Thoughts On Spider-Man Homecoming

THE SPOILER FREE REVIEW

Is it good? Listen bub - while I'm torn on the subject of this being the best Spider-Man movie ever overall, it has some of the best aspects of any Spider-Man movie ever. Tom Holland, for instance, is easily the best actor to ever play Peter Parker.

I laughed at this movie. I got teary-eyed during this movie. It provoked the full gamut of emotional responses at the appropriate times.

One bit of advice. There are a lot of differences from the original comics, so don't go in with a purist mindset. Think of this as Earth C-137 and just relax.

There are two post-credit sequences.

(SPOILERY COMMENTS TO FOLLOW AFTER THE IMAGE)

EASTER EGGS AND STUFF TO MAKE PURISTS ANGRY

No Spider-Man movie has ever had quite so many nods to Peter's high-school classmates and his love interests from the Stan Lee days. While some may grouse about  Flash Thompson being a mathlete instead of a jock, he's still the same jackass bully who devotes his life to making Peter Parker miserable. And that, ultimately, is the point of the character.

The best gag in this regard? The newsreader on the school news station is Betty Brant - Peter's first love interest, who was J. Jonah Jameson's secretary in the original comics.

Best Casting Gag?  Jennifer Connelly as the voice of Peter's suit AI. Why's that funny?  She's married to Paul Bettany - the voice of the Jarvis A.I. and Vision.

A close second? Donald Glover, who lobbied to play Spider-Man before Andrew Garfield was cast for Amazing Spider-Man and voiced Miles Morales in some of the cartoons, has a part as a long-time Spider-Man ally.


BEING PETER PARKER SUCKS. BEING A TEENAGER SUCKS MORE.

More than any Spider-Man before, Homecoming captures two facts the earlier movies didn't. It sucks to be Peter Parker and it sucks to be a teenager.

That's a thing a lot of adults forget. Being a teenager sucks. You're continually pushed to grow-up and act-your-age while simultaneously being reminded that you're a kid with no rights and no respect.

Peter's conflict with Tony is a mirror of that grand societal paradox. Tony only treats Peter as an peer when it is convenient for him. Like how most parents only hand over the car keys when they need the teenager to run an errand they don't want to deal with.

More than any other actor to play Spidey in live-action, Tom Holland captures that frustration. Not just about being a teenager but how much it sucks to be Peter Parker in general. All the moments where we see him looking wistfully on other teens getting to do teen stuff and wishing he could be with them... before going off to do the right thing.

On that note - props to the script depicting life in an urban high-school accurate, right down to them using outdated materials because they can't afford anything more current. (i.e. Captain America's inspiration videos being used, despite him probably being a terrorist now.)




THE TWO SPECIFIC COMIC HOMAGES - ONE OBVIOUS AND ONE NOT

The Obvious One - Peter digging himself out of the rubble while giving himself a pep-talk is a clear nod to Amazing Spider-Man #33 - considered by many to be the best single issue of the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko run.

The Not So Obvious One - The whole sequence with Peter having trouble moving around the suburbs and running through backyards isn't just a nod to Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  It's also a nod to Amazing Spider-Man #267 - "When Cometh The Commuter!" - which is all about the problems Spider-Man has trying to operate after chasing a baddie into The Burbs.


Okay, he doesn't get asked about borrowing a Big Wheel. But he does shoot webs up at nothing!

HONEST SURPRISES

The movie honestly surprised me at two points. I'm not going to say which two. If you haven't seen the movie, you need to go in clean on these points. And if you've already seen it... well, you probably know.  Pop me an e-mail if you want to talk about them.


MY ONLY TWO COMPLAINTS

1. Much as I loved the shout-out to Damage Control, it's a little hard to believe the anti-government Tony Stark of the time post-Avengers would work with the federal government on anything.

2. I'm not Peter David's biggest fan but given everything lifted from his Spider-Man stories for this movie, he damn well could have been credited along with Dwayne McDuffie.

Howard The Duck #11 - A Review

Howard The Duck is dead but the chaos he attracted lives on. Now, as a group of intergalactic content-creators who manipulate the heroes of the universe for their own ends attempt to take control of the situation, Howard moves on to his final rest.

Oh, if only it were that simple...



There is little I can say about this series at this point beyond this: Chip Zdarsky and Joe Quinones have done the legacy of Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik proud.

This Howard the Duck run - too good for one volume - did not try to ape the style of the classic series but it did what the original series did in the 1970's - examine the comic industry and the world at large through the lens of The Marvel Universe and everything that makes them all so gloriously insane. This was no small thing in a year in which Howard The Duck running for President might be seen as the best of all possible options even to those who only know him for "that crappy George Lucas movie" and Marvel Comics became hopelessly devoted to promoting special event after special event.

Yet this book remained free and true to its vision to the very end. More, it proved what wonders can be created when writers and artists are free to create and not beholden to the whims of an editorial team devoted to crafting the next big spectacle, so that they may build audience interest for the next big spectacle to follow.  It is a lesson that will surely be lost upon The House of Ideas but, for a time, at least, the sanity of the everyduck prevailed.

Howard The Duck #10 - A Review

Howard The Duck just learned that his life is The Mojoverse's most popular reality show!  The problem is that this discovery was orchestrated by two alien "content creators"- Chipp and Joe - whom Mojo was paying to introduce random craziness into Howard's life to make things more interesting. Now, Howard is - as usual - caught in the middle of it as everyone is trying to cover up their various misdeeds with as much ratings-rising violence as possible.


With this gloriously metatextual issue, Chip Zdarsky has proven himself the premiere satirist of modern Marvel Comics and  a worthy heir to Steve Gerber's throne. The artwork is equally strong across the board. Still, all good things must come to an end and as much as I want to see how they end it all, I am not looking forward to the series finale.

Howard The Duck #7 - A Review

It's all very simple.

Howard The Duck is a detective. He got hired by lawyer Jennifer Walter (aka She-Hulk) to track down one of her clients. Said client is a high-rolling rich jerk named Gary Stark (no relation, though he pretends there is) who mysteriously disappeared doing high-roller rich jerk stuff.

Howard recruits his "good friend" Spider-Man's boss (aka Peter Parker, but also secretly Spider-Man) to help them with a sting to figure out where Gary Stark went. This attracts the attention of D.A. Matt Murdock (aka Daredevil, but also secretly Matt Murdock), who has his own reasons for tracking down Gary Stark. And when Gary's trail leads to the Savage Land, they all have to go hitch a ride with Steve Rogers (aka The Senior Citizen Formerly Known As Captain America) so they don't violate the UN rules on traveling to The Savage Land!

See!  Totally simple!  It isn't until the geeks with the dinosaur-controlling helmets show up that things get complicated...


Guest artist Kevin Maguire is in fine form here. Nobody draws a great facial expression quite like Maguire and he is given ample opportunity to exercise his gifts for physical comedy throughout the issue. The color-art by Joe Quinones and Jordan Gibson bring the verdant wilds of the Savage Land to life perfectly, resulting in some amazing looking backgrounds.


This may not be a Giffen/DeMatteis comic book, but you'd never know it from the script. Chip Zdarksy's script seems to be a love letter to the BWA-HA-HA! days of comics, with all of the established characters played as overblown parodies of themselves and Howard stuck in the middle as the only sane man, er duck! How much you enjoy this issue may depend upon how willing you are to tolerate Spider-Man telling his amazing friends that they suck but I personally found the whole thing hilarious!

Captain America: Civil War - A Spoiler-Free Review

I know I'm going to upset a lot of people with these comments, so let's get it over with.

On the whole, I'd place Civil War on-par with Batman V. Superman.

Now, I see you Marvel Zombies are readying your pitchforks and torches, so let me explain why.

Basically, Civil War has the exact same over-riding problems Batman V. Superman did.

It's primarily concerned with offering fan-service and making references to the comics at the expense of a cohesive story. It requires some characters to act in a blatantly illogical fashion in order for the plot to work. The villain's evil plan is entirely dependent upon coincidences that should be entirely beyond their control that are never adequately explained. And - much like Age of Ultron before it - Civil War seemed like it was more concerned with setting up upcoming movies than it was in telling its own stories. As Batman V. Superman left us more excited about Wonder Woman, so too does Civil War leave us more excited about Black Panther and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Now with that being said, did I like the movie?

Yes!


Technically, the film is far from perfect.. The first hour drags a bit. There's some incredibly cheap CGI. And a lot of the fight scenes are filmed WAY too close and the jump-cuts went by so fast I thought for a moment the projector was running at a too-fast frame-rate.

But THE fight scene - you know the one I mean - THAT fight scene is perfect.

The acting is great across the board. Tom Holland in particular is impressive and not just because he is easily the most comics-accurate Spider-Man we've ever seen in a live-action work.

Overall, I'd give it a 6 out of 10. Good. Not great. Better than Age of Ultron. Not as good as Winter Soldier.

Oh, and one more thing - stick around through ALL the credits. There's two sequences to look out for.

Howard The Duck #1 - A Review

Trapped in a world he never made, Howard The Duck didn't think his life could get much worse. The public is alternatively scared and/or distrustful of him. The police think he's a trouble-maker. And the superhuman community don't have much use for him either. He can't even afford a real secretary! Still, the duck detective finally has a case he can sink his bill into. Now, if he could only get a clue...


Newcomers to Howard The Duck (i.e. everyone who only knows Howard from his cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy and that other movie we do not speak of) will be relieved that there is no cumbersome backstory to be made aware of in this first issue.  Howard is a talking duck. He's trapped on Earth. He's not happy about it. Neither are any of the stupid hairless apes who make Howard's life even more difficult. That's all you need know. A quick reference is made to there being a woman in Howard's past but the matter is quickly dropped as Howard is in no mood to discuss it.

Thankfully, for us old-timers, there are a number of references to Howard's past adventures even though this book gives him a fresh start. For instance, Howard is sharing an office building with She Hulk - an arrangement neither of them is particularly happy about, save when Howard needs someone to bail him out of jail. These nods to the past add to the humor of the issue, of which there is a considerable amount. And of course there's an obligatory first issue cameo by Spider-Man. And a training montage!


Chip Zdarsky's hilarious script is well met by the artwork of Joe Quinones and Rico Renzi.  Quinnones's style is reminiscent of Mike Allred's with simple character designs and a dynamic sense of motion between panels. His design for Howard himself is notable, being a nice compromise between Howard's film appearances and his original appearance in the comics. Ironic really, now that they don't have to worry about a Disney lawsuit...

Con Report: North Texas Comic Book Show - July 19, 2014 - Part One

North Texas Comic Book Show is a relatively new convention in Dallas.  The best way to describe it is intimate.  It's not the biggest convention and it doesn't have a lot of celebrity guests.  What it does have is what conventions are really all about - fans, love and a chance to meet the other glorious weirdos who share your interests.  I spent more of the day talking with friends than I did taking pictures.  But I still found time to snap a few choice cosplay pictures before the cosplay contest.


Wonder Woman

Archers Unite!  Yours truly with Katniss Everdeen.


Marvel Comics' Morgan LeFay 


Doctor Strange?  Where's the All-Seeing Eye Of Agamotto?

Kitana from Mortal Kombat and Codex from The Guild.
(Both these ladies run a cool site called Gone Catawampus you should check out.)

Conventions like this attract all manner of Rogues.

Ness from Earthbound.

Quicksilver and Polaris.  No sibling rivalry here.

Spider-Man and his two most famous lady-friends - Mary Jane Watson & Gwen Stacy.

Dallas Comic Con 2014 - ALL THE PICTURES! - Part Four

Captain Hammer-Pants.  And he dances too!





Jafar from Aladdin


Deathstroke


Wonder Woman


Stephanie Brown Robin.


Tigra.


A Minecraft Player.


Deathstroke and Black Mask


Codex and a mini-Codex from The Guild.


Zombie Spider-Man!


Yet another Deathstroke.


Chun Li from Street Fighter.


A non-zombie Spider-Man.


Glitzy Geek Girl as Thor.


The Joker.


Hipster Elsa from Frozen

Dallas Fan Days 2013 - Saturday, Part Three

Spider-Woman.  Apparently I was the first all day to recognize her.



This Ms. Marvel was kind enough to put up with the rather boring collection of stories about the many versions of my Green Arrow quiver and how they've all met some amazing form of destruction.  

Who knows how much the back-issues are being sold for at this booth?

The Shadow knows.


Col. Nick Fury, in a rare good mood.    

 Cassie Hack and Vlad from the comic Hack/Slash.  

 Spider-Man's most shocking enemy... Electro!  

Amy Pond, The Fourth Doctor, Captain Jack Harkness, The Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler.
All from Doctor Who.  

The Dark Phoenix.  

Captain Jack Harkness.  

CAJ of CAJ Cosplay as The Wicked Witch of The West and her friend Breanna as a flying monkey.
One of these days, I will recognize who she is despite her costume before asking for a picture, I swear!


The Fourth Doctor and Amy Pond.  Again, from Doctor Who. 

Fear And Loathing Of Love And Marriage In Superhero Comics

Who said that comic fans don't want to see people getting married?

What prompted this question is today's news that J.H. Williams III and W. Haden Blackman are leaving Batwoman as of Issue #26, citing editorial interference in their plans to have Kathy Kane and Maggie Sawyer get married.  Williams was quick to note that DC Comics' objection was to marriage in general - not a marriage between two lesbians.  The evidence does bear him out, given that nearly every major married couple in DC Comics pantheon of superheroes has either been broken up since the New 52 revamp or not appeared at all. 

Clark Kent and Lois Lane?  Not an item.  Barry Allen and Iris West?  Flirting but he has a new girlfriend.  Wally West and Linda Park?  Don't even exist!  Ditto Ralph and Sue Dibny.  Heck, the only married couple I think is still around is Aquaman and Mera and they've interacted so little in his book you'd hardly know they were married!

Of course DC Comics is far from alone in being guilty of this sort of thing.  Do the words One More Day ring a bell?  Does everyone remember how that whole mess started because Joe Quesada thought the reason Spider-Man's sales were dropping were because the fans couldn't relate to a happily married Peter Parker?  Do anyone but me and the guys writing Spider-Fan.org remember that they tried killing Mary Jane off because of that theory and all it did was upset the fans?

"But Starman," I hear you metaphorical masses say.  "Superheroes get married and divorced all the time!  It's a common element in drama in many genres!" 

That is true, dear masses.  Yet there is a world of difference between simple drama preventing marriage from occurring and a refusal to consider a plot element completely. 

It seems that the very idea of marriage itself is under attack in our comics due to some mistaken belief that young readers do not want to read about married couples.  This seems odd given the belief some publishers have that their key demographic is 45-year old males, but that's a whole other argument.  So we still have the question - where did this idea come from?

Any ideas?  I'd love to hear about them.

Dallas Comic Con 2013 - Sunday, Part Two

And the pictures continue...



 With all due respect to Glitzy Geek Girl, she's too cheerful to be convincing as an evil Mary Marvel.
 
Does anyone else have trouble seeing Dark Knight Rises Bane without hearing this?


 The Incredible Hulk, of course.    
Odd quartet this: Zatanna's rabbit, The Penguin from Batman Returns, Catwoman and Zatanna.


Bad Horse from Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.



Another relatively obscure character - Adam Warlock.    
Amy Pond, Rose Tyler and The Tenth Doctor from Doctor Who.


Batman vs. Deathstroke.


I don't know what the heck this is, but I am impressed and terrified in equal measure.


Novel design this: Classic Peter Parker, as his Spider-Sense goes off.