Haiku time!

I've decided it's time to switch it up. This time around, all of my comments will be delivered in haiku form. Here we go:

DMZ:
Kristian is back!
Staten Island has never
looked hotter than this.

Rest:
Milo writes comics?!?
No, he's just a producer-
The book seems cool, though.

Welcome to Hoxford:
Good thing it's a book-
If this were a movie, I'd
be too scared to watch.

Dynamo 5:
This book is X-Men,
but with characters that you
actually like.

Astonishing X-Men:
Oh Warren Ellis,
Is there nothing that you won't
insert sex into?

Hawaiian Dick:
Short stories in back
Make it worth the three dollars
all by themselves.

Noble Causes:
They're ending the book,
but at least I get to keep
my Dynamo 5!

That's all for now, as I still haven't finished reading Air, Unknown Soldier, and Fables. Maybe I'll update on those later with limericks!

PS-I cheated on one of these, and left a syllable out of one line. Sorry, but I couldn't make it work no matter how hard I tried! And I mean, come on-would you have noticed anyway if I hadn't told you?

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

That's right! NOW is the best time of the year, hands down-pumpkins, holidays where you wear costumes and get free candy, jacket weather, big piles of leaves to jump in, and oh! Lots of comic news!

Let's get started, shall we?

I skipped last week's comic-buying venture, mostly because I'm super-busy, and once the weekend rolls around it just makes sense to wait until the following Wednesday. SOooo, I have two week's worth of reading fresh in my head. First, the news:

This week, word came down that David Gordon Green was attached to direct the Steve Niles book Freaks of the Heartland. While there's no shock that a Niles book is up for a movie adaptation (30 days of Night, anyone?), DGG directing certainly IS. He's actually one of my favorite directors, but certainly not for his ability in adapting from books, or even for his experience in this genre.

He's known as a Southern Gothic director, who crafts these sleepy little gems of character development in slow-moving, "talky" films. (See "Snow Angels", "All the Real Girls", "George Washington"...no, really. Go SEE these movies-you'll thank me later.) Recently he made a notable departure with "Pineapple Express", but this isn't even another comedy: It's horror, AND a comic book adaptation. While I'm totally sure DGG can pull it off (mostly because I blindly love him and can't imagine he'd release anything that wasn't top-notch), I'm really curious how he's going to do it. Guess we'll wait and see.

I was going to insert the new round of comments I have for the books I read last night, but I've gotta run to grab lunch, and don't want to leave this sitting until I get back. Today's blog updates part 2, in a few hours!

Sooo many things...

You ever put off doing laundry for so long that the pile starts to resemble a mountain and the larger it gets, the less you want to do it until one day you're just like "Eff it", and buy a whole new wardrobe?

That's kind of what maintaining this blog is like. Once I go a week without updating, I think of more and more entries I want to make, and the fun of it suddenly starts to look more and more like a daunting chore.

I apologize for that, I really do. I'll try to change, but like any addict I'm sure I'll slip again. Either way, there are a few things I'd like to bring up today.
Actually, there's way more than a few, but my memory is shot and I can only remember things for roughly 72 hours, so that's what you're gonna get.

-MY LETTER WAS PUBLISHED! FOR REALS!!! For the first time in history, I sent something to a letters page, and it ran in the issue! It's kind of the most exciting thing ever, and I feel like I should have an IMDb page now, or something. Anyway, for any of you who want to see the wonderful glory that is my wrathful letter to Robert Kirkman, be sure to pick up issue #8 of Astounding Wolf-Man!

-Back to Brooklyn. Oh man. This is a new title from two names that roughly translate into "golden" and "golden golden", AKA Jimmy Palmiotti and Garth Ennis. If you're a fan of (awesome) things like Brubaker's Criminal, oh man. Buy it.

-Minx died. Sigh. Maybe someday publishers will realize that teenage girls don't want to read books geared towards teenage girls*-they want to read GOOD books geared towards people with taste. Sadly, some great writing got swept under the bus there, and hopefully the marketing push from now on will be more focused to point out that existing comics are GOOD, rather than these new lines that delineate "comics for them" from "comics for you". *-Although, I will concede that pre-teen girls do want to read books written for girls. But I swear by the time I hit 13, those Babysitters Club Books were long forgotten.

-I'm really really upset about the most recent issue of Fables. What should have been a captivating story was rendered completely distracting due to the shoddy artwork of this issue. I understand that comic artists are people too, and that everyone needs to take some time off-honestly, I do. But for a line as beautiful as Fables-one whose covers are all worthy of wallspace, and interior pages are a delight to look at, this recent issue was a total letdown. With apologies to the artist-it's nothing personal, I promise-it was just so poorly done. Let's all hope for the speedy return of Buckingham.

Kick-Ass, Shmick-Ass.

I mentioned a few posts ago how excited I was about the development of Mark Millar's Kick-Ass into a movie. Especially so, once I found out that they're sticking with the original story (no sanitizing for the masses), and one of the major players had been cast, in Christoper Mintz-Plasse. But now, disaster has struck.

As in, more players have been announced. Some people of no real working history, blah, blah, and, oh yeah-NICHOLAS CAGE.

Seriously, guys? NIC FRICKING CAGE?!? That guy is like Jack Kevorkian to every worthwhile comic movie. Or any movie in general. I mean, have you guys SEEN Ghost Rider? I understand he's one of the biggest comic nerds in Hollywood (a son named Kal-El?), but seriously who messed up so bad that they decided Nic Cage would be the best person to cast in this situation? I mean, if we're using fandom as a worthwhile reason to cast someone in a movie, then shit-you can call me Jean Grey.

I don't even know that part that he's supposed to be playing, as the character hasn't really been introduced in the book yet (thanks for the spoiler on character development, by the way), but I guarantee that it's a terrible idea.

Dear whoever's in charge of casting,

For your career's sake, I hope somehow, somewhere, there's a National Treasure 17 being conceived that makes him have to leave this project.

Hopefully yours,

-Dina

Humans are people, too

So, I went to the shop yesterday, even though I only had two new issues that interested me come out this week:

Air #1, and Anna Mercury #3.

I needed to go, since I was scared that Air would sell out, and I couldn't remember if I'd added it to my pulls. Once I got to the shop, my (usually)infallible CSG stopped, looked at Air, and said: "I hate to do this, but um..." and I could tell what he was about to say. He hated it.

Now, generally, his reccommendations are spot-on. House of Mystery? House of Awesome. Crooked Little Vein? Twisted Little Book. However, I wasn't willing to accept this and leave it alone. I mean, I'd read the preview-it looked if not just plain good, at least it was different. And interesting. And I'd liked Cairo, her previous work. I bought it anyway.

I'm proud to say that my CSG is now officially a terrible person. This book was great! The characters were engaging and mysterious, the enemy was introduced and appropriately nefarious, and the story moved along quickly enough that it never got boring. Most importantly, I was intrigued. Who is this Zayn, and what does he want with Blythe? How does he afford all those plane tickets? How the heck did he not know that Lancaster was involved with the Etesians when he had their symbol tattooed on his fricking hand? All of these questions need answers! And this is why I will be buying issue #2.

CSG, you're on watch.

Hi There

It's uh...been a while. Sorry about that, I really am. I've just been so unmotivated. Even though I already had my fonal comic-con post all written up, and I really did want to tell you all about how the DC booth was a total disappointment, and Which lines were the most ridiculous, and how I really didn't understand why the Ghosbusters guys were giving out chapstick and Doritos. (Cool Ranch, for those who are curious.) I mean, is there a connection there that I'm missing?

but alas, you'll just have to live with the knowledge that I'll never get to tell you about who the nicest creator/artist duo I met were (Brian Lynch and Dave Crosland, hands down), or which booth was a guaranteed clusterfuck at any givent point in time (Warner Bros., thanks to their elusive giant Watchmen bags).

But hey, you'll live, right?

So now, on to business. I was reading The Hollywood Reporter today (again, every day), and I found out that Millar's Kick-Ass movie, while set to be directed by Matthew Vaughn, was actually passed on by every major studio due to the excessive violence and young age of the main characters. So, instead of raising the ages, or toning down the violence, Vaugh decided to raise all $30 million for the movie himself, and go it alone.

Oh man-can you imagine seeing this thing at Sundance?

Also, apparently Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin') is cast as one of the leads, which is awesome. So excited for this movie!

In other news, the I Am 8-Bit gallery opening was last night. It was sponsored by Colt 45 (free 40's!), and was supposed to be super, super cool. I was pretty excited to go, and rounded up a few friends to take in the sights. Except when we got there at 8:20 (it was supposed to start at 8:00), there was a line three buildings down and around the corner. (And it was already full inside!) So, unfortunately knowing that the fire marshal was going to shut this down was before we would ever get in, we redirected our enegies and instead drank some wine at a nearby French place.

So, moral of the story is: Never underestimate the power of hipsters to show up at any event that has to do with free malt liquor, hot dogs, and art based on video games.

The good news is that on my way back to my car, I passed the gallery again, and everyone was outside-turns out some genius sprayed the fire extinguisher, and everyone inside had to move it on out.

Looks like we had the better night after all!

The Disner Awards, Part 2b

Miscellaneous Costumes, continued! (And I'm not sure, but I have a feeling I saved the best for last...)

Commendation for "Most annoying thing to walk around the con floor while dressed as":And truth be told, I saw this guy the next say, and his left hand was a hammer. He made various attachments! ATTACHMENTS!! (No sign of Woozy Winks, though.)

The "Comic-Con cliche'" Award:

Seriously, no Con is complete without a Goku. I can't believe I went 3 days before seeing this guy!

The "Oh, I get it-that's a pun!" Award:

In case you don't know what Pocky are, click here. Also note, that he was wearing a giant Pocky box on his back, that I failed to photograph. In case you're wondering, that lunchpail was full of sporks. He made me take one.

The "What's sad is this isn't the first time this has been done" Award:Smart money says there's a reason his friend list didn't make it into the costume...

The "I can't believe I saw you here last year" Award:Points for improving the sign? I wonder how much money he would have made if he charged for the high-fives instead...

The "Is that really a SPIKED CODPIECE?!?" Award:

Answer: Yes. Yes it is.

The "Nothing's creepier than a grown man wearing a homemade Pikachu costume" Award:

Actually, maybe if he was holding a sign that said "Free Candy"...

The "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone else in your Star Wars Reenactment Guild where I saw you sneaking off to" Award:

I hope he and his poke balls never find out where I live...

And finally, the Honorable Mention for "If I were the "dressing up for cons" kind of gal, I'd totally wear the crap out of this:

Seriously.

Stay tuned for the General Convention Awards!