This Week's Comics

Sorry I didn't post about last week's books-- there were some good ones in there but I had a lot to do and not much time for blogging.
But here's what I have my eye on this week:

BATMAN #678 RIP
BILLY BATSON AND THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM #1
BOYS #20
FX #5 (OF 6)
SAVAGE DRAGON #136
SECRET INVASION FRONT LINE #1 (OF 5) SI
SQUADRON SUPREME 2 #1
STAR TREK ASSIGNMENT EARTH #3
STORMING PARADISE #1 (OF 6)
TRINITY #5
WALKING DEAD #50

The ones in italics are ones I'm not sure about. If I miss them or they sell out, I won't be traumatized but I might look for them in future weeks.
Got anything you're eager to see this week? Comment away!

Michael Turner, comic book artist- RIP

Artist Michael Turner, owner and founder of Aspen Studios, has passed away at age 37, following a long battle with cancer. Part of a group of young artists whose work was fostered by Homage Studios, he achieved tremendous success and a huge fan following with his work for Top Cow Studios, including Witchblade, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and more. His own creations included Fathom and Soulfire. He was considered one of the industry's best artists, particularly when it came to drawing beautiful women.

A personal anecdote: Back in '96, when I was working for WildStorm, a bunch of us went to a club in the Gaslamp District for a party. I'd caught a ride with a young lady who was working in the industry, but she ditched me there (without saying goodbye, she just left) after some of my co-workers basically slandered me to her. Anyway...

There I was, stuck downtown without my car and feeling pissed off. Mike Turner was there, with a bunch of folks from Top Cow. I heard he was leaving and asked (before I'd really even met the guy) if he could drop me off in La Jolla. He said sure, but wanted to grab a bite first with the folks he was already driving, so we ended up hitting the Denny's just outside La Jolla around 1am. We ended up, the bunch of us, sitting and talking for a couple of hours, then I got dropped off at my front door.

Mike probably never knew my name, who I was or what I was doing at the party... but he drove me home. I tell that story sometimes to highlight how generous people can be toward those they don't know.

I never saw him again after that, but can't forget his act of kindness.

He was a great guy and will be greatly missed.

RIP

Aspen Studio's announcement can be found here.

Mike's Wikipedia entry here.

Announcement on Jim Lee's blog here.

INCREDIBLE HULK- a very late review

By now, if you're a comics fan, you've seen THE INCREDIBLE HULK. I've seen it twice and, why not, I'll share my opinions with you, my loyal blog-readers.

While not quite reaching the heights of IRON MAN, INCREDIBLE HULK does a great job of presenting the character (for the second time in five years) to the movie-going public. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) is a scientist whose experiment five years ago went horribly wrong; whenever he grows angry or scared, or is hurt, he transforms into a nine-foot-tall greenish-gray engine of mass destruction. He's been on the run since the day of his first change, hounded relentlessly by Gen. Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (William Hurt) and a team of Hulkbusters that now includes top soldier Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth).

Banner is hiding in a favela (ghetto) in Brazil, where he hopes a flower can lead to a cure for his condition. A mishap at the soda bottling plant where he works leads to a gamma poisoning in the US (Stan Lee, in an extremely brief and uncredited cameo), putting Ross's troops on his trail once more. Banner tries to elude them but complications ensue, and the Hulk smashes the Hulkbusters--and leaves Blonsky burning for a rematch.

Banner's best hope of a cure now lies in returning to the US, so he heads north and makes his way to Culver College, where he once studied with Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), Gen. Ross's daughter. Betty and Bruce have a relationship that is true love-- once she realizes he is back, after he's tried and failed to retrieve crucial data for a mysterious colleague, she cannot dump her boyfriend Leonard (Ty Burrell) fast enough or do enough to help his mission.

Unfortunately, Ross and the Army are on the scene. They corner Banner in a glass walkway and try to use knockout gas, but the Hulk breaks loose and mayhem ensues. A very cool pair of sonic cannons have him on the ropes briefly, then Blonsky gets his rematch--with crushing results, courtesy of the Hulk making a vicious punt.

The Hulk, carrying Betty, manages to escape the battlefield, but the damage is done; college students have caught footage on their cell phones and even dub the green monster "a hulk" (hence the name). Ross's best soldier is crippled, the word is out and his daughter is in the hands of a monster (literally). Clearly he is not having a good day.

With the necessary data now in hand, Bruce and Betty head to New York to meet "Mr. Blue," aka Dr. Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson)--a name that will be familiar to readers of the Hulk comic book. Sterns is an eccentric, ethically challenged biochemist who thinks he has a fix for Banner, though he cheerfully admits that a mistake could be fatal. They concoct a trial run, where Betty manages to keep the Hulk calm enough for the antidote to work, just before the Army arrives in force... and Blonsky has a little chat with Sterns.

This time, his Hulk reflex numbed by the antidote, Bruce and Betty are captured and taken into custody. As they're being taken away, a new monster--something Sterns calls "an abomination"--shows up to wreak havoc in Harlem. Suddenly, the Hulk is their only option for preventing thousands of deaths and billions in property destruction... but is even the green monster powerful enough to take on this brand-new beast?

Marvel Studios has another hit on their hands, there's no denying it. The movie, directed by Louis Leterrier and written by Zak Penn, contains amazing amounts of action, matching Bruce Banner and his emerald alter ego against some powerful enemies. The clash between Hulk and Abomination at the film's climax is a feast for anyone who loves superhero movie action.

There's also some good chemistry between Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, who make viewers believe that these two have a long history and a powerful emotional bond. There are great little touches that drive this home, from Betty's ability to reach the Hulk's gentler side to Bruce's fleeting looks of yearning when he sees Betty with another man. It's good movie work, supplemented by William Hurt's portrayal of Ross as a man whose ambition long ago overwhelmed his basic humanity--in some ways, he's a bigger monster than the Hulk. And Nelson is manic and almost giddy as Sterns, foreshadowing a major threat on the horizon in his final scene.

On the other hand...

Tim Roth is a fine actor but I felt he was miscast as Blonsky. He has the emotional intensity of a man who simply cannot accept second place to the Hulk, but his physicality just isn't persuasive; he doesn't look like a career hardass. That's just my opinion and it's a minor quibble.

What isn't a minor quibble is how the film makers treated 'Leonard' (aka Dr. Leonard Samson), Betty's transitory boyfriend. We see them together twice--in the quad and in a pizza parlor--before Betty takes Bruce home and then goes with him in the morning. We also get a very brief scene where he gives a psychoanalytic snapshot of Ross. Essentially, his presence in the film was a waste of time. He could have been used to illuminate a romantic triangle with Bruce and Betty, or give Liv Tyler a chance to agonize over leaving a good man for the guy she loved but lost, or even highlight the benefits of a safe, comfortable but unchallenging relationship over a much more dangerous true love.

But no. Instead, we get a general dismissal of the character as unimportant, so that we get no idea why Betty ever dated him. It's a feeble attempt at fan service (see more on this below) but it was entirely wasted and the biggest disappointment of the movie.

As for fan service, gee, did we get a lot of it. Much like IRON MAN, this is a movie that rewards being a comic book reader. Among the touches:

• lots of SHIELD logos popping up on computer monitors, along with Nick Fury's name;
• ditto Stark Industries requisition forms;
• discussion of a "super soldier" project in World War II (i.e., Captain America);
• a liquid nitrogen canister holding a blue serum, with a metal label that reads "Dr. Reinstein" (the scientist who turned Steve Rogers into Captain America);
• a scene where Blonsky shows off amazing acrobatic combat moves, while the Hulk (in an interesting twist) is holding a shield (foreshadowing how they would show Cap in action);
• an exchange between Ross and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), wherein Stark alludes to a team being put together (a reference to the AVENGERS movie being planned for 2011);
• a running gag involves Bruce buying pants that will stretch enough lest he have an incident--and Betty buys him purple sweats at one point;
• and probably more than I didn't catch (though I hear a deleted scene involves Captain America as well).

It also rewards familiarity with the TV show of the 1970s:

• there's a quick glimpse of Bill Bixby on TV (he played "David Banner" on the TV show);
• Lou Ferrigno, who played the Hulk, provides the Hulk's voice AND makes an appearance as a security guard (geez, he's a big guy!);
• a few notes of the familiar "walking man" theme are heard during one stretch
• Bruce's eyes flare with intense green light (like David's did) prior to his change--there's even one moment that's an exact recreation from the series-- and finally,
• the accident that turns Bruce into the Hulk is nearly an exact repeat (this time including Betty, who was not a character in the TV show) of the experiment David Banner tries on himself, even down to the green crosshairs that appear before the gamma pulse.

It's terrific, and shows that Marvel is serious about building an integrated cinematic universe, building upon the great start made by IRON MAN. Sure, they might not have the X-Men, Fantastic Four or Spider-Man, but they will have (soon enough) THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA, ANT-MAN and IRON MAN 2.

I said at the beginning that the movie doesn't reach the heights of IRON MAN. Why is that? I think it's because Bruce Banner is a less fun character than Tony Stark. They both have their demons to overcome, but Bruce is a more melancholy figure; he's not the guy you'd want to invite to your party, lest he "hulk out" and destroy your home. Maybe it's the more somber tone, but HULK is just a less exhilarating movie than IRON MAN, which is probably exactly right.

With INCREDIBLE HULK carrying the torch, the future is looking very bright indeed for Marvel Studios.

Butterfly Exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History

Kat and I were in the mood to have lunch together yesterday. She's going to be moving offices soon and we won't have this opportunity again for some months, so we went to the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden to meet for lunch. The Sculpture Garden, for those non-DC-locals reading this, is one of the best places to sit, relax and people-watch on the Mall. The centerpiece is a huge fountain (which becomes a skating rink in the winter), where ducks and sparrows bum bread crumbs from picnickers. Really, it's a great place to go, plus they have jazz concerts on Friday evenings during the summer. Check it out!

Anyway, we decided to walk around and our wandering took us near the National Museum of Natural History. Kat said the butterfly exhibit was free on Tuesdays, so why not check it out? We went in, headed upstairs, found the ticket booth, and then stood in line. Didn't take long before we were in a metal 'pavillion' in which about thirty species of butterfly wing back and forth amid giant eruptions of flora. It's kept very hot and humid inside (apparently butterflies like it hot) and we were cautioned not to touch any of the butterflies, even if they land on you (and they do).


I have a few pictures on my cellphone camera, and if I can transfer them, I'll post them here. The sight is really spectacular and I suggest that you make it a point to visit if you're in town.


Later today: my comic book reading list for the week.

John Nee Leaves DC

Hey folks,
If you read the blog, you'll have seen the name John Nee here before.
Well, I read online today that he's resigned from DC Comics. No idea if it is effective immediately or what-- I haven't talked with him since learning the news.
My two cents:
John is a complicated guy, extremely smart and farsighted. He knows a lot about many, many subjects. In some ways, he is a bigger than life character.
I have faith he'll be fine coming through this time of transition, and look forward to talking with him soon. He knows he has an open invitation to come to DC (Washington) any time he likes--Kat and I always have a place for him.
Take care, John-
Drew

UPDATE
I spoke with John this past weekend by instant message; he seemed to be doing well. There are no details I can offer on the overall subject of his departure-- I didn't ask. Kat and I consider him a good friend and continue to wish him the very best.