Les Jones

The All New Adventures of The Slug

I've been to a fair share of art museums, but the most inspirational artwork I've ever seen was at a tiny gallery in Sante Fe. It was a bad sketch of a female nude. Asking price was a paltry $180.

It really wasn't very good. It didn't even have the phony caché of being expensive. But it's one of the few pieces of art that made me want to be an artist. "Wow!" I thought. "If I could learn to draw just that well I could get a women to pose nude for me, and I could get someone else to pay me $180." (What do you mean art should serve a higher purpose? You and your old-fashioned ideals.)

I had a similar thought when I saw The All New Adventures of The Slug. Here's a guy who figured out how to enter the world of online comics with almost no discernible drawing talent. (I don't think I'd hurt his feelings by saying that, either.) Meanwhile he gets to comment on the vagaries of being an artiste, and a Web artiste at that. Here's his take on micropayments for Web comics:

I've been approached by S.Progresso on joining his micro-payment hive mind collective effort. I sort of like what he has in mind. The latest page is free, as are the archives. Instead what he plans on doing is hiring troops of russian mail order brides to break into peoples homes, steal their kidneys and charge them for dialysis.

It's very appealing, although I'm not so sure I agree with the part about making the archives openly available.

No More Slug?

He says he's quitting, when just last week he said things were going well. Why oh why must he toy with his legions of fans like this?

It's after a lot of thought and consideration that I've decided to end The All NEW adventures of the Slug. When I began this project I originally wanted to improve my art. As fortune would have it, I also managed to come up with a storyline that people seemed to both enjoy and identify with, but not pay for. Plain and simple folks, no money, no slugee. You horrid lot of cheap bastards failed to catapult me front and center of a world wide media blitz. It's as if you actually expected me to do something about it. Well, I didn't that was your job you lazy poop! And because of that I'm taking my comic strip, the one that you've grown to love and respect nearly as much as I do, and I'm burning it. Yep, no book deal, no movie contract now, just a bunch of hot embers in my fireplace.

I hope you're proud of yourself.

I'm going to go over here and cry now.

Goodbye Forever.

Preview of Spider Man 3-23

Found here. Hit refresh to see all of them. Via Jim Treacher.

It's Got Shoes, Superheroes, OJ Simpson, and Disco. Click It Already.

Jim Treacher re-imagines vintage '70s comic book ads. Not safe for work. Especially that Incredible Hulk ad for Hostess cupcakes. Yikes.

I read a lot of comic books growing up in the '70s. I hadn't thought of that AAU Shuperstar ad in forever. In the original, I think the villains' nefarious weapon was set to go off at the beginning of the next disco tune. That's why AAU Shuperstar had to kill him by kicking him into outer space with his AAU tennis shoes, you see.

By the way, did anyone actually ever see AAU shoes for sale anywhere? Even once?

Movie: The Punisher

The Punisher movie is an amazing comic book action movie in a lot of ways. There's lots and lots of action, lots of comic relief, and lots of innovative stunts. Example: you've seen car chases, but how many of them involved a car with a boat trailer attached?

But man, is this movie relentlessly bloodthirsty. For a comic book movie especially, it's so brutal that kids shouldn't watch it. I won't give anything away, but one innocent character is killed as part of the Punisher's revenge. The people who made the movie understand the art of action cinema, but they're ethically lacking.

If it wasn't for the broken moral compass, this would be a better movie than Spider Man 2. As it is, SD2 is a better PG movie, but for anyone who can recognize the ethical flaws in The Punisher, it's a better R movie.

UPDATE: SPOILER ALERT IN THE COMMENTS.

Worst Superhero Costumes

From RetroCrush via James Rummel.

I'm sure someone thought mixing Gene Simmons from KISS with a roller disco queen was a great idea. The only thing stupider than Dazzler's comics was her incredibly useful super power of, get this, making colored lights appear. Shit, I can do that by just rubbing my eyes really hard. This first issue from 1977 has become quite valued over the years, and can fetch as much as 75 cents among eager collectors.

And 3DMan:

This poor jerk has a costume that's half red, and half green. He's 3 times as strong, 3 times as fast, and 3 times as ugly as any other regular guy. 3D Man's sales plummeted quickly after his debut in Marvel Premiere despite attempts to lure more readers with his sidekick, Scratch And Sniff Lad.

R. Crumb

The Guardian has a five-part series on comic artist R. Crumb. Fantastic stuff.

If you're looking for a movie to rent this weekend, find a copy of the Terry Zwigoff documentary Crumb. If you've ever thought there couldn't be a family crazier than yours, this movie will prove you wrong.

New Blog: Dave's Long Box

Dave's Long Box. Motto: "I'm going to review my comic book collection and you're going to like it." Via Jim Treacher.

On Savage Dragon's enemy, Dung:

You know, this brings up a recurring motif in comics: the super powers a person gets pretty much dictate whether they're going to be a hero or a villain. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of generic super powers that could go either way, like super-strength or flight. But no hero is going to have sh!+-cannons. You're destined to be a bad guy if your powers involve poo, or raising the dead, or kissing people and turning them into monsters, or melting people's face with your hands... Those are bad powers, and even if you're a nice guy, if you wake up with the ability to boil people's blood, you should just resign yourself to a life of crime or lab work.

On Spider-Man's enemy, The Vulture:

The Vulture is one of those villains that is so hopelessly outclassed by the hero that you wonder why they bother. The Vulture's powers are flight and baldness - that's it. I'll bet Spider-Man is psyched every time he gets to fight The Vulture; he can just kick the guy's ass and call it an early night, maybe go watch some TV or something.

Stoner thoughts:

In the Star Wars films, Jedi Knights have telekinetic powers, right? They move sh!+ with their minds. If my friend Geoff were a Jedi, during a lightsaber duel with a Sith Lord or something he would use his mental powers to turn off his opponent’s lightsaber. The bad guy would move to parry one of Geoff’s blows, and all of a sudden his lightsaber blade would just turn off, allowing Geoff to chop the bad guy’s head off.

Why didn't I think of that?

Fantastic Four Linkage

I was a comic book fiend as a kid, so I invariably watch the movie adaptations. I haven't caught FF yet, because with the baby I don't see a lot of first-run movies, but I'll see it sooner or later.

Ace of Spades has a well-written review. I really liked his review of Star Wars Episode III, also. I thought then that he knew an awful lot about drama for a conservative blogger with a smarty-pants schtick. Turns out he's using his blog and nascent right-wing radio show as a backdoor into Hollywood scriptwriting. That's a new way to get your screenplay read.

National Lampoon's Jay Pinkerton has the Fantastic Four re-imagined comic, a panel of which is at the top of this post.

I've plugged his blog before, but check out Dave's Long Box for great comic book blogging. His M.O. is to pluck a comic book from his collection and critique it. Dave has a weird sense of humor, but I like it.

I didn't read Fantastic Four as a kid, but I did read Marvel Two-in-One featuring The Thing. Dave reviews this issue from the awesome Project Pegasus series, which lasted like half a year. I had that very issue. Hey, I had this Daredevil, too, written by Frank Miller and with Bullseye as the villain. Good stuff.

Submitted to the Beltway Traffic Jam

"The Riddler Factor"

Above: Dave of Dave's Long Box at Comic Con in San Diego getting his picture made with the Black Cat. I love that picture, I love Dave's comic book blog, and I love this theory of Dave's.

The chief flaw of this story – this two-part – story is that it relies on The Riddler Factor to succeed. The villainess Surgeon General has no powers whatsoever and no formidable skills aside from a medical degree - she just has a bandolier full of scalpels and bone-saws and a head full of crazy, yet she’s more than a match for our two seasoned heroes. Shit, it takes two whole issues for Daredevil and Spider-Man to stop her. How is this possible?

The Riddler Factor is that combination of luck, moxie, and plot contrivance that allows lame villains to survive when they are hopelessly outclassed by their superhero opponents. Basically put, the writer is on the villain’s side. It’s how The Riddler manages to survive 22 pages against Batman – sometimes even longer! It’s how Turner D. Century doesn’t get pounded to dust by Spider-Woman. It’s how tons of minor villains actually manage to hurt or annoy Superman. The Riddler Factor is like a big invisible Cloak of Lucky that protects the villain – until your 22 pages is up, that is. Then you get knocked out with one punch.

Yep. If you've read many superhero comic books you've seen exactly what Dave describes. In one issue our hero levels his arch enemy and his henchman army equipped with atomic laser rifles. Then in the next issue that same hero gets decked by a mugger with nunchakus. The Riddler Factor makes it possible.

Go Read Dave's Long Box

He's reviewing the low end of his collection. This review is hilarious. (Chris Range: if you're reading this, go check it out. You'll love it.)

And in case you missed it:

Have a Super Thanksgiving

From Dave, who also has the original Norman Rockwell drawing.

Happy Thanksgiving, all. See you Friday.

You Command Captain America to What?

Via Dave.

Word of the Day - Retcon

Stumbled upon at Dave's Long Box, definition via Wikipedia:

Retroactive continuity – commonly contracted to the blend retcon – is the adding of new information to "historical" material, or deliberately changing previously established facts in a work of serial fiction. The change itself is referred to as a "retcon", and the act of writing and publishing a retcon is called "retconning".

Retcons are common in comic books, especially those of large publishing houses such as Marvel Comics and DC Comics, due to the lengthy history of many series and the number of independent authors contributing to their development; this is the context in which the term was coined. Retconning also occurs in TV shows, movies sequels, video games, radio series, series of novels, and can be done in any other type of episodic fiction. It is also used in roleplaying, when the game master feels it is needed to maintain consistency in the story or to fix significant mistakes that were missed during play.

Read the whole thing, which has examples from comics, film, TV, and literature.

Previous WOTD: Typosquatter

X-Men III: Wolverine Learns Roman Numerals

X-Men III opens Friday. "The discovery of a cure for mutations leads to a turning point in history. Mutants may now choose to give up their powers and become fully human or retain their uniqueness and remain isolated. War looms between the followers of Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), who preaches tolerance, and those of Magneto (Ian McKellen), who advocates survival of the fittest. Based on the comic book series."

I've got tickets for a 5:00 show on Friday to kick off the long weekend. I'll let you know how it was. What I'm hearing is that it's not as good as the second movie, but it's still good.

Meanwhile, take the X-men quiz at MSNBC. I scored 85%, which was a combination of lucking out on the Star Trek question and one X-men question and not knowing what sport Vinnie Jones (Juggernaut) played before becaming an actor. (Jones was Bullet Tooth Tony in Snatch and Big Chris in Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels).

Spoiler-Free Review of X-Men III

First things first. If you haven't seen the second movie, rent it first before seeing this one. The final installment does an amazing job of wrapping up the plot lines from X-Men II, but it will be incredibly frustrating to watch if you haven't seen the second movie.

The middle X-Men movie dealt with a conspiratorial cabal inside the government to strike out at mutants. In the new film the president is mutant-friendly and has formed a department of mutant relations headed up by Hank McCoy, AKA Beast. This time the conflict centers around a new serum that "cures" mutants of their powers. Though use of the serum is voluntary, Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants believe it's inevitable the government will force the serum on mutants. The result is a war between the brotherhood on one side and the X-men and the government on the other.

At the end of the second movie Magneto tells Pyro "you're a god among insects, never let anyone tell ya different." Pyro was a kid with a bad attitude. He would have benefitted from Xavier's tutelage, but couldn't see that. Instead, he joined up with Magneto, who's hardly the humble kind. In the final movie Pyro completes his transformation into a thug. That same battle between discipline and destruction plays out with Jean Grey as she struggles between her concious identity and her hidden id as Phoenix.

This latest edition of the series has a few obvious weaknesses. For one, the music could have been better. Kelsey Grammer did well as Beast, but his makeup was half-hearted. It's fashionable for movies to crow about the hours an actor sat in the makeup chair every morning getting ready for the day's shooting. For his role as the hairy blue Beast Grammer spent maybe 20 minutes of chair time a day, tops, and he may have applied the makeup in the rearview mirror himself on the drive to the set.

After the movie I came home and watched the first two X-men. The pace was more leisurely and I miss Bryan Singer's deft filmmaking, but the third movie is a worthy finale to the series.

Lame Comic Book Villain Showcase at Dave's

Check it out. Free sample:

Slipknot - what a tool. Slipknot is a guy who ties people up and chokes them. With a rope. Shit, I can do that. I can go down to Home Depot right now and buy 20 feet of rope, put on a ski mask and boom! I'm Sheep-Shank, the knot tying villain!

Really, Slipknot should have called himself Kick-The-Shit-Out-Of-Me Man. To be fair, his ropes are extra adhesive and unbreakable, but still. They're ropes, dude! I mean, call Slipknot if you need help moving on Saturday, but otherwise you wouldn't want him on your supervillain team.

How Would Comic Book Superheroes Vote?

Dave's Longbox has the answer. I liked this one:

• THE HULK – LIBERTARIAN

“Hulk just want to be left alone.”

Comic Book Linkage

Lore at Wired - World's Worst Superhero Names "It bothers me that Jean Grey doesn't get a superhero name. And her real name isn't really that interesting. It's as if the Avengers included Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Dave Henderson."

Cup of Joe Powell - On The Death of Dave Cockrum "Dave was typical of many artists who worked for both big publishers, DC and Marvel, and it was his work with Len Wein to re-invent the X-Men franchise in the 1970s which brought him real fame, creating the characters of Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Phoenix, Mystique and others. That's his cover for the relaunch of the X-Men. Much of his design work became the model for all those characters now on the silver screen and in the current run of X-books."

Todd A - Wolverine, Hulk, and X-Men reviews "But last night, I picked up the run of Classic X-Men that I had. I read #16 and loved it. John Byrne penciled the first story (well most of it). John Bolton (not the U.N. Ambassador, natch) penciled the second story. That’s the X-Men I remember. Bolton’s got an interesting style. It’s simple but it stands out. But Byrne’s work… I mean what can you say? It’s just perfect."

Rex L. Camino - four things that always bothered me about the wonder twins "4. The Super Friends cartoon ran around the same time Donny and Marie Osmond were at the height of their fame, and a four year old Rex always got them confused with the Wonder Twins. To this day I halfway expect Donny Osmond to turn into a bucket of something when I see him on TV." Rex also cracks on Aquaman, which segues into the next bit.

McSweeney's - AQUAMAN, KING OF THE SEVEN SEAS, HAS FUCKING HAD IT WITH YOU, MAN.

First off, I don't talk to them. OK?

That's, like, the first thing. Let's start there.

It's not like I'm all, Hey, Peter Pufferfish, what's up? and he's all, Yo, nothing much, brah.

It doesn't work like that, all right? I mean, most of them don't even have brains, for one thing. They have maybe a bump at one end of their spinal cord, a pimply little swelling of ganglia, if they're lucky.

Language is not a looming issue, is what I'm saying.

No, how it works is: I command them. Period, the end. Command, as in bend them to, you know, my will and whatnot. Fuckin' A.

Even the ones with actual for-real brains, the cetaceans. If I want, you know, a pod of Burmeister's porpoise to ram the hell out of Black Manta's Manta Sub, that shit gets done. If I totally want, like, a southern minke whale to go hump a giant squid (its most hated enemy, by the way), I just go doodoodoodoodoodoo and it's like Show World down there. Not that I would, because, you know, gross, but I'm just saying: I don't ask. I'm not going to be all, If you wouldn't mind terribly much, please, Mr. Southern Minke Whale, go get your nasty freak on with that giant squid.

Hostess Comic Book Ads

Archive of all Hostess comic book ads. There were tons of those ads when I was reading comic books as a kid, and they're all about as corny as this one:

I guess discovering what crime The Human Computer actually committed is left as an exercise for the reader.

Via Random Panels, who is worth checking out if you like comic books. His Kirbycize is awesome.

And if you like those ads, see Jim Treacher's re-imagining of vintage comic book ads. Not safe for work, and that third one with the Hulk is a bit much. Oh vey.

Bonus! Archie comics has been re-designed for a modern, realistic look. I agree with whoever said this sounds like a New Coke experiment to be followed by Classic Archie. Via Treacher.

Comic Book : "Death of Superman"

Now that I'm reading comic books again I wanted to read one that came out long after I quit reading comics - the "Death of Superman" series. It was a long series that was divided into multiple books. I recently finished three.

"Death of Superman" - So there's this mysterious monster named Doomsday. He's really, really strong. He and Superman get into a really, really big fight. He hurts Superman really, really bad, so bad that Superman really, really dies.

"A World Without Superman" - I can't believe it! Superman is really, really dead!

"The Return of Superman" - Psyche! The first two tradebooks were fairly simplistic. The third installment is more complex. Four different superbeings claim to be Superman, and several of them seem to know Clark Kent's secret. One is a young Superboy who appears to be a clone. Another is a cyborg, pieced together from what was left of Superman with mechanical parts. Another is a cold-hearted avenger. Different factions line up behind different Supermen, and no one - not even Lois Lane - is sure which one is real.

I also enjoyed young Lex Luthor. He isn't Luthor's son. When Lex Luthor was dying of cancer from his Kryptonite ring he cloned himself and transferred his memories to his clone. This time around Luthor avoids outright villainy and uses his wealth and scientific knowledge to pursue power and influence through mostly legitimate means. Yet Luthor still harbors a secret hatred of the Man of Steel, a hatred that always threatens to be his undoing.

Supergirl is now Luthor's girlfriend. She believes in him, and hopes to change him, but he's also cynically using her as part of his plan for revenge. She's just too blinded by her love for him to see it.

The resolution of the story threatens the entire planet and destroys a city along the way. The first two books can be skipped, but "The Return of Superman" is good stuff.

Let Dave Campbell Rock Your Saturday Morning

The Batmobile: What a Pain in the Ass.

Free Comic Book Day Saturday, May 5

Tomorrow is the sixth annual Free Comic Book Day. Go to a participating comic book store and get your choice of one of 28 free comics. Visit the site and enter your Zip code to find participating shops in your area.

Hat tip to Ace of Spades.

Like Comic Books? Go Read IsotopeComics.com

IsotopeComics.com.

Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun

A new-to-me blog that just celebrated its second anniversary. Good stuff.

Word of the Day: Underwear Perverts

Underwear perverts - the name Cory Doctorow suggests for Marvel and D.C. superheroes, to protest the fact that Marvel and D.C. Comics are claiming a trademark on the term "superhero" to prevent other entities from using the term.

Bonus! - Seanbaby's Superfriends pages are a laff riot that are hours of fun. The Wonder Woman entry seems appropriate here.

Wonder Woman - She gets a lot of crap for her star panties even though everyone on her team wears pretty much the same outfit. It's like every superhero went swimming one morning and said, "Shit, guys. We don't have to go home and change! We could just go fight crime like this." I guess it does look a little bit cheap on Wonder Woman, though. Samurai's only wearing bloomers and gogo boots too, but he's from Japan, and there's that insane cultural gap. We're lucky he's not wearing dead fish and a pink cowboy hat. Maybe this is another gender double standard like how boys can have sex with girls without being called lesbians, but Wonder Woman should have at least put on a skirt."

Hat tip to Swanky for the Sean Baby link.

Previous WOTD - Foo Fighters

Cover Browser - the Greatest Web Site on the Entire Internet

CoverBrowser.com archive of comic book covers. It's big fun finding the run of a particular title you used to read. My days of reading Iron Man pretty much correspnded to this series. I had forgotten all about the Dreadnought, but I just read an Iron Man tradebook that featured Whiplash AKA Blacklash. Memories...

Hat tip to Dave's Long Box.

See also:
- Nemesisboy - the Greatest Web Site on the Entire Internet
- Mirrordot - the Greatest Web Site on the Entire Internet
- Leia's Metal Bikini - The Greatest Web Site on the Entire Internet

Jay Pinkerton

Bat Battle: Who's The Best Movie Batman Ever?

BatClooney abandons the yellow Batsymbol and somber blacks, adopting a showy silver look not unlike a crime-fighting tuna fish. Improvements abound in the cowl region, which trades in the cumbersome ceramic headpiece of earlier incarnations for a large-nosed latex rubber mask, meaning batman can now blow his nose in-costume and possesses peripheral vision of at least an inch on either side. Watch out, criminals standing very slightly to his left or right!

Also worth noting: Against all reason and decency, the Batsuit now features nipples, possibly as part of some new Bat-lactation feature.

Superman vs. Thor

My hero Dave Campbell gives his answer to the question of whether Thor or Superman would win in a fight.

I won't spoil his answer, but I'll ask another question. Superman or Thor: who has the more ridiculous way to fly?

Superman can fly because he's from Krypton, which is larger than Earth and has a much greater gravitational pull. Superman on Earth is like Buzz Aldrin jumping around on the moon - he should be able to jump really high, but he'll come back down. He should be able to leap over tall buildings in a single bound, but not fly in any meaningful sense of the word. He couldn't accelerate once he's off the ground, he couldn't navigate except by contorting his body or directing airflow, and he couldn't hover in mid-air unless he flapped his arms like wings.

Thor flies by throwing his magic hammer Mjolnir and hanging on for the ride. My physics background consists of one year of freshman physics, so I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the hammer is a red herring. If the basic principle worked Thor or any other really strong superhero could fly just by throwing his arm really hard. You wouldn't want to go fishing with a guy like that because he'd sail into the trees on every cast.

Here's an example that doesn't require super-strength. Are you strong enough to do a chin-up? Yeah? Okay. Now put both hands behind your neck and try pulling yourself into the air.

Did it work?

Stills from "Watchmen" Production

Gametrailers.com and Hollywood North Insider have stills from the set of Watchmen, the movie adaptation of the Alan Moore comic book. If you haven't read the comic, it was set against a backgrop of high crime, high unemployment, and the Cold War dread of the 1970s, which explains the desolation in those stills.

I tell people that "Watchmen" is to comic books what David Webb Peoples' Unforgiven script is s to westerns. Unforgiven exploded some of the myths of movie westerns - in Peoples' universe many of the western mainstay heroes were drunk, nearsighted, corrupt, attention-seeking, or just plain mean rather than selfless, golden-eyed, or pure of virtue. In Moore's multi-generational comic book universe some of the heroes turn out to be drug addicts, egomaniacs, rapists, or clinically insane rather than clear-eyed defenders of truth, justice, and the American way.

Comic book movies can be hit or miss. We've had lots of bad ones, but we seem to be entering a sort of golden age of good comic book movies. Technology has provided computer graphics that are up to the task and economics have given us A-list acting and directing talent. The Bryan Singer-produced X-Men movies were unbelievably good, and the new Batman series starring Christian Bale is off to a good start.

"Watchmen" author Alan Moore has been disgusted by all of the previous movie adaptations of his comic books ("V for Vendetta," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "From Hell"). This one is being directed by Zack Snyder (Dawn of the Dead, 300) so I'm willing to risk getting my hopes up for potential dashing.

Q: Whatever Happened to John Cox of "Cox and Forkum"?

A: He's illustrating a new comic book called Matamoros.

Hat tip to Ace of Spades.

P.S. - Cox and Forkum sounds dirty, doesn't it?

Fan of Iron Man? Fan of Cormac McCarthy?

Either way, go here.

Movie: "Fanstastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer"

(Home sick. Watching movies.)

I loved comic books as a kid, so I can't help but watch comic book adaptations. Even though I didn't much like the first Fantastic Four movie I had some hope for this one because the second movie in these franchises is often better than the first.

The basic storyline isn't bad, and involves some venerable Fantastic Four characters and plots. Sue and Reed are trying to plan a wedding while dealing with the chaos that comes with their lives as members of the Fantastic Four. Meanwhile there are mysterious sightings around the world, followed by massive craters and cosmic energy readings. The mysterious sightings are the Silver Surfer, and his arrival signals the Earth's imminent destruction.

One thing I liked about the movie was the portrayal of the media circus surrounding the heroes' lives. Part of the postmodern comic world is viewing comic book heroes as real life figures who have to live in the same world as everyone else, by the same rules, and there's no reason to think superheroes would escape media scrutiny and tabloid journalism.

Some of the scenes and dialog are obviously aimed at a teen audience. I'm a 39 year old man watching a comic book movie, so I can't complain too much about the filmmakers not targeting me, but I cringed a couple of times and eventually fast-forwarded through the dopey bachelor party scene.

The casting for the Fantastic Four movies is mostly terrible. Reed and Sue Richards are too young. Victor Von Doom should not have a high-pitched voice. Even the Silver Surfer CGI could have used a personality upgrade. Unlike the Batman and X-Men movies, there isn't a single A-list actor here.

Not recommended.

Watchmen Movie Stills

Treacher's got 'em. I always figured Night Owl's character would be hard to reproduce onscreen because of the goofy costume, and sure enough that's the least satisfying of the bunch. Ozymandias is challenging, too (in the comic the crazy dude walks around Antarctica practically naked), but I like the look of him, especially the actor's face.

Bonus Rorschach pic here. The movie's due out March of next year.

Iron Man Opens Today

95% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. I've going to let my hopes get up for potential dashing.

Saw Iron Man. It Really is Awesome.

The movie is as good as everyone says it is. The effects are believable and the acting talent is excellent. Robert Downey, Jr., is amazing as Tony Stark, the billionaire drunk scientific genius immature self-destructive and occasionally selfless jerk of an action hero. It may actually be better than my previous comic book adapation, X-Men 2. We really are living in the golden age of comic book movies.