YOU THINK YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES?!

True fact about me: I love low-budget local ads for things.

One of my favourite low budget ads of late is for a local vocational school called Success College (Successitas Pro Idiotas).

Here's what I'm talking about:

And now the really exciting news: the "YOU THINK YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES?! guy? He was in the comic shop when I was working a couple of weeks ago. My co-worker, Dave recognized him, but was too starstruck to say anything. We LOVE this guy.

Doesn't this ad seem like it's directed by Michael Scott? The criminal becomes a police man at the end? What is going on?!

The most unlucky little girl in the world.

Let's just say you're a little girl. And say you are alone and in danger.

And say that the only super hero around to save you...is Ghost Rider.

Like, seriously, how terrified would you be if you saw this lunging at you?

Image taken from Ghost Rider #35 by Jim Starlin, reprinted in Ghost Rider Annual #2, available in fine comic shops everywhere.

This Week's Haul: A Light Week

Howdy y'all! 

That's how they talk in the south, and that reminds me: I did another podcast episode with the Dollar Bin boys this week. This time the subject was my very favourite lady: Catwoman!

Listen as I talk an unending streak by clicking this link: Catwoman!

I can never hear super clearly when I am doing these phone interview things, so I just keep talking over everyone. And my heavy breathing makes it sound like I'm an astronaut being interviewed from a space station.

And now on with this week's comics!!

Here's what you should read this week:

Wonder Woman #24

Why? Because Gail Simone really rules at cramming a whole lot of story into one issue, and making every part of that story thoroughly entertaining and hilarious. Wonder Woman brings Nemesis home to meet her mother, which is great, and the second half of the issue has WW visiting the set of a Hollywood Wonder Woman movie. This, of course, is also great because it allows Simone to make some fun commentary about the unending struggle to get Wonder Woman into her own movie, and give us an idea of how horribly wrong Hollywood could get it if it were made.

 

 

 

 

Amazing Spider-Man #571
 

 

Why? Because this comic has been coming out almost weekly since Brand New Day started, and it's been consistently great.

Norman Osborn is really enjoyable in this issue, and Eddie Brock is really crazy. And the art, again, is wicked.

 

Super Friends #7

Why? Because the Super Friends teach some kids how to skateboard. Even Aquaman. I really want Batman to teach me how to skateboard.

In this comic Aquaman actually reasons that he must be a good skateboarder because he is good at riding dolphins. Probably as he is saying this, Flash is stealing his wallet.

Booster Gold #12

Why? Because this is how a time-travelling hero should be used: as an opportunity to re-visit all our favourite eras of DC comics. This week it was 1970s Batman, with the classic Batmobile and with Barbara Gordon as Batgirl.

This comic is just fun. It's always fun, and I love it.

 

Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #3

 

Why? This issue concludes a series that was better than the following comic series: Secret Invasion, and Runaways.

 

Seriously, this team (Christopher Yost and Takeshi Miyazawa) should be doing Runaways. And SOMEONE should do Young Avengers, because I would sure like to see a comic about them again.

 

 

 

Angel After The Fall: Final Night v.2

IDW released the second hardcover collecting the official continuation of Angel this week. First of all, these hardcovers are beautiful. Nice job, IDW. Secondly, writer Bryan Lynch's enthusiasm for what he's doing with this series comes through loud and clear in the bonus content. Plus, the intro, written by "Groosalugg," is absolutely hilarious. Seriously.

 

Also, unlike the first collection of this series, this book contains several short stories about each secondary character, each with a different artist. So having an array of artists is nice. And I know this title isn't nearly as possible as the Buffy comic, much like the television series, but I really do think it's a well-written continuation of the show. It's an entertaining comic, as is the Spike series that is being released alongside it, also written by Lynch.

I wanted to post an image of the cover of this book, but it is nowhere to be found. Not even on the IDW website. Which is weird.

 

Rating the Super Hunks #20: Namor the Sub-Mariner

Time for another super hunk!!! This time we dive beneath the waves to get a closer look at Marvel's aquatic hottie,

PRINCE NAMOR, AKA THE SAVAGE SUB-MARINER

Namor does not care about this woman.

Costume/Appearance:

Namor's costume is, in a word, minimal.

"If I could wear less, I would."

It's easy to point out the skimpy outfits that female comic characters wear, but in truth the most revealing outfit is actually donned by a dude who was created in 1939. Namor usually only wears a speedo when he fights. And because this isn't quite flamboyant enough, he has little white wings on his ankles.

BKAK!

Lately he's been wearing a more conservative black costume, which retains the best elements of his embarassing 1970s suit with the little yellow wings. Lord.

I'd be mad too.

And let's talk about those Greta Garbo eyebrows. They are awesome.

The trick is to draw a white line around the brow before you pluck.

The whole package is pretty fabulous, if not a little, y'know...homo mermanus.

8/10

Straight!

Personality:

I'm not going to pretend that Namor isn't a giant asshole. He really is. But heavy is the head that wears the crown, and maybe we'd all be cranky if we were the crown prince of an advanced underwater society. Or maybe he's just a douche.

He is using his wristband as a brass knuckle.

I wouldn't change a thing about Namor though. It's all about confidence, which our Sub-Mariner has in spades. When he looks at you from under those pointy eyebrows and that widow's peak and asks if you'd like to see the royal scepter, you say YES. Just ask Sue Storm. She knows what I'm talking about.

Mr Fantastic: Consider your wife banged.

Frankly, whenever Namor says anything you say "yes" because the way he talks is awesome.

Yes.

I would love to hear a debate between Namor and Thor.

"Is your refrigerator running, you disgusting land mammal?"

On the negative side...he has a bit of a temper.

It's true, though, that guy was lying.

Those soldiers were just minding their own business.

Yes, he's a dick. But he's got an exotic David Bowie quality that captures our hearts.

Namor found this girl.

7/10

This lady has no idea what she's getting herself into.

Day Job:

He is the monarch of Atlantis. It looks pretty good on the ol' resume.

10/10

Splish splash!

Sexiness of Super Powers:

You wouldn't think that flight would be a included in the underwater superhero package, but it is for Namor! Depending on what era of Namor we're talking about, he can also either just be really strong and invulnerable, or he can call of the abilities of any underwater creature (ie - electric eel).

He's not really trying.

His powers, for the most part, are only operating when he is wet. This is funny. I like any hero who needs to be wet and shirtless at all times.

He really likes water.

I would also like to mention that Namor's entry contains what is possibly the greatest sentence on Wikipedia:

Later, Namor lost his ankle-wings when he released a mutagenic scrambler within the animated garbage-monster Sluj.

Incidentally, an almost identical sentence can be found in the Wikipedia entry for Harry Truman.

8/10

Who is he talking to?

Cons:

Namor's past love interests include an evil chick, his own cousin, and Mr Fantastic's wife.

- 3

"Well, fish. It's just you and me, buddy."

FINAL SCORE: 30/40

Such a drama queen.

Oh, suck it up, Subby! That's not a bad score at all...considering your pointy...everything.

Review of misfortune, By Johnathan

Ha-ha! I am back in business, kind of! 

See, I bought Spore the day it came out, and excitedly fired that sucker up. I played for a while, delightedly, and then... melted my video card. So it's been an Internet-less week, though quasi-ironically not a Spore-less one, as my roommate has it for his Mac (and for his iPod). Man, that game is so JOHN APPROVED! As is my coworker Michael, who gave me an old card to get me running again until Monday, when I will purchase a video card able to handle the fury of the Das Kapitalist civilization.

Being offline? NOT APPROVED.

Hockey + Comics = An Awesome Prize

Alright guys! I have an awesome prize to give away to one lucky reader! This is a prize that is SO AWESOME that I figure I can pretty much make you do anything to win it.

First of all, do you guys know that Darwyn Cooke has been nominated for an Emmy award for The New Frontier (Outstanding animated program for programming one hour or more)? Good luck in L.A., Darwyn!

And on that note, here's the prize I have to give away: A signed copy of Darwyn Cooke's very new, very limited art book. This book was available at this year's Comic Con, and is now only available in select Canadian comic shops. The book is a hardcover retrospective of Cooke's work from 1998 to the present. If you like looking at page after page of stunning art, then you will probably like this book.

This fabulous prize is, as always, courtesy of Strange Adventures Comic Shops.

SO...I figure that since this is a distinctly Canadian prize, and because I am already jealous of whoever wins this because I don't even own a copy of this book, I am going to make y'all do something that will delight and entertain me.

I like two things: comic books and hockey. If you want a shot at winning this book all you have to do is draw a picture of a super hero playing hockey. Then scan it and post it somewhere and link to it in the comment section. Here's a couple of examples to get the creative juices flowing:

Matt (my husband) sketched this at a restaurant while we were waiting for our food:
And here's what I came up with in a hurry:

As you can see by my submission, you don't need to be a great artist to enter this contest. I'm not picking the best drawing. Anyone who makes an honest attempt will be entered into a draw. The winner takes it all.

I'll give it a week or two. Good luck!