Tagged: Best
‘Covered’ is One of the Coolest Comic Book Blogs Around!
Just discovered ‘Covered‘ probably a bit too late in the game, but nonetheless it’s a damn fun blog to look at! It’s a blog that ended it’s run in September 2012. Having 1000 popular and unpopular comic book covers posted with another artists representation posted side by side. At least now we don’t have to wait for them to be posted!
Most of these artists that recreate the covers are up and coming or mostly unknowns but they all provide a cool new vision of the classics. Apparently there is a “Covered” book on the way in the near future but in the mean time there’s a thousand of these bad boys to check out-Gotta love it!
The Shaolin Cowboy deliver’s the Ultimate Zombie Massacre!
I just recently started reading The Shaolin Cowboy from Dark Horse Comics and so far it’s a blast. I’ve been familiar with the title and years ago browsed through the comic thinking that for the art alone, that it looked like something that I’d love to read. Well about six years ago was when the seventh and at that time the last issue was released. I forgot about the book, and honestly with comic books being around four bucks a pop it sometimes isn’t a matter of wanting to read a title, but choosing what I can afford. If it were up to me I’d be reading or trying out dozens of titles weekly.
Well last month I saw The Shaolin Cowboy was back in a new mini series and this time I decided to give it a shot as honestly I’ve had a hard time getting into my favorite superhero books lately for whatever reason. Well I’m happy to say the book is delivering on a different level than I’m used to. Shaolin Cowboy doesn’t really seem to have a real plot, I could tell this by the weird “the story so far” section that preceded issue #1. The comic book is a strange dream like tale that is a real feast for the eyes! It’s artist Geoff Darrow is hands down one of the best, if not the best in the industry.
Issue #2 was a surreal treat, it featured thirty three straight pages of zombie carnage as the Shaolin Cowboy hacks, slashes, punches and kicks his way through a horde of undead, swinging a bo staff rigged with two chainsaws on each end. It’s a beautiful massacre and not a word is spoken in all thirty three pages. Darrow has claimed this book is his excuse to “draw whatever he wants” and the character “does whatever he wants”, I say that’s more than ok with me, I’ll be back for issue 3 and hopefully the last seven issues will be released in a trade soon.
Lastly, while reading the recent issue I’ve decided that they should consider making a movie based on this book. It’s clearly evident that The Shaolin Cowboy should be played by Sammo Hung. He’s the perfect age and look for the part, and I can only imagine him choreographing these bizarre fight scenes. From Sammo’s back catalog of weird ass movies I’d say he’d be perfect for the part and hell maybe even as director. I said it here first!
Comic Book Cover of the Week! Bill Sienkiewicz & The New Mutants!
Here’s on of my fave covers from the 1980’s era New Mutants. Issue number 19 from 1984 always stuck in my head clearly because of the incredible skills of Mr. Bill Sienkiewicz! Seriously, this guy’s artwork is some of the most unforgettable in comic book history. The comic master of the abstract, you always know you’re getting something special when his name’s attached. Back in the mid 1980’s he did some incredible artwork for The New Mutants, most of which was very dark, jagged and gritty. It further set the tone of the mutant based books in the 80’s as just that. Something a little more hard edged than the regular superhero books. This is one of my faves from that era of the New Mutants but believe me all of his cover artwork for the title is breathtaking. He’s a true comic book legend in every way….
The Best Halloween Costume of 2013?! A True Marvel Two in One!
It’s no secret how much I LOVE The Incredible Hulk! So when I saw my friend’s Halloween costume this year my mind was officially blown! She decided that going as The Hulk just wasn’t good enough and decided to go as the 1970’s/80’s Hulk/David Banner split screen two in one combo costume! Yeah, Banner and The Hulk together as one! Check this shit out, she made this by hand and it’s genius-my vote for best Halloween Costume of 2013! Take this one to Comic Ceon Already!
Unlikely Star Trek Guest Stars: Mick Fleetwood?!
What the hell! First Iggy Pop and now Mick Fleetwood guest starred on Star Trek the Next Generation?! Yep believe it! Mick Fleetwood guested in the episode “Manhunt” all the way back from 1989! So who exactly was our favorite legendary rock star drummer in the episode? An alien fish man!!
Yep he starred as an Antedean, and alien fish humanoid. Apparently Mick wanted to be on star trek so badly that he agreed to shave off his legendary beard to play the alien fish man! So keep that in your head for some obscure trivia in the future! Here’s a little clip of him on the episode!
Unlikely Star Trek Guest Stars: IGGY POP?!
It’s always interesting to see an unlikely guest star in one of your favorite tv shows pop up out of the blue and blow your mind! Which brings me to today’s unlikely Star Trek guest star, none other than punk rock legend Iggy Pop! Yep that’s god damn right Iggy Pop appeared for some odd reason on a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the Alien negotiator Yelgrun in the episode “The Magnificent Ferengi”.
So what was this all about? Here’s what Star Trek wiki had to say: “The DS9 writers had actually wanted Pop to play the role of Grady in the third season episode “Past Tense, Part II“, but he was unavailable due to a music tour he was undertaking in Spain. Ira Steven Behr is an Iggy Pop fan and pushed for his casting as Yelgrun three years later. A few days before filming his Star Trek: Deep Space Nine role, he was injured in a mosh pit during one of his concerts. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)”. Here’s a clip of him the role!
HELL NO: The Greatest Horror Movie Trailer of ALL Time!
Ever get pissed off because of all of the stupid shitty decisions that people make in horror flicks?! Don’t you just wish they’d do the right thing for once and think like a rational human being?! Well your wishes have been granted in this viral trailer for the fictitious movie Hell No: The Sensible Horror Movie.
This is probably one of the best trailers I’ve ever seen and honestly it’d make for a great full movie if it was done right! Check this out:
The Inspiration Behind “Big Trouble in Little China”!
It’s pretty much common fact this day and age that ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ is one of the coolest movies ever made. Anyone wanna disagree with me here? It pretty much stands alone as one of the best, most original movies that John Carpenter has ever done and defies any real genre. Carpenter must be a genius right?!
Most likely that’s true, but even genius minds get inspired to create awesome things often from some other source. Sometimes though these brilliant minds can unintentionally take full credit for something great. So I wanted to take a quick minute to address just what movie was indeed the inspiration behind ‘Big Trouble’. Ever heard of “Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain“? I didn’t think so!
This rad Hong Kong flick from from 1983 was indeed the inspiration for Carpenter’s masterpiece! John Carpenter has gone on record several times citing this movie as his inspiration for his 1986 feature film. Yep this little known special effects driven flick was what got Carpenter’s mind reelin’ to eventually compose “Big Trouble in Little China”. This one is an unknown gem, at least here in the United States where it’s extremely hard to find. Director Tsui Hark, who was attempting to break out a s a superstar, attempted to mix the kind of mythological adventures that were popular at the time, with a more Hollywood approach and more western stylized special effects work.
Even more impressive was that he brought in the people behind Star Wars for technical special effects assistance. Add in my favorite chinese actor Sammo Hung and you’ve got quite a stellar movie! So go check it for yourself but keep in mind that there was a remake (which wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as the original) and if you loved ‘Big Trouble’ eat your heart out with this one! Hong Kong cinema in the 1980’s was a ton of fun!
Here is the FULL movie uploaded to Youtube!!
Modok Exposed! Sexy Comic Book Cover of the Week!!
Modok is easily one of my fave Marvel villains of all time and that’s why I had to add this awesome cover for Captain America #313 from 1986 by probably my fave comic book artist of all time Mr. John Byrne! This one always kinda gave me the creeps because it showed Modok who’s easily one of the strangest Marvel villains with his pants down! By that I mean we see the guy without his armor chair which normally covers most of his body. This story was titled “Mission: Murder Modok!” and it featured one of my personal fave super villain teams the “Serpent Society” as they attempted to assasinate him! Seeing Modok on the cover laying on his back like a big cryin’ baby with his little body(he can’t walk because his head is too big) was kinda like when as a kid I’d see my pet hermit crab walking around at night without his shell searching for a larger one. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a hermit crab without it’s shell, but it’s pretty weird, It freaked me the fuck out! This is a cool cover and a rare glimpse of Modok “undressed”!!!
I really hope that Modok makes it into the Marvel cinematic universe-he’d be such a fun villain to see on the big screen! Hopefully they would go with animatronics and puppetry rather than CG, it’d be quite a site! If hadn’t already noticed someone did indeed put a Modok inspired character into a movie already – the 1996 flick “Head of the Family” !
Total Modok rip-off!!! But you can see how cool of a villain he would be on the big screen!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNgGaK_ZBQQ
Oh yeah and then there’s THIS!
Star Trek: Less Action Please!!
I’ve been thinking about for it for quite some time now and I’ve just GOT to say it: Current Star Trek has way too much damn action! After watching the most recent “Star Trek: Into Darkness” I realized that the franchise is going in the wrong direction. No, I won’t deny that JJ nailed it on the first Star Trek he directed, it was fun, action packed and nostalgic. However the lackluster sequel where he tried to recreate the whole Khan storyline was not necessary to us Trekkers! We had two previous installments (Space Seed and The Wrath of Khan) which simply cannot be touched. It was a loud mess of story with a decent villain but who unfortunately just wasn’t seen as the legendary Khan in the eyes of Star Trek fans. I felt it was such a disappointment that I am actually glad that Abrams is leaving the franchise.
Yep, I realized that this current “Star Trek” doesn’t really represent real spirit of Star Trek. It’s so jam packed with wild explosions, glitter and insane action sequences that it is missing what really made Trek so intriguing in the first place. A good solid story. Nope we didn’t get crazy effects heavy action, we got good sci-fi about traveling the universe looking for new alien civilizations, beaming down to unknown planets, exploration and strong bonds that slowly grew within the crew in the process. it wasn’t about being flashy, it was the perfect blend of action, story and adventure. I’d like to see the next movie be a more intelligent plot driven adventure of discovering new worlds and the the unknown threats or challenges that are waiting on the planet’s surface.You know like a star trek should be…
Let’s not try and modernize an old story or try to redesign an old villain with a “cool factor”. Give us a good story without all the pointless hyperactive action- this is Star Trek not The Fast and the Furious! “Into Darkness” really made me miss the spirit of the old shows and movies. I think Abrams did a great job of kick starting a franchise and making it “cool again” for the kids but as we continue this journey let’s remember that all that glitters is not necessarily gold, let’s remember what made Star Trek great in the first place. Star Trek was never broken, its crew just got old and eventually retired, let’s remember even in their younger days they were never concerned about being hip and cool for the kids, they were there to explore the final frontier! Give us some good ol’ fashioned science fiction dammit! You remember episodes like “City on the Edge of Forever”? “Mirror Mirror”? “Arena”? “The Naked Time”?! The Savage Curtain”? Well if not maybe all you Trek fans should go back and revisit the classics, the foundation of it all. Who do you think would be a good choice to helm the next movie?! Do you think Star Trek is on the right path?
Universal Dork 