It's good to know..

And now for something I'd like to call, "A Single Image Illustrating Why You Should Be Reading The Punisher".


The Punisher #11
Writer - Rick Remender
Artist - Tony Moore

Looks pretty crazy, right?
Well, all you need to know is this comic takes place mere moments after the events of Dark Reign : The List - The Punisher. In that comic, Wolverine's evil son, Daken or (sigh) Dark Wolverine if you prefer, cut The Punisher to pieces. Literally. Arms cut off. Beheaded. The whole deal. He then proceeded to toss the assorted severed bits into an open sewer. The pieces of the former Punisher were collected by monsters and taken to a vampire scientist (he's a scientist who is a vampire, not a scientist in the field of vampire) who put Frank back together a la Frankenstein's monster.
After he awakens (and goes on a short rampage), the vampire scientist asks..



THIS COMIC IS BEYOND AWESOME!
I mean, what a great response. This guy lives in a world with rock monsters and rubber guys and spider men and aliens in capes and he was just been brought back from the dead. If you were The Punisher I think there'd just have to be a point where you'd go, "Yeah, you know what? Fuck it. What else can happen?"

Now I know..

And now for what I like to call, "A Series of Images Illustrating Why You Should Be Reading Daredevil".


Daredevil #501
Writer - Andy Diggle
Artist - Robert De La Torre

I GOTTA BELIEVE!!

I GOTTA BELIEVE!!
Originally uploaded by thechrishaley

From Scott Pilgrim Vol. 3.
Art & Words by Bryan Lee O'Malley
Colours by me

Pre-Volume 6 Scott Pilgrim Cast Poster

Pre-Volume 6 Scott Pilgrim Cast Poster
Originally uploaded by radiomaru

It's a parody/homage of Gem Fighter/Pocket Fighter, Capcom, 1997.

Bryan Lee O'Malley is the champion, my friends.

Dang ol' Superman

Dang ol' Superman
Originally uploaded by thechrishaley

Want to hear me talk about Superman and Wednesday Comics?
www.letsbefriendsagain.com/2009/07/31/i-am-terribly-vexed/

I've got these wandering eyes..

Seriously, why didn't someone tell me they were going to be doing a new collection of the long out-of-print Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil comics?!
In a sweet hardcover collection no less?!

It's never been like that..

“When I was in high school, I didn’t have a parent figure. I didn’t have a sense of being cared about,” Waid said. “In January of 1978, I went to see ‘Superman: The Movie’ – it changed my life.”

Waid said that the film’s message of hope had a profound impact on him. “[It was] the single most transformative moment of my life.” A misty-eyed Waid then said that Superman was important because he “was someone who cared about everybody,” regardless of race or class or any other determining factor.

- via CBR

Where was I when you needed me most..

I don't really know anything about Buck Rogers, but I do know that I think these are a mighty fine lookin' pair of covers courtesy of John Cassaday and Alex Ross.

But what does it mean?

Sounds pretty sweet. I certainly can't see that ever changing or anything possibly going wrong with that arrangement..



WHAT?! OH SHIT! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?! WE'RE SO SCREWED!
WAIT!
Is there someone with incredible powers who could save the human race?



Magnus?!
Who the hell is Magnus?!
Where does he come from and who will he fight?



Okay.. that.. that seems like what I'm looking for but is he going to stick with it? I mean, is this like a hobby for him, or does he consider it a mission?



Wait, what kind of mission? What if the secret is that it's a bad mission!



Okay, well that makes me feel a little better.

To be continued...

I collect rocks to throw at visitors..

And we're back!
Let's do this thing!

- The Blu-Ray of Disney's Sleeping Beauty is incredible.

- Our panel at Mid-South Con was a fun experience.

- Those cans of air intended to be used when cleaning your computer or whatever are not a substitute for actual dusting. This seems like common sense, right? Apparently, it is not.

- The Venture Bros Season 3 will be available on DVD & Blu-Ray tomorrow. Are you as excited as I am?

- Thanks to The Savage Critic(s) here are Comics I am interested in reading that are also due in stores this week :
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #589
BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #3
CAPTAIN AMERICA #48
DAREDEVIL #117
FANTASTIC FOUR #565
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #24
INCREDIBLES FAMILY MATTERS #1 (OF 4)
MIGHTY AVENGERS #23
MUPPET SHOW #1 (OF 4)
NEW AVENGERS #51
SUPERMAN #686
TOP 10 SPECIAL #1
SHOWCASE PRESENTS AMBUSH BUG TP VOL 01

You must understand this..

"Somewhere, in our darkest night, we made up the story of a man who will never let us down and that seemed worth investigating." - Grant Morrison via Wired

Hang 'em high...

Along with the Young Neil article on Savage Critics, this is the finest meditation on/exploration of Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe I've read so far.
I highly recommend reading both it and the comments section if you've already read Vol. 5.

Autumn got dark..

A friend of mine just emailed me and told me he'd finished Scott Pilgrim Vol. 4 last night and that he'd really enjoyed but that Scott's stupidity almost got to be too much at points.

Immediately I thought, "Wait.. Scott's not stupid.. is he?"

I think it's not that he's stupid, it's that he's equal parts naive, obtuse, and self-involved. On a different character, those characteristics would make him the villain or completely unlikeable, but Scott is endearing because he doesn't engage in any of the acts that reveal those characteristics intentionally.
Sure, he's a selfish jerk sometimes, but it's not because he means to be. It's that he just has a hard time seeing the world beyond his world.

What do you guys think?

This ain't a scene..

Man, Werner Herzog was right about this comic!

The Sentry has suggested you take a picture.
I would be inclined to heed his request.

Everybody look at me..

Freddie Mercury made a surprise appearance in Invincible Iron Man #10 as a trace subject model for Salvador Larroca.


I smell a meme coming on..



Care to join in?

Show me the way you move..

And now, a panel from The Invincible Iron Man #10...

All things they want you..

JLA: The Obsidian Age, Book One by Joe Kelly

My review

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first half of Joe Kelly and Doug Mahnke's second story arc on JLA.
Read this last night.
It's been a little while since I read "Golden Perfect", but I'd say Kelly has a more comfortable (if not slightly better) handle on the characters here.
Still nowhere near the heights the team would reach with "Trial By Fire" (http://hiptoday.blogspot.com/2008/02/shell-see-im-not-so-tough.html), but you can see that they're a good creative pairing.

View all my reviews.

If I can take a fire..

COMIC REVIEWS IN UNDER A MINUTE!


Amazing Spider-Man #585
Character Assassination Part 2 of 4
Writer : Marc Guggenheim
Artist : John Romita Jr.

Wha happa?
HEY KIDS!






COMICS!

And the verdict is?
If you like seeing Spider-Man get the shit kicked out of him, this is the comic for you!

When I was a child..

My (spoiler free) thoughts on Final Crisis #7 :


You said it.

This comic (with it's one penciller and SEVEN inkers) really illustrates what a difference an inker can make.
I'm not sure who inked which parts, but I do know that while the whole thing essentially looked drawn by Doug Mahnke, the quality shifted wildly from inker to inker.
I know that has nothing to do with the story itself which is what people really want to talk about when it comes to Final Crisis (right?).

Well, as far as the story goes, I liked it.
Would I have liked to have seen more of some characters or to have had a little expansion of some of the scenes? Yes. Very much so. But I know that's not the kind of story Grant Morrison was trying to tell, and having read all of the interviews he's done about the book, I understand and appreciate what he was going for, so I can't fault him for the choices he made.
Well, I could, but I won't.
Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that I think Grant Morrison knows what he's doing a lot better than I do. I mean, I'd never even heard of "superluminal" speeds before Final Crisis.

Timothy Callahan has done a fantastic analysis of the entire series here, and if you're interested in intelligent comic discussion I definitely think it's worth your time. I generally feel that way about everything Timothy Callahan writes though, so maybe I'm biased.

The most pressing question on my mind now is how will DC follow up on all of the ideas Morrison introduced or concluded in this series. While I think that not running with some of the balls he was playing with (this was a terrible choice of metaphors) would be a huge waste, the idea of writers of a lesser quality or vision mucking up his ideas (read : Countdown) seems just as bad.

So where does DC go from here?

Thoughts?

Awfully unsporting..

For those of you that missed it, we have uncovered what really happened to Batman in Final Crisis #6.
I think this is week has been Let's Be Friends Again's best week ever, in that the comics we have done this week both make me very proud to have been involved with them.
It is my hope that if you have not already seen this week's comics you will check them out and enjoy them thoroughly.
It is also my sincere hope that people will continue to enjoy them so much so that they tell other people (emailing, linking, blogging, Digging, Stumbling, whatever).
I am not a marketing or internet expert so I have no idea on how better to do this, but I think we are making comics that certain audiences will enjoy if we can only find a way to get said comics to said audiences.
It is my hope that those of you who are already enjoying them will continue to help us out in this respect.