Comic Action Figures for 2008

Two of my favorite comic book heroines will receive new action figures in 2008. Both are designed by Alex Ross from his work in the recently completed JUSTICE mini-series from DC Comics.


Batgirl looks great and really captures the 1970s look of this classic DC Character. Even though the yellow interior on her cape is a modern revision, the character looks fantastic.




This verison of Supergirl ,which existed from the mid-70s through the early '80s, hasn't been seen in an action figure since the Mego Figures from the 1970's "Worlds Greatest Super Heroes" collection were around. This has always been my favorite costume for the character, so it's great to see it being utilized here.

Worst 2007 Mainstream Super Hero Comic Book Events

Of course, if I'm listing some of my favorite comic events of 2007, I have to list some of the events I hated as well.

No. 1 - Spider-Man "One More Day"

This is an absolutely assinine storyline created solely because the head of Marvel Comics, Joe Quesada, doesn't like the concept of a married Spider-Man. Never mind that the majority of readers who have responded to polls do like the concept. It's all about what Joe wants. Even the writer of the book wanted his name taken off the story - he disagreed with it that much.

Spider-Man's beloved Aunt May was shot and lies dying. Medical Science can't save her; Spidey's super-powered and mystical friends can't save her; no one can. Spider-Man is able to get into her mind and she tells him that she is ready to die.

But Mephisto (the Marvel version of the devil) offers Spidey a deal. If Spider-man will give up all traces of his marriage to Mary Jane, Mephisto will heal Aunt May....and Spider-Man does it. His whole past changes. He has now never been married to Mary Jane, the love of his life. His aunt is alive...but for how long? She's elderly, and Mephisto never promised she wouldn't get hit by a bus the next week.

How in the world can Marvel allow Spider-Man to make a deal with the devil? It's out of character, it's unfathomable. And why is there a problem with the marriage? Why not write about how interesting the marriage could be?

Of course, it's comics - anything can be reversed in a matter of months...and hopefully this will be. But right now, Joe Quesada has ruined Spider-Man.

No. 2 - Amazons Attack

DC totally destroyed the concepts of the Amazons and Queen Hippolyta with this mini-series. Hippolyta was brought back from the dead by the evil witch Circe, and was upset to hear that her daughter, Wonder Woman, was in U.S. captivity because she had killed a government official who was mind-controlling Superman. Hippolyta declares war on the U.S. and leads the Amazons into a brutal attack on Washington DC and much of the country. The Amazons slaughter innocent people, right and left. And at the end...we learn that while Circe may have darkened Hippolyta's soul and while the evil Granny Goodness (posing as Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom) definitely influenced the war, Hippolyta is still responsible for her actions. This is so totally out of character. Hopefully writer Gail Simone will be able to redeem her somehow...but it's going to take a lot of work.

No. 3 - Countdown Arena

The DC Universe is once again a multiverse (although there's a finite amount of Earths this time). The once heroic Captain Atom of Earth-1 has become the evil Monarch and he is assembling his army. He's pitting various multiverse versions of characters against each other in battles to the death.

Issue #1 pits three different versions of Batman against each other; #2 features three different Green Lanterns; #3 features three different Wonder Women; and #4 featuers three different Supermen. Along the way we also see battles amonst three different Nightshades, Flashes, Blue Beetles, Starmen/girls, and various versions of Captain Atom and other heroes.

This is fan fiction at its worst, being published by one of the Big Two. The story is mindless and boring, and destroys the potential of many of these characters to be used again.

Favorite 2007 Super Hero Comic Events

Among my favorite mainstream super hero comic events of 2007 were:

1) The War between the Green Lantern Corps and the Sinestro Corps

With the Green Lantern Corps fully embracing their space policeman role, the Guardians of the Universe adapting with the times, and Sinestro at his most evil, this story arc delivered one of the best Green Lantern tales of all time while also planting seeds for future arcs. Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Arisia, Ion, Ganthet, Sinestro, Anti-Monitor, Superman-Prime, Cyborg-Superman, the Manhunters, and more, this story rocked.

2. Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes

After the "5 Years Later" storyline of the late '80s, the classic Legion of Super-Heroes were never the same...and then they suffered through a complete reboot after "Zero Hour" and a new one just a few years ago.

But the classic line up (with a few changes and adaptations) returned in 2006 with the JLA/JSA team-up, and now they've teamed up with old ally Superman for their first case together in years. It's great to see Dawnstar, Wildfire, Night Girl, Polar Boy and others back along with the real Shadow Lass, Cosmic Boy, and more. THIS is the Legion as they should be and I can't wait to read more adventures with them.

3) Gail Simone writes Wonder Woman

One of today's best mainstream superhero writers is now on the title I think she was born to write. Only two issues in and already the title character has more personality than she's shown in the most recent reboot. After suffering through the horrendous "Amazons Attack" mini-series, Wonder Woman fans finally have a writer that can bring on the good stuff.

4) Booster Gold

Who would have thought a new Booster Gold ongoing series would be any good...and yet, this one is brilliant. Written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Booster Gold creator Dan Jurgens, this series bounces all over the DC Universe's past, present and future. In 5 issues we've seen Flash (Barry Allen), Kid Flash (Wally West), Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Jonah Hex, Sinestro, Joker, Ultra-Humanite, Per Degaton, the Justice League of America, Blue Beetle I (Dan Garret), II (Ted Kord) and III (Jaime Reyes) and more in addition to series regular the time master Rip Hunter. This title is fun, in the tradition of the original Blue Devil and Harley Quinn series.

5. A better backstory for Supergirl

A few years ago, DC brought back the real Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) and then promptly ruined her by making her an angry, edgy teenager who was sent to Earth by her sadistic father to kill her cousin Kal-El (Superman).

Over the course of the series there were examples of false memories and possible memory implants, which gave many readers hope that this backstory wasn't true and that we might get the real Supergirl back after all.

While it's too early to know for sure, Supergirl #24 showed a new backstory that feels like home. The evil father and the mission to kill Kal-El are no longer....Supergirl was sent to Earth by her loving parents because they wanted to save her from Krypton's destruction. If DC can continue to redefine Supergirl as the heroine she should be, this series may turn out to be good after all!!

Have Yourself A Very Efron Christmas

Zac Efron appeared at our house twice on Christmas Day....first when my daughter received the "High School Musical 2: Extended Edition" DVD and secone when I received the "Hairspray" DVD.



















As the father of a 10 year old girl, I am very aware of Zac. "The New American Hearth Throb" as Rolling Stone calls him, Efron is the current king of teen idols with his appearances in "High School Musical," "High School Musical 2," "Hairspray," and the cover of every teen magazine on the newsstands.

Efron seems to be this year's "love him or hate him" guy. Most tweens and early teen girls adore him while the older teens and adults consider him beneath their notice. Why is that? There's certainly nothing threatening about Efron, so why do so many people over age 15 look down on him and his movies?

I'll agree that the "High School Musical" franchise is lightweight entertainment. But as a life long lover of musicals, I like having these movies that my children enjoy and that we can watch together. My daughter watches these movies over and over again. My son sneaks in the room to watch when he doesn't think anyone is paying attention, an action I find hysterically funny.

And sometimes lightweight entertainment is really all we need. The "HSM" movies may offer a Disney-approved, sanitized version of high school...but is that so bad for two hours? I like seeing a depiction of the in-kids as an inclusive group of guys and girls of different races, body shapes and interests.

In Troy (Efron) and Gabriella's (Vanessa Hudgens) group are jocks, brainiacs, musicians, dancers, cooks, and a pleasantly plump Martha (delightfully portrayed by scene stealer Kaycee Stroh). And are we sure that Ryan (Lucas Gabreel) is straight? He does seem slightly interested in Gabriella in "HSM2" but during the "I Don't Dance" performance, he also seems to be slightly flirting with Chad (Corbin Bleu). Perhaps Ryan is still figuring things out for himself. Either way - it's affirming that Disney has created the high school that we all wish we had gone to. After learning their lessons in "HSM" with the "Stick with the Status Quo" song, no one is ostracized for being who they are.

Now if "HSM" could just find something interesting for Taylor (Monique Coleman) and Martha (Kaycee Stroh) to do in the upcoming third movie.....

When you think about it, there's really not a lot of difference between the "HSM" movies and the classic Frankie Avalon and Annette Funnicello Beach movies of the '60s.

Frankie and Annette were always chaste; the movies had only as much plot as they needed to have between songs and surf; and the couple always had a falling out in the middle of the movie but came back together at the end.

While "Grease" and "Dirty Dancing" also dealt with unmarried pregnancy issues, no one can really accuse them of having stellar writing either. What made "Grease" and "Dirty Dancing" successful were the likeable stars, the music and the dancing. And that's the same combination that works for "HSM."

Focusing back on Efron. He has done a fine job thus far in his major roles of Troy for "HSM" and Link for "Hairspray." In both movies he just needed to be likeable, look good, and be able to dance and sing - all of which he carried off.

"Hairspray" succeeds as a fun movie, in spite of the horrible casting of John Travolta as Edna. I know the producers went with an A-level name, and Travolta makes sense as a proven actor, dancer and singer....but he was the one blight on the whole movie. Divine, who created Edna for the first "Hairspray" non-musical movie and Harvey Fierstein, who was the first to portray Edna in the Broadway run, truly understood the character. Unfortunately Travolta softened too many of her edges and she became very bland instead of the vibrant woman she was.

Seriously: wouldn't you have rather had Harvey Fierstein as Edna:

Instead of Travolta?

But at least Efron along with Nikki Blonsky, Christopher Walken, Michelle Pfeiffer and a very campy James Marsden do a great job and keep the movie afloat.

So let's hear it for Efron and his lightweight, likeable movies. No one is expecting it anytime soon, but maybe one day he will join the ranks of Travolta, Sally Field, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and other former teen idols who truly blossomed and became first class actors.

But if he does, could he try not to get photographed while scratching his boys at the beach?

Movie Reviews: Aliens Vs. Predator 2: Requiem

This movie features the hybrid Predalien, created at the end of AVP: Aliens Vs. Predator (2004) when an Alien face-hugger impregnated a Predator with an Alien embroyo. Of course, the embroyo takes on some characteristics of the host body, and thus the Predalien is born. The Predalien causes a space ship to crash outside a small Colorado town. The crash frees the Predalien as well as several captive Alien face huggers, and in a matter of a few days, they take over a Colorado town. Meanwhile a Predator journeys from his home planet to Earth in order to clean up the mess along the way. In the middle of everything, the town's citizens just try to survive.

The original four Aliens movies featured Academy Award nominee Sigourney Weaver. Other strong actors with solid roles in at least one Aliens film included Tom Skerritt, Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser, Charles S. Dutton and Winona Ryder.

The original Predator movie had the king of modern action heroes, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the lead, with the sequel featuring Danny Glover. Other actors with solid roles in one of the Predator films included Gary Busey, Carl Weathers, Maria Conchita Alonso, Reuben Blades, and yes, Bill Paxton again.

But similar to its predecessor AVP, Aliens Vs. Predator 2: Requiem does not feature any strong actors or known celebrities to anchor it. The two lead characters are played by Steven Pasquale and Johnny Lewis, who seem unable to bring any kind of acting depth to these roles. This severely hurts the movie the actors are just walking through it. The script features very little characterization as it is. Having borderline actors does not help the viewer identify or connect with any of the characters.




And maybe that's on purpose. This movie truly focuses on the Aliens and Predator characters. The humans serve no purpose except as cattle led to slaughter or vessels for alien impregnation.

The Predalien has a new ability of being able to impregnate a host with multiple eggs without using a face-hugger. Although gross in execution, this is a great evolution for the Aliens race and I hope to see it used again in future movies.


The action sequences were strong and showed how quickly these Aliens can take over a small town. My only qualm with the movie is that it's quite dark and some of the battle scenes could have used a bit more light so that you could see more detail.




I do look forward to a future third installment, especially if the action is going to be as strong as it is in this one. But one thing I'd really like to see is some strong human characters in the vein of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley or Michael Biehn's Hicks. In order to build a connection with the characters in the movie and to care whether or not they survive, we need strong characters presented by good actors.

Still, this movie was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

Christmas Day 2007

Go Tell It On The Mountain, Over The Hills And Everywhere

Go Tell It On The Mountain That Jesus Christ Is Born

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!

Spears Family Antics

I think I smell a wacky new sitcom in the air!

Center it around Jamie Lynn Spears, the pregnant, 16-year old star of Nickelodeon's "Zoey 101" and her baby daddy, 18-year old Casey Aldridge, for the on-going hilarious hi-jinx of teenage parents living in both Hollywood and Louisiana with wealth and paparazzi around every corner.
Feature older sister, pop star Britney Spears, as the slightly ditzy next door neighbor. Add in her two children Sean Preston and Jayden James. Bring back the legendary Lassie as the boys' canine nanny who not only makes sure that the boys are buckled in their baby seats in the car, but also brings their mama panties to wear in public when she forgets to put them on.

Also include Britney's first husband (of 55 meaningful hours!) Jason Alexander and her second husband Kevin Federline for witty repartee and in-depth discussions of world events.

Every third show, bring in Federline's ex Shar Jackson (former star of "The Ex-Wives Club") and her children with Federline, Kori and Kaleb, to provide some comedic tension.

And at the end of each show, bring in mama Lynne Spears to provide a life lesson and parenting tip from her upcoming book Pop Culture Mom: A Real Story of Fame in a Tabloid World. No need for a laugh track, as the studio audience will be in stitches.

When you get to sweeps month, have "Seinfield" TV star Jason Alexander show up for some comic misunderstandings with the first former Mr. Spears while Britney's ex-lover Justin Timberlake stops by to lend a shoulder for her to cry a river on in a "very special episode."

I smell high ratings....or at least a great episode of "Jerry Springer."