Come check us out at our new home at: www.baggedandbored.com !
If you had that address bookmarked before you're all set, otherwise give it a click and come see the new digs!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Bagged and Bored Cast Episode 10
We are back at the wonderful Martin Rd. Studios to bring the nerd news to all.
Join Chris, Paul, John and Producer Scott this week as they discuss:
The Week in Geek - Lobo going to the Big Screen, New Line goes to Middle Earth and back again to bring "The Hobbit", Marvel's MiracleMan news, Wizard's Convention constriction, the PAX-Pox and DC Comics' new deal.
The List - What books have us heading to the shop the week of September 16? Find out here.
The Main Topic - What bigger news could their be then, Disney buying Marvel? Hear why Chris is excited, Paul is worried and John feels the way he does.
The Movie Fix - Halloween 2, does Rob Zombie's remake slash its way into our hearts, or just leaves Paul with an upset stomach?
If you haven't already, there's no time like now to subscribe to the Bagged And Bored Cast on iTunes. Also, be sure to rate and review us at the iTunes store and follow us at http://twitter.com/BaggedandBored as well!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Bagged and Bored Cast Episode 9
The boys are back in town! And by "in town" we mean Toronto, for the annual FanExpo. Give a listen to Bagged and Bored Cast: Episode #9 as:
We review last weeks comics on the road to T.O.
Paul pulls aside a rep from Bioware to find out about their newest game: Dragon Age: Origins.
We talk about the first day of FanExpo at our favorite watering hole, C'est What? on Front St.
Chris gets a chance for a one-on-one interview with the head honcho of DC Comics, Dan Didio.
We head back to C'est What? after the second day at FanExpo hungry for more comics talk and poutine.
We wrap up the weekend talking to our new favorite, nerd band Kirby Krackle.
And finally as we head back to Buffalo, NY we talk about the experiences of the third day and the Expo as a whole.
So check out the episode HERE and as always, make sure you subscribe for free on iTunes. Also be sure to follow us at: http://twitter.com/BaggedandBored and be sure to check back next week as we get back to our regular format!
Thanks for checking us out!
We review last weeks comics on the road to T.O.
Paul pulls aside a rep from Bioware to find out about their newest game: Dragon Age: Origins.
We talk about the first day of FanExpo at our favorite watering hole, C'est What? on Front St.
Chris gets a chance for a one-on-one interview with the head honcho of DC Comics, Dan Didio.
We head back to C'est What? after the second day at FanExpo hungry for more comics talk and poutine.
We wrap up the weekend talking to our new favorite, nerd band Kirby Krackle.
And finally as we head back to Buffalo, NY we talk about the experiences of the third day and the Expo as a whole.
So check out the episode HERE and as always, make sure you subscribe for free on iTunes. Also be sure to follow us at: http://twitter.com/BaggedandBored and be sure to check back next week as we get back to our regular format!
Thanks for checking us out!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
With Great Power...
So the day after FanExpo the world is all a flutter with the biggest news in comic book history, maybe: Marvel Comics has been bought by the Disney Company.
Now I can see where some people may get nervous about this news. But as the resident Disney Expert here at Bagged and Bored, I say to you in the immortal words of Douglas Adams: DON'T PANIC.
When looking at this news you have to remember that Disney is an entertainment company, and they want to diversify their assests as much as possible, which is something Disney has been working on for a while.
Disney has long been targeting the 8-14 year old male demographic with some struggling success. I'm not going to turn this into an article about gender roles and identity but it boils down to the fact that if you're a little girl you like the Disney Princess lines and if you're a boy you like the Pirates franchise.
Disney has worked on exploiting these franchises as much as possible, hence the popular Pirate and Princess Party that Disney has been running annually.
This after hours event (for the price of a special event ticket) welcomes families into a party that spans Disney's Magic Kingdom Park that features (in addition to pirates and princess all across the park): a special night-time parade, a party exclusive fireworks show, as well as a special stage show in front of the Cinderella Castle.
And if you REALLY want to be prepared for the party (or just to make you special day even more special) you could take your little girl to the Bibbidi Bobbiddi Boutique in Downtown Disney, where for a price between $48 and $280 she can be made up to look like a princess.
When looking at this news you have to remember that Disney is an entertainment company, and they want to diversify their assests as much as possible, which is something Disney has been working on for a while.
Disney has long been targeting the 8-14 year old male demographic with some struggling success. I'm not going to turn this into an article about gender roles and identity but it boils down to the fact that if you're a little girl you like the Disney Princess lines and if you're a boy you like the Pirates franchise.
Disney has worked on exploiting these franchises as much as possible, hence the popular Pirate and Princess Party that Disney has been running annually.
This after hours event (for the price of a special event ticket) welcomes families into a party that spans Disney's Magic Kingdom Park that features (in addition to pirates and princess all across the park): a special night-time parade, a party exclusive fireworks show, as well as a special stage show in front of the Cinderella Castle.
And if you REALLY want to be prepared for the party (or just to make you special day even more special) you could take your little girl to the Bibbidi Bobbiddi Boutique in Downtown Disney, where for a price between $48 and $280 she can be made up to look like a princess.
After capitalizing on this, Disney began offering a similar experience near the Pirates of the Caribbean in the Magic Kingdom for boys (for the rate of $49-$125).
While buzz is building for Disney's newest action-adventure franchise, Prince of Persia, it's more recent ventures into the pre-teen male market have been lackluster (see: Race to Witch Mountain). And with no Pirates of the Carribean picture in the works right now Disney is in a tight spot. Cue the recent changing of the Toon Disney channel to Disney XD, a more action-adventure based network and you have further proof of Disney trying to capture that younger male market. Which brings us back to the Marvel deal...
Due to Marvel's runaway success at the box office, it's proven that it's franchises are viable in the market that they're looking at.
When looking at the sale of Marvel to Disney, it's relevant to bring up the 2006 deal in which the Mouse-house bought Pixar Studios. Since Disney aquired Pixar (which it bought outright for $7 Billion), Pixar has opperated as a seperate unit, that doesn't have to answer to Disney, but both benefit from the deal that's been set up. As Disney gets to release highly successful cgi films under their banner and Pixar get's a more distribution and marketing than they would on their own.
So fans worried that characters such as the Punisher may be shevled coming out of this have nothing to worry about. Bear in mind that in addition to ABC and ESPN, Disney owns studios such as Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures and Miramax. Some notable movies from those houses?
The Sixth Sense, Reservoir Dogs, Clerks, Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting, Dogma, and Kill Bill.
All far from what most would consider "Disney-fare". Disney won't care about the publishing side of the business and Marvel Comics will be left to flourish on it's own. Let's not forget that Marvel was once bought out by ANOTHER company when it was snatched up by Toy Biz in the 90's, and it did quite well for it's self after that. But Disney knows that Marvel will be a cash cow when it comes to it's feature presentations and licensing, which is where the real money is made.
Unfortunately Disney may have to wait on some of the licensing deals Marvel has in place right now to capitalize on what it wants. Right now Marvel has a deal in place with Universal Studios, letting their characters appear at the Islands of Adventure Park, meaning it might be a while before Spider-Man and crew show up at Disney World. Also all the Pixar, Muppets and the Mickey Mouse family of characters are licensed to comic publisher BOOM! Studios, so it may be a while before we see some comics featuring Disney characters come out under their Marvel imprint.
That was weird to say. But I see this being beneficial to both Disney and Marvel, much like the Pixar deal was. And with someone like John Lasseter, who cares about not only the company but more-so characters and story, working behind the scenes at Disney if he teams up with people at Marvel I think we're going to see a renaissance.
Due to Marvel's runaway success at the box office, it's proven that it's franchises are viable in the market that they're looking at.
When looking at the sale of Marvel to Disney, it's relevant to bring up the 2006 deal in which the Mouse-house bought Pixar Studios. Since Disney aquired Pixar (which it bought outright for $7 Billion), Pixar has opperated as a seperate unit, that doesn't have to answer to Disney, but both benefit from the deal that's been set up. As Disney gets to release highly successful cgi films under their banner and Pixar get's a more distribution and marketing than they would on their own.
So fans worried that characters such as the Punisher may be shevled coming out of this have nothing to worry about. Bear in mind that in addition to ABC and ESPN, Disney owns studios such as Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures and Miramax. Some notable movies from those houses?
The Sixth Sense, Reservoir Dogs, Clerks, Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting, Dogma, and Kill Bill.
All far from what most would consider "Disney-fare". Disney won't care about the publishing side of the business and Marvel Comics will be left to flourish on it's own. Let's not forget that Marvel was once bought out by ANOTHER company when it was snatched up by Toy Biz in the 90's, and it did quite well for it's self after that. But Disney knows that Marvel will be a cash cow when it comes to it's feature presentations and licensing, which is where the real money is made.
Unfortunately Disney may have to wait on some of the licensing deals Marvel has in place right now to capitalize on what it wants. Right now Marvel has a deal in place with Universal Studios, letting their characters appear at the Islands of Adventure Park, meaning it might be a while before Spider-Man and crew show up at Disney World. Also all the Pixar, Muppets and the Mickey Mouse family of characters are licensed to comic publisher BOOM! Studios, so it may be a while before we see some comics featuring Disney characters come out under their Marvel imprint.
That was weird to say. But I see this being beneficial to both Disney and Marvel, much like the Pixar deal was. And with someone like John Lasseter, who cares about not only the company but more-so characters and story, working behind the scenes at Disney if he teams up with people at Marvel I think we're going to see a renaissance.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
We're Back...
The Bagged and Bored Crew just finished the return journey from the FanExpo up in Toronto and to say it was a successful con-experience would be an understatement.
Look for day by day overviews and pictures from the convention over the next couple days, and make sure you tune into the exciting new episoe the Bagged and Bored Cast which will be hitting iTunes later this week!
Look for day by day overviews and pictures from the convention over the next couple days, and make sure you tune into the exciting new episoe the Bagged and Bored Cast which will be hitting iTunes later this week!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Bagged and Bored Cast Episode 8
It's time again for that weekly dose of all things nerdy, now with an All-New, All-Different intro! Join Chris, Paul, John and Producer Scott this week as they discuss:
The Week in Geek - Todd Macfarlane's Spawn heads to the big screen again, sometime. The debut of the new season of Felica Day's The Guild, and the related Legend of Neil. Then we jump into big news out of BlizzCon, including the new World of Warcraft Expansion, Diablo III, and the WoW big screen movie.
The List - What books have us heading to the shop the week of September 2nd? Find out here.
The Main Topic - On the eve of the Bagged And Bored crews trek up to the Great White North, find out what the team does to prepare for comic conventions, what we look forward to when we're there, and some of our favorite stories from conventions past.
The Movie Fix - We jump into the wayback machine and remenisce about Mystery Science Theatre 3000 and discuss the recent live presentation from the MST3K crews newest venture www.rifftrax.com and their tearing apart of the B-movie classic: Plan 9 From Outer Space.
If you haven't already, there's no time like now to subscribe to the Bagged And Bored Cast on iTunes. Also, be sure to rate and review us at the iTunes store and follow us at http://twitter.com/BaggedandBored as well!
Monday, August 24, 2009
The List - 8/26/09
Man, for some reason posting this tonight has been a real hassle, here's the books I'm grabbing this week, attempt number four...
It's also a special edition of the list as right now I'm right there with Paul, in the fact that I need to drop some stuff. With the November Previews coming out this week, you can be sure the Lists within the upcoming months to be MUCH shorter :
It's also a special edition of the list as right now I'm right there with Paul, in the fact that I need to drop some stuff. With the November Previews coming out this week, you can be sure the Lists within the upcoming months to be MUCH shorter :
BATMAN AND ROBIN #3 - "Batman Reborn" concludes the explosive reteaming of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, WE3, New X-Men)! Witness Batman and Robin's final showdown against Professor Pyg and the Circus of Strange! The future looks bright for the new Dynamic Duo as they prove themselves in battle, but lurking in the shadows is a mysterious red-hooded vigilante. Also, the origin of Scarlet! - I dig Grant Morrison, and I dig Frank Quitely just as much. This book defintitely see Morrison on his A-game. It's out there, but not too much. Also the stuff Quitely is pulling off in the panels is fantastic. I think at next years Harvey's we'll see Batman and Robin nominated all across the boards, much like All-Star Superman was this year.
BLACKEST NIGHT: TITANS #3 - Black Lantern Titans are descending together onto Titans Island! Will the Titans be prepared to fight off their deceased allies? And how can Beast Boy not lose his heart to Black Lantern Terra? - Here's where it gets tough. I've always like the Titans and Teen Titans, but the books have just left me feeling empty lately. I'm hoping for more from this Blackest Night tie-in though.
DETECTIVE COMICS #856 - "Elegy" part 3 of 4! Batwoman unites with an unlikely ally to momentarily defeat the fairytale villain known as Alice. But when Kate is forced to attend a high society event, she soon learns that her worlds are colliding as Alice's plans for Gotham's elite put Kate's father directly in harm's way. Plus, in the next part of The Question co-feature, writer Greg Rucka and artist Cully Hamner bring Renee's search for a missing girl to new depths when The Question is trapped inside a sinking car. Will her life and her leads end up at the bottom of the river? - Consistently one of the strongest books since the Batman: Reborn launch. Rucka and Williams blow it away every month, and while I like the Question co-feature, it's been leaving me wanting for the most part. I wish the Manhunter one was in this book. Then I'd be truly happy.
THE FLASH: REBIRTH #4 - Barry Allen left a legacy that thrived after his death. Now his return threatens it all. What secrets does Barry hold inside him about the fate of the Flash Family? What destiny awaits Wally and his twins? What murderous force targets Bart Allen? And what does it truly mean to be a speedster? - Here's the thing. I love the Flash, but I'm not overly hyped about this book like I was Green Lantern: Rebirth. Now I was at the begining, but now it's just kind of like "oh the Flash is coming out". It's going to be interesting to see where this goes and how it will impact my Flash ordering in the future, since there's a rumoured two Flash titles coming out of the conclusion to Rebirth.
GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #3- With their uneasy alliance in place, the sirens encounter trouble in the form of the mysteriously returned Bruce Wayne. He's dazzling, he's dangerous and he's got his sights set on Harley Quinn! Has romance sparked between these two long-time enemies – or is Wayne playing a more sinister game? - I like this book, I like the characters, I like the writer but I think I found one of the easiest titles to drop out of the Batman: Reborn books. I don't mean any slight to the book because I dig it, but in the scope of things I don't think it's a must read. Sorry Mr. Dini.
GREEN LANTERN #45 - BLACKEST NIGHT continues! The Black Lanterns descend on all the Corps throughout the universe! Sinestro's assault on the Star Sapphires' homeworld of Zamaron is interrupted by another Sinestro Corps – one made up of those who died during the Sinestro Corps War! And while the War of Light flickers, deep in the darkness of space, John Stewart comes face-to-face with his deceased wife – and longtime Green Lantern – Katma Tui. - Finally, a book I KNOW I'm not dropping or worried about. With Blackest Night firing on all cylinders, all the Green Lantern and Blackest Night books easily find their way to the top of the read pile.
TEEN TITANS #74 - The assault against the Teen Titans continues this issue as the team struggles to even the odds. Will they be defeated by a foe with superior leadership? And in the co-feature, Ravager is attacked in her arctic hideaway. Who wants her dead? That's what she wants to know… - This is kind of tough. I've been on board with Teen Titans since the Geoff Johns relaunch a few years ago, but sadly the book has benn floundering a lot lately. I'd hate to drop this now that Superboy and Kid Flash are back, because I want to see them turn up again. But I guess I can always pick it up again later.
COVER GIRLS OF THE DC UNIVERSE: ZATANNA - Seductive sorceress Zatanna Zatara casts a spell on the DC Universe as she becomes the second Adam Hughes Cover Girl to appear as a stunning statue. With a pose taken directly from the cover of CATWOMAN #58. - This is one thing I hate about using Previews to order my books. I ordered this statue MONTHS ago, and then of course I lose my job the week before it comes out and my money situation is tight. I guess it's time to tap into that $50 emergency credit I put down at the store a few months ago...
INVINCIBLE PRESENTS: ATOM EVE - To commemorate the tragic events involving Atom Eve in recent issues of INVINCIBLE, Image is reprinting her acclaimed solo series for the first time ever. See Eve’s beginnings as she gets her powers and trains herself to the hero we all knew and loved. Don’t miss out a second time! - This is the OTHER thing I hate about ordering through Previews. I only read Invincible through trade, so I try to avoid any spoilers as this is a book I love reading in one sitting when ever the collections come out. So when it comes to ordering the new ones I HATE when they give something big away. Thanks Image.
RUNAWAYS #13 - It’s the end of the Runaways’ California dreamin’ as they attempt to make their escape from Klara’s chlorophyll lockup…only to be denied by heavily armed outside forces who are about to foreclose on the property in a big way! Chase finally tells the truth about a violent event in his past. And when the kids have no choice but to turn to Hunter Stein to find a way out of this mess, he reveals a Malibu Beach House secret they never would have guessed. But it’s not easy sailing because Chase is about to make a unilateral decision that looks a lot like...murder?! - Runaways has gotten MUCH better under the guiding hand of Kathryn Immonen, but the book is still missing the fun and danger it had under Brian K. Vaughan. It's tough, but this book may be on the chopping block eventually.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Making the Cut
It's time like these when I look at my finances and realize that my saving account has been growing at a slower pace then it should. Now, I'm not saying it's comic books fault, but is a contributing factor. This is a cyclical phenomenon in my budget. I cut back on the books I buy about twice a year, and a few months later I'm spending too much again. The process of cutting back is almost like looking through a year book or photo album for me, remembering the good and not so good time I've been having reading all these 22 page delights. Now, I'm not going to list all my drops and all my keeps here just some highlights, keep in mind that my goal budget is about $15 or 4 comics week.
"Wednesday Comics" with it's high relative price point of $15.96 a month puts it squarely on my chopping block. $3.99 a week does take up a large percentage of my allotted comic money, but with only one month to go on this revolutionary series I can't give up on it now. Also, the amount of talent and enjoyment on each wonderful page is well worth it. I have taken more time reading and staring at the beautiful art in a single Wednesday Comic, then some week reading the rest of my comics' stack.
Major cross-over events, such as "Blackest Night" have caused me to spend more then I normally would and cuts will be made here. Just the shear number of book coming out with a "Blackest Night" banner on the top makes my wallet cringe. On the other side it allows me a one to two month reprieve from a series I normally pick up. When "Teen Titans", "The Justice League of America", and "The Outsiders" have their own tie-ins I can safely leave those books on the self without missing too much in the ongoing stories. As for the tie-in mini series, I have to make the difficult choice of not picking up any. I really enjoyed the first issue of "Blackest Night: Batman", with the way Peter Tomasi has a grip on the character of Dick Grayson, though I'm already picking up three series all dealing directly with "Blackest Night". If I cannot get a full story from reading "Green Lantern", "Green Lantern Corp" and "Blackest Night" then DC Comics really doesn't deserve the rest of my paycheck.
With the recent "Batman: Reborn" shake up, the amount of Bat-books I was buying also went up. "Batman and Robin", "Detective Comics" and "Batman" all seem like a premier book. The amount of talent and unique feel of each is making it impossible for me to choose between them. Not to mention the Paul Dini books and "Red Robin" that have been stellar as well. So who wins, other then myself after all I have six great books to pick from? So, I go to the upcoming schedule for release to see if some if not all come out on "slow" weeks. It seems the only way I can make this work is to drop "Red Robin" and "The Outsiders" along with some non Bat titles... "Secret Six", "Justice Society of America", "Justice League: Cry for Justice" and "Justice League" (until James Robinson takes the reigns).
I believe now that "Superman" is no longer on Earth, I no longer need him in my stack. Honestly, it was only Geoff Johns that was able to muscle Supes' into my stack in the first place. Though, James Robinson and Greg Rucka have made a compelling argument in their "World of New Krypton" series for me to keep buying Big Blue's books. The pair are writing an intriguing take on a man stuck between two cultures and two worlds. But, I just can't anymore the "Superman" books are crossing over with each other so much that they are an event onto themselves. I only can allow for one at a time right now, so "Up Up and Away" from me with all these titles.
Alright so I've only just been through the DCU so far and some deep cuts have been made. Maybe I'll be posting another article soon about books that I'll be dropping from the other comics companies, but for now I'll see if this can keep my wallet a little more full.
"Wednesday Comics" with it's high relative price point of $15.96 a month puts it squarely on my chopping block. $3.99 a week does take up a large percentage of my allotted comic money, but with only one month to go on this revolutionary series I can't give up on it now. Also, the amount of talent and enjoyment on each wonderful page is well worth it. I have taken more time reading and staring at the beautiful art in a single Wednesday Comic, then some week reading the rest of my comics' stack.
Major cross-over events, such as "Blackest Night" have caused me to spend more then I normally would and cuts will be made here. Just the shear number of book coming out with a "Blackest Night" banner on the top makes my wallet cringe. On the other side it allows me a one to two month reprieve from a series I normally pick up. When "Teen Titans", "The Justice League of America", and "The Outsiders" have their own tie-ins I can safely leave those books on the self without missing too much in the ongoing stories. As for the tie-in mini series, I have to make the difficult choice of not picking up any. I really enjoyed the first issue of "Blackest Night: Batman", with the way Peter Tomasi has a grip on the character of Dick Grayson, though I'm already picking up three series all dealing directly with "Blackest Night". If I cannot get a full story from reading "Green Lantern", "Green Lantern Corp" and "Blackest Night" then DC Comics really doesn't deserve the rest of my paycheck.
With the recent "Batman: Reborn" shake up, the amount of Bat-books I was buying also went up. "Batman and Robin", "Detective Comics" and "Batman" all seem like a premier book. The amount of talent and unique feel of each is making it impossible for me to choose between them. Not to mention the Paul Dini books and "Red Robin" that have been stellar as well. So who wins, other then myself after all I have six great books to pick from? So, I go to the upcoming schedule for release to see if some if not all come out on "slow" weeks. It seems the only way I can make this work is to drop "Red Robin" and "The Outsiders" along with some non Bat titles... "Secret Six", "Justice Society of America", "Justice League: Cry for Justice" and "Justice League" (until James Robinson takes the reigns).
I believe now that "Superman" is no longer on Earth, I no longer need him in my stack. Honestly, it was only Geoff Johns that was able to muscle Supes' into my stack in the first place. Though, James Robinson and Greg Rucka have made a compelling argument in their "World of New Krypton" series for me to keep buying Big Blue's books. The pair are writing an intriguing take on a man stuck between two cultures and two worlds. But, I just can't anymore the "Superman" books are crossing over with each other so much that they are an event onto themselves. I only can allow for one at a time right now, so "Up Up and Away" from me with all these titles.Alright so I've only just been through the DCU so far and some deep cuts have been made. Maybe I'll be posting another article soon about books that I'll be dropping from the other comics companies, but for now I'll see if this can keep my wallet a little more full.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Bagged and Bored Cast Episode 7
That's right another week, another podcast. Join us in our weekly semi-round table discussion of all things Geek, in our 4 part episode.The Week in Geek: Discussion of the PlayStation Price drop, and Comics coming to the PSP; No comics on December 30th?!; Ostrander sneaks into the Secret Six and Spider Woman spins her web on the web.
The List: Hear which comics coming out on August 26 that strikes the gangs fancy.
The Main Topic: The complete history of the "Ghostbusters" be it on the Sliver Screen, the small screen and in video games.
The Movie Fix: Do we let the Swedish film "Let the Right One In" into our hearts? Plus a little talk about the upcoming American remake "Let Me In" releasing in 2010.
Please, subscribe to the podcast via, iTunes and leave us a review.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
I HAD A BRUSH CUT TO BE LIKE DUKE
When we (Chris, Paul, and I) decided on our main topic for the Podcast to be nostalgia TV, there was only one show I could pick. G.I.Joe. Of all the things I’ve loved growing up, I loved G.I.Joe the most! I spent almost 10 years of my life buying the toys and watching the TV series. And I had, no, I have a ton of their toys. The show ran for two seasons 1985-86 and had 3 miniseries. Now I don’t think I watched the original series but I saw the shit out of it in rerun. Half my childhood was devoted to sitting down and watching G.I.Joe, and when the show wasn’t on I was playing with the toys.
Now the series ended when I was 4, they stopped making the toys when I was 12, and here is another fun fact for you- I played with my G.I.Joes till I was in Middle School. (Well maybe High School)(shame washes over me). I most likely had not seen a episode of G.I.Joes since I was 8 or so and now almost 20 years later I still know a lot of the episodes like the back of my hand. I can close my eyes and see the Joes and Cobra trapped under the sea and forced to harvest seaweed by a madman, or when Cobra introduced the B.A.T.S. and the Joes had to get Sergeant Slaughter to toughen them up so they could beat them, it’s all there inside my mind.
It’s something that is always with me, and something I thought I would never go back to for fear of it not living up what I thought it was. Until my sister bought me the G.I.Joe movie, I watched it begrudgingly and found that to me it was still great. I broke out my old Joe comics (I have most of the first 20 from the original series) and loved them even more. Now I haven’t gone back to the TV series only cause I couldn’t justify spending the money on it, until I decided to write this blog and warmed my heart string up for this show. So to all you Joe fans I say YO JOE! 
Monday, August 17, 2009
The List - 8/19/09
Time again for another edition of The List, but some of the books on here might not stick around on the List for too much longer...
BATGIRL #1 - In the wake of "Batman R.I.P." and BATTLE FOR THE COWL, a new heroine has emerged in Gotham City, and as she begins her nocturnal crusade to take back the night, she will truly learn what it means to wear the mantle of the Bat. But who is this young woman, and why has she donned the cape and cowl? - I've always been a fan of the Batgirl character if not the Batgirl book, so with the debut of a "new" Batgirl I'm excited for this book. This probably won't be something that stays on the List for a while, as I'm mostly just sampling the new title and seeing how it fits into the new status quo set up in the Bat-universe.
BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #3 - Bruce Wayne is dead…long live Bruce Wayne! Gotham's favorite son has miraculously returned, promising to lead his city into a new golden age. But while Wayne devotes his limitless fortune to rebuilding Gotham City, he fights violent opposition from Batman, Robin and a host of DC Universe heroes!
And in the Manhunter co-feature, now that Manhunter has found the previous DA's killer – or, rather, the killer has found her – what is she going to do about it? Bringing the killer in for a trial may not result in the justice Kate's been dreaming of. But is she ready to kill for justice so soon after a fresh start in Gotham? - I've always been a Batman fan and right now I'm buying more Bat-books than ever, due to the Batman: Reborn push. I'm jsut wondering how long I can keep on it though. I'm still looking forward to these books but the excitement has started to wane. We'll see what falls off the List in the coming months.
BLACKEST NIGHT: SUPERMAN #1 -Black Lantern Superman has unearthed Pa Kent's grave! But that's only the beginning of the horrifying things he's about to unleash on an unsuspecting Smallville. Discover the demented evil of BLACKEST NIGHT in this 3-issue miniseries from writer James Robinson (SUPERMAN, STARMAN) and artist Eddy Barrows (TEEN TITANS, ACTION COMICS)! - The BN: Batman book last week was solid and I'm expecting the same from this weeks offering as well. While I've never been a big Superman fan I'm excited about this becuse well, just look at that cover. Everything about that screams "buy me" from the zombie Superman standing there to the grave of Jonathan Kent in that familiar chest-diamond shape.
BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #3 - Bruce Wayne is dead…long live Bruce Wayne! Gotham's favorite son has miraculously returned, promising to lead his city into a new golden age. But while Wayne devotes his limitless fortune to rebuilding Gotham City, he fights violent opposition from Batman, Robin and a host of DC Universe heroes!
And in the Manhunter co-feature, now that Manhunter has found the previous DA's killer – or, rather, the killer has found her – what is she going to do about it? Bringing the killer in for a trial may not result in the justice Kate's been dreaming of. But is she ready to kill for justice so soon after a fresh start in Gotham? - I've always been a Batman fan and right now I'm buying more Bat-books than ever, due to the Batman: Reborn push. I'm jsut wondering how long I can keep on it though. I'm still looking forward to these books but the excitement has started to wane. We'll see what falls off the List in the coming months.
BLACKEST NIGHT: SUPERMAN #1 -Black Lantern Superman has unearthed Pa Kent's grave! But that's only the beginning of the horrifying things he's about to unleash on an unsuspecting Smallville. Discover the demented evil of BLACKEST NIGHT in this 3-issue miniseries from writer James Robinson (SUPERMAN, STARMAN) and artist Eddy Barrows (TEEN TITANS, ACTION COMICS)! - The BN: Batman book last week was solid and I'm expecting the same from this weeks offering as well. While I've never been a big Superman fan I'm excited about this becuse well, just look at that cover. Everything about that screams "buy me" from the zombie Superman standing there to the grave of Jonathan Kent in that familiar chest-diamond shape.
OUTSIDERS #21 - "The Hunting" begins here! With Arkham Asylum's most dangerous inmates running free, The Outsiders are charged with returning them to Gotham City – by whatever means necessary. Batman and Alfred split up the team in order to track down Killer Croc, Mr. Freeze and Clayface before the rogues kill again! - Here we are again, I'm trying to make a decision about the Outsiders. It's hard because I've made this decision before: should I keep picking it up? or should I drop it? The last few months "Insiders" arc ran for what seemed like forever and kind of meandered about. It's hard when writers you love put out arc like that, because is it worth sticking around to see where it goes next?
Friday, August 14, 2009
Bagged and Bored Cast Episode 6
Episode #6 of the Bagged and Bored Cast is now up for download at iTunes! Join Chris, Paul and John this week as knock back a few (more) and discuss:
The Week In Geek - Our quick hits of nerd news from the past week, where we talk about a verbal throwdown at Wizard's Chicago Comic-Con between a jaded fan and creator Rob Liefeld, how it spilled out onto the internet, the Walking Dead on AMC, the Batman: Arkham Asylum demo and the XBox Live Update.
The List - The comics we're looking forward to the most next Wednesday.
Main Topic - Nostalgia. We throw on our Underoos and sit in front of the tv and lose ourselves to what we loved growing up. Chris tags Thundercats, Paul hits on X-Men, and John wraps up with GI Joe which leads us into...
The Movie Fix - We suit up and take on Cobra with a review of the new GI Joe movie.
So make sure you subscribe and review us on iTunes today, and make sure you follow us over at http://twitter.com/BaggedandBored for all of our latest updates.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Thundercats, NO!
Nostalgia is all around us. We can't get away from it. The stuff that you liked as a child is guaranteed to boomerang back into your life when you're in your 20's and work enough to buy all that stuff you always wanted as a child.
Now some properties have been lucky enough to stick around in some form or another for the past 20 years. Transformers have rolled out more times than I care to think, just to find ways to stay relevant to "todays" youth. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have mutated to fit changing social and media climates and still find a way to stay radical and in a post-9/11 world we need GI Joe now more than ever. But the Thundercats... well, I don't know.
Debuting in 1985, the Thundercats were part of the onslaught of anthropomorphic animal crusaders that attacked the latest extraterrestrial threat daily on television but more importantly, they also had their sight set on your parents wallet. Looking back we know these cartoons were designed simply to sell more action figures, but at the time all I knew is that I had a light up Sword Of Omens, just like Lion-O and that was good enough for me.
I'd spend hours running around the backyard dispatching mutants like Monkian, Jackalman and Slythe. If they ever became too much for me all I had to do was light up that signal and the rest of the 'cats would come running (because the Thundercats were on the move, Thundercats are loose, of course).
I wish I still had this.
Tigra was always a favorite with his whip and ability to disappear. Cheetara ran right into my heart and started a crush that lasts to this day. Panthro mystified me with technology and nunchucks that unlike that poser Michelangelo's, HAD MAGIC FUCKING POWERS. Wilykit and Wilykat had awesome spaceboards before Marty McFly travelled to the future (and theirs worked on water). And Snarf was, well... there.
I spent so many hours with Lion-O and his crew from Thundera as a child I always missed them after they disappeared. So imagine my excitement in 1997 when Cartoon Network announced they would be bringing the original episodes of the Thundercats back as part of their Toonami programing block.
Well, that excitement was short lived. When I actually sat down to watch the show, it wasn't half as strong as I remembered it being. The animation was poor and the storylines more-so, even though the characters I loved were still there, the cartoon felt empty. In fact, the only thing from around that time that brought back good feelings about the Thundercats was the Relient K song, "I'm Lion-O".
Also, the four Thundercats comic miniseries that came out from DC/Wildstorm softened the blow a little bit as well. The comics were all very well done and added much more character depth and took the series to a darker and more mature place.
So I don't know whether or not to be excited about the recent leaked concept art for the Thundercats CGI movie that scheduled to come out in 2011. On one hand I'm excited to see Lion-O stick it to Mumm-Ra again, but then I remember that saddness of seeing the Ro-Bear Berbils and trying to remember just what I saw in the show originally. Hopefully things will turn out for the better and whenever this movie comes out it will blow me away and it will be followed by another with Lynx-O, Ben-Gali and the only cat to outfox Cheetara, Pumyra.
And if it sucks, well at least nobody else seems to remember Pirates Of Dark Water.
Yet.
Now some properties have been lucky enough to stick around in some form or another for the past 20 years. Transformers have rolled out more times than I care to think, just to find ways to stay relevant to "todays" youth. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have mutated to fit changing social and media climates and still find a way to stay radical and in a post-9/11 world we need GI Joe now more than ever. But the Thundercats... well, I don't know.
Debuting in 1985, the Thundercats were part of the onslaught of anthropomorphic animal crusaders that attacked the latest extraterrestrial threat daily on television but more importantly, they also had their sight set on your parents wallet. Looking back we know these cartoons were designed simply to sell more action figures, but at the time all I knew is that I had a light up Sword Of Omens, just like Lion-O and that was good enough for me.
I'd spend hours running around the backyard dispatching mutants like Monkian, Jackalman and Slythe. If they ever became too much for me all I had to do was light up that signal and the rest of the 'cats would come running (because the Thundercats were on the move, Thundercats are loose, of course).
I wish I still had this.
Tigra was always a favorite with his whip and ability to disappear. Cheetara ran right into my heart and started a crush that lasts to this day. Panthro mystified me with technology and nunchucks that unlike that poser Michelangelo's, HAD MAGIC FUCKING POWERS. Wilykit and Wilykat had awesome spaceboards before Marty McFly travelled to the future (and theirs worked on water). And Snarf was, well... there.
I spent so many hours with Lion-O and his crew from Thundera as a child I always missed them after they disappeared. So imagine my excitement in 1997 when Cartoon Network announced they would be bringing the original episodes of the Thundercats back as part of their Toonami programing block.
Well, that excitement was short lived. When I actually sat down to watch the show, it wasn't half as strong as I remembered it being. The animation was poor and the storylines more-so, even though the characters I loved were still there, the cartoon felt empty. In fact, the only thing from around that time that brought back good feelings about the Thundercats was the Relient K song, "I'm Lion-O".
Also, the four Thundercats comic miniseries that came out from DC/Wildstorm softened the blow a little bit as well. The comics were all very well done and added much more character depth and took the series to a darker and more mature place.
So I don't know whether or not to be excited about the recent leaked concept art for the Thundercats CGI movie that scheduled to come out in 2011. On one hand I'm excited to see Lion-O stick it to Mumm-Ra again, but then I remember that saddness of seeing the Ro-Bear Berbils and trying to remember just what I saw in the show originally. Hopefully things will turn out for the better and whenever this movie comes out it will blow me away and it will be followed by another with Lynx-O, Ben-Gali and the only cat to outfox Cheetara, Pumyra.
And if it sucks, well at least nobody else seems to remember Pirates Of Dark Water.
Yet.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Saturday Morning Memories
In 4th grade Fox Saturday morning cartoons were the talk of lunch time. During the Autumn of 1992 Fox Kids line-up included two powerhouse animated series namely, "Batman: the Animated Series" and "X-Men". While the girls would sit at their tables discussing how cute Macaulay Culkin was in "My Girl" and how it made them cry, us boys were deep in debate about which superpower was the best. Superpowers, hidden special abilities what 9 year-old boy doesn't what to wake up and discover they were a mutant like the ones on the "X-Men"? Important arguments were made during the half hour lunch sessions and eventually agreements, optic blasts are good but charging anything with kinetic energy till they explode was better.
"X-Men" first aired on Halloween in 1992, and I was sitting at a distance to the television screen that any optometrist would scream. I wasn't that excited to see a new cartoon since, ironically enough, a Halloween a few years before for "The Real Ghostbusters" prime time special written by none other then J Michael Straczynski. Neither episode disappointed, but at that moment "X-Men" eclipsed my love for "Ghostbusters", for the reasons listed above. The series would go on for 5 full seasons totaling 76 episodes, including the retelling of classic comic runs such as "Days of Future Past" and "The Dark Phoenix Saga".
Recently, I picked up the first DVD volume of this childhood favorite. The first two volumes consisting of 16 episodes a piece were released on April 28th. Going back and re-watching the first few episodes, I noticed how rough the animation is. The first two episodes, "The Night of the Sentinels", in parts look almost unfinished, where the background seems to be sketched and not fully drawn. The rest of the DVD set didn't look quite as rushed. The dialog in parts does come across a little over the top, but all the voices in the series are still the voices I hear whenever I read an X-book. Honestly, the voice for Rogue might be why I have a thing for southern accents.
Going back and seeing these episodes again it is difficult to separate how much I enjoy it for what it is and how much I enjoy it for what I remember it for. Overall, the series ability to tackle social issues of prejudice and intolerance inside of a kids show is impressive on it own. Also, the price is right at about $20 for each volume. These DVD collections remind me why I wanted the "X-Men" video game for the Sega Genesis, when other kids where excited for "Mortal Kombat" and "NBA Jam".
"X-Men" first aired on Halloween in 1992, and I was sitting at a distance to the television screen that any optometrist would scream. I wasn't that excited to see a new cartoon since, ironically enough, a Halloween a few years before for "The Real Ghostbusters" prime time special written by none other then J Michael Straczynski. Neither episode disappointed, but at that moment "X-Men" eclipsed my love for "Ghostbusters", for the reasons listed above. The series would go on for 5 full seasons totaling 76 episodes, including the retelling of classic comic runs such as "Days of Future Past" and "The Dark Phoenix Saga".Recently, I picked up the first DVD volume of this childhood favorite. The first two volumes consisting of 16 episodes a piece were released on April 28th. Going back and re-watching the first few episodes, I noticed how rough the animation is. The first two episodes, "The Night of the Sentinels", in parts look almost unfinished, where the background seems to be sketched and not fully drawn. The rest of the DVD set didn't look quite as rushed. The dialog in parts does come across a little over the top, but all the voices in the series are still the voices I hear whenever I read an X-book. Honestly, the voice for Rogue might be why I have a thing for southern accents.
Going back and seeing these episodes again it is difficult to separate how much I enjoy it for what it is and how much I enjoy it for what I remember it for. Overall, the series ability to tackle social issues of prejudice and intolerance inside of a kids show is impressive on it own. Also, the price is right at about $20 for each volume. These DVD collections remind me why I wanted the "X-Men" video game for the Sega Genesis, when other kids where excited for "Mortal Kombat" and "NBA Jam".
How To Be A Douchebag At Comic-Con
Every so often an event occurs that cracks the internet in half. Not literally of course, but sometimes things happen that you thank the heavens that you were able to witness. For those that scour the comic book world, yesterday we were treated to one of those events.
Now I'm by no means a Rob Liefeld fan, and I've brought up my issues with his art on this blog before, but what happened at Chicago Comic-Con, hit a brand new level of douchery.
The site which housed the article detailing the events is down at the moment, but what happened is a group of comic fans discovered that Rob Liefeld, the love to hate/hate to love artist who has been at it since the 90's, was present at the con.
Their plan then went into motion, ringleader "Yellow Hat Guy" approached Liefeld's table and identified himself as a big Captain America fan, and then in something almost straight out of Clerks: The Animated Series, proceeded to ask for an apology for the Heroes Reborn event. Liefeld acknowledged the dweeb and dismissed him with a "get out of here" head nod.
Spurned by the creator of a series 13 years old, YHG tracked down a copy of "How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way", wrapped it in a bag, and once again swung by Liefleds table leaving it there for him before bolting.
It's what happened in the wake of this that got people talking. After the convention was over, YHG proceeded to blog about the event and post videos of how they PWNED Liefled online. What happened on video and the way the story was told on the blog differed and the video, and it was acknowleged by Rob on his Twitter. Soon after, a choir of comic fans and comic book creators, descended upon the blog leaving comments about the level of douchebaggedness achieved during this event:
Skottie Young: How small of a man are you? Grow up and have a little class.
Cameron Stewart: I’m a professional comic artist, and I attend conventions often. Most of the time the experience I have with fans is pleasant and courteous, but there’s usually one or two who are so clueless of how to interact with people in a respectful and polite manner that it spoils the otherwise fun day. So you don’t like Rob Liefeld, big deal. His work isn’t to my tastes either but I would never dream of trying to publicly humiliate him in person. He’s taken the time and expense to come to that show to ply his trade – just as you work at your job – and interact with the people who DO appreciate his work and presence. He’s not there for you to be snide and condescending and to be the recipient of your asinine, half-witted pranks. I’m sure you got a big kick out of it (I love how you describe yourself as shaking and sweaty because you “can’t process that much awesome” instead of it being because you’re cowardly and nervous), and you probably high-fived your friends and giggled all the way home to write your smug blog report, but what you did was classless and childish. I guarantee you that this blog post is making the rounds of the pro community (another pro artist forwarded it to me, and *not* because he thought it was a hilarious prank), and thanks to your readily-identifiable yellow hat, you’ve marked yourself as someone to avoid at cons. Well done.
Pia Guerra: I’m not a fan of his work but dude, that’s fucking douchebaggery.
Mark Allen Haverty: Whether you love or hate his work, time after time Rob Liefeld has shown himself to be an incredibly engaging and generous artist to his fans. You decided you wanted to be an douchebag and insult him in front of all of them. There’s no time to do it for next month’s Wizard, but if I ever decide to pull the Top Ten Writers list to make room for a Top Ten Fanboy Assholes list, I’ll be sure to put you at No. 1. No one should ever have to apologize for a piece of artwork someone else doesn’t like. Everyone should apologize for behaviour like yours.
Jimmie Robinson: As someone who does a book both loved and hated I can relate to Rob. And to be bloody honest the fact he doesn’t get upset over “fans” like this year-after-year speaks volumes about his character. But this goes beyond Rob, because in effect Mr.-Yellow-Hat-to-be-avoided is also disrespecting the opinions of others who DO like his work and his style. I’ve met and spoken with Rob a LOT. At the Image booth we hang out all the time. He is a nice person and he has a LOT of fans. He’s always busy doing commissions for the fans, art for charity auctions, reviewing portfolios and signing his books. Let him do his job, please. Joke or not, it’s not helping comics.
Ethan Van Sciver: Congratulations. We’re all sitting ducks for this kind of stupid behavior, putting work on hold for a few days to come and sign your comics and shake your hands instead of taking a nice family vacation. So if you’d like to be horribly, childishly rude to any of us, it isn’t hard, and most of us will sit and be polite so as not to disrupt the REAL comic fan’s enjoyment of the convention. Rob Liefeld has clearly perfected one art, at least, and that’s the art of suffering fools. Next time don’t you yourself be in the photographs. You look like a twat.
As I said before, I've never been a Liefeld fan, but I'd never be a dick to him. I like Cable and Deadpool and I read X-Force when I was growing up. I lump him in with Chris Claremont as creators whom I might not like so I don't buy their work, but I can recognize what they've done both in and for comics in the scope of things.
His art style might not be to my tastes, but you can't deny that he's got a following (hence him still getting work). Rob's also one of the founding members of Image Comics, and a strong proponent for creators rights. He does free sketches for fans at conventions, and donated all of the artwork from his two issues of Teen Titans to the Sam Loeb Foundation to be auctioned off in order to raise money.
He sounds like a pretty stand up guy to me, and that's where it comes to separating the creator from the creation and being just plain disrespectful.
Now I'm by no means a Rob Liefeld fan, and I've brought up my issues with his art on this blog before, but what happened at Chicago Comic-Con, hit a brand new level of douchery.
The site which housed the article detailing the events is down at the moment, but what happened is a group of comic fans discovered that Rob Liefeld, the love to hate/hate to love artist who has been at it since the 90's, was present at the con.
Their plan then went into motion, ringleader "Yellow Hat Guy" approached Liefeld's table and identified himself as a big Captain America fan, and then in something almost straight out of Clerks: The Animated Series, proceeded to ask for an apology for the Heroes Reborn event. Liefeld acknowledged the dweeb and dismissed him with a "get out of here" head nod.
Spurned by the creator of a series 13 years old, YHG tracked down a copy of "How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way", wrapped it in a bag, and once again swung by Liefleds table leaving it there for him before bolting.
It's what happened in the wake of this that got people talking. After the convention was over, YHG proceeded to blog about the event and post videos of how they PWNED Liefled online. What happened on video and the way the story was told on the blog differed and the video, and it was acknowleged by Rob on his Twitter. Soon after, a choir of comic fans and comic book creators, descended upon the blog leaving comments about the level of douchebaggedness achieved during this event:
Skottie Young: How small of a man are you? Grow up and have a little class.
Cameron Stewart: I’m a professional comic artist, and I attend conventions often. Most of the time the experience I have with fans is pleasant and courteous, but there’s usually one or two who are so clueless of how to interact with people in a respectful and polite manner that it spoils the otherwise fun day. So you don’t like Rob Liefeld, big deal. His work isn’t to my tastes either but I would never dream of trying to publicly humiliate him in person. He’s taken the time and expense to come to that show to ply his trade – just as you work at your job – and interact with the people who DO appreciate his work and presence. He’s not there for you to be snide and condescending and to be the recipient of your asinine, half-witted pranks. I’m sure you got a big kick out of it (I love how you describe yourself as shaking and sweaty because you “can’t process that much awesome” instead of it being because you’re cowardly and nervous), and you probably high-fived your friends and giggled all the way home to write your smug blog report, but what you did was classless and childish. I guarantee you that this blog post is making the rounds of the pro community (another pro artist forwarded it to me, and *not* because he thought it was a hilarious prank), and thanks to your readily-identifiable yellow hat, you’ve marked yourself as someone to avoid at cons. Well done.
Pia Guerra: I’m not a fan of his work but dude, that’s fucking douchebaggery.
Mark Allen Haverty: Whether you love or hate his work, time after time Rob Liefeld has shown himself to be an incredibly engaging and generous artist to his fans. You decided you wanted to be an douchebag and insult him in front of all of them. There’s no time to do it for next month’s Wizard, but if I ever decide to pull the Top Ten Writers list to make room for a Top Ten Fanboy Assholes list, I’ll be sure to put you at No. 1. No one should ever have to apologize for a piece of artwork someone else doesn’t like. Everyone should apologize for behaviour like yours.
Jimmie Robinson: As someone who does a book both loved and hated I can relate to Rob. And to be bloody honest the fact he doesn’t get upset over “fans” like this year-after-year speaks volumes about his character. But this goes beyond Rob, because in effect Mr.-Yellow-Hat-to-be-avoided is also disrespecting the opinions of others who DO like his work and his style. I’ve met and spoken with Rob a LOT. At the Image booth we hang out all the time. He is a nice person and he has a LOT of fans. He’s always busy doing commissions for the fans, art for charity auctions, reviewing portfolios and signing his books. Let him do his job, please. Joke or not, it’s not helping comics.
Ethan Van Sciver: Congratulations. We’re all sitting ducks for this kind of stupid behavior, putting work on hold for a few days to come and sign your comics and shake your hands instead of taking a nice family vacation. So if you’d like to be horribly, childishly rude to any of us, it isn’t hard, and most of us will sit and be polite so as not to disrupt the REAL comic fan’s enjoyment of the convention. Rob Liefeld has clearly perfected one art, at least, and that’s the art of suffering fools. Next time don’t you yourself be in the photographs. You look like a twat.
As I said before, I've never been a Liefeld fan, but I'd never be a dick to him. I like Cable and Deadpool and I read X-Force when I was growing up. I lump him in with Chris Claremont as creators whom I might not like so I don't buy their work, but I can recognize what they've done both in and for comics in the scope of things.
His art style might not be to my tastes, but you can't deny that he's got a following (hence him still getting work). Rob's also one of the founding members of Image Comics, and a strong proponent for creators rights. He does free sketches for fans at conventions, and donated all of the artwork from his two issues of Teen Titans to the Sam Loeb Foundation to be auctioned off in order to raise money.
He sounds like a pretty stand up guy to me, and that's where it comes to separating the creator from the creation and being just plain disrespectful.
Bagged and Bored Cast Episode 5
Episode 5 of the Bagged And Bored Cast is now up on iTunes! Join us as we have a few to drink and discuss:
The Week In Geek - Our quick hits of nerd news from the past week, where we talk about XBox Live's release of the arcade game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time, new Lost Webisodes, the demo for Madden '10, more DLC for Left 4 Dead
The List - The comics we're looking forward to the most next Wednesday.
Main Topic - Gateway Comics. Every comic fan (but especially us) has certain books that they like to pass off to friends to get them into the sequential art medium, here's where we discuss some of our favorites to hand to people.
Movie Fix - We break into the latest DC Animated feature Green Lantern: First Flight.
So make sure you subsribe and review us on iTunes today, and make sure you follow us over at http://twitter.com/BaggedandBored for all of our latest updates.
The Week In Geek - Our quick hits of nerd news from the past week, where we talk about XBox Live's release of the arcade game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles In Time, new Lost Webisodes, the demo for Madden '10, more DLC for Left 4 Dead
The List - The comics we're looking forward to the most next Wednesday.
Main Topic - Gateway Comics. Every comic fan (but especially us) has certain books that they like to pass off to friends to get them into the sequential art medium, here's where we discuss some of our favorites to hand to people.
Movie Fix - We break into the latest DC Animated feature Green Lantern: First Flight.
So make sure you subsribe and review us on iTunes today, and make sure you follow us over at http://twitter.com/BaggedandBored for all of our latest updates.
Monday, August 10, 2009
The List - 8/12/09
Well after a really slow week for comics last week, it looks like DC is trying to make up for it with one of the heaviest weeks I've seen in a while...
BATMAN #689 - "Long Shadows" continues! Batman forges ahead in his battle to retrieve the escapees from Arkham Asylum, while Two-Face begins a ground war of his own. Elsewhere, Penguin wants to become Gotham City's new king of crime, but to do so he has to make a deal with the devil. - As we're now knee deep into the Batman: Reborn event, I think it's safe to make assupmtions about the books now. Batman has been a decent read, nothing fantastic but not bad. Winnick is doing well keeping this a straight forward Batman story, much to the delight (or despair) of his detractors.
BLACKEST NIGHT #2 - The event of the summer continues! The dead rise across the DC Universe, bringing terror and darkness with them. What are the Black Lanterns? What do they want? Will Earth's greatest heroes survive long enough to find out – or will they join the Black Lantern Corps? - I'm really excited about this one, mostly because I don't know where it's heading next. Yeah, we're going to see more Black Lanterns of course, but it's now the overall story that I'm most looking forward to.
GREEN LANTERN CORPS #39 - Just when things couldn't look any darker after the death and chaos of the Sciencell riot, Blackest Night descends on Oa! The black rings tear into the planet and the Lantern Crypt causing all the dead Corps members to rise and wreak havoc as a new and deadlier battle threatens to engulf not only the Corps, but the Universe itself! - This is where it all starts for the GLC. Previews show that the issue opens with Lanterns; Guy, Kyle, Soranik and Iolande arriving on Oa right after the onslaught of black rings tear through the crypts. This one is right up there with Blackest Night #2 on top of the "must read" pile.
RED ROBIN #3 - "The Grail" part 3 of 4! "Batman Reborn" continues, but is Red Robin's quest to find Bruce Wayne at an end? Because in a German museum, answers await. But to get to those answers, Red Robin has to go through the Global Guardian known as the Wild Huntsman. Making matters worse, Red Robin's got an unwanted ally – Ra's al Ghul! Also, discover what happened in the days after BATTLE FOR THE COWL? - I've always been a huge Robin fan, and while I've enjoyed this series so far, it hasn't wowed me yet. The premise for it is strong, but I'm still waiting for that moment where it really hits. Hopefully it happens soon, I probably won't be dropping this anytime soon since Tim Drake remains one of my favorite characters in the DC Universe, but I would like for this book to cement why.
TITANS #16 - Why has Starfire been acting odd the past few issues? Turns out the warrior woman has major rage issues coming out of her recent breakup with Dick Grayson, the events of FINAL CRISIS and more. Her super-powerful emotions could very well rip the team apart! - ...speaking of dropping books, I don't think I can do Titans anymore. I was originally excited to see the old guard back together, but this book has just been treading water for a while. When I go through my Previews and order for this month I'm really going to be thinking about whether or not the next Titans issue makes the List.
FABLES #83 - Part 1 of "Witches"! The business office got lost somewhere when Fabletown collapsed into ruins. Now Bufkin, the meek and mild flying monkey, is trapped inside with the evil witch Baba Yaga – and she's in a really bad mood. How is poor little Bufkin going to survive her tantrum? At the same time, Frau Totenkinder and the witches upstate at the Farm prepare to deal with Mister Dark down in what's left of Fabletown. - Bufkin has always been a great background character, and it's good to see him getting some attention. The Witches of Fabletown have been an overarching precense throughout the books entire run, but now they are also stepping into the limelight. After the fun but ultimately unfulfilling Great Fables Crossover, it's good to see the main Fables book back on track.
FABLES Vol. 12: THE DARK AGES - The 12th volume in the best-selling, award-winning FABLES series collects the epic from issues #76-82 of the acclaimed monthly series. If you've ever craved a guided tour of Fabletown's secret Manhattan location, prepare to be thrilled. Pinocchio has a field day taking a certain VIP around the city. And exactly which Fabletown denizens are no longer active (dead, alive or otherwise) just might shock you into a comic book coma. Also in this volume, you'll find the 4-part story featuring Freddy and Mouse, two local rogues who just want to get along and perhaps turn a bit of profit in the post-war, topsy-turvy world. Meanwhile, in Fabletown, a new political group forms called the Society of Seconds, and what they want doesn't seem very reasonable at all. - Finally another Fables trade to throw onto the shelf. This arc is still pretty fresh in my head but I can't wait to go through it again.
BLACKEST NIGHT: BATMAN #1 - Deadman can't shut out the cries of the dead rising as he comes to the aid of the new Batman. It's just in time, too, as the duo face a circus of zombies including the Black Lantern Flying Graysons! - I've always liked Deadman as a character, and I think that this might be the perfect vehicle for him to step out in. Seeing how Deadman reacts to his corpse being raised is going to be interesting, as well as how Dick Grayson handles his first big event in the Cowl.
Monday, August 3, 2009
An Extraordinary Gentleman Who’s Out Of Your League
When I was a young boy reading/ looking at the pictures in comics I wanted to be Stan Lee. He was the coolest! He created more than half the Marvel Comics Universe, Stan the man is what every cape loving adolescent boy looks up to, and I did.
As I got older I fell out of love with comics, the 90’s were a hard for comics. It wasn’t till 2002 when the movie Spider-man came out that the creator of this blog Chris and I started talking about how much we use to love comic books and were thinking about getting back into them. The weekend that Spider-man came out we went to see it twice and on our way home fomt he movie we stopped at our now favorite place Don’s Atomic Comics (in Depew NY). Don welcomed us in and within 1 minute of being there we knew this was our kind of place and that we were to become comic book nerds. Don helped us get back into comics and for that I thank him but what makes Don a great man is that he is the one who put Watchmen in my hands. “YOU HAVE TO READ THIS” and read it I did. 
Now I love super hero comic don’t get me wrong but Watchmen turn me on to a whole new side of comics. And I am now a big a indie comic fan because of it. if you were to ask me who my favorite writers are they would all be indie writers, and if you ask me who is my fav. writer is well that’s easy it’s the man who wrote Watchman. Alan Moore. Alan Moore is the most prolific writer in comic history ( sorry Stan Lee) he has revolutionized the industry every time he puts pen to paper. And that’s why when someone asks if they can borrow a comic book if they want something new and different, I go to my Alan Moore Library and pull out one of my favs of his The League of Extraordinary Gentleman. 
I have collect all four volumes of the League and it always become top priority when I hear a new one is coming out. It’s probably not his best work but it’s the best to show people that there is another side of comics that doesn’t involve spandex. So I am sorry Stan Lee I don’t want to be you anymore I want to grow a set and be Mr. Alan Moore.
As I got older I fell out of love with comics, the 90’s were a hard for comics. It wasn’t till 2002 when the movie Spider-man came out that the creator of this blog Chris and I started talking about how much we use to love comic books and were thinking about getting back into them. The weekend that Spider-man came out we went to see it twice and on our way home fomt he movie we stopped at our now favorite place Don’s Atomic Comics (in Depew NY). Don welcomed us in and within 1 minute of being there we knew this was our kind of place and that we were to become comic book nerds. Don helped us get back into comics and for that I thank him but what makes Don a great man is that he is the one who put Watchmen in my hands. “YOU HAVE TO READ THIS” and read it I did. 
Now I love super hero comic don’t get me wrong but Watchmen turn me on to a whole new side of comics. And I am now a big a indie comic fan because of it. if you were to ask me who my favorite writers are they would all be indie writers, and if you ask me who is my fav. writer is well that’s easy it’s the man who wrote Watchman. Alan Moore. Alan Moore is the most prolific writer in comic history ( sorry Stan Lee) he has revolutionized the industry every time he puts pen to paper. And that’s why when someone asks if they can borrow a comic book if they want something new and different, I go to my Alan Moore Library and pull out one of my favs of his The League of Extraordinary Gentleman. 
I have collect all four volumes of the League and it always become top priority when I hear a new one is coming out. It’s probably not his best work but it’s the best to show people that there is another side of comics that doesn’t involve spandex. So I am sorry Stan Lee I don’t want to be you anymore I want to grow a set and be Mr. Alan Moore.
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