The Forgotten Parcel

A year and a half ago, I wrote a letter to Pia Guerra. Pia was the artist for one of my all time favorite comics, Y the Last Man. This comic was important for another reason besides just being one of my favorites - it was arguably the comic that got me back into comics. No less, the letter I wrote was two and a half pages telling her my story about getting out of comics and getting back into them after someone at Bosco's suggested Y. I also happened to send a comic backboard and asked for a drawing of Yorick and Ampersand, the main character and his pet monkey.

A year and a half later, I still thought about it time to time, but I never really expected to get any response. Predictably, just when I stopped thinking so often about it, it came in the mail and my parents surprised me with it this morning. Contained in it were a handwritten response from Pia, letting me know my letter was well received and why it took so long. Also enclosed was a wonderful drawing of Yorick and Ampersand, which to me (I of the rather untrained eye) looks like it took a good amount of work. It's really hard to tell what I loved more - the letter or the piece of art. Either way, I'm taking them both in to get framed together so I can treasure them forever.

Thank you so much Pia for the truly special gift.

Closer look on drawing

Adaptation Alley

This is how you make a comic movie

While perusing the movie site Aint It Cool News I came across two exciting things for comic book fans. There was the premiere of the new trailer for what I will call the Wolverine movie (aka the absurdly and unnecessarily long titled X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and the first review for Frank Miller's film adaptation of the Will Eisner comic classic the Spirit.

On one hand, you have the Wolverine movie, filled with comic delights such as Gambit and Deadpool finally making it into a movie, a plot delving into Wolverine's very interesting life and origin, and old man Logan getting down and dirty with some good ol' violence. Like he should be. As a movie fan, you have Liev Schreiber flat out dominating the trailer with his portrayal of Sabretooth, you have Danny Huston chewing the scenery as Stryker (I contest that Michael C. Hall would have filled it better, but that's neither here nor there - at least we can save Hall for Arcade further down the line), and you have Jackman looking as in his element as you can get.

In short, get excited folks. I get the feeling that Gavin Hood may actually deliver another good installment of mutant related comic adaptations.


Then on the other hand you have the review of the Spirit, a movie rife with challenges, not the least of which is an amateurish (at best) director in comic god Miller and an absurdly hyperstylized trailer. This review compares Battlefield Earth (one of the worst adaptations and movies ever) favorably to the Spirit.

Words used in that previous sentence did in fact include "compares," "favorably," and "Battlefield Earth."

You there? You five guys (I used to be one of you) who were holding out hope that Miller's adaptation could possibly be serviceable? Give up. Regardless of how poorly written or ridiculous the actual review may be, odds are this just confirms the worst - this movie is going to suck, and badly at that.

That's what always gets me. These movies have great source material. How can you not take decades of material and craft the best stories into something everyone wants to see? I just don't get it. Especially with the Spirit as it adapts one of the best comic stories ever in the "Sand Serif" arc. With all of the confidence the Wolvie preview gets me, movies like the Spirit take it away.

I really want to believe that Mendes and Caruso will do right by Preacher and Y the Last Man. While I can't expect perfect, please, please, please take us towards Wolverine and ignore everything that comes from the Spirit.

Creative License

My boys Yorick and Ampersand

Sometimes when adapting something to film, liberties must be taken to make something work in the scope of the project. A great example of that happening are with the Harry Potter movies. They have managed to cut massive books into very entertaining films that capture the essence of the books very well. It is very possible to make these extremely pared down versions of the story work, and work well. It just takes a group of people who are passionate about the project and know what it takes to make it work.

With the film adaptation of comic series Y the Last Man, I thought we had someone who was really trying to make it work in DJ Caruso. He was saying all the right things in interviews, talking about how he was dealing directly with series writer/creator Brian K. Vaughan, how he was looking to make a trilogy so he can capture everything into the series, and how he is just a passionate fan of it. Even with his seemingly unflinching desire to have Shia LaBeouf star as Yorick Brown, I liked what I was hearing.

Until recently that is, when I read a couple interviews with him. In this article, Caruso talks about how he is going to separate Yorick and Ampersand (his pet capuchin monkey) early on to increase dramatic tension - both in the fact that the partnership is broken and in the fact that Yorick will become sick. Extremely frustrating.

Even more frustrating? In this interview, Caruso discusses removing the entire Beth "subplot." Beth subplot? You mean the entire driving force behind the series? You mean the entire reason why Yorick and his motley crew travel around the world? Subplot! Excuse me, but my faith in this project is all of a sudden extinct.

To top that off, word on the street (from people who have been to screenings for the film) about the new Harry Potter is saying that not only are we not going to get a funeral at the end of Half Blood Prince for one of the biggest characters in the story, but the entire structure of the finale has pretty much been altered to form an entirely new finale - and by that, I mean they might as well have erased the last 150 pages of the book and rewritten it. Because you know, that's what they did.

I understand having to make hard decisions to make the movie palatable to the average viewer (you know, the one who doesn't want to watch 4 hours of Harry Potter), but come on. There must be 300 pages of snogging in the sixth book. Can't we cut some of that? Can't we trim the fat elsewhere, as opposed to butchering the most important section of the book?

Creative license is a necessary evil in almost every adaptation. It just has to happen and with every beloved project that comes to fruition (because face it, Hollywood is out of original ideas), we face the possibility of the project falling into the wrong hands. Two personal favorites are looking hard at questionable futures, and it's disappointing. In my opinion, these stories worked so well the first time through, why can't they work well on the screen under the current alignments (especially Y, which is based in a visual medium)?

Perhaps that would just be too easy.

The Pull List

For those looking for a Capitalist Pig Tuesday post, sorry! This week had a couple of interesting releases (namely Coldplay's very good Viva la Vida and Wolf Parade's At Mount Zoomer) but I honestly was a bit too busy to write it. But you didn't miss much because I'm guessing I would have been one of the infinity billion people blogging about one of those two albums (specifically Mount Zoomer, Coldplay is too mainstream to generate a lot of blog power and Wolf Parade is just edgy enough).

So I'm joining you again with the second edition of my weekly comic recommendation post: the Pull List! I have three single issue recommendations this week, along with an extra special trade paperback recommendation. Enjoy!

Book of the week: Wolverine #66 - Written by Mark Millar, pencils by Steve McNiven

Millar. McNiven.

I should be able to write those two names and that would pretty much sell the issue, but that would actually be underselling the issue. After Jason Aaron and Ron Garney's exceptional arc on the title (Get Mystique!), I figured it was unlikely for anything to overshadow it any time soon, regardless of the follow up creative team.

But I was wrong, as Millar's distinctive style currently on display in Kick-Ass and Marvel 1985 was replaced with an extremely interesting take on the future of the Marvel universe and some very not-Millar like scripting. Not in a bad way, but in a "damn, he really kicked it up a notch on this one didn't he?" sort of way. His handle on Logan and vision of his future is truly original and gripping.

Not to be outdone, Millar's Civil War partner-in-crime McNiven predictably delivers ho hum, "I'm one of the two best superhero artists around these days" pencils, proving that he doesn't need an action scene to make you crave what he provides. This book would be easily understood without any words at all, and that is a huge compliment to the phenomenally talented McNiven.

Part 1 of "Old Man Logan" is an out-and-out success, and we could be looking at one of the beginning of one of the best Wolverine arcs ever. 'nuff said.

Favorite title release of the week: Ex Machina #37 - Written by Brian K. Vaughan, pencils by Tony Harris

Brian K. Vaughan is my favorite writer ever, and that is a hell of a thing because Garth Ennis is pretty much a god to me. Anything he writes is a must buy for me, and Ex Machina (his one remaining ongoing title) is quite simply one of the best books on the market these days. I could go on and on about BKV, but it has all been said. He has one of the freshest and most original voices in comics, and that stands out all the better on his creator owned work such as Ex.

Tony Harris of course brings back his photo referenced style of art that is constantly pleasing and always interesting, and the two work extremely well together...as they should after working on the series together for the entirety of the run.

This arc is however a bit of a slow one so far, as we're getting a very spread out story featuring all of the main characters getting not a lot of face time and a fairly decent amount of story time dedicated to the anti-hero character who is working as the protagonist for this arc. Really, this series is at its best when Mitchell Hundred is the focus and is in nearly every scene. I trust BKV, but I'm a bit hesitant to rave about this particular issue. A solid release that is assuredly one of the best releases this week, but a bit of a step down from previous issues.

"You shouldn't miss it, but probably did" book of the week: RASL #2 - Written and illustrated by Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith's Bone series has been one of the most popular stories in the comic medium over the past few years, as its single volume collected edition has turned it from a cult sensation in the 1990's (along with the best thing ever to be published in Disney Adventures magazine) to a cornerstone in young adults reading lists.

RASL is Smith's creator owned follow up that series (he also made Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil, but that was obviously based off existing characters) and I really didn't know what to think of it going into this issue. Issue #1 was interesting, but it was fairly confusing and chose to accept that readers knew a lot that we clearly did not, given that it was the first issue. Also, it was sigifnicantly darker than previous Smith works, which isn't a crime but felt rather jarring.

However, my mindset settled in for this issue and so did Smith, as the second issue is light years better than the first. We get development, a better grip on what is happening, and a far more interesting rendition of the main character RASL. Smith's pencils are the stuff of legends and clearly his style once again, but that leads to my main complaint about the issue: RASL and his lady friend are supposed to be super sexy but both sort of look like children/teens. Of course, that is an ongoing issue for Smith (I blame the height scale of his characters), but it's true and a bit of a distraction when we are attempting to believe that these two are old enough for what is going on within the pages.

Small complaint and not something that is going to change, but it definitely is one thing that bothered me in the issue. A big step up though, and I am getting even more interested to see where this series is headed.

Trade paperback recommendation of the week: Y the Last Man book 10: Whys and Wherefores - Written by Brian K. Vaughan, pencils by Pia Guerra

Here. Here. Here. Here.

Those are just four of the times I've written about Y the Last Man on my blog. Given a while to reflect, I'd say it's my co-favorite series of all time with Garth Ennis' and Steve Dillon's Preacher, and this is the last chapter of the story. For those that have been reading in trade form, get on that. For those that haven't been reading it at all, shame on you. Get out there and get that whole series, and that goes for everyone. This is about as good as it gets in the comic book medium.

Y at Last

After a long, long, long wait, my Y the Last Man trades finally arrived today. I know, I know, this is another post about Y the Last Man. You'd think they would have stopped when the series ended, but of course not. If you've learned nothing about me, it's that I can go on and on about anything, and to me, most everything else is less interesting than Y the Last Man.

So the especially cool thing about these trades, as I already have bought the entire series in trade and have a lot of the individual issues as well, is that they each come with a special plate on the inside.

This plate, as you can see to the right, is a new piece of art that series artist and co-creator Pia Guerra designed specifically for this. These trades were part of a big event called "Y the Last Party," an event commemorating the release of the last issue and attended by keynote speaker Joss Whedon, Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, and a bunch of other top notch creators, plus the guests of honor - Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra.

Back to the point, these special "Y the Last Party" plates are only attainable through this event, and all proceeds go to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund which helps down on their luck and aspiring comic creators get their start and dedicates its existence to fighting for creators rights. So not only did I get a great deal, picking up the trades of my dearly loved Y AND getting the autographs of my favorite creators AND getting an original piece of art starring my favorite characters (rollerskating no less), but I also helped a worthy cause. On a sadder note, I did not receive the autograph/art piece for books 2or 8, but I'm sure the CBLDF will hook me up shortly, so I'm not too worried.

Money well spent I say, and I'm ridiculously excited to finally get it. I've been waiting for three things for the past few months - this, my Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground vinyl album, and "commissions" I sent to get drawn by Mrs. Guerra herself. Two of the three (the former two) are here, still waiting on the commissions. Hopefully it arrives soon, but if it's anything like the first two, it will be worth the wait.

Saddest Image Ever

Seriously. I cannot go say enough about how great Pia Guerra's work on Y the Last Man was. The last issue could have almost went without dialogue, that's how great her work was in the last book. The picture above is probably the saddest thing I've ever seen in any medium of entertainment.

Why? The Last Issue

Y the Last Man #60 came out today, and I'm not going to go in depth on the review. I just wanted to lay out a couple things.

Perfect.

It was absolutely perfect.

It could not have ended in any way, and it was tragic and beautiful and funny all in one package. Massive kudos to Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan, and the rest of the crew on a job incredibly well done, and I will absolutely miss this series as much as any comic series I've ever read.

I've read it twice, and I think it may be my favorite single issue of any comic ever.

Quick note, Jeff Jensen from Entertainment Weekly has a great interview with Brian K. Vaughan and write up about Y the Last Man here. Its to coincide with the release of the last issue, and its great to see a major publication like EW shedding some publicity on this amazing comic.

Also, if interested, I did a detailed review with spoilers aplenty. See that here. Pretty darn good write up if I do say so myself. Very similar to reviews that I read after the fact. Maybe I should be writing comic reviews for a living?

Go me! Go me! It's my birthday!

So today, January 17th of 2008, I turn 24 years old. Very odd, that feels very old to me, but no less, it is true. So far, for the fourth year running or so, my old girlfriend and all together cool gal Kim Kryger clocked in as the first person to wish me a Happy Birthday. Congrats to Kim to beating everyone to the punch once again!

Also, thanks to Amy for being the first person to give me presents, buying me a delicious White Chocolate Mocha and Almond Poppyseed Muffin for breakfast AND hooking me up with the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and a Dave Eggers book whose title escapes me. Not to mention the fact she actually brought a candle to put in my muffin (which was a trick candle that would literally not go out...Kaladi Brothers by Title Wave may have burnt down by now) and serenaded me with the world's quickest rendition of Happy Birthday. Needless to say, Amy is the early frontrunner for MVBW (Most Valuable Birthday Wisher for the uninitiated).

Regardless, I had to make a bday post because I feel as if it will be a wonderful way to score comments, so comment to stroke my ego as a birthday present. Yay ego stroking! I kid (sort of).

Also, if you are feeling extravagant, I also accept tickets to the Super Bowl as a present (assuming of course that it is the Pats vs. Packers...or Pats vs. Giants for that matter...my boys the Patriots will be in it one way or another...knock on wood) or tickets to the below event. How cool is the below event for me? It's a celebration for the release of the last issue of one of my all time favorite comics, Y the Last Man, and it features special guest Joss Whedon and the magnificent creative team from Y the Last Man, Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra. There will be Q and A, there will be punch, and there will be all kinds of awesomeness I'm sure. If you feel the need to express how you feel about me financially, I fully encourage tickets to either of those events as the way to go. But that's just me.

Recommendations for the Summer

As it is officially summertime, meaning we have crossed into the month of June, I figured I would drop a few recommendations for those folks who remotely care to see that. I mean come on, who doesn't want to see my recommendations? They're coming from me, that's how you know they're good.

Books

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

It's Harry Potter for one. It's the last Harry Potter ever for two. I may start weeping just talking about it. As a book I originally would only read if properly bargained and bribed beforehand, it is pretty amazing that I turned out to be as big of a fan as I am. I call myself an Hpothead. I went to Prisoner of Azkaban's opening night showing dressed as Harry. I am going to the Midnight release of this book. Yep...I'm a pretty big fan. Essentially, here is the deal. If you don't read the book, we're not friends anymore. Even you folks out there who may or may not read this blog and do not know me, you count to. This relationship is over if you do not read this book. That settled? Good. Here's a brief idea of what it is about. Teen Wizards Harry, Ron, and Hermione head off to destroy Horcruxes (thingamajigs that contain bits of Lord Voldemort's soul) in a desperate attempt to finally kill the very bad man known as Voldemort. Success? We shall see.

Comics

Y the Last Man

Like Harry Potter, Y the Last Man is rapidly approaching its climax. Issue 56 recently passed us by, leaving us with a mere 4 issues to wrap up the tale of the world's last man...or the man that was once known as our last one, as he sired a child who is now the...other last man. For those not in the know, and you should be as this book is pretty much genius from cover to back, Y is the story of a man named Yorick Brown, who along with his pet Capuchin monkey named Ampersand (as in this - &), are the last survivors of something that killed off all of the men across the world, leaving a chaotic world featuring all the women and this one man. It is a story of trying to find the truth behind what happened, Yorick trying to find his lost love, and the mysterious Agent 355 and Yorick's developing relationship. It is about life, and the people who fill out that life and how they make sure it continues. The book is the brain child of the best writer in the world (suck that literature!) Brian K. Vaughan and artist extraordinaire Pia Guerra, and is required reading for pretty much anyone that has a mind. It is one of the best things the medium of comic books has ever offered, and requires more readers, especially now that it is ending. With the ending set for some time in September (I believe), this is more of a general recommendation, but a recommendation no less. Even if you are inherently resistant towards the medium, remember this. I would never lead you astray. Well...most of the time.

Movies

Ratatouille

What a shocker. Pixar making another amazing movie. I can hardly believe it. What am I going to recommend next, "Activity of the Summer: Breathing." Of course Ratatouille is going to be amazing. It is made by Pixar, who has never made a bad movie, just 5 amazing ones and two decent to good ones. It is directed by Brad Bird, who outside of Hayao Miyazaki and John Lasseter is pretty much the greatest thing in animation. The man directed the Iron Giant and the Incredibles! What more does the man need to do to earn everyones faith?! It also has a great and classically off the wall cast in true Pixar tradition, featuring comedian Patton Oswalt as the lead and my boy Will Arnett (Gob from Arrested Development) in a smaller role. Count me in. I can't wait.

Music

The Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder

This is the most ridiculously bizarre album of the year. I don't even know how to describe it. It is two CD's long, alternating between full songs and weird little minute long tracks, of just pure pop goodness and driving guitars and synth and vocal effects. It sounds like Electric Light Orchestra's Mr. Blue Sky extended into album length and updated to more fit the sound of now. It was released in February to very little fanfare, but boy is it catchy and fun. If you're willing to try something a little new (which is the summer spirit, I mean come on) put these guys in your CD player and roll down the windows and have a good time. You may be disappointed, but I don't think you will be.

TV/Video Games

It's summer time. I gave you enough to distract you for a while. If you must, watch the 4400 and play some Halo 3 Beta...well play that for like 6 more days. Once that is over, brush off your old copy of Warcraft 3 and play it with me on rainy days. But besides that, go out and enjoy the sun. Go hiking, go fishing, go play some Frisbee Golf. Go have a beer on the deck of your favorite bar. Pretty much whatever, even if it is just suntanning at your place while reading Harry Potter and Y the Last Man while listening to The Apples in Stereo, get out there and enjoy your summer! There's plenty of time to be cold in the other 9 months (especially for us Alaskans), just get out there and enjoy it while it is there. Two last recommendations...try random things like Renaissance Faire's (went to one this past weekend and it was a great time) and do not play World of Warcraft. That is the devil's game, and do not submit to its loving embrace. Otherwise you'll turn into this little kid that I met at the Renaissance Faire this past weekend...and nobody wants to be like that. Well. Besides that kid. He seemed pretty down with it.