16 Mar 07 Comic Boot
“Non-sequitur” is real close to getting the boot from my list of comics on my daily read.
09 Feb 07 Fencing
Who, exactly, is in the audience that Garfield ‘performs’ for when he does his fence routine?
17 Jan 07 One One Se7en
To demonstrate my true level of geekiness, I would like to point you toward a Halo-related comic strip that I get a kick out of called One One Se7en. It’s a 3-times weekly comic strip produced by a guy with the moniker Stuntmutt. Every episode involves some sort of pun or tongue-in-cheek punchline, most of which are probably only funny to folks who actively play Halo 2 in the online community. This one, though, can probably be appreciated by just about anyone, if not for the topic, then at least for the joke itself. Incidentally, this one is probably also my favorite of Stuntmutt’s bad jokes so far.
Tags: comics, halo, halo-2, halo.bungie.org, one-one-se7en, stuntmutt, video-games
10 Jan 07 Comics
I’ve found that I don’t really enjoy Non Sequitur is much as I thought I would when I originally started following it a couple of years ago. Usually, when the Danae/Lucy arcs appear, I skip them; same goes for the tall-tale fisherman. I think it’s the fact that I already get a far too large a dose of cynicism in real life to want to “humor” myself with it again in comic strips. About the only reason I still follow it is because every now and then, he comes up with a good one that I can actually relate to.
And it so happens that both Strange Brew and Speed Bump frequently leave me scratching my head. Seems like the creators of these strips are trying to mimic the sort of thing that Gary Larson accomplished. The problem is that Larson always made me laugh; the punch lines in Strange Brew and Speed Bump are far too often too obscure for me to pick out. Rubes does a better job – the punch lines are always pretty clear, but I don’t always find them funny. Ultimately, these comics will always be “Far Side” knock-offs for me – nobody does bizarre humor like Larson.
Tags: comics, far-side, gary-larson, Humor, non-sequitur, rubes, speed-bump, strange-brew, whinging
29 Nov 06 Counterpoint: Heroes Episode 10
I’ve recently discovered the fascinating show Heroes on NBC – and I’m already a huge fan. It’s fun to watch this comic book for TV, my only complaint being that some of the powers manifested by many of the characters aren’t exactly original. But I can live with that. It’s hard sometimes to come up with original material, especially in this technologically-driven day and age when new ideas are communicated around the globe in a matter of hours. What is important to me is how the writers of Heroes handle these powers, how they portray them, and how they allow their characters to use them and, in turn, be shaped by them. There is a great deal of potential here, and I feel like they’ve already done an excellent job of the initial build-up.
The SF Signal blog today pointed to another blog writeup that complained about a few perceived problems with this week’s episode of Heroes, “Six Months Earlier.” I hesitate to call what follows a rebuttal; my intent here is not to argue but simply to present an alternate viewpoint. Let me present a couple of these complaints and attempt to dress them differently.
It’s stretching the borders of credibility well past the breaking point that everyone discovers (or at least starts to manifest) at the exact same point in time.
I don’t find this too incredible at all, actually. They’ve already stated several times throughout the course of the show that all these “Specials”1 are connected in some way. The writers have taken great care to demonstrate how completely the events of each of their lives are linked to all the others. So, it does not overly surprise me that they all began to develop their powers at roughly the same time. In the words of Stephen King, they are ka-tet, many individuals who share a common fate, a mutual destiny. Evolution though this may be, it should also be clear to all by now that there is something greater at work binding all these Specials together.
Dr. Suresh’s list of names of potential meta-humans is just too convenient.
This is a fair point that I’m willing to grant. For now. I understood Suresh’s algorithm to be something that accounted for numerous variables in order to find all the Specials. How exactly the algorithm works has never been explained, so up to now I’ve been willing to suspend a little disbelief and allow that Suresh has somehow managed to take all factors into account. Yes, it’s a stretch, but for the time being it’s one I can live with.
And [Nathan Petrelli] just happens to discover his flight powers at the instant his wife is paralyzed in an accident.
Discover? No, no. Completely accidental. The way I read this one was that the high emotional stress of the situation somehow activated Nathan’s particular gift at what turned out to be a most inconvenient time. Had this not happened, I think they stood a much greater chance of surviving the ordeal with little more than scrapes on the rear bumper (they were, after all, driving a sports car).
But what annoys me the most about this episode is the ultimate pointlessness of it… [Hiro] Fails to change the future. That’s treading water in a narrative sense.
I disagree. All the Specials are only just beginning to learn their powers, learning how to use them, learning the ramifications and limitations of what they can do. The fact that Hiro was unable, in this case, to change anything at all should not come as a surprise. Again, it would seem that his unintentional leap forward was sparked by high emotional stress, something that all the Specials are going to have to learn to overcome. And I can’t help but wonder if Hiro’s leap forward and inability to leap back again was manipulated by something outside of himself. I can’t say for sure, though; it’s only a theory.
I’m eager to see what else happens from here. I know that the show has been signed for a full season, so there are 12 more episodes to come before the summer programming break. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
- I’ve taken to referring to these characters as “Specials” because, while they make exhibit unique powers, I’m not convinced yet that they are all actually “Heroes.”[back]
Tags: comics, Entertainment, heroes, science-fiction, Speculative Fiction, tv
13 Nov 06 X-men: The Last Stand
My wife and I finally got to watch the third chapter in the X-men movie trilogy a couple of weeks ago, and I have to say that I found it to be a very satisfying ending for a successful comic-film run. Now, mind you, I’ve never read any of the comic books – never had the interest or the money. And I’ve heard a number of X-men comic book loyalists loudly complaining about what the film writers did to the X-men storyline in the third installment. As someone whose sole exposure to the X-men franchise has been through the movies, however, I really enjoyed the way they tied everything up (and left just enough loose ends to tease the audience with the potential for a fourth film).
In “The Last Stand” we finally get to the see the epic battle between mutants and humans and between mutants and mutants. Magneto finally puts together his Brotherhood to face-off with the X-men. Epic though it may have been, however, it was still less dramatic than one might have expected, considering the power of the mutants involved. But there are limitations to what can be done on the silver screen, both in the visual range and in the time allotted. Ultimately, the final product was more than acceptable, though the Phoenix’s ending was perhaps slightly cheesier and more simplistic than believability might allow.
The storyline for the third film was a logical progression of the first two and was, in my opinion, stronger than the second chapter. Put together, the three films make a highly entertaining and enjoyable series to add to the collections of comic book lovers and speculative fiction enthusiasts everywhere.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: comics, movie-reviews, movies, Reviews, science-fiction, Speculative Fiction, xmen
