Cleaning out the notebook Article by aviewaskewed, 01:16 PM 18th Jul Disclaimer: The following column is entirely the opinions of the author (even at that we aren‘t sure), any similarity to the opinions of any other staff or affiliate of theendlesscrew.com is entirely coincidental and unintentional. Unless specifically noted otherwise, all creator comments have been gleaned from other sources and no creators have actually endorsed any aspect of this column. Please stay tuned for an important message from this columns author (read: He knows he’s probably pissed away all two of his readers, so now he’s going to try and win you back). Author’s Note: What can I say? The personal stresses and busyness of my life of late have made it very trying to get this column out to you on a weekly basis. Between work, family problems, and friendship problems, I have been utterly spent within the last week or so. I’m going to try and put these things aside, and get back to a more weekly base with this column back onto a weekly track, I apologize for the delays, and hope that I haven’t offended anyone so badly that they’re turned off to this site, that would be a crying shame, not for me, but for the other people who have worked so hard to bring you a consistently enjoyable place to stop for a few minutes on the net, do not hold my screw up against them please. Now, onto a “cleaning out the notebook” edition of avie rants… Comic Con thoughts: So I’m starting this on Saturday (with modifications for Sunday thrown in soon I’m sure). Comic Con blew me away this year actually. Marvel and DC both dropped some A-bombs on us, but to be honest, I have to wonder what DC is going to be doing at cons when they don’t have Infinite Crisis to whore anymore, because aside from the Mark Waid announcements, DC did not have much in the way of huge flashy stuff to grab attention, and that’s really what San Diego is about, big blasted hype to get people interested, sound and fury to signify the great something that is the upcoming year for a publisher. I think Marvel sucked worse in this area though, while I found their panel informative, I don’t think I was encouraged towards running out and buying anything they announced really (cept maybe Gaiman’s new project, but that’s because it’s Gaiman, that has nothing to do with Marvel or their marketing of it). The potential A-Bomb of Stephen King writing for them though has me absolutely psyched, as I’ve been a fan of King for YEARS, and know he has a lot of love for the form. But again, it’s Marvel, and after being burned by The Sentry crap, and then the lame attempt to try and call Unstable Molecules the “True Story of the FF” I have to sort of take the approach that I don’t want to get TOO excited, less I get fooled again. Speaking of Infinite Crisis: Is there ANYONE, and I mean, ANYONE who doesn’t see this as the springboard to DC finally regaining the #1 spot in the market again? I mean, I’m ready to go pick up Superman books for OMAC, and I pretty much hate Superman, can’t relate to him, and no interest in him, none, but I’m willing to go by his books, simply because I’m that hooked on this. I was critical of DC’s approach of doing this massive crossover, but by god it’s working, it’s working on me, and a lot of other fans I talk to say it’s working on them. My hats off to Dan Didio and everyone involved for putting the “OMG! What will happen next? I HAVE TO GET NEXT MONTH’S ISSUE!” factor back into comics for me, I’d forgotten how simple that joy could be. Here’s to hoping they can keep that momentum going as they head into the post Infinite Crisis era. Honestly, do they really think I don’t smell the gimmickry here?: While I’m praising DC’s event, I have to lambast Marvel for their attempt to try and steal reader’s from Infinite Crisis with the House of M, followed up by Spider-Man “events”. Frankly, it just smells like what it is, the desperate attempt to take two stories that could be continued, and spin them out against a major DC event, and act like there was more then one or two meetings involved to get the ball going. I couldn’t really be less interested in these events, and Marvel really isn’t promoting them enough to make me feel like they believe in the projects the way DC believes in Infinite Crisis. I guess Marvel just figured that lame ass series swiping the name of the more popular DC crossover failed to catch readers, and just brands them as what they are…desperate attempts to steal readers. Fantastic Four vs. Batman Begins: Seen FF on Wednesday, and I have to say it was a much better film then I expected, perhaps because I was told ahead of time not to expect it to be like the comics, and I really don’t have much of an attachment to the FF to get really pissed that the movie almost completely does not resemble the comics. If you go in knowing that, and just judging it on the story they tell, I found it to be one of the most enjoyable viewing experiences I’ve had at the theater this year. If I was putting it on the list, I’d have to say as a movie, it ranks as the second or third best comic to film I’ve seen. But judging it by how well it translates Stan and Jack? I think they got the character’s senescence’s perfectly…but that’s about it. I am thinking the sequel will be a little closer to the comics from what the ending hinted at. Now, how does that stack up against Batman Begins? Well, Batman Begins is easily the best pure Batman film ever, they really nail the character, and Bail is obviously having fun, and knocking both parts out of the park. My problem with this film is that it becomes a bit too busy once the Bat enters Gotham. We’ve got a corrupt police department (whose corruption I wish we would have been shown more of, rather then just a scene or two and being repeatedly told that Gordon is the only good cop), a gang lord who’s really just a puppet to an Arkham psychiatrist/super villain who is the puppet of the main bad guy. See what I mean? It’s too busy, and I felt like Goyer was trying to cram as much of the comics in as he could, and try and make it fit with the studio’s demands. I also do not like the way Batman handles his final confrontation, it’s pushing the villian off stage in an out of character way, but with a lame attempt at a solution to the problem. A movie well worth your time, but I think with the high expectations I had, the finished product sort of didn’t have the luster I expected. Where do we go from here?: Well, I try to get back on a weekly schedule, and try to get this juggling act of mine a bit better : ) Back to Rants