What child doesn’t love a good grenade-down-the-thorax story?
I saw the Time Traveler’s Wife this weekend. I’ll keep my thoughts short on this subject, as I imagine most of our readership would rather read about District 9, G.I. Joe, or even The Goods.
The movie was okay. It had some cute parts, and was pretty faithful to the book, but the small time span the movie was forced into really hurt the overall punch of the story. I’m not saying the movie should have been longer, because to be honest, I usually hate long movies. There was just too much in the book that couldn’t fit into the film. As a result, Henry and Claire’s personalities, and even their reasons for loving each other, were highly undeveloped and unclear. We’re just kind of thrown into them loving each other, depending on Adams and Bana’s spotty acting to make us like the characters and their relationship. Additionally, a lot of Henry’s adventures were cut out, as was pretty much all the suspense of keep Henry’s problem a secret, Claire’s family dynamics, and most of the subplots with Gomez. Still, for anyone who is a fan of the book, the skeleton of the story is pretty much there, and it is fun to see it on the screen.
Now, on to things our readers probably care about. The comic WE3 came in the mail for me this week. For those unfamiliar, the book is a story about three house pets who have been transformed into cybernetic super-weapons by the U.S. government, for use in covert missions. The three animals escape, and antics ensue. The book is three or four issues long, if that. It is written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Frank Quitely.
WE3 is a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while, and I have to say it more than lived up to the hype. To be honest, I’m not even sure how to describe how much I liked it. One of the cover tags reads “‘Startling, disturbing and perhaps enlightening … a provocative tale.’ –The Atlanta Journal Constitution,” and I suppose that’s a fairly good place to start.
Disturbing is certainly a fair descriptor. The highly graphic violence and sometimes-twisted cybernetic modifications mix with three cute and familiar animals who are very lovable, friendly, and speak in a combination of a text-messaging dialect and how a toddler talks to great effect. This well-executed “horror” aspect keeps the story very sharp and engaging in a unique way, snaring you in with with some very strong and interesting imagery, atmosphere and themes. It’s similar to a good horror movie in certain ways I suppose, combining the disturbing with the beloved to create a powerful emotional reaction.
Startling, the other descriptor in the cover tag from The Atlanta Journal Constitution, is maybe less accurate. There are some twists and turns, to be sure, and some very powerful scenes as well, but I don’t think startling is the right word. It evokes too much ”Ah! Boo!” in my opinion. I don’t think I can do much better, however, save offering other reviewer’s tropes. Raw maybe? Powerful? Moving? The point is the story has some oomph to it in a lot of places, and even if you’re an emotionally jaded cynic like me, you should feel the hits.
As for enlightening, I don’t know. You can draw some conclusions about war, government and conflict resolution that I don’t think are insightful enough to have much value outside a freshman English class. though I might be being a bit cynical and presumptuous in saying so. There is a little more meat in some themes about violence, loyalty, and how we as a culture both under- and over-value animal life sometimes, but I still think “enlightening” is a bit of an exaggeration.
I will say though, that there is a definitely sweetness to the story. Morrison and Quitely, more than anything else, have created something very touching here. Some of the panels, especially towards the end, are just beautiful in how well they express an emotion. I realize this review is a bit long, and probably dull, so here’s my bottom line:
READ WE3. NOW.
<3 Mike
I had been wondering how our main characters were tied to fighting carelions. I love the expression on the teacher’s face.
Oh! Forgot to add why I come back every week: To make sure the lot of you know you’re doing a good damn job and not to stop! I was jumping at the bit for the months of your hiatus. I was close to convincing myself that Megatokyo is a good comic and reading it instead. O_O
@ comicgoodness: Thanks for the tweet. Our twitter traffic is definitely growing, and your help is much appreciated.
@ JBony: Haha, thanks, your compliments are always appreciated. Your continued support means a lot to Dana and I, and I for one especially appreciate you sticking out our hilariously long hiatus. Also, God help you if you’re reading Megatokyo. I mean, I’l give them credit for being successful in their niche, which is not the same as mine. I’ll also cop to not really understanding the material or genre they’re catering to. Given all that though, I’ll still say, “Abandon hope all ye who enter here,” for anyone even thinking about Megatokyo.
-Mike
Shmikey– did I ever tell you I had lunch with matthew modine from full metal jacket?? nice guy– he spent the whole lunch making up anecdotes about what kind of felonies would be really funny to commit.
Miss you.
Figured I’d roll this conversation over to the newest post. We have pretty similar tastes, going by the comics you listed as liking and disliking. Have you read Transmetropolitan? It’s one of the more well-known works, admittedly, so there’s a decent chance you have, but if you haven’t you should give it a chance.
Sleeper is another good one. It’s a kind of spy-thing, but it’s plenty violent, and it has some interesting twists and turns. Also nice is that it is concluded (so no cliffhangers) and that it is collected in only 3 or 4 volumes (3 if you get the “season one” version, which has the first two trades gathered into one larger softcover, 4 if you buy the first two trades seperately).
Another recommendation would be The Boys. If I may steal a description from wikipedia (as you might’ve noticed by the fact that I explained Sleepers as a “spy-thing”, I’m not much for synopses), “The series is set in a contemporary world very much similar to real one, with one notable exception: a number of people have some form of superpower. The series follows a superpowered CIA squad, known informally as “The Boys”, whose job it is to keep watch on superheroes and, if necessary, intimidate or kill them.” Also of note – since you said you loved Preacher – is that Ennis said (again, stealing from Wiki) that the series would “out-Preacher Preacher”. It’s at around 33-34 issues, and I think maybe 5 trades at this point. It is truly a wonderfully dark comic.
Anyway, those are all based on the fact that we seem to have decently similar tastes. Also, the first two are complete, and readily available in trades, which is better than trying to get you hooked on 3 new monthlies, eh? The Boys is on-going, admittedly, but it’s *well* worth the cost.
Oh, and to the business that should well have come first:
A) This rocks for continuing the previous awesome comic.
B) This rocks because of the expressive body-work; look at the way Colin is leaning forward with his fingers spread in the second panel, and the way the kids’ arms are up in the third.
C) This rocks because the punchline is excellent.
@ JBony and WR Davidson: As Mike said, we really appreciate all the kind words and continued support. I didn’t really think anyone was following us during our hiatus so it’s nice to know someone cared.
Did anyone see District 9? I thought it was pretty awesome. I also find it funny that I opted for the big sci-fi movie by the video game director while Mike went for the tearjerker chick flick.
-dana
I think kids are too sheltered these days, tell them the dark stories I say!
@ Krebbie: Thanks for ruining Matthew Modine for me. Now he’s on my “Celebrity Grudge List” along with Rick Springfield, Angela Lansbury, and the guy who played Ronald McDonald from 92-06.
@ WR: So much to discuss.
I’ve never tried Transmetropolitan, though it’s been recommended to me a few times. To be honest, I’ve been kind of skittish about Ellis’s work. N.E.X.T. Wave totallly annoyed me, which is lauded book in some circles, as I’m sure you know. I wasn’t crazy about his Ultimate FF run, and made it through 1.5 issues of his work on Astonishing X-Men. I liked G.I. Joe: Resolute, but at the same time, I wouldn’t say the writing was awesome.
Still, I feel like I should give him a chance. Transmet is easily his most famous work, and I should probably check it out. For all I know, Ellis could just be spotty like a bunch of other writers I like, Jeph Loeb being a good example of this. For every Ultimates 3, there is a Spider-man: Blue.
Sleeper sounds really interesting. I’ll add it to the list.
I know of the Boys, but don’t know why I haven’t picked it up. Besides Preacher, I’ve really enjoyed Ennis’ run on Punisher, making it through I don’t know how many trades. It might be one of the few series I’m actually up-to-date on. I guess I’ve stayed away from Boys because I’m afraid it’s going to be another “hurr hurr superheroes are dumb” book, but I should check it out because it is Garth Ennis after all.
As always, your compliments are far too kind. Thanks for coming by week after week.
@Dana: It was a rare weekend of me taking pity on Vanessa, as she usually gets dragged to all the Sci-fi movies that even partially grab my interest. I plan on seeing District 9 this weekend. I am going to rock soda and popcorn and it’s going to be great.
@John K: Mmm, I dunno if kids today are so sheltered. I had Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers, which were imaginative, but nothing too hard to follow. Now kids have straight-lsd shit like Yo Gabba Gabba and Lazytown. Youtube either one of those if you’re wondering what the heart of darkness looks like.
-Mike
Just came across you guys through Stumbleupon and read through your archives and love it. The artwork is amazing and the writing backs it up 10 fold. The carebear Starship Troopers is truly golden, as is the cookie monster comics, as are the rest. Definite bookmark for my webcomic fix.
And District 9 was amazing, easily one of the best Sci-fi movies of the last 10 years and one of the best movies of 2009.
Dana: I should be thanking ya’ll for making it worth coming back to every week, not the other way around, eh? As to your other comment: I really would like to see District 9, but I have moderate social anxiety so I’ll be waiting until the theatre is less crowded. I’ve heard nothing but good, though, and enjoyed Blomkamp’s short films, so I’ll see it at some point.
Mike: Well, there is some “hurr hurr superheroes are dumb” going on, but there’s also a rather powerful and well-orchestrated opposition to the Boys, so it’s not totally one-sided. As for Transmet… there are definitely some stretches where it kind of drags, but overall it is an amazing series. Really, anything that long tends to have its slower stretches, eh? If you don’t like it you don’t like it, but it’s worth checking out at least.
I wasn’t a fan of Nextwave either, and I never read the Ultimate FF. I don’t usually read superhero stuff unless it’s twisted in some way (a la the Boys, or Irredeemable, etc.), though I admit to being a sucker for Ultimate X-men and Ultimate Spider-man.
@Vince: Thanks for reading and bookmarking. Like Reddit, Stumbleupon has been very kind to us. I saw District 9 last night. I liked it, but I dunno, I guess it had been over-hyped for me. Nothing too mind-blowing in my opinion. A bit more on that tomorrow.
@WR: Don’t blame you on avoiding most superhero stuff. More people should, as 99% of it is boring, recylced paste. I would recommend Invincible for sure if you’ve never read, and at least checking out Millar’s issues of Ultimate FF (especially the zombie arc, which is just so fun).
Out of cuiriousity, how far did you make it through Ultimate X-Men? I stuck with it until Kirkman’s first arc, where I jumped ship.
Re: Ultimate X-men: I’ve read to around issue 75 (it’s been awhile since I read any new, so I’m not sure exactly), and have the trades through … I think it’s issue 66. Volume 13, anyway.
My interest in the series definitely waxed and waned, but the basic premise of it – and the art, usually – was enough that even though there were parts I was less-than-thrilled with, I still like the series as a whole.
I can understand something poisoning you on a series though; honestly, if I hadn’t bought the first 17 issues of The Boys from eBay in a single fell swoop, I probably wouldn’t've stuck with that series, as the Russia-arc has drastically different (and not nearly as good, in my opinion) art. If I had been reading it as something that was on my pull-list when that happened, I would’ve canceled it and gone to find greener pastures, but since I had a stack of issues that carried on past that point, I forgave that minor misstep and continued with the series.
I’ll have to check out Millar’s work on Ultimate FF. The big thing I’m excited about right now is the Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer graphic novel that’s supposed to be out soon.