Freak Comics

Although I might not write about every single issue of the Walking Dead, I sing Robert Kirkman’s praises on a constant basis. I tell all my comic book buddies to read the Walking Dead (if they don’t already). I tell my wife to read Walking Dead and she has barely even touched a comic book, let alone read one. Unfortunately no matter how much begging, insisting or threatening I do, some people just refuse to give it a try. To them I ask: what on Earth is wrong with you?
This is the greatest comic book ever written and you are missing it! If you aren’t following The Walking Dead, stop reading this article right now, call your local comic book shop and order the trade paperbacks (or the awesome hard cover). I’m serious, do it now. This comic is best read from the beginning onward.

Issue #40 is wonderful… it’s easily one of my favorite issues of the last several months, and not even one zombie appears in the comic! It’s a breather issue in which we’re reminded that these people don’t have it all that bad, even though the world is quickly turning into a useless and hostile environment.
In issue #39 Dale was bitten by a Zombie. I was pretty horrified when this happened because I really like Dale. I didn’t want to see him die, and thankfully after the events of issue #40 it looks like he just might pull through. How many comic books out there make you feel bad when a character is killed? How many make you wish that a character could be time traveled back to life after they kick the bucket? One, it’s called The Walking Dead, and fortunately the characters never come back to life unless it’s as a flesh eating zombie!

In this issue we also get to find out that Rick and Lori’s baby girl’s name is Judith. This almost makes me want to have a second daughter and name her Judith… almost.
I also really love the fact that Shane was mentioned by Dale in this issue. That is one of the greatest parts about The Walking Dead. Kirkman doesn’t just stop talking about things that happened in his book a few years ago. Instead the events are brought up as though they happened recently, because in the comic they did.

So since I’m a huge zombie fan, and this issue didn’t include any zombies, and this is a zombie book, why did I enjoy it so much?
The answer is simple. Robert Kirkman is a genius. His writing style is so wonderful, so realistic, that I can honestly put myself in the story like no other comic I’ve ever read, nor any movie or television show I’ve ever watched. He is the Ray Bradbury of comics.
Also, it has an ad on the back for a Walking Dead poster. That’s wonderful news and I’ve alrady pre-ordered mine. And, In the back of the comic, Kirkman claims the Walking Dead statue by Clayburn Moore will be on sale very soon… this is also wonderful news and I plan to order mine as soon as I can. But the greatest part about issue #40, is that it’s going to be followed by issue #41 tomorrow, which easily makes Walking Dead the best weekly comic book to date (screw you DC Comics).

There is nothing better than a creator owned comic. The dedication and love that goes in to every aspect of each issue by far surpasses anything you’ll read in a main-stream, corporation owned comic.
Mice Templar, written by Bryan J.L. Glass and Michael Avon Oeming, is no exception.

Click for a larger view

Mice Templar tells the tale of Karic, a young mouse who reveres the Templar. The Templar are Ancient guardians and dedicated mice warriors who follow the ways of Kuhl-En, a mighty warrior priest. However long ago the Templar turned on each other and are now seen as something of a legend… a bedtime story to tell children, they are no longer believed in.

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Think Lord of the Rings with mice instead of hobbits and rats instead of orcs. Mice Templar is fun to read and even more fun to look at. The artwork is beautiful. Michael Avon Oeming does a wonderful job depicting action scenes with mice in the middle of a forest… in my opinion not the easiest thing to draw.

My one complaint with this series is that I had a difficult time distinguishing between characters and keeping them strait in my head. However it’s very possible that I’m alone in this, and it really didn’t ruin the story.

I truly enjoyed reading this comic and as I neared the end found myself longing for the next issue. The art is beautiful, the story is epic, and the dialogue is poetic. Read this comic!

3-2-1 Action is a 3 part story spanning Action Comics 852 - 854. Kurt Busiek has maintained a pretty steady flow of good dialogue and interesting plots during his run on Action Comics, and he continues to maintain a good level of quality even during a tie-in with DC’s worst comic, Countdown.

I’ve stated a few times in the past that I really have no interest in Jimmy Olsen’s sudden onset of powers, and I really don’t. I don’t have a whole lot of interest in the fact that he has recently discovered Superman’s identity either. None of this is going to last. By the end of Countdown Jimmy Olsen will either be dead or undergo some type of mind wipe. Or perhaps he’ll be replaced with an alternate version of himself. Regardless of the final outcome, Action Man will be no more and Jimmy will have no knowledge of Superman’s alternate identity.

Over all the these issues have been somewhat entertaining from the standpoint of them being rather retro. 3-2-1 Action was reminiscent of the Silver Age of comics. Krypto is all over this issue (even the title, ‘Pal’, reefer’s to Krypto’s new secret identity), so that’s kinda cool. Clark Kent’s reaction to Jimmy discovering that he’s really Superman is pretty classic too. I also enjoyed watching Krypto attack a giant radioactive monkey (even though he was actually a gorilla at that point).

As for the art… well, it’s nothing to write home about. Brad Walker is not a spectacular choice for a an artist on a Superman book. He’s somewhat inconsistent. For instance, Clark Kent looks like a normal guy most of the time, while Superman looks like he’s mentally retarded. Sometimes Jimmy looks a little on the slow side himself (although I’m convinced he really is). On the other hand Krypto looks pretty cool throughout the issue (what’s with America’s fear of anatomically correct artwork though?).

Overall I suppose 3-2-1 Action was rather entertaining even though it was a dreaded tie-in and the art was pretty loose. If I seem hesitant to give this thing a good review, it’s because I am. I really hate tie-ins. They’re nothing but money grabbers. However, as tie-ins go, this was at the higher end of the scale, but please don’t take that as a recommendation.

I just watched an awesome animated short called “The Scritch-Scratch of Busy Little Hands” on YouTube.
As is usual with an animated short, this one doesn’t have much of a story line, but the animation is wonderful. It really reminds me of Charles Addams mixed with David Firth mixed with Edward Gorey. Pretty cool stuff.

Apparently it’s all hand drawn… no flash or vector shapes here. Awesome!
This film is the product of two sisters, Joy and Noelle Vaccese. Their website, twinsareweird.com links to a MySpace page (unfortunately) where you can get more information on the two animators.

My inside information was confirmed today. The “cop funeral” scene is currently being shot. I was incorrect about the location. There are about 100+ cops on LaSalle, including police on horses and several people in swat uniforms. There is also an ambulance.
I found out there will be a funeral procession / parade taking place later today. A large stage is currently set up in the middle of the street with large gotham flags dangling from the buildings on either side.
More importantly, there is a large photograph of the downed officer on the stage… it is indeed the commissioner from Batman Begins. Gordon will definitely be taking on the role of Commissioner of the Gotham Police Department in The Dark Knight.

It also appears that there was another photo, this one of an older woman. I’m not sure who this would be.

On the stage of the funeral were the stand-ins for Gary Oldman (James Gordon), Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (Rachel Dawes)… meaning that all three characters will be appearing in this scene.

It also appears that something major will be happening, such as an attack by the Joker within this scene as there is a Gotham ambulance parked in an ally as well as a Gotham PD stunt car.

If you have some photos of this scene and would like me to post them, please send them to joe@freakcomics.com
Be sure to include a link to your website and any other info you would like me to include so that you can get full credit.

I will be attempting to snap some photos of this important scene later today.

I just received information about a new scene for The Dark Knight movie (sequel to Batman Begins). The scene is being filmed here in Chicago and involves a “Cop Funeral”. One can only assume we will see the death of the current commissioner, which means Gordon will most likely be rising to that position. Very cool!

I’m not sure of the exact location for this weekend’s shoot, in fact it could possibly be indoors. If a cemetery were to be used, my guess would be the Graceland Cemetery would be a prime location.

No more Joe Kelly obviously doesn’t mean no more bad story lines. Supergirl #20 is just as disjointed as any other issue of Supergirl. This is due to the entire issue being an Amazons Attack tie-in. Quite honestly I’m getting sick of all these random tie-ins. Both Superman and Action Comics have been stuffing Countdown crossovers down our throats, as are a number of other DC comics.

This issue picks up where some other issue of Amazons Attack left off so if you’re like me with absolutely no interest in Amazonian women fighting the earth’s populace, it’s immediately boring.

Tony Bedard did a fairly decent job with the bad material he had to work with. The dialogue wasn’t horrible and Supergirl was a more believable super-heroine. That said, I guess Kara figuring life out in a jumbled up way will continue to be a running theme… wonderful.
Making the first issue since Joe Kelly’s end a confusing crossover was very disappointing. It makes me feel like DC still has no clear direction in which to take the Supergirl character.

The other matter in question here is the art. Renato Guedes was able to draw a more realistic looking Supergirl. The longer skirt, boy shorts, and slightly heavier (aka normal) weight looks much better.
I know a lot of people are happy about this transition, and I agree that it’s a step in the right direction, however Supergirl still doesn’t look her age. She’s supposed to be 16, and I honestly think she looks older than that. I really can’t complain too much however since she doesn’t look as if she just stepped out of a club anymore.

So what’s the final verdict? Has Supergirl improved since Joe Kelly left? We’ll have to wait and see. Although the dialogue is better and the art has improved, I can’t really judge it completely since issues 20 - 22 are crossovers. As far as issue #20 is concerned, I am indifferent and bored.
But that’s just one opinion. Some people “totally luffed” it.

I am a fan of Grant Morrison, Especially when it comes to All-Star Superman. However I haven’t been all that impressed with his run on Batman. I’m not saying it’s bad (aside from issue #663 which was absolutely horrible), it just is not what I was expecting… until issue #667.

The story starts with a nude man strung upside down from the ceiling. His death appears imminent as ominous words are spoken from his captor. Cut to Batman and Robin in the Batplane who are flying off to join a washed up super hero group, known as the Club of Heroes (a bunch of Batman knock-offs from various nations), on the Island of Mister Mayhew. None of them know why they’re there but a tragedy soon befalls them, and mystery ensues.
I won’t ruin the story by saying anything more. If you haven’t read the issue yet I highly recommend it.

Pages 2 and 3 of Batman #667.

The art in this comic is beautiful. It’s so refreshing to open a comic book and actually see interesting panel arrangements and water colors (or at least water color filters) rather than the slapped together feel that so many comics today have. J.H. Williams III did this us right on this one!

The whole comic (art and story) has a tiki culture air about it which is just cool. Overall I couldn’t be happier with Batman #667. It has me hooked and is a great 3 issue arc, don’t miss it!

The Iron Man movie will most likely suck like most of the other Marvel movies… but this teaser still manages to make me want to watch it. The suit looks awesome and Stark’s attitude seems dead on. In fact, it appears that Marvel hasn’t strayed too far from Iron Man’s origin, which is always a good thing. It’s also nice to see that Tony built his own suit, and that he’ll be wearing both the old grey clunky version, and the new sleek ultra fast flying version.

At any rate, the quality of this video isn’t the best, but it’s a bootleg, so what do you expect?

I took a stroll over to the set of the upcoming Batman Begins sequel, the Dark Knight again today. A while back I managed to take some pictures of parked Gotham City police cars, swat vehicles and bomb squad trucks.
Today I was able to get a high quality photo of the Gotham Police Department seal, as well as a license plate… very cool!
The cars were parked off site of the set in a parking lot.

I also took some shots of a helicopter (I’m assuming GPD helicopter) that’s been destroyed by an apparent bomb or perhaps rocket launcher.

Enjoy the photos!

Update

Notice the similarities of the Gotham PD license plate to an Illinois license plate (as was pointed out by alex in the following comments)… very interesting. Keep in mind, The Dark Knight is being filmed in Chicago.

Also of interest is that the Chicago PD license plates look nothing like civilian license plates.