CBF Quick Picks #31 : Brightest Day #7
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No contest this week – Brightest Day #7 lived up to the promise made by Geoff Johns that we were going to get some answers to help move the story along. Granted, we now have more questions as a result of those answers, but hey – if we got all the answers right away, what would we do for the next 20 issues? Bang up job by Johns, Tomasi, and crew. Some good honorable mentions are talked about too on the show. I get into Jonah Hex #58 and Gray and Palmiotti’s great take on the Old West bounty hunter, rekindle my love for Captain America in issue #608, and highlight a sleeper in Baltimore : The Plague Ships from Dark Horse. Such a good time for the middle-tier books to shine during a time where the key DC and Marvel books took a break this week. Enjoy the show! |
CBF Quick Picks #22 : Return of Bruce Wayne #2
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It takes a couple of reads to really get where Grant Morrison is heading, but in the end, he paints a good picture about not only what happens when Bruce Wayne jumps to different time periods, but what that effect is having on the entire DC universe. Think witch-hunts, Lovecraftian monsters, and the end of time and you got a good Morrison book. Ultimately, I think I just enjoyed Bruce wearing a Puritan hat and everybody calling each other brother. Enjoy, folks! Here’s a kitty! |
CBF Thoughts – Captain America Done Right
So it’s official – Chris Evans puts on the star-spangled costume in 2011, finally helping to get the ball rolling for the new Captain America movie. I’m sure Marvel is pretty ecstatic to finally get some movement going for the last of the Big Three that will comprise the core of the Avengers movie in 2012. The question now remains is will we get the right Captain America movie when it hits theaters.
I’m sure you’re curious now as to what I feel is the right Captain America movie. I don’t think it needs to be too complex – what’s so complicated about a guy picking up a shield and fighting Nazis – but it at least needs to hit these core values:
1) Stick to the WWII time frame – for a lot of introductory superhero movies and shows nowadays, it’s been very difficult to stick to the origin story and come up with something unique and make them stand out. Cap stands out right away because this will be Marvel’s chance to really tell a great WWII superhero story. Does it not sound awesome to see Cap charging with shield in front into a whole Nazi platoon?
Granted, we will eventually need to transition this into the 21st century if we want to know why a WWII veteran is leading a superhero team and somehow can keep his face fresh without botox, but it need not be the core of this origin story.
2) Don’t get a cameo addiction – the one thing you can definitely say that made X-Men 3 and Wolverine stink badly was trying to fit way too many characters into short time frames. While X-Men 3 can be somewhat forgiveable knowing that they wanted to end the trilogy with a cameo bang, that was not forgiveable for what was supposed to be the definitive origin story of one of Marvel’s signature characters. Captain America cannot fall into that trap – this is Cap’s story through and through and the supporting characters need to be key in building that story instead of bringing it down into the eternal abyss. They cannot be just there for the sake of being there.
3) Keep the politics out – IGN Comics made a good point about this in their feature of making the perfect Captain America movie. If we know the character well, it’s that he is loyal to the American Dream, not the government or military. He will fight for them as long as they are true to the Dream as well, but he won’t think twice about turning his back to them if it means the Dream is in jeopardy. The best example of this was in Civil War – he made you feel conflicted when reading the series because while you would think Cap would side with the pro-registration community, he actually does the opposite because he believed that all Americans’ personal liberties and privileges were about to be taken away.
I, like IGN, make this point because it’s no secret that America doesn’t have the greatest reputation with some countries around the world. To make this movie all about how great America’s government is would make people question what this movie is trying to get across to us – is it about making a political statement or about a man fighting for his people and their futures?
4) Bucky WILL actually help the movie – The one thing I’ve loved about the recent Batman movies so far is that Robin has been kept on the sidelines. That’s not to say I don’t like the character – Robin just does not fit with Christopher Nolan’s vision for the franchise. And that works fine with me – this trilogy is all about exploring Batman’s rise to glory and how his city reacts. With Cap, everybody that knows his origin story in the books knows Bucky is key to Cap’s WWII roots and his presumed death is what drives Cap to lead the Avengers upon coming out of his frozen state and assure that he will never leave a partner behind ever again. The best part will be, should we get sequels, that Bucky has more to offer should Marvel go the route of Ed Brubaker’s run on the book so far. I’m personally excited to see that should that be the case.
What are your thoughts? Any potential pitfalls that could derail the flick? Or will we get the definitive Cap story we always wanted?
CBF End of Year Podcast
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Mike and I recently wrapped up the decade with our 2-part Wizard Decade Edition podcasts (latest one is here if you want to check it out), but I figured to also provide one focused particularly on 2009 as well. A lot went on this year alone, which explains why this was probably the longest podcast I’ve ever done solo. Some highlights on the podcast:
- DC was the big publisher this year in my eyes with Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns leading the charge on the major story arcs.
- Vertigo continues to innovate with their new Unwritten and Daytripper series
- Marvel’s Dark Reign storyline dominates the year, but hear why I believe it lost its focus as the year went on.
- Image and Dark Horse continue to put out quality work in spite of the domination by the big two publishers
- 2010 will see more excellent books and a more focused direction on both DC and Marvel’s sides.
- I lay down challenges as to supporting independents and why comics should never be considered as just “spandex” books
A happy and safe New Year’s to all and we’ll see you on the other side of 2010!
CBF Podcast 13: The Decade in Review Part Deux
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Tim and I wrap up (no not rapping, we just talk) our decade in review starting at 2005. We hope you had a great year (and decade) and we’re looking forward to better and more podcasts, comics, movie reviews, videos and giving you our unique (some say odd, very very odd) take on comics.
Happy New Year everyone!
Comic Book Fury Episode 2: Green Lantern and a peek inside DC Catalog
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Show runs about 40 minutes.
Lots of Green Lantern