Before we begin, let me make two important disclaimers:

1. I have not read Darwyn Cooke's DC: THE NEW FRONTIER on which the feature is based; and
2. I absolutely hated SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY the creative team's previous DC animated feature.

Okay, that said... I loved this movie.  Not liked.  Loved.  A lot.

I downloaded it on TIVO through Amazon Unbox Friday afternoon and watched it Saturday morning.  I was stunned at how good the movie is.

I've not been thrilled with much of Warner's animation of late.  As stated above, I did not care for SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY.  It seemed rushed.  The Saturday morning THE BATMAN and LEGION OF SUPER HEROES are both so heavily stylized, it just seems like eating candy.  Nothing of substance there.

But THE NEW FRONTIER has a unique look and texture.  I'm willing to bet that a lot of the credit goes to Darwyn Cooke, the creator of the graphic novel, who served as the film's art director.  It's really quite lovely to watch.

In particular, I appreciate the manner in which Wonder Woman is portrayed.  She is not some Barbie-doll character playing dress-up.  There's power in and meat on those bones

Moreover, there's a story with pacing and characters you care about!  That has to do not just with the writing, but also with the voice acting.  Now, one of my major complaints about SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY was miscasting.  Adam Baldwin was servicable as Superman in that film, but Anne Heche was horrible as Lois Lane and as much as I love James Marsters, he was misused as Lex Luthor.

New Frontier has none of those problems.

Kyle MacLachlan is great as Superman.  David Boreanaz has a spot-on turn in the role of Hal Jordan.  And I fell in love with Brooke Shields' Carol Ferris. 

The cast and crew of Justice League: New Frontier knocked this one out of the park.  Homerun city.

The movie is surprisingly violent.  Moments into the story, a character is killed with a bloody gunshot to the head.  A few minutes later, men's bodies are burned in the aftermath of a viscious battle facillitated by Wonder Woman.  Neither scene is gratuitous and both scenes are important to the story.  It is gratifying to see a mature management of the story.

Set in the Red Scare era of the 1950's, New Frontier is suspicious of not just Communists, but also superheroes in general and specifically outer space aliens - particularly the ones that "don't look like us."  The inclusion of John F. Kennedy's New Frontier speech to the 1960 Democratic National Convention is a sublime touch.

New Frontier tells a grown-up story in what is all too often characterized as a child's medium.  I am irritated by most of the animation that's out there today.  New Frontier encourages me that American animators can do it right.  They can tell serious, yet entertaining stories in the format. 

New Frontier builds an interesting play ground.  I'd like to see more of it, which is why I'll be picking up the graphic novel.

I'll be grabbing this one on DVD, too, so that I can watch it again-and-again-and-again...

Posted by Aron Head at 7:16 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 3 March 2008 7:15 AM CST

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I came across Kim Paffenroth's DYING TO LIVE while browsing Amazon one day.  I've not had much time to read lately, so it's been sitting in a stack of a bunch of other novels I don't have time to read.  Packing for a business trip a week or so ago, I threw it in my bag for airplane reading.  It's less than 200 pages, so I figured I could knock it out in transit.

And I did.

It's not your standard zombie apocalypse fare.

Early on in the book - and without having read anything about the writer - I realized that the author must be a humanities professor.  The questions he was asking were all about the human condition.  What makes a society?  What are the critical rituals?  These subjects were not examined as an anthropologist might in the application of science.

No.

The issue was studied in terms of culture, experience, and visceral meaning.  

I kept hearing my own college Humanities professor's voice while I read Dying to Live: "What is the intrinsic value...?"

And I was right. 

Author Kim Paffenroth is a religion and humanities professor at Iona College in New Rochelle, NY.  He's also quite the zombie nerd maintaining his own zombie apocalyptic blog as well as authoring Gospel of the Living Dead: George Romero's Visions of Hell on Earth.

I had expected a care free romp through the lands of the living dead.  What I got was a book that made me think.  It's insidious how subversive this Paffenroth fellow is.

If you're thinking that Dying to Live is simply a cerebral exploration of human culture amongst the undead, you couldn't be more wrong.  I mean you could try, but you would not be successful.

One of the blurbs on the back of the book states: "This is as bloody, violent and intense as it gets..."

Boy howdy, they ain't kidding.

Building upon one horror after another, a scene in the book literally brought tears to my eyes.  I shuddered and had to close the book for a bit.  Seriously.

I am totally stealing one particularly gruesome image for my game at Fear The Con. 

Dying to Live is a blood-soaked nightmare of a tale provoking questions that we should be asking now before the inevitable zombie apocalypse is upon us.

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 7:15 AM CST

Updated: Sunday, 2 March 2008 7:13 AM CST

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One week from today, I will be experiencing my second day in St. Charles, Missouri and enjoying the first ever Fear The Con.  In addition to running my own All Flesh Must Be Eaten game, I will be playing in two other games.

The first game I play in is Fear The Boot host Dan Repperger's own home brew, Epoch of Rysos.  I've heard Dan describe his science fiction setting many times on his podcast.  It's high SF and space opera with a dash of capital ship broadside combat.  I'm really looking forward to it.

I've never played Burning Wheel before, which is why I am jazzed about the second game I'll be playing in - Jake Moore's "The Sword."  Jake describes it as a Burning Wheel primer.  Burning Wheel is a role playing rule system that can be used in multiple settings.  Can't wait.

My game,  And a Little Child Shall Eat Them, is in the third and final tier of the day's games.  I'm putting my handouts together and tightening up my notes.  I'll probably be working it most of the week to ensure that I'm eating and breathing the zombie apocalypse before game day.

Did I mention that my paid admission to the con gets me all the beer I can drink?

Woot! 

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 1:13 PM CST

Updated: Saturday, 1 March 2008 2:40 PM CST

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Brian Michael Bendis' Mighty Avengers has been the polar opposite of his New Avengers title in many ways.  The Mighty Avengers fought on behalf of the government's superhuman registration initiative, while the New Avengers rebelled against it.  Mighty Avengers has suffered numerous publishing delays, while New Avengers has been rather punctual.  Mighty Avengers sucks, while New Avengers rocks the hizzouse!

That is until the recently released issue #9.

Wow.

The first three pages of the book are illustrated by Marko Djurdjevic,  a frequent Marvel cover artist.  He did the cover for the recent New Avengers #38.  Opening the book to that first beautifully painted page, I knew we were in for something special.  And we were.

The rest of the book is drawn by frequent Bendis collaborator Mark Bagley.  Bag's not my favorite artist, but he serves the story well.  Lots of action here, with battle hungry Ares leading the charge against Dr. Doom's castle.

Dr. Doom and Iron Man go head-to-head in this issue, the story providing some great contrast between the technology employed by each of these armored men. 

My only complaint with #9 is that there is an over abundance of  splash pages.  There was a lot of action to display in big, vivid pictures - but there was little drama to it.  I mean, the Avengers were only pounding DoomBots.  It's not like they were handing Doom his ass or anything.  Just knocking robots around.  For that, one splash page will suffice.

When I see that many splash pages, I get the feeling that the writer ran out of stuff to say. 

I won't spoil anything for you here, but the end sets up what I expect to be a nice retro-romp for issue ten. 

Pick up Issue 9.  It's a lot of fun. 

Posted by Aron Head at 9:16 AM CST

Updated: Saturday, 1 March 2008 11:43 AM CST

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Earlier this week, I caught a story on the news about a Houston school teacher whose comments to her class of four and five-year-olds had been recorded without her knowledge.  Many parents were upset at hearing the recorded remarks:

"Nobody are you good for. You're just a bad kid. When are you going to be a good kid? Do you think any other class acts like this? No. You're just mean to your teacher and I'm going to be mean to you, too. Everybody understand that? You're mean to me so I get to be mean to you.

"Ya'll are just stupid kids. I swear to God."

ABC News reports that the teacher's attorney stated that the woman "wishes to apologize to the students and the students' parents. Her actions that day were an aberration … the result of medication that she was taking as a result of a recent hospital visit."

One source reports that the child recording the teacher's remarks had been suspended four times.  Not a teenager, mind you, but a child somewhere between 4 and five years of age.

So... the one question no one seems to be asking is: Are the kids in question indeed stupid?  From what I'm reading, it appears the consensus is that the teacher's remarks are socially innappropriate.  But if the children are dumb-as-stumps, isn't she doing them a favor by telling them the truth?

A five year old getting one suspension is bad.  But four?  That doesn't have the ring of scholar to it, does it? 

And what if these children are under the control of a boy preacher from out-of-town who's inspiring the class to murder their parents - and the mind control gives them the APPEARANCE of stupidity.  Isn't the teacher doing the right thing in telling them they're stupid?

Or, what if they're "stupid" because they have in fact succumbed to a mysterious ailment causing the children to at first seem less than smart while later manifesting a more feral mentality and a taste for human flesh?

What if these children are ground zero in Houston's very own zombie apocalypse? 

Perhaps then the teacher's remarks wouldn't seem quite so harsh.

Posted by Aron Head at 7:47 AM CST

Updated: Saturday, 1 March 2008 8:19 AM CST

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Back in the day, I listened to the local public radio exclusively.  KERA had this wonderful eclectic music programming schedule book-ended by their news programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered in the morning and evening respectively.  Several years ago, station management decided that the news and information shows drew in more pledge dollars and out went the music.

That was sad, too.

FM radio in DFW is a wasteland of corporate owned content choked with inane commercials, even more inane personalities, and music fit for more for Abu Ghraib than drive time. 

KERA played some of the most wonderful music you've never heard.  It's where I found Moxy Fruvous, Don Walser, and Rumors of the Big Wave, and a number of other artists that I have never, ever heard on any other station.  The format was changed more than ten years ago, but folks still call the noon talk show to bitch about it.

I often grouse on the subject.

So does Rodger.

Both of us stopped pledging.

Don't get me wrong, I loves me some Public Radio.  Fresh Air?  ATC? This American Life?  All these shows are wonderful.

But I miss the music.

I think about how many wonderful artists KERA brought to my attention and now I wonder how I find new ones...

A week or so ago, I was reading Adam's blog.  He mentioned a song by Chumbawamba.  You remember them, right?  They did that "Tub Thumpin" tune back in the 90s?  Honestly, that's the only song of theirs I'd ever heard.  While it was an enjoyable pop song, I had discounted the group as a one-hit-wonder.

But Adam's recommendation made me take a listen, and now their "One By One" is on my iPod.  It's in regular rotation.

A song by Johnny Cash with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers backing him up was recommended to me: Sea of Heartbreak.  Sweet fancy Moses, this is a great song!  I love the guitar in this... it's strong, assertive.  Plus there is this wonderfully meaningful bass downbeat in the piano.  Excellent song.  It is likewise in heaving rotation on the Nano.

When KERA was playing music, I found great music like this all the time.  That was then.

Today, I scroll through iTunes... surf Pandora... read blogs... and look to you, dear reader, for recommendations.  What's worth listening to?

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 7:30 AM CST

Updated: Wednesday, 27 February 2008 9:13 PM CST

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Good news!

The guy has insurance!  I reported last night's incident this morning after some difficulty navigating their voice mail system (believe it or not, I hit their out-of-office message for Thanksgiving).  I maneuvered through their marketing department and eventually made a love connection. 

The adjuster is supposed to call me within the next day or so.

This afternoon, I took the car over to my body shop for an estimate.  I was thinking it'd be around $1100.

The estimate came back at $2400.

Ouch!

And speaking of ouch, my back is killing me.  It starts in my ass and runs all the way up to shoulders.  I'm all strung out on Advil.  There is tub soaking in my future.  And beer.  That's gotta help, right?

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net
 

Posted by Aron Head at 6:26 PM CST

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I was on my way to church last night after work.  It was rush hour, which is to say that traffic was creeping.  Crawling along Interstate 30, I slowed to a stop as traffic was more-or-less parked before me.

WHAM!

An American made white van had plowed into me.

I pulled onto the side of the road as did the other driver.  I came flying out of the car all prepared to chew the guy a new one, telling him it was his fault because he wasn't paying attention.

"Man, I'm sorry!" He said emerging from the van.  "That was totally my fault.  I just wasn't paying attention."

Really, he was a very nice guy.  So hard to be mad at someone who's as earnest and apologetic as he was.  He even had insurance.  Or at least a paper that says he has insurance.  I'll be phoning his agency shortly.

Bumper, side-panel, tail light, and trunk are all a bit messed up.  But the car still drives.  And I'm mostly unscathed.  My back hurts.  I'm hoping the fist-full of Advil I've taken will put a dent in that...  

It's a busy week at the office.  I'm not gonna get the car over for an estimate until Friday.

Coulda' been worse.

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 7:30 AM CST

Updated: Tuesday, 26 February 2008 10:10 PM CST

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I was thinking today about last week's post concerning this summer's movie releases when it occured to me that I left one out - The Incredible Hulk.  How could I have overlooked the gamma irradiated goliath?  This distressed me.  After all the second Hulk feature film is slated for June 13, 2008 release.  It dawned on me that I have not seen a trailer for it. 

In fact, I've seen virtually no promotion for it.

I went to the official site and found very little there.  Just pics and a short description.  No video... no wallpapers... no commentary... nothing at all fostering community or even interest.

Iron Man has had video available online in one form or another since the San Diego Comicon.

They did promote the Incredible Hulk toys at the recent Toy Fair. 

Digging deeper, I found an article posted on Superhero Hype last week reporting that the trailer should be posted in early March.

Early March!?!

Doesn't that seem, I don't know, kind of late.  The movie's just three month's away.  A few years ago, I wouldn't have thought anything about it.  Now though when movies are promoted a full year in advance (e.g. Star Trek)?

I have a sinking feeling.

Somebody, tell me it's gonna be okay. 

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net 

Posted by Aron Head at 7:30 AM CST

Updated: Monday, 25 February 2008 6:28 PM CST

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After finding Jesus several years ago, Anne Rice vowed that she would never again write another chapter in her heavily erotic, deeply hedonistic Vampire Chronicles.  Of course, she probably should have spoken to Sean Connery.

Never say never.

Time Magazine/CNN report that the Got-My-Christ-On Anne Rice is returning to the world of Louis, Lestat, and Akasha for one last undead romp.

I couldn't be less excited.

I used to love her books, truly. 

I read Interview with the Vampire when I was in college.  It was unlike anything I'd read before.  The depth of character and background forever changed my expectation in fiction.  Further, it changed the kind of writer I wanted to be.

The Vampire Lestat was a relevation in detail.

Honestly though?  She went off the rails with Queen of the Damned. 

My favorite of her works also happens to be the most infuriating.  I skipped a day of work to finish the tomish The Witching Hour.  It was somewhere past midnight.  I distinctly remember hurling the book across the room.

At some point along the way, I realized that all of her characters were either beautiful, rich and gay or beautiful, rich and bisexual.  Except the women, that is.  They all seemed to be beautiful, rich and straight

While this was interesting and different in Interview with the Vampire, it just seemed lazy as I progressed through her other books.  I generally like a bit more variety in my characters.  I mean, how about a poor, beautiful bisexual?  Or a gay guy of moderate means with a lazy eye?  Now that's writing!

It has been many, many years since I have read an Anne Rice book.   In that time, she's returned to the Church, given up vampires, and started writing about Jesus.   A more beautiful, wealthy, gay messiah you have never seen - I'm sure.

Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net

Posted by Aron Head at 8:12 PM CST

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