WTFEntertainment

Happy Pre-Labor Day!

This past week, as always, was spent spending money. I really shouldn’t as I have too many bills and other things I should be saving for; the problem with this is I am a geek on several different levels. I ‘m into music, video games, comics, movies, computers, technology, nerd-wear, toys, gadgets, etc. all of this combined means my paychecks disappear faster than they should.

I, like many of you, forego responsibilities on a constant basis just to be able to get a few more collectable things to add to my collections. To be honest it’s almost like a drug I assume.

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ELEPHANTMEN VOLUME 1
WOUNDED ANIMALS
IMAGE $24.99

The idea of creating a human/animal hybrid is older than civilization. Ancient cultures saw their gods as some sort of amalgamation of man and beast and worshiped these monstrous deities for centuries before more refined humanized versions of these benevolent higher powers showed up to preach love, understanding and genocide. It almost seems as if it is designed in our DNA that man and best should be able to merge as a single better creation. Current science is trying to force working animal parts into broken human bodies, giving people chances at life they wouldn’t have had normally. The cloning of animals is a big step towards a day when things like heart diseased and lung cancer are cured as simply as appendicitis. Elephantmen takes a closer look at the more military applications of these wondrous scientific advances and the cultural byproduct of using a man/animal hybrid as tools of war. The real questions about these manimals comes when the war is over and everyone asks themselves “what do we do with killing machines when all the killing is done?”

Visually this book ranges from stunning futuristic cityscapes to murky underwater fights to the confusion and horror of being born in a lab that routinely tortures you to create a better killer. One would think the conflicting art styles would leave the reader with a bit of a disconnect. I know that I have been completely taken out of a multi part story if the art team changes mid plot line. Because of the out of time feeling of many of the books this never becomes a problem.

Elephantmen is science fiction at its very best, a morality tale cloaked under the guise of futuristic noir. The characters are richly detailed and I don’t just mean on the art side. We get to delve into the fractured psyches of these people who were taught from birth that they’re only function in life was to kill. How does a person, and lets face it, these elephantmen are all too human, come to grips with something like that? Not since Joshua on the too quickly canceled Dark Angel have I seen animal men with such human flaws and characteristics, not just as an allegory or a morality tale, but as a twisted mirror reflecting our own humanity back at us from a strangely familiar perspective.

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It’s weird how so much of my order for this month all came in the same week. I racked up nearly $200 at Ye olde Comical Book Store and I really didn’t feel like I got my money’s worth. Part of the problem is the two $40 hardcovers and the $25 Buffy Omnibus are sitting off the the side unread for the time being. I hope to get into those and review them soon (but really, what are the chances of that?).

TANK GIRL: THE GIFTING #3 – IDW – $3.99

Ok, I have to admit I realy love this book. It’s silly, it’s violent and at times inappropriately sexy (oh Booga *sigh*). If you missed issue two then you’re fucked because the stories in this book carry over from that book. You’re double fucked because Jet Girl is coming to your house to shit in your sock drawer. You shoulda bought the book. You’ll know better next time. Seriously though this reincarnation of everybody’s favorite post apocalyptic hottie is every bit as irreverent as the original. Ashley Wood’s oddly endearing artistic sensibilities were a perfect match for the nonstop wackyness that just drips from every page of this book. If you liked the original series or the movie or nonsense or sexy kangaroo men you should be buying this thing. Luckily I know your fetish for latex clad kangaroo hybrids from the late night furry chat rooms SO GO GET IT DURR!

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #45 – MARVEL – $2.99

I really have no idea what is going on. I love the way the Ultimate universe takes characters we know and love and tweaks them so they’re brand new. Sometimes this works really well (Gwen Stacy/Carnage hybrid clone thingy) and sometimes not so much (Cable is really Wolverine from the future) and in this case, I’m really torn. The Silver Surfer appeared a year or two ago in a big crossover/mini series that brought us Ultimate Galactus (Ultimate Nightmare/Secret/Extinction) but this version of the Surfer is working for the Ultimate version of Psycho Man. It’s all very nutty and this issue finds our heroes in the Matrix. The happy sappy touchy feely love everybody Matrix. Luckily the art is pretty enough to string me along as I try to figure this out.

THE SPIRIT #8 – DC – $2.99

Just so you know, and in case I haven’t said it before, everyone should be reading the Spirit. Darwyn Cooke has taken this book and really just made it his own. The stories themselves feel absolutely timeless, almost as if he has taken them directly from the mind and pen of Will Eisner and just plopped them down on the page. His clear and dynamic storytelling make this a MUST READ book every single month. This issue we meet El Morte, a supernatural gangster who was brought back from the dead with voodoo by his mother. The visual of El Morte are creepy in the way old EC horror comics were creepy and yet never does this book feel schlocky or forced. The all too human world of cops and robbers the Spirit usually finds himself in the middle of overlaps seamlessly into horror themes because of the expertise Cooke shows in his craft. If you’re an aspiring writer or artist Darwyn Cooke is absolutely some of the best stuff you can find to show how stories should be told.

ANNIHILATION CONQUEST: STARLORD #2 (of 4) – MARVEL – $2.99
PICK OF THE WEEK

With all the other high profile stuff out this week how did this book become my POTW? Two words, “Rocket Raccoon”! Once again the Dirty Dozen feeling I got in the first issue seeps through again. This team is made up of some of the biggest misfits in the galaxy and they have to save the universe from alien conquest by the Marvel Comics version of the Borg. It’s packed with action, humor and just the right amount or Raccoon on giant tree man action.

BIRDS OF PREY #109 – DC- $2.99

The cover says it all. This issue Barbara tries to talk Canary out of marrying Ollie. We already know how it ends as DC has THREE wedding specials solicited for next month. The best part of this book is the little killing machine Sin teaching the big killing machine Barda how to play Pokemon and Misfit’s reaction to it. I have to say I think this Tony Bedard fellow is starting to grow on me. I hated his run on Exiles but so far he’s managed to keep the Birds in character, keep the feeling that this is a “family” and not just a team and inject some humor in there when he can. The death of the New Gods from Countdown and various Superman titles is shown a bit here. Not surprising as Barda is one of those New Gods.

BLUE BEETLE #18 – DC – $2.99

I picked this up because it had the Teen Titans in it and boy am I glad I did. This book was funny, well written, and packed with action. I didn’t know all the details of the plot becuause they mention things that are obviously Blue Beetle related and I don’t normally read this title. I think I may start though.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #543 – MARVEL – $2.99

I have not enjoyed much of the Back in Black storyline that’s been running the last few months. I felt like last month’s Amazing took the story in a direction that I could finally get behind but once again Peter is pushed in a direction that I don’t particularly enjoy. The setup at the end of this issue for the big mega One More Day storyline is done perfectly but I feel like the Parker’s are all acting out of character (except Aunt May, she still gives great coma after all these years). I’ll keep reading becuase I have an obsession with Spider-Man but if this were another character I think I would have stopped reading by now.

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #8 – MARVEL – $2.99

Who gives a shit about Iron Fist? I know I certainly didn’t until Ed Brubaker starting writing him and made me realize just how cool he can be. He’s like Batman without so many parent issues. I don’t even want to talk about this issue just go get the first seven issues and then we can discuss it.

SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN #40 – MARVEL – $2.99

So when a book gets canceled what should the last issue be like? Should it have some kind of emotional depth? Should it have fantastic art? Should it star God as a scarred and toothless homeless man? If you said yes to all these questions run out right now and pick this book up! Go on, i’ll wait. Rarely in the past decade or so have I seen a Spider-Man book be so damn pretty. I don’t know who this Clayton Crain guy is but good lord somebody put him on a Spider book STAT!

Well, that’s not all I picked up but that’s all I have time to write about. Hopefully I’ll see you guys again next week!

Hey look a P.S. on an internet post. The coolest thing that came out this week I actually did not pick up. The Amazing Fantasy Omnibus dropped at $75. It’s a fantastic book reprinting all 15 issues of Amazing Adult Fantasy/ Amazing Adventures/ Amazing Fantasy. Included in this beautiful hardcover are the first appearances of Spider-Man, Dr Druid (then called Dr Droom) and a multitude of magnificent monsters from the insane imaginations of Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and the immortal Jack Kirby. I sadly could not afford this treasure but I hope to one day aquire it. Between its covers is over $50,000 worth of comic book history. I think $75 is a small price to pay for that really.

Popularity: 2% [?]

It seems to take some kind of event to make me open up a word processor these days. I read and watch things every day that I want to write about but I never seem to get around to it. Today I watched the second episode of the new Showtime series Californication and I have to say that I never expected that show to cause me to have an opinion strong enough to write about. The first episode seemed like some kind of exercise in an over examination of a man in the midst of his mid life crisis. The characters all seemed one note (with the almost notable exception of the daughter character played by relative newcomer Madeline Martin) and their interactions were trite and overwrought. Somehow Tom Kapinos (Dawson’s Creek) and company have taken a badly conceived pilot and turned it into something I am eagerly looking for to.

The main plot revolves around Hank Moody (David Duchovny) and his many MANY issues revolving mostly around his split with long time lover and mother of his child Karen (the lovely Natascha McElhone). She has taken up and become affianced to a new love who himself has a teenage daughter and has moved herself and her daughter into what Hank sarcastically refers to as her “Barbie dream house”. The interactions between Hank and his witless foil Bill make for some awkward fun for everyone.

The title Californication is apt as there is someone having some kind of sexual exploit about every fourth scene. In the first episode these seemed like random nudity that had nothing to do with the plot but in this episode its much less forced and makes more sense to the story. Hank is obviously obsessed with sex as a way to escape his lonely life. He’s a writer who can’t write, a father who can’t parent and a lover who has lost his one true love.

Even with the wall to wall sexual exploits I think even the most hardcore of feminists will appreciate Hank, and really the show creators, attitude towards sexuality after 40, the obsession with body modification and the need to meet society’s standards of beauty. This should be available through Showtime on demand and while it may be painful to get through, I suggest watching the pilot to get a sense of what is going on before watching the second episode. There are a couple of plot points in there.

Californication
Mondays at 10:30pm

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Hey everyone! Just a quick update to let you all know that the WTFStore has been updated with two new retro designs! PacMan and Incredible Hulk! Check out the PAC-MAN parody before they take it down LOL!

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