The Surrogates

The year is 2054, and life has been reduced to a data feed. The fusing of virtual reality and cybernetics has ushered in the era of the personal surrogate, android substitutes that let users interact with the world without ever leaving their homes. It's a perfect world, and it's up to Detectives Harvey Greer and Pete Ford of the Metro Police Department to keep it that way. But to do so they’ll need to stop a techno-terrorist bent on returning society to a time when people lived their lives instead of merely experiencing them.

It's late, and I'm a bit tired, so instead of trying to come up with a description for The Surrogates, I dropped in Top Shelf's blurb for their first TPB. Variety reported last November that Bruce Willis had the starring role in Disney's film adaptation, and I'm adding it to Upcoming Films on the right because on Wednesday, they reported that Disney had set a release date.

It sounds like a great idea. If I remember correctly, Phantom Power had some positive things to say about the comic. Willis's comic book-related films seem to do better than his sci fi films. I wonder how a sci fi comic adaptation will fare. Let's hope this one is more like Unbreakable or Sin City, and less like Fifth Element or Armageddon.

January 2008 Previews Pop Culture Crossover

Quite a group of TPBs, minis, one-shots, and graphic novels coming from various areas of pop culture solicited in the January Previews.


TV

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Omnibus #4 (TPB, Dark Horse)
  More Buffy goodness. I don't normally list every new omnibus and TPB, but it is Buffy. Guess I better go back and finish the 3rd one before this comes out.
• Serenity: Better Days #1 (mini, Dark Horse)
  Prequel to the film, written by Joss Whedon himself.

Movies

• Army of Darkness/Xena: Why Not #1 (4-part mini, Dynamite Entertainment)
  Good grief. I don't even think I have a commentary on this.
• Buckaroo Banzai: The Prequel #1 (2-part mini, Moonstone)
  Sounds like they try to weave more crazy stuff in than even the film does.
• DNA Hacker Chronicles #1 (TPB, Abrams)
  Prequel to The Gene Generation. What's up with this film? Is it straight to DVD? When will it be out? Plus, is this another chicken-and-the-egg thing? Is a comic based on a movie or vice versa? More on that later...
• Fritz Lang's M (TPB, Abrams)
  Out-of-print mini series, packaged with the DVD of the 1931 film.
• The Godfather Chronicles #1 (new series, Boom! Studios)
  I guess you could argue this belongs under Books, but the films really gained the notoriety. This comic continues the story of the Corleone family, and the first arc is written by Mark Waid.
• Largo Winch Volume 1: The Heir (TPB, Cinebook)
  Comic that the upcoming French film is based on.
• The Last Winter (graphic novel, Image)
  Creepy looking film due out on DVD this summer. Ron Perlman and James LeGros? What's not to love? Here's the film's site.

Books/Stories

• Avengers Fairy Tales #1 (4-part mini, Marvel)
  I've been tempted to pick up these series from Marvel - their superheroes as fairy tale characters - but I haven't, yet. Are they any good?
• Dark Tower: The Long Road Home #1 (5-part mini, Marvel)
  Marvel's second adaptation of the Stephen King series.
• Dark Wraith of Shannara (graphic novel, Del Rey)
  Sequel to the original Shannara trilogy. I could never get through that series...I'm not really sure why.
• Holmes (graphic novel, AIT/Planetar)
  Appears to be a really off-beat adaptation of Sherlock Holmes.

Animation

• Star Wars: Clone Wars Photo Comic (one-shot, Dark Horse)
  They sure are milking this photo comic thing. I guess if people keep buying it, they'll keep making it.

Games

• Dead Space #1 (6-part mini, Image)
  Prequel to a Electronic Arts sci fi / horror game coming out in October. The game sounds Alien-esque, but it look pretty dang scary. Here it is at EA's site.

Other

• Super Friends #1 (new series, DC)
  Based on Mattel's new Super Friends toy line. (I gotta get me - I mean my son - a Batwing!)

Well, there was just too much stuff to list everything. Is there anything you liked that I missed? Maybe that new Star Trek: New Frontier series?

December 2007 Previews Pop Culture Crossover

Finally got that December Previews. Guess I'll have to keep getting these on-line so this doesn't happen again. Special thanks to morpuddypond who sent me the copy I used for this edition. Hope you enjoy Rex Libris - it went out in the mail today!

OK; so here's my monthly Previews list of interesting comic crossovers with movies, television, books and video games. So, I'm a couple months late, but I've got January and February waiting in the wings!

TV

• 24: Cold Warriors (one-shot, IDW)
  48 pages of commercial-free Jack Bauer. Does this mean every 2 pages is a full hour of Jack's life?

Movies

• The Terminator Omnibus Volume 1 (TPB, Dark Horse)
  Terminator gets the massive book treatment in this 352-page volume.
• Jumper: Jumpscars (TPB, Dark Horse)
  It's a comic-book prequel! I still can't tell if that's a combo of "Jumps Cars" or "Jump Scars". The film's out now...it actually look interesting - here's the site.

Books/Stories

• Lords of Avalon: Sword of Darkness #1 (6-part mini, Marvel)
  Swords and sorcery. Adapted from Kinley MacGregor's book.
• Moby Dick #1 (Marvel Illustrated) (6-part mini, Marvel)
  I've been meaning to pick this up for years. Which raises the question - do you read the book or the comic first?
• Rogue Angel: Teller of Tales #1 (mini, IDW)
  Never heard of this series of books. Dang, I'm really late with this list - this is already out.
• Tiger and Crane #1 (4-part mini, Bluewater Productions)
  Chinese folk hero Wong Fei Hung (or Huang Fei-hong) is probably the most prolific film character - he has been portrayed in well over 100 movies. Out of the few I've seen, Jackie Chan's Drunken Master films and Jet Li's Once Upon a Time in China series are pretty amazing. This mini-series teams Wong Fei Hung up with an American spy to prevent the Japanese from winning World War II.
• Zorro #1 (new series, Dynamite Entertainment)
  Originating in the early 1900's Zorro has also been the subject of numerous stories and films. This incarnation is written by Grendel creator Matt Wagner.
  

Games

• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (graphic novel, Dark Horse)
  I have a special place in my heart for the first person shooter, Star Wars: Dark Forces, but looking at the game this comic is based on it may just surpass it. I'm just glad it's coming out for the PS2. Check out the official site.
• The World of Dungeons & Dragons #1 (new series, Devil's Due)
  I haven't picked up any of the Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms series Devil's Due has put out (though I was a major fan of the books based in both worlds back before marriage, family, job, and blogging), so I don't know the quality of the stories they're currently publishing. I wonder if this series will include stories outside those two worlds.

Some of these books are already shipping...anyone care to share if they're any good? And did I miss anything worth noting?

Man-Thing (2005) mini review

based on a comic
[6/10]

In the swamps of Bywater, Lousiana, someone is killing anyone who wanders in after dark. Is it the crooked owners of the new oil rig, the troublemaker that wandered into the swamp and hasn't been seen for months, or is it the Man-Thing?

Man-Thing burst onto the Marvel scene at nearly the same time as Swamp Thing did at DC in the early 70's. From what I've read, it's chalked up to one of those coincidences (like having 2 meteor movies come out at the same time). Anyway, although they have similar etiologies, Man-Thing seems to be a bit less human (at least functionally).

Man-Thing was released straight-to-DVD. Well, it first appeared on the Sci Fi Channel, which made me think it was produced by them specifically for release on cable, but the television version is rather cut up. Make no mistake, this is no made-for-TV-movie. It's rated R and is intended to be much more of a horror film than the campy 1982 Swamp Thing.

The movie is fairly good for a going straight to cable, and ending up on Blockbuster's shelf a couple months later. It doesn't stand out as one of the better comic book movies, but it's worth a watch. There are a few corny moments, but for the most part, the film is pretty solid and keeps you interested.


See it if you want to see the rare horror-film-based-on-a-comic-book.

Don't see it if you want to stick to good wholesome superhero-beats-up-the-bad-guys comic-book-based films.

Pop Candy's Comics Crash Course

Over on her Pop Candy blog, Whitney Matheson is offering a 4-part crash course in comics. Understandably, this is primarily for non-comic-afficianodos, but I'm sure it'll be interesting nonetheless. She starts with 25 Essential Graphic Novels.

Some good stuff - a lot I haven't yet read; a few I haven't even heard of.

The Return of Swamp Thing (1989) mini review

based on a comic
[3/10]

Note: Swamp Thing spoilers...

Even though he is killed by Swamp Thing in the first film, Dr. Arcane is back; he's after the formula for immortality, and only Swamp Thing and Arcane's stepdaughter Abigail (Heather Locklear) stand in his way.

I think they tried too hard to play up the campiness in this movie, making Locklear's character just plain corny, and adding a couple overacting kids into the mix. Rather than making the movie any good, it just makes it that much worse. Add to that the weird, interspecies love story, and you've got a real stinker (Heather Locklear falls in love with Swamp Thing and they spend some...odd...intimate moments together - I know the relationship between the two is taken from the comics, but the way it was played in the movie is just disturbing).

The make-up and costume for the Swamp Thing is better than the first movie (it was, after all, made about 7 years later), but he seems much more like a guy in a rubber suit in this film. The monster is played by the same actor as the first film (Dick Durok), where he talked, for lack of a better term, in a much more "monster-like" voice. In the sequel, however, he talks with a normal voice. This just makes it seem like he's actually a normal guy in a Swamp Thing costume.

The only thing I think I really liked about this film was that in the opening credits they showed a number of actual shots from the comics, which was an interesting way to introduce the movie.

Other comic connections:

• Besides playing the evil Ursa in Superman and Superman II, Sarah Douglas (Dr. Zurell) has done a couple voices for the Batman and Superman Animated Series.
  
• Heather Locklear once did a voice in Batman: The Animated Series
  
• Joe Sagal (Gunn) appeared in Barb Wire
  

See it if you just have to watch the follow-up to the original, good film.

Don't see it if you don't want to be disappointed by another sequel that fails to reach the heights of the original.

Superhero Movie Trailer

Finally, a little info about Superhero Movie. Here's the trailer!

Superhero Movie


Good grief. Everything's on myspace these days. Here's hoping they didn't put all the funny parts in the trailer. Of course, I only laughed a couple times, so if they did, it doesn't bode well for the movie.

Super Obama Girl

I realize I'm way behind the curve when it comes to news.

But, hey - it's superhero-related and politically relevant. The perfect match! Plus, it's kinda funny.



And here's I Got a Crush on Obama - the video that started it all.

Oh Riddler, Where Art Thou?

So, the Riddler's not returning my calls.

Creep.

But I've got one better. I'm totally peeved that I haven't been able to find a December 2007 Previews to do my "Pop Culture Crossover" for that month. You can't even find someone trying to overcharge for one on eBay. Does anyone out there have one they want to get rid of?

How about a trade? If you'll send me a copy of the December 2007 Previews, I'll send you the first trade of Rix Libris (it's only been read once and it's near mint). But please make sure it's December! I'd hate to get a copy of Previews and find out it's the wrong one. We can do it this way - the first person to post that they will send me a December 2007 Previews, and follow it up by actually sending it - I'll return the favor by sending them my only copy of Rex Libris. I don't care what kind of shape the Previews is in as long as I can read through it - writing in it, dog-eared pages, whatever. As long as it's readable, since I'm not going to be saving it. If you've got the Marvel issue, too, that'd be great, but it's not necessary.

Thanks in advance!

Swamp Thing Season 1

Cool - if you want to take a look at the Swamp Thing series, you don't have to buy the whole DVD. You can purchase the episodes one at a time from Amazon. Trailer below.

Swamp Thing (1982) mini review

based on a comic
[7/10]

With the series being released on DVD this past week, I thought I might post reviews of the original movies.

I always forget how much I enjoy Swamp Thing. It's goofy, but the film embraces that goofiness and becomes a modern "B" monster movie. Starring B-movie queen Adrienne Barbeau (Creepshow), this film is based on the DC comic by the same name. (Barbeau also voiced Catwoman in the original Batman Animated Series.) Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise, currently the Devil in CW's Reaper) is working in the swamps, attempting to mix plant and animal DNA. Just as Alice Cable (Barbeau) arrives on the scene, he stumbles onto an amazing, explosive formula. As it would happen, the evil Dr. Arcane arrives at the same time, capturing Holland, Cable, and the formula. Holland attempts to escape with the formula, and in the chaos that ensues, drops the formula, which explodes, setting fire to his lab. Engulfed in flames, Holland runs into the swamps, apparently to his death. He re-emerges from the swamp, however, as Swamp Thing.

I don't think this film (directed by Wes Craven, incidentally) is intended to be taken completely seriously, and if you can take that into consideration, it is completely enjoyable. Barbeau plays the love interest well; Louis Jordan is completely comfortable as the obsessed villain, Arcane; Nicholas Worth (Darkman, Barb Wire) plays to type as the stereotypical henchman; and even Dick Durock takes a good turn as the pitiable monster.


See it if you can relax your standards a bit and just enjoy a modern monster movie.

Don't see it if you're expecting a a darker, more serious comic to be adapted in same form.

Largo Winch

Wow - it's shaping up to be a big year for French-language comics translated into film, and Google Translate is getting a workout on my computer (ok, I've forgotten the 3 years of French I had in high school and college). First it's the next Asterix movie in January, then the XIII: The Conspiracy translation of the Belgian comic, and now, another Belgian comic comes to the big screen - Largo Winch.

Actually, this is the first I'd heard of the comic - apparently, the comics debuted in 1990 (originally based on a failed series of novels from the 70s). Largo Winch was born in Yugoslavia, was orphaned at two, and adopted by a billionaire business owner to be his heir. From what I can tell from translating the main Largo Winch page (from French) and reading the (rather brief) Wikipedia entry, the comics follow Winch through his adventures protecting himself and his company from those that are after him and his money.

Comics2Film recently posted the debut of the teaser trailer (which led me down this research trail). It looks pretty good, and is slated for release this year on December 17. In France. I can't seem to find when it will be released in any other markets. So, here's to seeing Largo Winch on DVD sometime in 2009.

Oh; I've also posted the link to the production blog and main page to the right in it's original form. Here's the translation via Google Translate.

Dark Avenger (1990) mini review

superhero film not based on a comic
[3/10]

Throw in 3 parts Batman (vigilante dressed in dark, using high tech gadgets, keeping an eye on the local insane asylum), 2 parts Darkman (scarred vigilante dressed in black hat and trenchcoat), and you've got the TV movie Dark Avenger (released the same year as Darkman).

In Dark Avenger, a judge (Leigh Lawson) is scarred by a police captain (Hector Elizondo), who is in cahoots with the local Commissioner (Robert Vaughn). Believed to be dead, the judge puts on a mask and leads the life of a vigilante.

While it seems like the filmmakers attempted to make a noirish vigilante film with some interesting cinematography and editing, the movie can't be saved from bad writing, terrible acting, and worse directing. I should have realized it was made for television when I saw the opening credits that looked like they were made on someone's PC. In its defense, I guess, it kept me interested enough to not want to keep fast forwarding through it, but I won't be recommending it to anyone anytime soon.

It does contain an interesting cast. Hector Elizondo is a prolific character actor who includes a few comic titles in his resume (he was recently in the Princess Diaries movies, but also did voices for Justice League and Batman cartoons and video games and a role in Tales from the Crypt) and Robert Vaughn has had a pretty good career (to include superhero properties like Superman III and Pootie Tang). Other cast members include Ken Jenkins (famous as Dr. Kelso in Scrubs), Thora Birch (Ghost World) - in one of her first parts, Aki Aleong (the upcoming Superhero!), Victor Bevine (a part in Birds of Prey), and Tony Amendola (El Muerto: The Dead One, Lois & Clark, and voices in the HBO Spawn animated series).

See it if you're having trouble falling asleep.

Don't see it if you'd rather see great comic book cinematic masterpieces like Daredevil or Ghost Rider.

El Muerto (2007) mini review

based on a comic
[7/10]

Don't judge a movie by it's poster. The first time I saw a poster for El Muerto: The Dead One, I thought it might be a rip-off of The Crow. Call me Mr. Open-minded. I did a little research, and saw it wasn't a rip-off at all. Diego de la Muerte dies in a car accident and finds himself in Mictlan, the Aztec realm of the dead. He is sent back as The Chosen One, a minion of Mictlantecuhtli, the Aztec god of the dead, to bring the end of the world. But will Diego use his powers for evil, or for good?

El Muerto kind of came out of left field and was an interesting surprise. It opens with a good homage to its source material - the opening credits morph between the live film and black and white line drawings, as if the film is lifted directly from the comics. And it continues to develop well - it's a decent story, and the film has good production values. I was expecting the signature look of some independent films - you know when you see a film that has bad lighting, poor camera work, and sloppy editing. I wasn't expecting to see something that had the polished look of a professionally-made, big budget film. It plays out as mostly serious (though nowhere near as dark a film as The Crow), but in the last fight, it seems like it attempts to pick up a bit of the lightness of the comic. That falls a bit flat because it seems wedged in, but it's easily overlooked. As far as the story goes, it does keep pretty close to the comic's origin (incidentally, a digital version of the complete first comic is included on the DVD - a pretty good bonus). As a whole, it's an enjoyable story - I wasn't sure what to expect, so I didn't set the bar too high, and I was pleasantly surprised.

The movie is based on Javier Hernandez's el Muerto, the Aztec Zombie (a mini comic is also packaged with the DVD). It stars Wilmer Valderrama (who I didn't recognize originally from That 70's Show until I looked up his biography), and has a cast that you've seen in bit parts elsewhere, including Joel Moore (Art School Confidential), E.J. Callahan (a bit part in The Tick pilot episode), Tony Amendola (The Dark Avenger, Lois & Clark, a few voices in the Spawn animated series), and Maria Conchita Alonso (who played alongside Valderrama in Stan Lee's The Condor.

See it if you can enjoy a decent comic book movie without expecting Citizen Kane.

Don't see it if you're expecting something more than a decently written, well-acted indie film.

Missed Another Premier

Well, one of the main reasons I started this blog was so that *I* had a place to keep track of upcoming movies, DVDs, and TV shows. So what do I do? Completely miss the premier of the Witchblade anime series on IFC Friday night. There was an encore an hour later, but that didn't help me since I didn't realize it until I read it on Pop Candy the next day. I've never really been into anime (*gasp* - a comic fan who's not into anime?!?), but I would at least like to have seen the first episode.

Of course, the good folks at IFC assume that if you miss the first one, you won't want to see it before the second one airs, so there's not another encore, and the second episode airs next Friday night at 11:30 (that's Central, I think). And they don't even stream the first episode so you can catch up.

*sigh* Afro Samurai, all over again. Let me know if this was any good.