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Monday, January 02, 2012

What Better way 2 Start The New Yr Than w/The Comic Shoppe? Tues @7pm-Our Versus Segment; '11 Geekdom in Review; TV No Longer Sux-We think + More!



And so the new year begins! Stop by The Comic Shoppe show tomorrow evening at 7pm EST and join our pulp flavored colloquium as we unpack the following issues: we continue with our ever popular Versus segment and posit which Comic company does a better job in their respective animated universes, Marvel or DC-Warner?; our brief synopsis on the good, the bad and the ugly in the world of geekdom circa 2011; picking up on a subject we left on the dinner table from the prior broadcast...Does TV really suck or has it improved unbeknownst to the perceptive populace; Dburt discovers motion comics and is ecstatic over the possibilities as well as the graphic novel, Hard Time; our expectations for the ensuing year and lastly, our favorite comics/graphic novels from the previous weeks. Call in live at 646-915-9620...Happy New Year, folks and excelsior!

Oh and least we forget, check out the latest blog entry from The Shoppe's Daryll B., who is also doing double duty at ComicBookMovie.com:

Howdy Afronerd and Comic Book Movie Readers. Due to the holiday festivities and my own personal rage stemming from my Jets' woeful performance against the Giants. I am going to kill two birds with one stone and combine my usual articles into one big convergance of thoughts along with links from around the comic sphere.

First up, my thanks to the SyFy Network for the Eureka, Warehouse 13, and Haven Christmas blocks. The Eureka Special was a great homage to the animated/claymation x-mas specials of my youth and hit all the right notes in my jaded soul. All the usual suspects were touched upon and I loved the final "anime" touch with the Madhouse/Boondocks type animation. Warehouse 13 hit a great homage of "It's a Wonderful Life" with overtones of "Miracle on 34th St. thrown in for good measure. I know a lot of people hate on the series for one reason or the other these days, but you could feel the sense of family and good nature come through. Haven was a bit of an odd duck when compared to the other two specials, but if you are like me and liked dark humor within Christmas horror movies, this had those overtones. Without the splatter of course. These shows definitely raised the bar on North American Science Fiction Holiday Specials, but they still can't touch....

I hope you all (if possible) caught the Doctor Who Christmas Marathon that BBC America ran leading into this year's edition. I mean, stateside, we have a long way to go to touch these episodes which run the gamut from being hilarious to downright creepy. David Tennant and now, Matt Smith bring such manic energy to the role, it carries the audience of a rollercoaster ride of fun. This year's edition was a combination of The Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe and (only because of the little boy and his thick glasses) A Christmas Story with Smith's Doctor as a weird Mary Poppins type guide. I know. This sounds strange but once you folks see the clips / episode, you'll see why I made these jumps in logic. And I have said this without including the aliens, World War II, and the ancestor/descendant of the robot walkers from Avatar. Yep, I went there....

The biggest news story over the past 2-3 weeks on our side of the street is the whole "Bane's Mask/Method of Speech" from the first couple of leaks / peeks / trailers of footage of the third Dark Knight movie. All I have to say to my fellow sci-fi / comic fans is calm down. Nolan has not steered us wrong yet and he has 5 months to rework the audio. Seriously, by the way some fans acted, you would think that the movie was coming out next month and that this was Nolan's first go around with the franchise.

Which brings me to something we tackled on The ComicShoppe Show this week: given the state of the industry, the dollars being brought in by the Twilight fans is needed. Hell, the box office numbers for this holiday weekend was awful... and that's with Tom Cruise's current Mission Impossible and Daniel Craig's remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo joining The Muppets in theaters. However, what we don't need is the attitude from some of these fans. I know you're used to being the "cool" crowd Twilighters, but you are stepping into our arena now and you have to pay your dues. Now, hardcore sci-fi fans will have to be more accepting of these newbies also. I have seen some incidents at conventions that have made me embarassed to be one but we also need the new blood and revenue streams to bolster the business. We have to find a balance somewhere and I think that's entirely possible.... we did find a way to get some Scott Pilgrim fans to branch out to other comics. If hardcore fans can do that, we can certainly accept some Twilight Fans too.

Link Blogging Time:

It few and far between when my worlds of sports and comics intertwine but I got 2 instances. First, Lance Briggs is branching out with his own comic book series. Here's hoping his book "Seraph" has more substance to it than the previous Marvel NFL book ties:

http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/story/_/id/7357288/lance-briggs-passion-comics-much-playing-chicago-bears

While, hardcore wrestling fan Jill Thompson has been informally chatting with WWE Champion CM Punk on doing something together. Previously, she has worked on costume/outfit designs with Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan.

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/12/cm-punk-jill-thompson-and-marvel-tag-teaming-in-2012/

Topless Robot had a little fun with the yule time holiday, republishing two of the funniest lists in their history. Not just because of the lists but for the comments section where the fans got a chance to chime in:

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/12/the_10_creepiest_santa_clauses_1.php

http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/12/the_16_worst_christmas_specials_of_all_time_1.php

Meanwhile, over at Geeks Are Sexy, the Team Unicorn gals gives us all "unique" holiday safety tips:

http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2011/12/26/a-very-zombie-holiday-video-2/

NSFW but one of my favorite webcomics is profiled over at Comics Alliance:

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/12/26/oglaf-webcomic-review/

...while the Let's Be Friends Again crew gives us a classic holiday ode with a super twist....

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/12/23/superhero-night-before-christmas/

Here is another list...MSN Movies Users' Top 10 Poll
1. Harry Potter
2. Twilight
3. The Help
4. Bridesmaids
5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
6. Captain America
7. X-Men: First Class
8. Fast Five
9. The Descendants
10. Moneyball

Bridesmaids over Rise? First Class over Thor? Thor not even on the list..really? Moneyball? Guess everyone got enraptured with the lies told to promote the movie. At least they had the good sense not to vote for Green Lantern, Smurfs, or 30 Minutes or Less... The other movie that I wish got a little recognition here was Attack The Block. AfroNerd and ComicShoppe listeners know how much I adored that movie and its effect on the 'alien invasion' genre are already being felt. On the trailers for The Darkest Hour, you can actually see similar dimmed video effects being used during the attacks. I encourage everyone to see Attack The Block.

From the looks of it, I have nothing to fear from the new blood coming in CSBG's The Line It Is Drawn. These are some beautiful mashup pieces:

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2011/12/27/meet-the-line-it-is-drawn-trial-artists/

Finally, I know I have ripped DC for their decision to change the status of Barbara Gordon but Robot 6's Michael May makes one of the few convincing arguments supporting the move that I have seen:

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/12/female-superheroes-batgirl/#more-101261

So that's about it for me this week Comic and Sci-Fi Fans. On Tuesday you can check my crazy self out along with AfroNerd DBurt and Capt. Kirk on AfroNerd.com presents The ComicShoppe at BlogTalkRadio. Check us out just to see when I get banned permanently for pissing people off. This past Tuesday, inspired by Mr. George Takei, we did Star Trek / Star Wars vs Twilight and yeah, it got insane. So until next time Folks, Keep Fantasizing!

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