This is Entry 250: Brian on the Aisle #12

This post is will be multi-tasking post. It's a 250th post, It's the 12 entry in Brian on the Aisle & I'm counting this as a part of the 2012 Project. The movie I'll be reviewing is The Adventures of Tintin.

Early on in my readership of comic books (The Early to the Mid 1990's): I read the Tintin books, collected almost the whole series (didn't notice until recently that I'm missing a few books). I loved them as kid. Still like them as an Adult. They are Awesome!

My enjoyment of the books were greatly enhanced by the fact at the same time that I was reading these books there was also an animated series based on the books on TV (They were on the cable network HBO. I think the cartoon were Canadian made or at least release in the States by a Canadian company). I could see all the action on the screen & then add those moving images to when I read the books.

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As I have done in the past, I saw Tintin at the second run theater near my house (3 dollars a movie!). Tintin is also one of the those movies that recently came out in both 2D & 3D, the theater I saw at it didn't does that the fancy 3D to show it in. I saw a few times during the movie that it might of looked cool if I saw it in 3D. But seeing in 2D in no way diminished my viewing of the movie.

The "Adventures of Tintin" series of books span over 20 books. What adventure do you start with? I think the filmmakers went with a good choose. A personal favorite of mine, a storyline that I'll be calling the Unicorn Saga. The Saga unfolds over 2 books: The Secret of the Unicorn & Red Rackham's Treasure. The movie was not just a translation of those 2 books. The Movie is a mix of those 2 books, parts & characters from another book in the series (The Crab with the Golden Claws) & Bianca Castafiore (a supporting character who appeared in a number of the Tintin books).

I understand why the added in the bits from The Crab with the Golden Crabs. That is the book where Tintin met Captain Haddock, a character who is featured quite heavily in the Unicorn Saga. So they had to explain how Tintin knew the Captain somehow. The addition of the Castafiore to the movie's story while not in any of the these 3 stories I did quite enjoy & didn't mind this alteration because it was in keeping with how she might have been used in the books.

The way the entire Unicorn saga is unfolded in the movie is totally different from the books they come from. Is this a bad thing? No. Not really. They needed to added in the elements from the Crabs to Unicorn so the overall story is different then the books. I did feel the melding of the 2 stories were done quite well. There were a few elements present in the Unicorn books that were felt out of the movie as they might of not made sense. Basically all of the plot to the Crabs books is not present in the movie which is ok since they only wanted to use the Unicorn plot line & having this secondary plot line would have been confusing as it in no way tied into the main Unicorn plot line.

The characterisation of Sakharine, the movie's main villain, is different then it is in the books. How he is presented in this movie he is more an amalgamation of very different characters from the books. This did leave me a bit puzzled as I watched the movie. I being a big fan of the books & having just reread the Unicorn saga recently I had the book freshly in the mind. I just couldn't place who Sakharine was in the books as I watched the movie. I knew that name! I thought of the character with that name to be a some what minor character (which I still think so as I took a look back at the books) where as in the movie he is the main villain! Many of the Tintin books used a number of different villains in the books & I can see why they wanted to have 1 central villain for the movie.

For the main cast, I would say the characterisations is pretty spot on. All the voices & actions fit with how I think they should have been. The catchphrases were all there! The CGI was a bit weird but something you could get use to. I was a bit weird seeing the "cartoony" look of the characters represent in such a realistic way. At times I felt that Captain Haddock's head was a bit to large.

Professor
Cuthbert Calculus

One thing I thing they could have done was the "whole" Unicorn story in this one movie. This one leaves us on a cliffhanger, setting up a sequel. I put the word whole in quotation marks because the movie does end how the story ends in the books. There were a few different events that happened in the books that didn't happen here & a few that happen in a different order. I suspect that many of those events would happen in the second movie. Many of those events are from the second book/second half of the story. I really hope they do make a sequel because my favorite character from the Tintin series is introduced in the second half of the Unicorn story. That character is Professor Cuthbert Calculus! He is Awesome! I'm not sure why I like him so much but I do. He is just plain awesome & quite a snappy dresser I might say. He was the one character I wanted to see show up in the movie but he didn't. Mainly because all of the stuff he did the Unicorn saga hadn't happened yet. If He's not in the sequel, I am going to be mad!

There were so nice references to the the other Tintin books in the movie (mostly in the opening credits & in the framed newspaper clippings at Tintin's home). You did get to see some of the Art of the books in the movie too which was nice.

So... Final Thoughts: What did I think of the movie? I thought it was good. Did I think going into that it was going to be bad & that it was going to "rape" a cherished piece of my childhood? No. I mainly wanted to see how they handled the story which they did quite well. It did quite boring (at least for me) during two long action sequences in the later half of the movie. I just felt they were overly long.

What do I give this movie? 3 & half Blistering Barnacles out of 5!

I greatly look forward to seeing the sequel!

Until next time, Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 249: The State of the New 52, Part 1

Part 1

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All Star Western

Writers: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti

Artist: Moritat

I did not read this series past Issue 1 on this book. Why? It wasn't bad but then there wasn't really anything to really grab me to want to pick up issue 2. It's not that the writing wasn't bad. I have read stuff by the writing team of Gray & Palmiotti in the past that I did enjoy. The art by Moritat was nice. I did feel that it fit the setting quite nicely. I could see that there was a mystery being set up in this issue, I just wasn't sure I wanted to wait around to see that mystery unfold over the next couple of issues. I'm not a big "western" kind of guy & I haven't read many Jonah Hex comics in the past so I'm not sure what I was expecting from this comic.  

I would consider to pick up this storyline/mystery when it's collected in a trade paperback to see what I missed out on.

Batgirl

Writer: Gail Simone

Artist: Ardian Syaf

Cover Artist: Adam Hughes

*sigh* Oh... Batgirl.

I sort of came into this comic partly not wanting to like it & partly wanting it to change my mind on the whole "Barbra Gordon is Batgirl again" idea. What I wanted in Issue 1 was 1 question answered. That question was "How did she get up out of the wheelchair?" None that might of been too much to ask for a 1st issue. Maybe just something to explain why she was up & around again. Well... that question was answered just not very well (at least according to me). She was paralyzed from the waist down from a gunshot worn inflicted by The Joker (Ala The Killing Joke). Then 3 years later, one morning a "miracle" (the comics' own word) happened & she could walk again.

WHAT?

I just don't understand why this part of Barbra's backstory needed to make it's way over into the "New 52". They could have easily just left it out & done something else with her. They could have done anything with her. They were basically giving a chance to do a "clean slate" with her.

They could have just done how she was pre-Killing Joke. Brought her back to a more "classic" version of Batgirl. But then I have a problem with that. Most people who read comics today have never read a present day story with Barbra Gordon as Batgirl in them, if they have seen Barbra as BG it's in a flashback or some other media (Movies, TV, Cartoons, etc.). I know I haven't unless I read some old Batman comics from the 60's, 70's or 80's. In the 20 years I have read comics it's been either Cassandra Cain or Stephanie Brown. I quite liked the Stephanie Brown version of Batgirl & her series. It's what I wished this series was (a young girl trying to juggle being Batgirl & all her other responsibilities). I did read this series until Issue 4 hoping it would have gotten better, It didn't. That is sad, I wanted to like this book. I have never read a lot by Gail Simone, I keep hearing she's a great writer. From what little I had read I'd say she's ok. This kind of degrades my shakey opinion her.

Batwoman

Co-Writer & Artist: J.H. Williams III

Co-Writer: W. Haden Blackman

*sigh* This was a book I was excited to read. I happen to like the the art by Williams. He does wonderful stuff. The past Batwoman stuff (written by Greg Rucka) was really good. But.... I didn't read this past Issue 1. Why? This book was to come out way before the "New 52" happened. Like 6-9 months before. There was a preview/Issue 0 for this series in January/February 2011 which I read & enjoyed. Then the series didn't come out until it was part of the New 52 and sort of read like it was still part of the Pre-New 52. That was a bit off putting. Also, by that point I had lost what enthusiasm/interest I once had with the series. I wasn't just going to buy the book for the pretty art (which as I'm told isn't even done by Williams anymore & that was a major selling point for many people).

Catwoman

Writer: Judd Winick

Artist: Guilem March

Oh... Catwoman. What are we going to do with you?

By Issue 4: stop reading you that's what. :)

I was kind of excited to read this book. I think both the writer & artist on this book are good. They have done stuff I have enjoyed in the past. But..... I just lost interest in this book. I think I gave this book a few more issues that other people did. What with how they ended Issue 1 with (Batman & Catwoman having sex). I at least wanted to see want happen after that (not much).

I wanted to like you. I really did. This should have been a good book: Good Writer, Good Artist, Good Character. But it just didn't do it for me. There were other books I was just enjoying more then you. So at Issue 4, I stopped reading you. Should have done that at 3 but I gave you one more issue to see you could turn it around (you didn't).

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That's it for this part of the "State of the New 52". I know that sort of downer to end things on. I promise you: it gets better. There are books coming up that I did actually like!

I'll be back with the other 11 books later. Until then, Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 248: The State of the New 52, Prologue

6 Months ago, DC Comics started a grand experiment. This experiment is called The New 52. They cancelled their entire line of books & did away with the entire continuity they had built up (well.. not exactly) to relaunch/reboot it all in terms of going into the future (and in hopes of getting new readers).

They had launched 52 titles that spanned this new universe. As I said it's been 6 months & most of the comic have just completed their 1st story lines. So.... let's talk about how this has been going in a special posting I'm calling.....

Well..... I'm not going to be talking about all 52 series that were launched as part of The New 52. Why not? I didn't read all 52 series. I didn't even read half of The New 52. I just didn't have the money & wasn't really in most of them. Of the 52 series, I have read the 1st issues of 15 series. I only read 11 series past the 1st issue.  So... why did I call this post "The State of the New 15" or "The State of the New 11". It just doesn't have that same ring to it as "The State of the New 52" has to it.

I'll be going through the 15 series I did read some part of & talking about my feeling towards the series. I will be doing these in alphabetic order.

The series I read (at least Issue 1 of) are:

- All Star Western

- Batgirl

- Batwoman

- Catwoman

- DC Universe Presents

- Demon Knights

- The Flash

- Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

- Justice League Dark

- Justice League International

- Justice League

- Mister Terrific

- Nightwing

- Red Hood and the Outlaws

- Suicide Squad

I'll be dividing these up into a few different postings so you are just not reading one 1 long post.

I'll be back with Part 1 as soon as I type it up. :)

Until then: Stay Jazzy!

- Brian.

This is Entry 247: 2012!

The year is 1992.


In Sports: The Washington Redskins win Super Bowl XXVI. The Dallas Cowboys win Super Bowl XXV. The Chicago Bulls win the NBA Finals. The Toronto Blue Jays become the 1st Canadian team to play in the World Series & the 1st non-American Team to with the World Series.

In Politics: 41st President of the United States George H.W. Bush become violently ill in a Japanese televised state dinner. While there there his threw up on Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa & then fainted. Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaced Jaiver Perez de Cueller of Peru as the UN Security General. Bill Clinton, before becoming 42nd President of the United States, plays the saxophone on the the Arsenio Hall Show.  Ross Perot buys a block of TV time for his Presidential Campaign.

On TV: Seinfeld, Barney & Friends, The Real World, Batman: The Animated Series, Martin, Goof Troop, Eek! The Cat, Roundhouse, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Mad about You, Ghostwriter & X-Men: the Animated Series all had their premiere episodes. The Cosby Show, MacGyer, Growing Pains, The Golden Girls, Night Court, Darkwing Duck also had their final episodes. The Sci-Fi Channel (now Sy Fy) & Cartoon Network premiere.

In Movies: Aladdin, The Bodyguard, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Basic Instinct, Lethal Weapon 3, Batman Returns, a Few Good Men, Sister Act, Bram Stoker's Dracula & Wayne's World are the Top 10 Movies of the year. Other notable movies are: 3 Ninjas, Bebe's Kids, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cool World, Cutting Edge, Death Becomes Her, Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, Encino Man, Honey, I blew of the Kid (sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids), The Lawnmower Man, The Crying Game, A League of their Own, The Mighty Ducks, The Muppet Christmas Carrol, My Cousin Vinny, Passenger 57, Reservoir Dogs, Rock-a-Doddle, Sneakers, Stop! or My Mom will shoot, Toys & White Men can't jump.

In Video Games: Mortal Kombat is released to Arcades. The Ecco the Dolphin video game is released. The Sega CD (an add-on to the Sega Genesis) is released in the US. 2 Games from the Ultima series of games were released (The Black Gate & The Stygian Abyss). The Later being the 1st 3D role-playing video game.

Notable Births: Disney Channel stars Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Dylan & Cole Sprouse.

Notable Deaths: Actor Dick York (Darren Stephens #1 from TV's Bewitched), Author Issac Asimov, Comedian Sam Kinison, Actor Robert Reed (Mike Brady from Tv's Brady Bunch), Comedian Benny Hill, Actress Marlene Dietrich, Musician Lawernce Welk, Carl Stolz (Founder of American Little League), Martin Goodman (Long Time Publisher of Marvel Comics), William Gaines (EC Comics/MAD Magazine Publisher), Joe Shuster (Superman Co-Creator) & Pierre Culliford/Peyo (Smurfs creator).

In World Events: Euro Disney was opened (The name was changed to Disneyland Paris later on). The 1992 Summer Olympics are held in Barcelona, Spain. Hurricane Andrew happened.

Now what does 1992 have to do with 2012 besides being 20 years ago....

In Seattle, Washington: A 9 year old boy starts down a path that will come to define his life.

Over the course of the rest of the year (& maybe a bit into 2013): I'm going to go over the comics I've read over the past 20 years. Most of the comics I'll be talking about are the "good" comics, the ones I really enjoy/enjoyed. But some of the "bad" comics might make their way into the retrospective if I think they are worth talking about.

There are a few notable Comic Book milestones that happened in 1992:

- Image Comics is founded.

- Detective Renee Montoya (Batman #475) & Carnage (Amazing Spider-Man # 361) make their 1st appearances.

- With Issue 12, NFL Superpro is cancelled.

- Spider-Man 2099 #1 is published.

I'll be back soon with the 1st official post in what I am calling "The 2012 Project". Until then, Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian.

This is Entry 246: Out with the Old & in with the New!

DC Comics now has a new logo. It now comes in a variety of themes & colors!

I don't dislike this new logo (I didn't dislike the previous logo).

It could be cool to see it animated some how (like before a Movie/Cartoon/TV show).

That is all I got for now. Until next time: Stay Jazzy, Everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 245: Ch-Ch-Changes!

Yeah. I know i haven't updated the blog all that much recently but I have news!


1st off: the day I knew was coming for some time. DC Comics has announced the cancellation of 6 books. Those books are:  Blackhawks, Hawk and Dove, Men of War, OMAC, Static Shock & the only book of the bunch that I've been reading: Mister Terrific. It's sad to see any books get cancelled but DC has announced that they be replacing these 6 books with 6 "new" books. Of the 6 there are 2 really super cool & awesome books of the bunch: World's Finest with Power Girl (yeah. She's back) & Huntress (but not Helena Bertineli, Helena Wayne is back as Huntress) as the main characters in the book. Who's the team behind the book? Paul Levitz, George Perez & Kevin Maguire. The other book that I thought was just going to be a mini series but now I know is an on going series: Earth 2. You know what that means? The Justice Society are coming back. The team behind this book is James Robinson & Nicola Scott.


The other four books are the return of Batman Incorporated (by Grant Morrison & Chris Burnham), the replacement of Men of War G.I. Combat (by J.T. Krul), The Superboy/Teen Titans spin-off The Ravagers (by Howard Mackie & Ian Churchill) & the relaunch of the "Dial for H for Hero" which is now just called Dial H (by China Miéville and Mateus Santoluoco). Of that set I'd think about picking up the Dial H series becuase I've liked what DC has done with that concept in the past.


The 6 old series get cancelled in April & the 6 new series get launched in May.

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In other DC Comics news....

That might be their new logo. What was my 1st reaction after seeing it? 

WHAT ON RAO'S GREEN KRYPTON IS THAT THING?

Now this isn't a what it will be but this design has been set off to the U.S. patent office by DC. Also, it being "colorless": that was on purpose. If I understand what I read, they trademark it "colorless" they also have a patents on any color they change the logo to.

That's all I got for now. I have a nice stack of comics that I be back soon to talk about. Until then, Stay Jazzy!

- Brian

This is Entry 244: Comic Book Round-Up!

It's a been almost a month since the last Round-Up posting but there was the the Fantastic Four #600 review posting in there & it's been a few weeks since I've really posted anything. Why? Basically I've been doing other stuff.

But I'm back with 11 books & if I waited until tomorrow, there would be another 4 or 5 books to add to this pile. But I'm doing this now so I don't get so behind that I decided to not do this at all. Also, I don't have much to say about many of these books but I do have something to say.

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First off: Marvel.

FF #12: This comic has a nice cover class photo of "members" of the Future Foundation (The FF that the title refers to). This issue direct continues where we last saw them in Fantastic Four #600. Tomorrow 601 of the Fantastic Four comes out & we/I get more of a look at how these 2 books will connect together. If it's like this issue (Events from Book A are further explored in Book B) It should be pretty good. But I don't think you should have to read both books to get what is going on (something that that could be problem with the interconnected Comics of the 1990's especially when your buying years after they came out).

The Invincible Iron Man #510: I think I made mention of this the last time I talk about this book that I had been enjoying the book before it got all tied up in Fear Itself junk. It went from a book I looked forward to one I didn't. I also thought that it might go back to being good after the FI stuff is over. Well, 510 is the first issue post FI & it was pretty good. But I've just lost interest in the book so this is the last issue I'll be reading for awhile. Also something I've thought is odd: IIM is the only Super Hero book I read from the "Big 2" that is a dollar more expensive. IIM is $3.99 where everyone else is $2.99 & I don't know why. IIM doesn't have any more pages then the other books so I'm not sure why the higher price.

The Defenders #1: This is the first book that I know that was come out that was connected to the Marvel: Point One one-shot that came out a few weeks ago. This was one of the few books I actually thought I'd might pick up before from the story in the book & an interview with writer Matt Fraction I read. Fraction also writes Iron Man so I know he can write a good book & the art by the Dodsons (the husband & wife art team, Terry & Rachel) do some nice looking art. How was the issue itself? Good. It may have the best line of dialogue to some up a feeling I have. The dialogue was uttered by Danny Rand, also known as Iron Fist (The guy with the glowing hands on the cover). He said:

" The older I get, the more life seems to be the stupid, frustrating stuff that gets in the way of You and reading Comics...."

The comic that Danny attempts to read through the issue I think might be foreshadowing something. Also, the comics has a very retro 1970's/1980's feel to it. Maybe it's just that the team, the Defenders is a comic from the 1970's/1980's. But yet it feels modern. It's somewhere in between & I like that.

You might be asking what that larger monster thing on the cover is? Well, that's Red She-Hulk & I don't think she'd like being called a Monster. Oh... you meant the monster in the background. That is the villain of the book. They don't exactly name him in the book.

Avengers Academy #23: Yes, X-23 (the teenage girl clone of Wolverine) does going the book in this issue & no Mettle (That's the guy's codename) does do not throw her in the comic. But X-23 being in the book is not the main focus of the book. I'd say it's more the conversation between Striker & Lightspeed (Formally of the Power Pack). What's the topic? coming to terms with your sexuality. it is done quite well. Another good issue of a good series tackling an issue that doesn't come up in comics all that often.

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On to the DC Comics...

Demon Knights #4: 1 thing about the cover. That sword seems a bit to long to be usable. I know there are "long swords" but that just seems too long. As stated on the cover, this issues does go into the back story of one of the mysterious members of the group. It does shed some light on the character but doesn't exactly explain everything. Another good issue of a good series.

Suicide Squad #4: *SIGH* I'm really trying to like you, Suicide Squad comic book but your making it hard to do so. What with your inconsistent art (On 1 page, Harley Quinn's makeup appears & disappears) & your confusing at times story telling (some stuff that might of helped explain what was going on just wasn't there). I know that a lot of people didn't like you from before Issue #1 came out but I was willing to give you a chance. But if you keep this up, I might stop reading you & from the sounds of it you can't afford to loose any readers.

Justice League International #4: I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It's not the art or the writing. They are both good. It's just the book just hasn't really grabbed me. I'll read to the end of this storyline & then see how i feel about the book.

Justice League Dark #3: This cover doesn't really connect to the comic inside which is good both in story & art. It seems like it's trying to be a movie poster.

Coming this Summer from Warner Brothers Studios

Justice League Dark 
Are they enough against the rising Dark Forces?!?!? 

Mister Terrific #4: I don't have much to say about this issue other then it's another good issue of a good comic. The cover image does happen in the comics (Not that exact scene but Mr. T does face off against that creature).

Batgirl #4: Why isn't this Issue #3? Issue #1 Introduced us to the Villain, Issue #2 Batgirl fought him a bit. Issue #3 she fights with him for a 2 pages & then lets him get away. Batgirl spends the rest of the issue hanging out with Nightwing reminiscing about the same thing for 20 pages (Them being trained by Batman when they were younger. She also keeps mentioning that he she had a crush on him). So, Issue #4 is her fights the villain once more & defeating him. Why couldn't see have done that last issue & spent this issue hanging out with Nightwing?  What was Issue #3 just seems to be so out of place which doesn't help my minor dislike of the book. There is stuff going on that I do like not not enough. A book I might stop reading.

The Flash #3: The book I currently read with maybe the best art & most inventive use of that art. The way text is used in panels & how those panels are used on the page is worth looking at. Also, the book also has a good story going on. I don't have much more then that to say. Yet another Good Issue of a Good Book.

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Not sure if there will be another post or not before the end of the year but there might be. Check back & see! :)

Until then: Stay Jazzy & Merry Christmas (if you celebrate that)!

- Brian

This is Entry 243: Coming Attractions!

Here is the "teaser poster" for a project that has been in the planning stages for a few months. It will start up soon (for hopefully obvious reasons). What it is actually is about will be revealed at that time.

Until then, Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 242: The World's Greatest Comic Magazine Returns!

So... Last week this came out:

There are a couple different covers this just happens to be the one I have

The "Fantastic Four" comic book is back after about a year away with Issue #600. The last issue before this was the "final issue" & #588. Where are issue 589-599? Uh.....

(Marvel is counting the issues of the first 11 issues of the FF comic as those "missing" issues but unless you know that in a few years when people are looking for back issues of Fantastic Four might be a bit confused where those 10 issues are.)

This is the 2nd over sized book I've bought from Marvel in the last few weeks. The other one was their Point One anthology. Both of these books have some similarities:

- Both are longer them an average 32 comic book: Point One is 64 pages, Fantastic Four #600 is 100 pages.
- Both are more expensive then an average comic book (which ranges from $2.99 or $3.99 most times): Point One was $5.99 & Fantastic Four #600 was $7.99).
- There are multiple stories in both (Point One has 6 stories, Fantastic Four has 5).
- Both are preparing what future comic books (Point One has a bunch of stating points for stuff Marvel is soon to put out & Fantastic Four #600 is a getting you set for what's happening in future issues of Fantastic Four & FF).

But as I said when I talked about Point One I got the book half off from my local comic book store because they didn't anyone would spend 6 dollars for it & of the 6 stories I'd only read 1 or 2 of them. Is Fantastic Four #600 any better?

Oh heck yeah!

Of the 100 pages in the book, 6 pages are ads. That's 94 pages of story. (Point One had 10 ads but also has almost half as much pages). In those 94 pages, writer Jonathan Hickman packs in a lot of story. Things that have been building since around the time he started writing the book which he's done for 30 or more issues.

My 1 complain about the last few issues of "FF" was that it all felt like set up & I was getting tired of reading the set up without getting much of a payoff. This issue was the payoff & then some. Oh man, was it a pay off. I did not mind at all the $7.99 price tag: I got my money's worth!

The 1st/main story was almost the length of an average comic (27 pages, no ads in that story). If that 1 story was all we got in a double sized issue of "FF" that would have been awesome & worth the cover price. But this being a 100 page book & we are only on page 27: we still got a lot more to get to.

With the reveal at the end of the 1st story, we our first ad before getting to the 2nd story which takes of most of the book (The story is 46 pages long with 2 ads). In it we find out what *SPOILER CHARACTER* has been up since we last saw them & they have been busy which is partly why I think it takes up the majority of the book.

I felt the art change from Steve Epting in the 1st story to Carmine Di Giandomenico in the 2nd was if a tonal change but Carmine's art did fit with the location (The Negative Zone) & for the Bug Horde that is present. But I found how the characters are drawn to be a bit wonky or at least for me. They can look a bit odd at time when I don't think they are meant to look odd.

We flip the page for 3rd ad of the book & past that is the 3rd story of the book a 7 page story involving the Inhumans & we see how Medusa & Blackbolt "talk" to each other. Once again the art changes (each story has a different artist but all the stories are written by Hickman). The art for the 3rd story is by Ming Doyle & nicely goes with the story.

I will say this that all the art in the book while it changes from story to story they all compliment the story nicely if as I said might look "wonky" at times.

On to Story #4 with art by Lenil Francis Yu it is set on the moon with Reed & Sue talking Galactus. They talk about the future of Earth & how it's not going to be a great one. It's only 6 pages long but it sets up a lot.

On to the 5th & final story, it's 7 pages long & the art is by Farel Dalrymple (They also letter the story, too). It's a story involving Franklin Richards & Leech. The art has a childlike quality to it (That is not a bad thing). There is also a mysterious white man. They are completely white. Just the outline of a man with nothing but white in the outline. The "white man" also seen in 1 panel standing partly outside the panel I partly think this is "white man" the writer, Hickman talking to Franklin & Leech but I might be wrong.

And with that we end the book on a text page with some words from Tom Brevoort (Editor at Marvel among other things), Stan Goldberg (Artist & the original colorist for the Fantastic Four comic book) & Paul Mounts (the current colorist for the book). The very last page is the last ad for issue 601 of "Fantastic Four" & Issue 12 of "FF".

From the looks of the ads, what I've seen elsewhere & read elsewhere, the Adults (The Thing, Reed & Sue Richards, *SPOILER CHARACTER* & maybe a few others) will be the focus of the newly restarted Fantastic Four where the "Kids" in the Future Foundation will be the focus of the FF book now.  Which I don't mind I think Hickman has enough to fill both books. But this does mean that I now have one more book to read a month :)

Now this wasn't the only book I picked up last week (It certainly couple have been given that I was that good). There were 3 others but I'll talk about them when I talk about the books from this week & that will be a post for another day.

Until then: Stay Jazzy everybody!

- Brian

This is Entry 241: I'm thankful for...

So, last week in the good ol' U.S. of A. was the Thanksgiving holiday & a day where we gather together with family & eat lots of food. We are also to think about what we are thankful for & I probably should have posted this last week but I didn't. So, 1 thing I'm thankful is this:

It has slipped my mind when I was talking about the latest issue of Demon Knights to talk about the last page of the issue (which that image is). I'm thankful for writer Paul Cornell & Artist Diogenes Neves for not showing me all the gore of the decapitated head. Yeah, it's a bit odd to not see their faces but if I had to a choice to not see their faces or to see blood, guts & gore: I'll got with not seeing their faces. That's all I got to say about it.

Until next time: Stay Jazzy!

- Brian