a long, long time.

That's all changed with this weeks release of thirteen new #1 issues four of which I'm picking up hard copies of and depending on word of mouth I may pick up even more when the digital price drops by $1 in a month.  Here are my thoughts on the books as I read them in the scientific alphabetical order:

Animal Man #1  written by Jeff Lemire pencils by Travel Foreman

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!

Frankly I was blown away by this first issue. This is a master class on how to introduce a character to a bunch of new readers. I can see people who've never read an Animal Man book enjoy this just as much as folks who are fans of Grant Morrison's turn on the title.

The first page is a magazine interview which nicely catches up readers on the history of Buddy Baker, Animal Man. Some people don't like prose piece in their comics but I don't have a problem with it as long as it is used properly and in this case it's a perfect fit.

We are introduced to Buddy's wife Ellen, son Cliff and daughter Maxine and we get a really great scene in the kitchen setting up the tension between Buddy's role as a family man and being a super hero. From there Buddy must stop a kidnapping which serves as an excellent forum to explain and showcase his powers.

The balance of the book then sets up a number of plot points where we see that Buddy may have a problem with his powers, there seems to be something rotten with the "Red" the morphogenic field where Buddy can access his various animal attributes and finally Maxine seems to be coming into some powers of her own. 

There is a certain horror aspect here that really sets me on edge. As a Dad I'm always worried about my kids and stories like Poltergeist, The Shinning and Locke & Key where the kids are in danger really, really make an impact on me.

 Lemire succeeds in making me bite on this book, hook line and sinker. On my first read I wasn't too sure about Travel Foreman's pencils but on subsequent reads I'm really digging the creepy vibe he's able to give the book.  I'm going to have to contact my LCS and tell them to put this on my pull list permanently.

I'm excited by how excited YOU guys are over the New 52

Guys, its no secret I love comics, and especially the DCU.  One of the major goals of my blogging since I started way, way back in April of 2003 was to share my interest in comics of all sorts, share my interest in the colorful world of DC Comics and Superman, and see if that interest couldn't rub off on anybody else.

Its been no small bit of joy to me the past few days as a couple of you guys have emailed me or side-barred with me asking about the new Justice League comic or the New 52.  I think this is the point of DC's exercise in rebooting, in giving folks who either quit reading comics or never read comics a window and an opportunity to check out comics in a really easy way.

JimD goes to Philly and delivers a huge addition to the Superman collection

Holy smokes, ya'll...

Can you read my mind?

Yup, JimD went to Wizard World Philly, stood in line on my behalf and got me a signed pic by none other than Ms. Margot Kidder.  Where I'm from, this is better than currency. That there is Lois Lane, people.

Thanks to JimD, I now have autographs from two of the women who played Lois, both Ms. Kidder and Ms. Noel Neill.

Really, Signal Corps, the rest of you are falling way, way behind.

A Father's Day Tribute to: The Admiral

The Admiral's icy gaze of disapproval.  Man, if I had a nickel...

Just look at the fella in the picture. Pity him, for he has endured no small amount of nonsense from yours truly.  Good guy, The Admiral.  Puts up with a lot.

NathanC takes it to TV to promote classic film in San Antonio

Let me be clear: I am totally jealous of Nathan's gig as one of the voices of film in San Antonio, Texas. He's been working with the Bijou Theater and using his voice as part of San Antonio's public radio network to bring all kinds of films to The Alamo City for over a decade.

Here's Nathan appearing on local TV to promote the start of the TPR summer cinema series.



I'm heading down there for a picture or two, but I need to square with Jamie and figure out what we're going to go see.  I think Nathan represents my sole San Antonio reader, but if you want to go down there, lemme know.

I have to apologize to Nathan, because his choice to run my review of Santa Buddies may have tarnished his relationship with the Walt Disney Company.  One hopes that hasn't slowed him down too much.