Posts Tagged ‘ Flash Gordon ’

I swear, I don’t understand how holidays over here work. Monday was a holiday so – as with many holidays – I expected shipments to be delayed a day, but no, they’re not.

Flash Gordon Invasion Of The Red Sword #1 – Okay, so this didn’t come out last week. What did I say again? “In spite of some confusing art (as in I had no idea what was going on), I really enjoyed the last Flash Gordon mini that was collected as The Mercy Wars, and the Secret History of Mongo HC, because it really captured the devil may care I think Flash should have, and the alien-ness of Mongo. Even so I don’t think I’d seen new Flash Gordon stuff for at least eighteen months so I’d assumed it was dead. Apparently not.” Yep, still about right.

Action Comics #898 – Lex Luthor continues on his tour of the DCU to establish his place in it – because let’s face it, that’s what this is. So far he’s checked in with Mr Mind, Deathstroke, Gorilla Grodd, Death, Vandal Savage, Secret Six and the Joker. This time up, it’s Larfleeze. These kinds of tours often feel forced but at least there’s an attempt here to justify it in the storyline. Even so, I’m bored now. Can we move on to #900, please?

Cover Girls Of The DC Universe Poker Set – Ooh, pretty.

If anyone wants to, er, ‘lend’ me $200 I’m all for it.

DC Comics Presents Batman Conspiracy #1 – Another random reprint in the nice format, this time out the main feature is a collection of a JH Willliams illustrated arc from Legends of the Dark Knight to piggyback on his new Batwoman series.

Justice League The Rise And Fall HC – Mock if you will (oh, and you will; you will) but I kind of enjoyed the whole Green Arrow/Arsenal thing from last year that included Green Arrow killing off a man who can predict anything with an arrow (bet he never saw that coming from Green Arrow); Arsenal getting a robotic arm, falling off the wagon, getting friendly with a dead cat, and not being able to perform with the psychotic mother of his dead child. It’s certainly not good, exactly, but it’s all enjoyable nonsense. Yes, I know that people complained about Arsenal’s daughter Lian being killed off to get to this storyline, but its not like she was being used in a particularly interesting way anyway…

Scalped Volume 7 Rez Blues TP - Hands down one of my favorite series, and one that I rarely talk about. With a structure that would make Tarantino blush, every single trade of this series is infinitely re-readable. It seriously is that good – the first trade, like most Vertigo ones, is $10. Pick it up.

Teen Titans #92 – I know, I’m throwing good money after bad with this – although since Krul’s arrival as writer the book’s picked up, it still features some characters that I have no affinity for even after 20 years of reading about them. What can I say?

Angelus Volume 1 TP – I don’t often mention this, but I am a huge fan of Ron Marz’s stint on Witchblade, and this series spinning out of it is a must-buy for me.

Skullkickers #6 – You should know the drill by now. Awesome fun, pick it up. This issue is a bunch of shorts by other creators, but even so.

Turf #4 (Of 5) – Atrocious (and I mean atrocious; this is the fourth issue in just over a year) scheduling aside, this has been a very strong debut from Jonathon Ross, in conjunction with artist Tommy Lee Edwards. It’s almost too ambitious, featuring as it does vampire clans and a ship-wrecked alien mixing it up with prohibition gangsters in 1920s New York, but there’s a sense of controlled chaos to the storyline. Ross apparently has four more projects on the way, including The Golden Age, already optioned for a movie, and another one that sounds amazing but I’m not sure has been announced. Too late to jump on if you haven’t tried it yet, but I recommend the trade when it comes out – which may be in 2013 at this rate, but still…

Amazing Spider-Man #655 – A very special issue – and one that Dan Slott has been pimping heavily.

Avengers #10 – Not picking this up regularly, but I did note that it contains a reprint of Heroes for Hire #1 at no extra cost, which can’t bode well for that book’s sales numbers.

Iron Man 2.0 #1 – Look, just call it Iron Man: War Machine, okay? This is just confusing and it’ll get lost on the stands in the glut of Iron Man books around.

X-Men Forever 2 Volume 2 Scream A Little Scream TP – Judge me all you want, but I’ve really been enjoying Chris Claremont’s alt-take on what would have happened if he stayed on the books after he left them the first time. I’ll be sorry to see it go once the next trade finishes.

X-Men Legacy Collision HC – I’ll be honest, although I’m a huge fan of Mike Carey’s Felix Castor books, I’ve felt that his run on Legacy has been less-than-stellar, especially in the last year or eighteen months. I’m sure it’s not helped that he keeps getting derailed by crossovers, but there’s just something lacking at the moment. I hope that the current Age of X gives it a much-needed boost.

Pick of the Week

Fantastic Four #588

In spite of my complaining about Hickman’s FF run, and the fact that I’m underwhelmed by how the ‘death’ of the Human Torch played out, this final issue of the Fantastic Four (well, at least until the upcoming FF aligns with what would be Fantastic Four #600) is my pick of the week – if only because I’ve always enjoyed the aftermath of big deaths more than the death itself. I’m also tempted to reread his run from the start – especially the bits with future Franklin and Valeria – to see how this all pulls together.

You’ve probably heard that Chris Hemsworth – George Kirk Sr in the latest Star Trek movie – has apparently been cast as Thor in the upcoming Marvel flick directed by Kenneth Branagh.

I can see it, actually – Hemsworth made a good impression during his brief screentime in Star Trek, and he certainly seems pretty imposing physically.

“Hal, I love you but we only have 24 hours to save the Earth!”

Hal! – a-ah – saviour of the universe!
Hal!- a-ah – He’ll save everyone of us!
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Hal! – a-ah – he’s a miracle!
Hal!- a-ah – king of the impossible!

He’s for everyone of us!
Stands for everyone of us!
He’ll save with a mighty hand,
Every man, every woman,
Every child – with a mighty flash!

Hal! – a-ah!
Hal! – a-ah – he’ll save everyone of us!

Just a man
With a man’s courage
He knows nothing but a man
But he can never fail
No one but the pure in heart
May find the golden grail
Oh oh – oh oh
Hal…

He even sings his own theme song in action!

Awesome.

It’s a pretty big week this time out with a couple of issues that have been waited for forever..

Batman #681 – Finally! I’ve ripped on this a lot, but I’m still looking forward to it. Maybe it will finally all make sense!

JSA Special: Kingdom Come: The Kingdom #1 – The first two specials have been okay but not stupendous. Not expecting much more than that – which is pretty sad when you think how long this has been building.

Superman #682 – New Krypton thunders on. Good stuff.

Captain America #44 – Also good stuff. Gotta love Bru and Epting’s run on this!

Guardians Of The Galaxy #7 – One of Marvel’s best three books!

Incredible Hercules #123 – Another one of Marvel’s best three books!

Nova #19 – And that makes three for three!

Secret Invasion Inhumans #4 – I want an Inhumans ongoing. Now, please.

Secret Invasion X-Men #4 – Okay, but not amazing.

Wolverine Origins #30 – The conclusion. Fun little crossover.

X-Force #9 – Still enjoying it. Still can’t explain it.

Proof #14 – Honestly, this arc hasn’t been great. Which is a shame as it was doing so well…

Buffy The Vampire Slayer #19 – The issue months in the making…regular schedule, please!

Flash Gordon #3 – What, you didn’t read how good this book is?

…Flash Gordon.

Seriously.

Look, I’m as surprised as you are. I mean, I love the old black and white serials, I love the camp-tastic early 80s film with the rocking Queen soundtrack, but I didn’t give the TV show the time of day…

…but the aptly-named Ardden Entertainment’s new take on the familiar characters – Flash, Dale Arden, Ming, Zarkov, etc – is fresh and entertaining. Here Flash is an action-junkie Harvard professor, who just happens to have been booted from the CIA where he worked with Arden. Think Indiana Jones, only younger and quippier.

The supporting characters have been given a facelift too: Dale is no damsel in distress, but a tough-as-nails CIAgent in the Danger Girl mode who doesn’t let personal feelings get in the way of the mission; Professor Hans Zarkov may-or-may-not be a terrorist threat and so on – even Ming is referred to as the Merciful.

It’s refreshing – Paul Green’s art is somewhat reminiscent of J Scott Campbell and Skottie Young, while the cel-like coloring really contributes to the feel of the book.

And if you don’t like it, you can always just start humming that tune I know is in your heads right now…

Ardden is a combination of AP Comics founder Richard Emms, writer Brendan Deenan and Editor-in-Chief Jim DeMatteis, so between them they have a fair amount of experience.

Issue #1 and #2 are in stores now, or you can get them from the Ardden store.

Posted from a faraway land where connectivity is few and far between…

I haven’t mentioned how much I like Sci Fi – from their original series (well, BSG anyway) to their crappy low budget movies of the week that usually seem to star Dean Cain.

So I’m looking forward to the upcoming Flash Gordon series starring former Smallville regular Eric Johnson in the titular role. I love the old Buster Crabbe movie series from the early days of cinema, and tell me who doesn’t have a soft spot for the camp-tastic 1980s movie remake and its pounding Queen soundtrack.

Let this be the start of the campaign to get Brian Blessed guest-starring!