Otherwise known as the first day of the convention!

Hey readers, coming to you live from after the convention!  It’s 2am, Thursday morning of SDCC, and ALREADY it looks to be a phenomenal event.  The best of comics, animation, illustration, video games and more are front & center in sunny San Diego for — and I’m really avoiding hyperbole here — an epic, auspicious event for all of geekdom.

[0] San Diego itself deserves mention for being an absolutely BEAUTIFUL piece of real estate.  I’ve been to many, many conventions; this one is loooong on looks.   Also — and bear in mind this was the exception, not the rule — most of the registration lines were very quick and despite the sheer scale of it, for a pre-registered guest, the wait never exceeded an hour’s time.  Most of the convention center staff; much less the staff for SDCC itself seemed pretty open and receptive.  If there was a place to be, they’d point it out.  If there was somewhere someone wasn’t authorized to go to, it was handled quickly and fairly.  Kudos to San Diego for making the show a true EVENT.

[1] Did you know, I have an entry in the Street Fighter Tribute artbook by Udon Comics & Capcom?  Please ignore the shameless self-promotion, and pay attention to an encyclopedic, 320 page monster of an artbook, with nearly EVERY notable artist in the world today — from Udon’s inner circle, to most online artists, to even the likes of Jorge Gutierrez (El Tigre!)  Simply marvelous!

[2] It’s telling that the video game creators man one of the main entries to the convention floor.  Capcom, Square/Enix, Konami, Activision, Sony, Microsoft, all within spitting distance of each other, and it isn’t until you’ve plowed through the first five or so minutes of people that you reach the television and animation venues.  Just an interesting note — by all means, there are enough people to really, REALLY fill in  the space.

[3] There is no number 3.

[4] This will be a day-to-day update affair.   I’m VERY excited to upload and post pictures for you all to see!  This is more or less one of the great geek Mecca of the world, so it’s not just one minor day’s post worth of material.   I’ll be back tomorrow night with more on SDCC!  If there’s any questions you all want to ask, I’m all ears!

Share This

Greetings, Deadly Friends!

So, some of you may have seen that Iron Man movie that came out a month or so ago.

You may have even stayed until the end credits.

You further may have known that Robert Downey, Jr. made a cameo as Tony Stark in a related film that opened this past weekend.

What am I getting at?  Wait.  What was I getting at?  Oh yeah – I saw that film last Sunday and I’m going to do a mini-review for this week’s Office of the Don.

That’s right, this week I talk to you about The Incredible Hulk.

Now, from what I’ve seen and heard, there are two classes of people – the bourgeoisie and the laissez-faire.  No, wait.  That’s not right.  Hang on, let me look it up…

 
*elevator music*

 
Okay, got it – there are those who like the Hulk film that Ang Lee made a few years ago, and those that don’t.  I, personally, liked the film for what Ang Lee tried to do despite a couple of daddy issues I had with it.  His personal take made for a decent psychiatric study into a popular comic book character.  But it wasn’t the Hulk we geeks know and love.

Now, the latest and greatest from The Transporter director Louis Leterrier?  This is the Hulk film the fans wanted.  It took elements from the Bruce Jones run in the comic (Mr. Blue), the TV series (including the theme song – well done!), and mixed it together with some top-notch talent.

Is this movie as good as Iron Man?  No.  But, it’s close.  The pacing is excellent – it’s set up almost like a combination of a Bourne Identity-style thriller and a monster movie.  All the actors gave great performances.  The only exception was Liv Tyler.  She wasn’t bad, but I preferred Jennifer Conelly’s Betty Ross.

The CGI stands out a little at first.  But by the time Hulk and Blonsky are duking it out on a college campus, the CG effects are forgotten as it pulls you into the action.

The plot seems more cohesive and put together better than in Ang Lee’s effort.  There are a couple of divergent storylines going on with a couple of different characters, but each one seems to serve the greater story, merging into the main plot before the end.

And there’s no crap involving crazy fathers and weird character amalgamations.

Then there are all the little shout-outs to the fans – the mention of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, Stark Industries, the Stark cameo, a sequence towards the opening that seems rather familiar to anyone who has seen the show, and the theme song.  Oh, and there is not only a cameo by Lou Ferrigno (jerk), but a surprise cameo by Bill Bixby himself!  All of these are sure to make a fanboy giggle with glee.  I should know.  I tested that personally.

Again, this movie isn’t as good as that other Marvel movie that came out this year, but it’s a fun and wild ride.  If you’re looking for “Hulk Smash!”, you’re gonna get it.

Plus, that feeling I told you about in my Iron Man review?  The one where it felt like the Marvel Universe is finally coming into being and expanding?  This film is just handed us another piece of the puzzle.

And not even Mr. McGee could make me angry after watching this film.

The Don is trying to find a way to control the raging heartburn that dwells within him.

Share This

Greetings, Shubs and Zuuls!

(A free shout-out in my next article to the first person that gets that reference.)

It’s Thursday again, and time for more rumblings from The Office of the Don. This week, I will review the new Iron Man movie.

As all of you know, Iron Man is a character featured in Marvel Comics – a millionaire playboy named Tony Stark who is the head of a multi-million dollar weapons manufacturing company. After getting kidnapped and suffering a severe heart injury, Stark was forced to build an incredible suit of armor in order to keep him alive. Over time, the armor has gone through many modifications. Stark himself no longer needs the armor to keep himself alive, but continues to don the hi-tech suit to fight crime, run S.H.I.E.L.D., force people to register their secret identities with the government, and to get drunk.

Oh wait… he doesn’t do that last one anymore. But he certainly does the previous two with raucous aplomb.

So, how does the movie stack up? Let me give you some insight as to where I’m coming from first:

I was born in a small town in Connec—oops. Too far back. Let’s take you back to my first article for Spwug. As you recall, I’m a big comic book fan. Spider-Man has always been my favorite. One of the things that has always appealed to me about Spidey has been the fact that his abilities were apart of him. He is Spider-Man. At the end of the day, he can’t just remove those powers. Although he’s tried (and occasionally succeeded) many times.

Iron Man, on the other hand, gets all of his powers and abilities through his armor. I’ve never been a big fan of artificial abilities like that. When he takes off his armor, he is completely vulnerable. And usually drunk (but not any more). Add to that the fact that Iron Man has never had a really great rogues gallery like Spidey, Hulk, or any of the other mainstream Marvel superheroes, and you have a character and a title that both leave me cold.

So needless to say, I came to this movie with the feelings of one who doesn’t even care for the character.

And then the movie handed me my ass and made me carry it around while sucker-punching me repeatedly in the kidneys.

This movie was outstanding! The film’s weight is almost carried on Robert Downey Jr.’s shoulders alone. And he’s up to the task. The man exudes charm and charisma. I don’t think any one else could have done the character justice. He is able to convincingly take a character who is a total jackass and make him lovable. Then he breaks that man down through his journey into personal tragedy and builds him back up through redemption. And that act makes you love him even more. He steals every scene he’s in, and it almost seems like every other character who shares screen time with him feeds off that energy and gives off better performances themselves.

That’s not to say that the other actors are slouches. Far from it. Terrence Howard brings a fresh perspective to the character of James Rhodes. Jeff Bridges proves the man can do evil, and do it well. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play an evil character like Obediah Stane, but he kills this role. And I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed Gwyneth Paltrow in anything. She really shines here as Tony’s assistant Pepper Potts.

In fact, that’s one of the things that I really liked about this movie - it didn’t fall into the standard Hollywood cliché of automatically pairing up the male and female lead in an automatic romance. This movie, in fact, bucks it intentionally. It keeps throwing the characters together in scenes where, in any other film, they would already be on their way to second base. Iron Man instead gives you the set-up, then throws the water on the flames - oftentimes to comedic effect.

Which leads me to the writing and direction. Both are top-notch. The pacing and character development are handled perfectly. A lot of film adaptations based on a comic or book series have a difficult time in their first installment just getting through the origin. Iron Man doesn’t seem to have any trouble at all. You’re kept so amused or amazed throughout the whole film that you forget that you’re even seeing an origin unfolding. And Favreau’s directing, already proven to be spectacular from films like Elf and Zathura, continues to prove he has the chops to take on such an endeavor like Iron Man. This guy has come a long way since Swingers. He has an incredible eye for visual framing, as well as a great talent for stage direction. This movie feels natural and organic, like you aren’t even watching a movie at all, but instead viewing someone’s life unfold in front of you. Well, if that life had armored heroes and giant armored villains battling all over the west coast.

Overall, Iron Man is a nice reminder that Marvel still knows what it’s doing, despite the less-than-stellar results of the past couple of movies that have come from The House of Ideas. Iron Man is a great movie that focuses on the redemption of a man. It’s also a great superhero move as well.

I want to drop one last bit of knowledge on you. This is the first movie to be made specifically by Marvel Studios. While the previous movies based on Marvel properties were in their own self-enclosed world, this is the movie that officially gives birth to the Marvel Universe on film. And you feel it, too. You can just feel that while Tony is trashing bozos in his armor, somewhere there is a man struggling to contain the gamma-irradiated beast within, or that there’s a school for gifted youngsters somewhere in New York. And be patient, my geeky friends. That’s what Marvel is aiming for. In fact, you may not have seen the last of Tony Stark this summer.

Oh, and take the “initiative” to stay until after the end credits of Iron Man. You will be rewarded.

The Don is a cool exec with a heart of papier-mâché.

Share This

Hello, dear readers.

I am proud to introduce our newest writer to the Spwug fold, Donnie Sturges! He’ll be writing his column, ‘Office of the Don’, every Thursday.

And now, his first post:

Well, hello! I suppose I should start this off with the Universal Greeting:

Bah weep granah weep ninni bong…

My sincerest apologies. I seem to be all out of Energon treats. Hopefully, you won’t mind sticking around for a bit anyway. You see, I was given this great opportunity to provide you readers with a weekly fix of… well… whatever I have in mind. Maybe I’ll review a comic book, movie or video game. Maybe I’ll offer up a witty editorial. Maybe I’ll do The Safety Dance. Maybe not that last one.

Hopefully you’ll keep visiting The Office of The Don to see what I have to offer up each week. But first, I feel it necessary to prove I am worthy of such an honour. And to do that, I present to you a review of the very first comic book I ever read that made me a comic book geek. And that distinction goes to Marvel Tales Featuring Spider-Man # 172.

The year is 1984. Christmastime. A young boy bearing a striking resemblance to a nine-year-old version of me begins to go through his stocking. What does he find? I mean besides candy, a comb, some socks and a couple of Hot Wheels cars?

If you said anything other than the issue I just mentioned, you haven’t been paying attention. Shame on you.

So there it was in my hands, Marvel Tales #172, courtesy of my grandparents. Now, the thing that caught me eye immediately was the cover:

What an intense image! Spider-Man is in some serious trouble! And what’s with that text box? The Final Chapter?!? Ominous! Do I even know what the word ominous means at the age of nine? I don’t know! But man, I’ve got to read this right now!

And so I did, pouring over each page with an intense fever. I took in every detail of Steve Ditko’s art as it melded perfectly with Stan Lee’s storytelling. With the turn of each page, I slid farther and farther to the edge of my seat. I was gripped.

Let me take a moment to break things down with a brief story synopsis: Peter Parker’s Aunt May has fallen ill and is in the hospital. In order to save her, our hero unselfishly donated some of his blood to help her recover. Oooooh…. there’s just one problem, Peter. You didn’t consider the fact that your irradiated Spider-Blood would make things worse.

And so, with Aunt May’s condition worsening, Peter has to retrieve a special serum - the only thing that can save his Aunt’s life from the sudden radiation poisoning. This retrieval ends up pitting him directly against Doc Ock himself. And minions! Man, I hate minions. Always running around, minioning everywhere.

The fight between our favourite wall-crawler and the insidious human cephalopod ends up at Octavious’ secret lair. Did I mention that this is an underwater lair? Yeah. Based on the cover, you already know where this is going. Amidst all the fighting, heavy damage is dealt to the lair’s structure, causing the whole place to start falling down around their ears. Ock takes advantage of the situation, and just as a HUGE chunk of steel falls on top of Spidey, - pinning him - Ock escapes.

So now our intrepid hero is trapped beneath several tons of steel, water pouring in all around him from the outside (Did I say a brief synopsis? I meant the opposite.). As he lies there, our boy Petey’s got all sorts of negative thoughts going through his head. But, all of them are focused solely on the family and friends he feels he let down. Not once does he think of himself. With all these thoughts running through his brain, Spidey realizes that he can’t give up. With every ounce of his strength, every muscle straining and aching and screaming in agony, Spider-Man… slowly… lifts… the heavy hunk of steel, inch by inch. And with his final effort, Spider-Man does this:

Wow. Simply incredible. And in case you were worried, let me assure you - the Wall-Crawler successfully escapes, delivers the serum to the hospital, and saves his Aunt May for what will become a regular staple of the series.

As a young, impressionable boy of nine, this comic book had a major impact on me. Stan Lee conveyed perfectly through his characterization of Peter Parker the human struggle. He was able to balance realism with the fantastical. Sure, Peter Parker was a superhero, but he also had to deal with all the same emotional issues and real life problems we all did. And this issue was the perfect example of that. With each panel illustrating how Spider-Man struggled to lift the heavy chunk of steel off of him, I strained with him, hoping against hope that he could do it. Every page was met with exuberance. And if Lee’s writing was the winning pitch, Ditko’s artwork was the hit that knocked the issue out of the park. He was able to perfectly convey all of the emotion and action perfectly on every page. It pulled me into the story. It made me believe. It made me a fan - a comic book fan and a Spider-Man fan.

I find out not too long after that Marvel Tales was just a series that reprinted older issues of Amazing Spider-Man. But, I didn’t care. I was already on my way into geekdom. I started collecting other Spider-Man books, and eventually, other titles. To this day, my collection continues to grow, much to my wife’s chagrin. But, it’s no big deal. Anytime she gives me a hard time about it, I challenge her to a lightsaber duel.

But that’s another story for another time.

            Tune in next week when I do something crazy. What could it be? Will I splash water on a poodle, or will I unlock the secrets of the universe? With my geek cred proven, it could be anything. Come back to The Office of the Don next week to find out.

Share This