The Vault of Startling Monster Horror Tales of Terror #8: Big Trouble In Little China

Do you believe in Chinese Black Magic?  Then it's time to "stir the pot!"  Give a listen to Episode 8 of The Vault Of Startling Monster Horror Tales of Terror, where Chris Honeywell, the Hair-Metal Hero, and myself watch John Carpenter's 80's chop-socky actionfest Big Trouble In Little China!  It's a truck-drivin', hoagie-eatin' storm-bringin', bottle-cuttin', Jade green eyes-havin' funfest for the whole freaking family!  Well, mostly.  

What Looks Good?

Pouring like cats and dogs here in the Upstate.  Sometimes it's good to not have to drive out to the comic shop.

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1 -- Well, if you are only going to have 1 title on your pull list for a week, it at least should be a big one... and you don't get much bigger than the King of the Monsters, right?

So, what looks good to YOU?

Godzilla is Coming To Stomp YOUR Comic Shop!

Check out this crazy promotion from IDW: stores which ordered enough copies of the first issue of Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters received a special variant cover featuring the King of the Monsters stomping on their place of business!  How hilarious is that?

If you head to SciFi Japan, you can see a collage of all of the store covers.  Is your local comic shop in there?  None of the local ones here are, though there is a "Carolina Comics"... which is evidently located in Oklahoma?  Oooohkay...

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #1 is in stores this week.

Everybody's Linking For The (Last) Weekend

Yeah... these are late...

Mr. Bones knows what he likes.

Kelson with a look at a real "alterate timeline" for DC Comics!

Frank brings it back to the Golden Age with Sensation Comics #1.

rob! takes a look at the Sea Ghost.

Michael Bailey, purveyor of weird crap.

And finally, Derf (as always) brings the hotness.

What Looks Good?

Spring has sprung, although it's been 70+ in SC for weeks.  Young men's minds have begun to turn to springtime fancies... you know.  Comics.

Creepy Comics #5 -- Another pile of the creepiest creep-out comics on the racks!

Justice League of America #55 - Eclipso!  Doomsday!  New shorts, please!

Showcase Presents: The Witching Hour v.1 -- Remember when I used to do the Weekly Dose of Weird?  Books like this might help me start that up again.

Marineman #4 -- It's like Aquaman only without the royalty or the angst.

Silver Surfer #2 -- The return of... Norin Radd?  That can't be good.

Futurama Comics #54 -- You know what bugs me?  The volume 5 box of Futurama was on shelves for like a week around these parts.  Argh.

So, what looks good to YOU?

Fatal Fury?!

I was looking for videos about Fatal Fury the video game, and found this instead. Nothing to do with the Bogard brothers, but some sick beats nonetheless.

Fatal Fury from ergin ishakoglu on Vimeo.

Unbridled Capitalism: Lucky Number One!

Short and sweet, found at Mr. K's a few weeks back was all three hardcover volumes of The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck -- Volume 1, Volume 2, and the Companion.  Between the list price and some trade credit I got all three of them for less than half of the cover prices.  Even Scrooge himself would be happy about that deal!

These stories by Don Rosa tell the life story of Scrooge McDuck from his humble beginnings in Scotland, where he acquires his Lucky Number One Dime,  to making his fortune in America, and are about as epic a story as one can imagine, despite the fact that the star is an anthropomorphic mallard.  I hold true to my belief that if Disney really wants to get in on the "comic book movie chic" scene then they should greenlight an animated feature based on this story.  DuckTales: The Movie was not enough!

Earth Destruction Directive!

Hey everyone, go check out the latest episode of my Japanese giant monster podcast, Earth Destruction Directive! This is Episode 2: There's No Such Thing As Brainwaves -- give it a listen!

DC Team Book Roundup

Outsiders #36 -- Black Lightning and his crew, fresh after their ordeal with Simon Stagg, pays a visit on his daughter Thunder and his girlfriend Grace, but little does he know that his other daughter Lightning -- and her pals in the Justice Society -- are showing up as well!  Joe Bennett's pencils are a big change from both Phillip Tan and Kieth Giffen, and while its well suited to the action in this issue but it is not really eye pleasing to me.  The story is pretty straight forward (Thunder is cool with her Dad, but Lightning is not) but its not a bad read.  There's some hints about some more bad stuff going down in Markovia as well which I appreciated.  Now that the final issue is scheduled, I take solace in knowing that DiDio is building towards a climax in this book, which I personally have enjoyed.  Pretty average issue for this run but not one of the best.  Please note the cover, which was supposed to be one of the white showcase covers but ended up red in the final release.

Justice League of America #54 -- On Diablo Island, Dr. Bruce Gordon is trying to find a way to eradicate Eclipso once and for all, but Eclipso is not some virus which can be so easily eliminated.  I think Robinson has a good voice for both Gordon and Eclipso, and treats to a pretty good recap of the characters' history while also introducing the new story, as Eclipso gathers all those whose powers are involved with shadows and darkess to his side.  Brett Booth's art is also very nice, with a sort of elfin devil look for Eclipso, plus a big honking sword. I may be more prone since I like Eclipso but I thought this was a fine issue and I cannot wait to read the next part.  The presence of The Shade and Shadow-Thief are also plusses.  

Doom Patrol #19 -- The Doom Patrol mix it up with the Secret Six on Oolong Island, and no one's particularly happy about it. I do not like Simone's Secret Six and thus did not buy the first issue of the crossover; considering the lack of story going on here (the Patrol and the Six don't like one another!) it seems that was a $3 well saved.  Nothing particularly exciting or fun in this issue, as we start the slow march towards cancellation.  I believe that Giffen will be tying things up by the end, but this issue was a waste to me.

What Looks Good?

Yeah these are a day late, but I get my comics once a month anyway so what's the difference?

Brightest Day #22 -- What is the deal with Boston Brand and what will happen to the rest of the resurrected?

Tiny Titans #38 -- The cuteness cannot be denied!

Invincible Iron Man #502 -- Tony has to help... Doctor Octopus?

Iron Man 2.0 #2 -- Palmer Addley is dead?  Doesn't seem that way to Rhodey!  

Charmed #8 -- What new demonic forces are waiting to get at the Charmed Ones?

Darkwing Duck #10 -- Darkwing Duck versus the forces of F.O.W.L.!

So, what looks good to YOU?

Hey Snooki...

...what do you think of THIS situation?

WWWYKI!

Everybody's Linking For The Weekend

Frank gets us started with a Matt Haley Wonder Woman charity piece.

BONUS GAME!  Who's Who?  Captain Atom, that's who!

Rick brings the menace with Dennis The Menace: Dinosaur Hunter!

rob! with a nifty house ad for DC Special #28.

Shag shows us the inevitable Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover.

Derf hooks us up with The Enchantress.

And finally, happy Mario Day 2011!

What Looks Good?

Its raining like cats and dogs here in South Carolina today... glad my comics are coming in the mail... yeesh!

Doom Patrol #20 -- The series may be doomed but it still kicks it hard!

Outsiders #37 -- See what I said about the Doom Patrol?  Ditto.  The joke even works as this is a Reign of Doomsday book!

Honey West #3 -- The most babelicious PI you have ever seen, daddy-o.  

So, what looks good to YOU?

Two True Freaks Episode 176: The Black Hole

On my ship you ask.

Check out your host along with Scott Gardner and Chris Honeywell as we discuss one of my favorite science fiction films of all time, the 1979 Disney epic The Black Hole!  Take a trip back in time to when motion control cameras were the order of the day, models were the key to making sci-fi special effects, and CGI was limited to glowing green gridlines!  

Had a great time recording this episode so I hope all of you folks enjoy it as well!

What You Never Learned from Schoolhouse Rock

Thanks to Newsbusters.  

Iron Man Roundup -- 500.1, 501, 2.0 1

I figure that since I am getting my comics all in one bunch now, it might make more sense to do a roundup sort of post with books in logical groups than try to do everything at once.  And where else to start but with Iron Man?  (I'll try this format, see what works.  Maybe I'll just do Iron Man, we'll see.)

Invincible Iron Man #500.1 -- Tony Stark heads to an AA meeting and shares his struggles and triumphs with the group.  What I enjoyed most about this "fresh readers" issue (done by the regular team of Matt Fraction and Sal Larocca) was that it did at least touch on lots of forgotten or otherwise obscure Iron Man continuity.  A lot of it is encapsulated in the phrase "life got weirder," but at least is acknowledgement.  This reminds me of the sort of story which would run as a backup in an Annual.  I don't know that it really works as a "jumping on point" but its a good little character issue.  Worth picking up for an Iron Fan though.

Invincible Iron Man #501 -- Shellhead against Doctor Octopus?  Sounds pretty ridiculous, and also further indulging of Fraction's Spider-Man obsession, but it actually works in this case because it is not Iron Man fighting against a guy with mechanical arms.  There's some nice developments with Stark Resilient and some good flashbacks as well.  The first post-500 story starts off with an intriguing premise and hopefully will deliver.  

Iron Man 2.0 #1 -- James Rhodes has become the Army's "Iron Man" and his first task is pretty bizarre -- a dead military research genius is seemingly deploying his secrets to anti-American agents all over the world. The last page seems to give away the twist, though, but maybe I will be surprised.  A pretty average premiere, there's not a whole lot going on in this issue but it does establish a new status quo for Rhodey -- plus there is a psuedo cameo by the original Blizzard.  Nick Spencer's script is straightforward, but somewhat heavy-handed, and Barry Kitson's art is inconsistent -- sometimes its clean and other times it gets too busy and angular. There's some backup material as well with a timeline of Rhodey's fictional life and a reading list.

Everybody's Linking For The Weekend

Derf always has the lovely ladies, including the Scarlet Witch.

BONUS GAME!  Galactus versus Unicron!

Frank shows off an awesome bit of Captain Comet art.

rob! has a Very Merry Aquabirthday for us!

Kelson spills it on the Flashpoint tie-ins.

Shag speculates on the future of Firestorm.

And finally, this is one messed up bookshelf.

EDIT: Be sure to check out Rick's Dennis The Menace contest!

How To Make A Nerd Go Insane:

Thanks to my pals over at The Unique Geek!

What Looks Good?

This has not been a good week for posting.  Hopefully this will help me get back on track.

Brightest Day #21 -- Stories are starting to wrap up for our resurrected heroes and villains, but things are never what they seem.

Charmed #7 -- Piper and Leo... in the crosshairs!

Darkwing Duck Annual #1 -- One word: Smile.

Uncle Scrooge #401 -- Have I got an Unbridled Capitalism post for you folks!

So, what looks good to YOU?