Author: mountainwashere

Nothing to see, move along.

2014 in review

Hrm. Well, WordPress has pretty much automated the year in review article, which makes it really easy for me. The following is literally just all theirs- hey, makes it easy for me.

On a quick side note, I’m not particularly pleased that a picture of Theodore Beale is given such high billing on the report- the picture is from one of my most read articles, I guess, but it does make me roll my eyes.

Okay, it’s all WordPress from here on out:

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,100 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 35 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Weekly Pull Review 12/24/14

Yes, I know the 24th was a couple days ago. Whatever, it was Ebenezer Scrooge Day. Anyhow…

Hawkeye Vs Deadpool #3- Marvel

If you had told me that one of the enjoyable comics in my pull lately would be one of the bajillion Deadpool miniseries that have been coming, I probably would have… well, maybe not have laughed, but given you a skeptical look. It’s not that most of them are bad, it’s just that they don’t tend to be super interesting. While Deadpool Vs. Hawkeye doesn’t quite measure up to Deadpool at its best, or Hawkeye at all, it does manage to pull in a lot of the charm of both. The characters all click amazingly well, too. Kate Bishop is the real scene-stealer (“Oh god, I blew up New York”), despite Clint Barton and Wade Wilson getting top billing. Watching the bad guys have minor computer problems, like not being able to find a thumb drive on the desktop was the kind of bizarre, mundane, wonderful scene that doesn’t really exist outside this miniseries and its parent series. I’m kinda sad there’s only one more issue left. Also, Deadpool continuing to use Uber (Ooper) to get to and from missions? YES.

Dead Boy Detectives #12- Vertigo

This series just keeps growing and growing on me. The characters feel more fleshed out, the art is really getting into stride… it’s feeling less like just a Sandman Spinoff, and more like its own beast. The philosopher ghost cats work much better as amusing animal sidekicks than the usual addition, which tend to rely on cuteness over actual interesting behavior. The detectives interacting with a medium while she tries to ignore them was confusing, but not in a bad way at all- all of the characters involved in that scene, especially the customer, are absolutely bewildered themselves. It’s a great little setup. Despite the videogame being the cover hook, it doesn’t actually get a lot of screen time, but what we do get looks really good. (more…)

Weekly Pull Review 12/17/14

Hey, look, it’s my 100th post! I actually meant to do that this weekend, for a rather bigger article, but… eh.

Ms Marvel #10- Marvel

Finally. It took forever for this one to come out. Ms Marvel has been consistently good so far, if a little slow at times. They’re really pushing the action forwards, though, with the conclusion of this arc approaching next issue. Lockjaw has really solidified the cast in this comic- he’s a great character, but one that can be very easily misused. (*Cough* Pet Avengers *Cough*). Kamala Khan is rapidly turning into one of my favorite characters in the Marvel universe, and she’s really starting to find her footing and self-confidence, as well as a very sarcastic, cynical sense of humor that just clicks for her character. The art remains awesomely quirky, which makes me really happy. Marvel has really loosened up on their cookie cutter art direction lately, with this book, Hawkeye, and a few others. It’s not to say they even remotely approach Image’s diversity, but they’re moving in that direction.

The Sandman: Overture #4- Vertigo

Yes, it’s THAT Sandman. And no, it’s not a Before Watchmen-style cash-in, it’s actually written by Neil Gaiman. It’s a 6-part miniseries, set before Dream’s imprisonment that began the whole series back in the day. The publishing schedule has been very, very slow, but I’m not complaining very much about the months between each issue, since the art is absolutely top notch, and you can really see how much Gaiman’s writing has matured. Also, you get to see the father of the Endless! How cool is that? Seriously, if you’re a fan of Sandman at all, you need to be reading this.

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Song of the Sea

I normally don’t blog about movies- I love them, but it’s not really my area of expertise. (Quick shout-out to If You Want the Gravy, a fantastic little movie blog run by a friend of mine. He also reviews obscure and awesome sodas.)

Anyhow, an Irish animated film is coming out on the 17th in limited release that I’m exceptionally excited for- Song of the Sea.

Why am I so excited for it? Well, it’s made by the same director and creators of The Secret of Kells, my favorite animated film of all time, and one of my five all time favorite movies of all time. The Secret of Kells is on Netflix. Go watch it now, and if you’re near a theater playing Song of the Sea, well- I think it’s safe to say it looks like a risk worth taking.

Weekly Pull Review 12/10/14

I know, I know, it’s technically the 11th, but I’m going to start dating theses reviews with the date I picked the comics up from here on out. Anyhow, on to this week’s comics I deemed good enough for my pull.

Bitch Planet #1- Image

I somehow utterly failed to realize that a new Kelly Sue DeConnick series was coming out until Tuesday night- but it was definitely a good surprise. Kelly Sue DeConnick is rapidly proving herself to be one of my favorite contemporary comic writers- anything by her is definitely going to receive at least a try. Bitch Planet might not have been something I’d pick up normally, since prison stories, even scifi ones, are hardly my cup of tea, but I gave this one a try, and the first issue already has me hooked. That’s not to say it’s perfect- the twist definitely confused me for a little bit, but that’s very likely to be my fault, so… Also, it’s pretty refreshing to have a comic book where the majority of the cast isn’t white. That’s still pretty damn rare these days. Valentine De Landro’s art is pretty well fitted to the book, and the dot-based backgrounds like you’d see in old comics really fits the aesthetic of the book. (I can’t for the life of me remember what that technique is called.) Also, having the title page be a two page spread four pages in? Actually works really damn well here. Very cinematic.

Copperhead #4- Image

Copperhead is really working well for me so far. It’s not that the story is particularly better than other good scifi police procedurals- and I do consider Copperhead more of a police procedural than a western so far, though it draws strongly from both- it’s that the comic focuses on a smaller, more focused cast than usual. It’s a consistent weakness of the genre, especially in comics- you have a limited amount of space to develop your characters, and introducing a giant cast just makes them all fairly forgettable. The comic Storm Dogs comes to mind- brilliant story, amazing setting, spectacular art, some of the best alien designs I’ve seen in a comic- but ask me to name the characters, or even describe more than a few, and I’d just have to shrug. It’s not that they are bad characters, by any means. I remember liking quite a few of them. Copperhead has avoided that pitfall by focusing on a smaller, more mobile cast, and it works extremely well. That, ultimately, seems to be its biggest takeaway from Westerns, rather than any stylistic element.