Friday Night Fights is alive! ALIIIVVVE!!

You know what probably really ticks off Frankenstein's Monster? The way everyone's always saying how the original Dr. Frankenstein was "playing God" this and the Monster is an "abomination unto the Lord" that. It must get really tedious when you're trying to make small talk at a dinner party, and forget about going to the church car wash.

I can only imagine how annoying it must be when you're attacked by a gang of 70s-era warrior priests throwing everything from bullets to Buicks at you. Luckily, Doc Frankenstein has learned that beating the holy hell out of them with THEIR FELLOW PRIESTS is a good way to work out his frustrations.

Panel from Doc Frankenstein #2

Say 12 Hail Mary's and pray Bahlactus shows you mercy!

Following a link? Check out more GCP here!

Today I am a man: Great Caesar's Post hits 100

It might seem like a small milestone (especially compared to some of my fellow comics geeks who have been blogging for years already), but this is the 10oth entry here on Great Caesar's Post and I'm pretty happy about it! Gee, I wish I could get some help commemorating ...


Wow, thanks Showcase heroes! You're right - that is awesome! And while I feel as if I'm still working the kinks out of it, I hope people have enjoyed reading the Post as much as I've enjoyed putting it together. And what exactly have I put together? Let's warm up our Time Spheres and take a look!

• Awww, look at that ... my very first post.
• Once upon a time I did a regular feature called "Favorite Panel Friday;" this particular panel still cracks me up.
• Speaking of Favorite Panel Friday, there was a period where I wasn't updating much due to work and FPF was the only posting I seemed to be doing. Of course, I did find time somehow to play Boneless Spidey. A lot. I blame the Ram Jam soundtrack.
• It's adorable when The Thing cries. Plus, in the comments I confess to my dark secret of not having seen many recent comic book movies.
• There are questions about Captain Marvel that need to be answered, not least of which are about the more twisted branches of the Marvel family tree. Also, a dig at the pride of Pennsylvania.
• I finally got a scanner.
• The crazy thing about Jay J. Armes is that if someone ever did make a comic based on his life, people wouldn't think it was believable. Believe it.
• I get into a fight.
• When is it time to drop your comic shop? Is it enough that the shop is a little loose with its discounts, even when it keeps doing you wrong?
  
• And speaking of the direct market, how do we bring older, non-comic readers into the medium and then keep them there? What's the best way to introduce comics to people who think it's just kids' stuff?
• A regular feature on Bob Kanigher's crazy-ass dinosaurs and soldiers mash-up makes its first appearance. There's also a lame explanation of why the title is "W.T.F" (periods) instead of the usual "WTF" (no periods).
• Sometimes I watch TV.

Finally, we're caught up to our current timeline! Some recent highlights have included the questionable need for Dazzler, the trouble Blue Beetle gives those unfamiliar with the Español, and lots of other unsolicitated opinions.

Thanks again for reading, and don't be shy about leaving your comments; it really does mean a lot to me, and I enjoy hearing what you have to say.

One more thing: DAZZLER?!?

W.T.F. Wednesday: Robot vs. dinosaur!

During our little trips through the pages of Showcase Presents: The War That Time Forgot we've seen dinosaur stampedes, wrestling-inspired giant lizards, colossal gorillas (coconuts included) and soldiers sailing rough seas in one big-ass eggshell.

But you still may not be prepared for the sheer metric-ton of awesome that is Joe the G.I. Robot emptying his machine gun into a rampaging T-Rex ... all while saving his buddy from drowning in quicksand by lifting him up one-handed!


Neither did I, my friend ... neither did I.


Panels from Showcase Presents: The War That Time Forgot
Originally published as "The Robot and the Dinosaur!" in Star Spangled War Stories #101
Robert Kanigher, writer; Ross Andru, penciller; Mike Esposito, inker

The Pull List: 8-29-07

Meetings! Meetings! Meetings!

Luckily, today is Wednesday and soon I'll have comics to soothe me. It looks to be a light week (I even checked the list, Santa-like, a couple of times just to make sure), but two of the just three titles I'm picking up have long wait-times between issues, adding a level of satisfaction that balances everything out. And what am I looking forward to most?

Local #10: I've mentioned it before, but Local is a near-perfect comic. Written by Brian Wood and drawn by Ryan Kelly, the book is achingly beautiful in its portrayal of the mundane. With a single character at its core, Local follows the year-to-year progression of Megan, who has made her choices - good and bad - and like the rest of us, has to live with them. But while Megan is the string tying everything together, it's a delicate thread. The more you read the more this title really turns out to be less a snapshot of someone's particular life and more a mirror to a life that can be uncomfortably familiar. Frankly, this is some of Wood's strongest writing and Kelly's art confidently evolves with each issue. Since each issue is a stand-alone story you can start anywhere without losing anything (though if you can get back issues, it will only enrich the experience). Plus, this one takes place in my town, so if I can't convince you that Local is a title that everyone should be reading, at least show Austin some love and pick up this book.


The rest ...

Conan #43

Wasteland #11


Maybe ...

Batman Annual #26: Head of the Demon

Ex Machina Masquerade Special


Recommended ...

Manhunter Vol. 3: Origins


What are you getting this week?

Superhero?: Could've been a contender

SPOILER!

This post contains details from the fifth episode
of Who Wants To Be A Superhero?

I realize this recap is later than usual, but it's taken me this long to get past the disappointment of the latest elimination, and ... and ...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WHY, GOD, WHY?!?!

... sorry ... let's carry on, OK?

So, early during the morning the heroes were alerted to Dr. Darks' latest plot - killing all electricity in Los Angeles and bringing the city to a standstill. To keep this from happening, the heroes had to go to a power station and individually remove the fuses powering Darks' device.

Of course it wasn't going to be easy, and our favorite cable network-supervillain had the foresight to make copies of the stolen secret files containing the heroes' personal information. Tipped off to the groups' phobias, Dr. Dark hid the fuses in a dark, cramped room at the end of a pipe filled with spiders, snakes and other creepy-crawlies.

Which briefly sends Whip-Snap over the edge, something she'd been showing a propensity for with distressing regularity. I understand people deal with frustration and stress in different ways, but no one wants to see their superhero freaking out.

Still, she got herself together and got her fuse, with everyone else eventually following and completing the challenge with just seconds to spare. This might've been dramatic, but d'you know what was even better? It's a tie, between the part where The Defuser got stuck in the pipe (briefly) and when Parthenon shrieked like a little girl during his part of the challenge.

Oh, who am I kidding? It was when Parthenon let loose with his coquettish scream - that ought to be a flashback scene in every episode from now on!

OK, let's sum up the rest of the episode: As a reward for saving the city, the heroes are sent to a restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, while the group is talking to some kids The Defuser screws up by giving them one of his weapons; c'mon, does Batman give street urchins smoke bombs and Batarangs? (Robin doesn't count.)

Later, the heroes have to face Dr. Dark again when he breaks into Stan Lee's broadcast to reveal their foibles, quirks and - in the case of Whip-Snap - past, possibly criminal, behavior. Apparently she had some ex-boyfriend trouble once and as part of a night that ended with her causing a scene outside his house, she ... er ... stole a friends' car. Whip-Snap used the word "confiscated," but whatever you might want to call it, Stan was not impressed. He also didn't seem to be so hot on the idea that Parthenon has a "pirate room" in his house, that Hygena fantasizes about dancing burlesque, Hyper-Strike screwed up an act and was fired, or that The Defuser once got so drunk he clumsily (and accidentally) destroyed a public restroom.

I don't know what the problem was - it sounds like the basis of a typical Marvel team-book to me.

Finally, it was time for someone to go, and Hygena (neurotic slowpoke), Defuser (overbearing micro-manager), and Whip-Snap (breakdown artist) were on the chopping blocks. Sadly, and in spite of my high-hopes, Whip-Snap wasn't able to pull herself together enough to prove her potential and was eliminated!

It's too bad: Her heart was in the right place, but Whip-Snap just couldn't secure her own place on Superhero. I still think she had the potential to go all the way, or at least to the final two, but her obvious spirit couldn't overcome her weighty self-doubt in time. In spite of that, though, I would have liked to have seen her stay for one more round - you could almost see the hero emerging in Whip-Snap and of the entire group, she deserved a second chance.

Current favorites: The Defuser, Parthenon

To make the Earth a living TOOOOOMB!

Click to SAVE THE WORLD!!

Hey, man - even Doctor Doom has bills to pay.

Friday Night Fight: Want something to cry about? I'll give you something to cry about.

This may come as a surprise, but Emo Boy is really, really emo. About everything. But anybody who has ever submitted something for review or - heaven help you - publication can probably sympathize with this soul-crushing chin-check and ego-bruising.



And then there's this - the cruelest blow of all!

Panels from Emo Boy Vol. 1: Nobody Cares About Anything Anyway,
So Why Don't We All Just Die?

There is nothing emo about Bahlactus!

Hey, while you're here, why don't you check out what else is going on at GCP?

Your Blue Beetle Spanish lesson of the day

There's something I've noticed coming up in various blogs and conversations, and I was trying not to let it bother me but I feel like I should help clear it up.

First, yes - the new Blue Beetle is Latino.

Specifically, Jaime Reyes is a Mexican-American and lives in the border town of El Paso, Texas - which has a Latino population of about 80 percent and where, according to the 2000 census, 69 percent of the population speaks Spanish at home.

Writer John Rogers has been doing a fantastic job reflecting all this, with almost no slips into the easy "shorthand" stereotypes others might use to hammer in the idea that the kid is brown. Original artist Cully Hamner did a great job with his character designs, showing that Latinos can, and often do, look different from one another (current artist Rafael Albuquerque is also becoming a favorite). Mostly - and this is what makes Blue Beetle one of the best comics out right now - Jaime is just a kid. His ethnic background doesn't define him. Instead it's just one facet that helps make up who he is, which is as it should be.

So, as a fellow Mexican-American who was himself raised in El Paso, let me point out something that's been bugging (heh) me: The character's name is JAIME Reyes, not JAMIE Reyes, and in case you're wondering it's pronounced HI-MEH, not JAY-MEE.

Thank you very much, y muchas gracias.

W.T.F. Wednesday: How do they do that?!?

Look closely at this panel from The War That Time Forgot. No, I mean reeeeeally close, and you'll see the sort of thing that helped make this title so mind-bendingly screwy. What was it - the T-Rex caught in the middle of his hammer time?

No.

Or was it the four missiles simultaneously rocketing out of a cave floor, startling our poor dance song-loving dinosaur?

Nah.

Click to Kanigherize

Or could it have been the sight of three World War II soldiers CLINGING TO THOSE MISSILES LIKE REFRIGERATOR MAGNETS OF GLORY with nothing but good old-fashioned American can-do?!?

... maybe.


Panels from Showcase Presents: The War That Time Forgot
Originally published as "The Volcano of Monsters!" in Star Spangled War Stories #100
Robert Kanigher, writer; Ross Andru, penciller; Mike Esposito, inker

The Pull List: 8-22-07

Very soon, like within the hour soon, I will be picking up my comics and all will be right with my little corner of the world because a lot of the titles I'm enjoying most are coming out today. And one of these days I'll actually post the pull list on Tuesdays like I always mean to, but this week it's going to be a straight-up list because I'm running out of time today and did too much - as my mom used to say - "piddling."

To the list!


Annihilation Conquest: Star-Lord #2

Astonishing X-Men #22

Blue Beetle #18

Crossing Midnight #10

Immortal Iron Fist #8

Spirit #9

Strange Embrace #3


On the block ...

Tank Girl: The Gifting #3: I really like Tank Girl, but I'm thinking it'll work better in trade.


Recommended ...

Arsenic Lullaby: Pulp Edition #1: Sick and wrong and funny as hell.

Order of the Stick Vol. 1: Start of Darkness

Gunslinger Girl Vol. 5

Superhero?: Taken to the curb

SPOILER!

This post contains details from the fourth episode
of Who Wants To Be A Superhero?

This weeks' episode was like watching a KO punch in slow-motion; at the moment of impact you could see the eyes glazing, the mouth going slack and you knew that fighter was going down and wouldn't be getting back up. Once the simple - but fatal - mistake was made, it was obvious who would be booted off Who Wants to be a Superhero?

Picking up where last week's episode left off, the heroes went back to the lair to find the place ransacked and worse, the safe holding their secret identities emptied and the Pencil Stan Lee Started His Career With gone.

(Quick aside: Is it me, or does that pencil look an awful lot like a modern mechanical pencil? Wouldn't he have used a Ticonderoga or something?)

In typical fashion, Defuser took charge and started giving out orders. He's been warned about this before, but it looks like he can't help himself and that's going to end up hurting him if he can't rein it in. Then, Stan Lee popped up on his monitor and tells them Dr. Dark (is it wrong to root for the villain?) has had the stuff stolen and they need to intercept his courier to get it back.

Oh! Almost forgot! Whip-Snap cracked (pun alert) under the pressure and started crying, saying she isn't sure she can go on with the competition. From what I can tell Whip-Snap is estranged from her family and getting close to people only to see them sent away is taking a toll on her. She did manage to get mad at herself and shake it off, though. She needs to get mad more often because when she does she is both awesome and slightly scary.

While trying to nab the courier, the heroes got a message from a commercial that tried to sell the audience auto insurance. Which was pretty annoying. Product placement is a fact of film and television, but do we really need animated shills giving the heroes their assignments? Like I said - annoying.

To make the challenge more difficult, the heroes had to borrow clothes from strangers to create a disguise that would allow them to approach the courier, say the password and get the stuff back. And this is when the mistake was made.

Everyone was doing OK (Parthenon in particular is turning out to be focused, clever and fun; Hygena's getting a little annoying), and then there was a curve-ball. With time running out, a woman approached each hero and asked for help finding her daughter. All of them stopped what they were doing and started looking for the little girl - except for Basura.

Wham!

Maybe she was thrown by the criticism she got in a previous episode for stopping in the middle of a mission, but Basura looked lost. And before she could get herself together the woman was gone and her opportunity went with it.

Once the mission was completed (retrieving the files, but not Lee's pencil) everyone got a look at what their comic book covers will look like if they win, then headed back to the lair where Whip-Snap totally kicked Hyper-Strike's ass in an arm-wrestling contest! Later, Defuser was called on his criticism of his colleagues in his mission report which, again, earns him points for honesty but isn't really doing him any favors. Tact, Defuser, tact! They're supposed to be your teammates, not your sidekicks.

Finally, it was time for the chopping blocks. Lee had a little crow for everyone to chew on, but this week it was Defuser, Hygena and Basura in the bottom three. And while Defuser is risking things by failing to learn how to lead without bossing people around, and Hygena is seemingly on the verge of a breakdown most of the time, Basura made an obvious screw-up and was eliminated.

I liked Basura, but indecisiveness and a willingness to be overshadowed by stronger personalities caught up to her, and I really can't argue that she didn't deserve to get the ax. Rubbish!

Current favorites: The Defuser, Whip-Snap
Most improved: Parthenon

Friday Night Fights: Watch out, here she comes

One of the strengths of the excellent Manhunter series - which was saved twice by vocal fans, critical praise, and is supposed to come back from hiatus sometime this summer - is the supporting cast. Almost everyone is interesting, and no one is reduced to a cliche.

For example, take Cameron Chase. A friend of Manhunter's civilian identity, Kate Spencer, Cameron is a DEO agent with a weird super-villain named Trapp in her past and an equally weird ex-minion/boyfriend in her present. When Trapp decides to wrap up his unfinished business, Cameron's boyfriend Dylan comes to the rescue.

But really, he probably could have just waited in the car.

Panel from Manhunter #30

My money's on Bahlactus!

And here's even more GCP!