ORBIT: ALICE COOPER

ORBIT: ALICE COOPER

Pre-order: 9/10/2014

Writer: Michael L. Frizell

Artist: Jayfri Hashim & D.A Frizell

3 covers: Cover A: $3.99, Cover B $5.99 and cover C $9.99

Digital Price: $3.99

BIASAC: CGN008000, BIO022000,JNF007000, CGN007000, BIO005000,  BIO004001

Alice Cooper is a man, a band, and an idea that took on a life of its own, a voice for shock and glitter rockers whose influence created stars like Marilyn Manson and KISS. Behind the paint, the boa constrictors, and the staged executions is a man whose creative energies gave rise to a legend. Half truth, half fiction, Alice Cooper defines fame.

KISS may have entered my young consciousness first but Alice Cooper wasn't far behind. As much as I'll always be a member of the KISS Army (no matter how much of an ass Gene Simmons continues to make of himself) there's no doubt that Alice Cooper is indeed The Master. His headlining Theatre of Death tour in 2009/2010 was easily the best concert I've ever attended.

Mostly he's been doing opening shots on tours lately (with Iron Maiden in 2012 and currently with Motley Crue on their last tour) which is kind-of unfortunate...for the bands that have to follow him.

I had the great good fortune to catch him yet again just this last week, and the show was as fun as ever. I always say, if you only see one rock concert, it should be KISS, but don't you dare turn down a chance to see The Coop.

Next month, Dynamite should have the first issue of their new Alice Cooper comic out, along with a reprint of 1994's Neil Gaiman written adaption of Cooper's album The Last Temptation.

Along with that, we get Bluewater Comics's biographical comic and in one of the rare instances of fortune smiling on me, they've provided me with a preview PDF. It's part of their Orbit series of biographies. From their site: "Orbit is a line of biographies with a skew towards a more male demographic." Other celebs in the orbit line include Howard Stern, Stephen King, and Keith Richards.

On the surface, it reminds me of the old Rock N' Roll Comics of the early nineties, but with much better production values.

The story opens as a group of children, led by Rhiannon, gather at night around a Ouija board to summon Steven, Cooper's alter-ego from Welcome To My Nightmare (and Goes To Hell, The Last Temptation, and Welcome 2 My Nightmare, I suppose) to help protect her little brother, Drew, from a supernatural evil he's accidentally summoned. But in the group is Suze, a girl with a rather impressive knowledge of the real Vincent Furnier and his journey to become the character of Alice Cooper.

This framing story allows Suze to correct some of the incorrect info that's been spread about (and often by) Cooper over the years. Starting with how the original band didn't really use an Ouija board to conjure up, and eventually take the name of, a witch named Alice Cooper. Along the way, Suze recounts the stories of the band's first meeting with Frank Zappa, the infamous chicken incident, and we even get a bit of his views on family life (he's a romantic who still dates his wife) and religion (he is a minister's son, after all).

As it's just a short comic book, there's no way to get into the details of Cooper's life and career but it is a pretty good overview of the man who wanted to drive "a stake through the heart of the Love Generation."

If you're a fan, I'd say check it out....

SHERWOOD, TX #2 (of 5)

OFFICIAL SOLICITATION:

SHERWOOD, TX #2 (of 5)

Written By: Shane Berryhill
Artist: Daniel Hillyard
Colors: Charlie Kirchoff
Cover: Andrew Robinson

ROB HOOD, shot and left for dead by members of the Nobles Motorcycle Club, has miraculously survived. After a year in hiding, Hood assumes the identity of a mysterious new member of the Jesters MC known only as "Loxley." As 'Bike Week' begins in Nottingham, Texas, the disguised Hood puts his plans for revenge into motion. 

12 Gauge Comics continues their re-imagining of the Robin Hood story in issue two of SHERWOOD, TX.

Rob has survived being shot by the Nobles and has remained in hiding while he recuperated, picking up his father's bow along the way.

Now Bike Week is here and Rob starts his quest for revenge. He helps Much infiltrate the Nobles and steals a truck with supplies the Nobles had brought in for Bike Week, taking it to Padre Tuck at the Sherwood Mission to give back to the people the Nobles have been victimizing. Meanwhile, the Nobles have rounded up another group of young girls to serve as Bike Week 'entertainment.'

I'm really enjoying the twists to the Robin Hood legend here, turning it into a gritty, 70's-esque biker film while keeping the familiar set-pieces from the legends. In this issue, instead of donning a disguise and competing in an archery contest, Rob dons Much's gear to participate in a bike jousting tournament, ensuring Much's place in the Nobles gang.

With the the setup out of the way, things are already kicking in to high gear as we're now two issues in to a five issue mini-series.

I'm generally a fan of more realistic art, but the clean, slightly exaggerated style is working for me on this title; stylized enough to tell the mythic tale of Robin Hood but realistic enough to portray the world of outlaw biker gangs involved in sexual slavery and murder. (Okay, you can tell I'm no art expert, yes?)

Take a look at the nifty motion-comic trailer for a better idea....

Sherwood, Texas : Trailer featuring ‘Answer to No One’ by Colt Ford from M2 on Vimeo.

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA #3

BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA #3

Story: John Carpenter and Eric Powell
Writer: Eric Powell
Art: Brian Churilla
Colors: Michael Garland
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
Publication Date: August 2014
Published by BOOM! Studios

"Hey! Relax! I'm an expert at not listening to anybody."

                                                                              - Jack Burton 

 

Just a quickie 'cause I'm late on this one....

Eric Powell's BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA series continues, as Jack and Egg arrive at the House of the Seven-Faced Widow to try and retrieve the souls of the three Storms in their effort to save Wang Chi from Qiang Lu.

This series continues the fun of our hero Jack being entirely too dense to realize just how out of his element he really is. Along the way, we get a look at both another ex-wife, and another example of just how oblivious Jack can be about things going on around him. While the events of the film might've been the first time Jack knew he was up against supernatural evil, it looks more and more like it was around him all the time and he was too self-centered to see it.

The series continues to get the feel of the film pretty much dead-on, with a lot of the humor coming from Jack's non-stop commentary and way of twisting everything into some story about him. Watching the villians trying to deal with this guy who isn't giving them anything like the respect/fear they're accustomed to is one of favorite aspects of the book.

If you enjoyed the movie, or even just like your Chinese mysticism served up with a healthy portion of comic irreverence, you should give this book a shot.

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #5

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON SIX #5


Writer: James Kuhoric
Art: Juan Antonio Ramirez
Colors: Fran Gamboa
Letters: Joshua Cozine
Publication Date: August 2014
Published by Dynamite Entertainment

The story so far….

Oliver Spencer's Maskatron has been a resounding failure - the out of control robot has savagely repossessed Barney 'The Seven Million Dollar Man' Hiller's bionics and is now working on doing the same to Steve Austin. Meanwhile, an alien organism is transforming the NASA crew at the Kennedy Space Center.

Now....

BATMAN BEGINS again

**** NOTE: This post has been pulled back out of the mists of time. Originally posted Saturday, June 18, 2005. ****

Okay...went to see "Batman Begins" today, finally. Work has been an overtime-filled bear lately, so that's what took me so long to get to it.

It was....really, really cool. It was Batman, all the way. I remember going to see the Tim Burton/Michael Keaton "Batman" at a midnight premiere when it first came out. I remember the rush when it started and Batman appeared on screen, scaring the heck out of the baddie. I remember thinking "this is *my* Batman." I also remember, thinking back on it later, that it wasn't such a hot movie. Style over substance and all that. "Batman Returns" was in many ways a better movie, and then...well, the less said about the other two, the better. (except I still think Clooney was a great choice - he just had the misfortune to be in the worst movie of the bunch)

Since then, I've decided that the best Batman movie of them all was "Batman: Mask Of the Phantasm." Yeah, the animated film.

Now, I think it might be the second best.

And now that the setup is largely out of the way, if they make another film (which seems pretty likely) it can be even better.

Random comments - Would've liked less frenzied editing in most of the fights, tho it was perfect for the first full-on Batman fight. Still think the cowl needs work. The score, I'm mixed on. In many ways it was just serviceable...no stirring themes to hum on the way out but at the same time, it served the action perfectly. Adding to, not distracting from the film. The Batmobile didn't thrill me when it was first unveiled months ago. Having seen it in action now, I gotta get me one of those. The casting and performances were nearly perfect.

Yep...this was a good movie. Go see it.

And the preview for "Sky High" looks pretty fun, too.

Original post: http://www.worldwatchonline.com/blog/2005/06/batman-begins-again.htm

Sith Happens. (or "The Sith Hits the Fans" or "What is this Sith?")

**** NOTE: This post has been pulled back out of the mists of time. Originally posted Friday, May 27, 2005. ****

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Way back in May of 1977 some friends of my dad were going to a movie and asked if I wanted to tag along.

I think maybe I'd seen a preview or two for this "Star Wars" thing on TV, but there wasn't a lot of hype about it. For the next several years, 'Star Wars' was constantly in my life. No...I wasn't anywhere near as big of a geek as some people, but I saw them all (by all, I mean the original trilogy, of course) multiple times in the theater. Living on an Air Force base had some advantages. Star Wars didn't hit the base theaters until Empire did, which was probably a year or two after Empire's release. They brought them both in together and ran double-bills for several days, maybe a week. I pretty much lived at the theater then, spending all my allowance to see these films over and over again.

That was then.

Now, nearly 30 years later the 'last' film has come out and, much like with the previous two of this modern trilogy, I'm wondering what the heck happened to my Star Wars.

Once upon a time, George Lucas stated that special effects shouldn't be the story, but rather just one more tool to use to tell a story. That Lucas doesn't exist anymore. 'Sith' continues the lifelessness of the modern trilogy, under-powered by actors who are obviously more concerned with hitting their marks so the special effects crew can do their thing than they are with bringing any sort of personality to their characters. It's so dead that those rare instances when acting or character sneak out, it's jarring to watch.

Sure, they've had some nice lightsaber battles, and 'Sith' takes that and amps it up even more. And after three decades of wondering about the 'final battle' between Obi-Wan and Darth it was nice to see it. But beyond admiring the moves (those that weren't enhanced or faked with CGI) I just didn't care about the outcome. Ewan MacGregor delivers probably the single best bit of acting in the entire prequel trilogy here, and it's one of those jarring moments I mentioned earlier. It not only made me feel what Obi-Wan was feeling, it made me wish I'd felt something during the rest of the movies.

It looked great. The effects team are really gettting it right by now. But Lucas fills the screen with so much junk during the film that I wonder if he's doing it on purpose to distract from the lack of anything of substance in the movies.

So...it was pretty, but dull.

Pretty dull.

(for what it's worth, I saw it several times with three delightful young ladies and despite my lack of enthusiasm for the film I enjoyed their company immensely so if they're reading this - I had fun being with you regardless of my thoughts on the film itself. and they seemed to like it.)

Original post URL: http://www.worldwatchonline.com/blog/2005/05/sith-happens-or-sith-hits-fans-or-what.htm

"Can you imagine what it must have been like then... then... then... then... then... then... then..."

The 10th of August, 1984.

That's when it happened.

That's when THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI: ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION was originally released (limited - it would go wide - at least, as wide as it got, on the 15th).

I'd say that's the day that changed my life; that's the day I became a fan, but that's not right.

In a lot of ways, I'd become a fan some years earlier when I discovered Doc Savage (first via the Ron Ely film, then the Golden Press hard back reprints and finally the Bantam books reprints) in grade school.

Doc Savage was a physical and mental marvel, the perfect pulp hero of the 1930s, and a character who quickly influenced a few other heroes you may have heard of. Fortress of Solitude? Doc had it before Superman. (His first name was also 'Clark' and he was The Man of Bronze before anyone ever heard of a Man of Steel.) An independently wealthy man who was both a perfect physical specimen and an expert in many mental disciplines who used his fantastic gadgets and vehicles to fight crime? All Bruce Wayne did was add a bat suit to the mix.

Doc also had a crew of adventurers helping him in his quest. Five men, each experts in their own fields of study, who traveled the globe with him, righting wrongs and punishing evildoers.

So yes, by the time THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI (or TABB as it's affectionately known to fans) came out, I was ready for it.

Some seriously random musings on my history with Dr. Banzai follows. It's long and a bit rambly but there are some cool websites at the very end if  you want to skip down to those.

DOCTOR WHO: SHADA: The Lost Adventure by Douglas Adams

DOCTOR WHO: SHADA: The Lost Adventure by Douglas Adams

by Gareth Roberts

Ace Books

paperback / January 2014

Book description:

"From the unique mind of Douglas Adams, legendary author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, comes Shada, a story scripted for the television series Doctor Who but never produced—and now transformed into an original novel...

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
Imagine how dangerous a LOT of knowledge is...

The Doctor’s old friend and fellow Time Lord, Professor Chronotis, has retired to Cambridge University, where among the other doddering old professors nobody will notice if he lives for centuries. He took with him a few little souvenirs—harmless things really. But among them, carelessly, he took The Worshipful and Ancient Law of Gallifrey. Even more carelessly, he has loaned this immensely powerful book to clueless graduate student Chris Parsons, who intends to use it to impress girls. The Worshipful and Ancient Law is among the most dangerous artifacts in the universe; it cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands.

The hands of the sinister Skagra are unquestionably the wrongest ones possible. Skagra is a sadist and an egomaniac bent on universal domination. Having misguessed the state of fashion on Earth, he also wears terrible platform shoes. He is on his way to Cambridge. He wants the book. And he wants the Doctor..."

Just a quick round of random musings on the latest book I've finished.

DOCTOR WHO: SHADA: The Lost Adventure by Douglas Adams is apparently a novelization of a Doctor Who script originally written by Douglas Adams for the show during the run of Tom Baker as the fourth Doctor. I say apparently, because I'm far from a Who expert and am just going by the info in the book itself. It seems a strike resulted in the story never being completed, tho home video versions using storyboards and narrations to complete the tale have been released.

I picked this up far more for the 'Douglas Adams' part than the 'Doctor Who' part, even tho I have memories of watching some Tom Baker episodes on PBS when I was a kid and have been following the revival since it started.

Douglas Adams, if you don't know (and if you don't....you have my deepest condolences) wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy; the BBC radio series, the BBC television series, and the first five books in the trilogy. (Several years back, Eoin Colfer wrote And Another Thing..., the sixth book, which I just recently started on.) He also wrote two books featuring an eccentric detective named Dirk Gently and other works, all worth checking out. His death in 2001 was a great loss that still makes me sad to this day.

Gareth Roberts took on the unenviable task of transforming Adams's script to a novel and completing it in a way that Adams (who is said to have expressed his displeasure over how the whole affair turned out) maybe would've approved. 

I don't know how Adams would react, but I quite liked it. I don't know specifically which bits are Douglas Adams and which bits are Gareth Roberts and that's a good thing. The whole thing has the general sound of something Adams could've written, with plenty of phrases that definitely sound like the way he wrote, but the tone is consistent throughout. It doesn't come across like person A wrote this bit and person B wrote that bit. The story is a fun Doctor Who tale at its core, and the Adams touches are just icing on the cake. Nothing about it plays against my (hazy, to be sure) memories of Tom Baker's Doctor, and I could hear his voice and see his face while reading it. And K-9 is on the scene, too. K-9 rocks! 

If you're a fan of Adams or the Doctor, I'd say it's worth a read.