Ace of Spades Comments

Eclinkso

2017-07-01T18:22:00.000-07:00

Link-bank for Best Event Ever 2017:

The Darkness Continues...

I'm the Gun
L.E.G.I.O.N. '92 Annual #3 (1992)
Eclipso: The Darkness Within #2 (1992)

Professor Alan's Comic Book Reading Journal #024

Coffee and Comics Podcast
Episode #6: Flash Annual #5 (1992)

Resurrections-An Adam Warlock Podcast
Episode #61: Superman: The Man of Steel Annual #1 (1992)
Episode #62: Justice League Europe Annual #3 (1992)

The Retroist
Eclipso '66... What a Puzzling Beginning!
Eclipso '66... Playing Cards With Batman, Part One
Eclipso '66... Playing Cards With Batman, Part Two
Eclipso '66... Reading Comics With Batman

Chris is on Infinite Earths

you is here y'all

Chris and Reggie's Cosmic Treadmill

Episode #42: Starman 42-45 (1992)

For the Non-Discerning Reader

Green Lantern Annual #1 (1992)
Detective Comics Annual #5 (1992)

Superman (vol.2) Annual #4 (1992)

Valor #1 (1992)

The Pop Culture Palace
Pop Culture Palace Presents, Episode 1: Hawkworld Annual #3 (1992)

Rolled Spine's Diana Prince: Wonder Woman Podcast

Episode 15: Wonder Woman (vol.2) Annual #3 (1992) & More!

DC Bloodlines

Podcast - Eclipso: Hero and Villain in One Man!

Never-Ending Reading Pile
Hero History of Eclipso

Also remember you can follow along on Twitter using the hashtags #BestEventEver and #EclipsoTDW25

Chris is on Infinite Earths, Year One - Favorite Pieces

2017-01-31T12:07:00.004-08:00

The stand-alone version of a Top Ten commemorating the one-year blogiversary of Chris is on Infinite Earths. This list will be featured at the tail-end of the 01.31.2017 piece.

Batman #416 (February, 1988)
"White Gold and Truth"
Jim Starlin (W) / Jim Aparo (A)
Original Post-Date: November 11, 2016

Very possibly the best issue (new or old) I'd read the entire year. I'm a sucker for Bat-family dysfunction and this one absolutely brings it. I'd long written off Jim Starlin as a "cosmic" writer... his late 1980's Batman run has totally changed my mind on that!

Superman #327 (September, 1978)
"Two Can Die as Cheaply as One!"
Cary Bates (W) / Kurt Schaffenberger (A)
Original Post-Date: September 17, 2016

There were two stories in this issue, but it's the back-up that I had the most fun with. We get a really awesome Mr. & Mrs. Superman story, from which I pulled my "Superman being blown up in his car" image I use on various social media sites.

Tales of the Teen Titans #42 (May, 1984)
"The Eyes of Tara Markov!"
Marv Wolfman (W) / George Perez (A)
Original Post-Date: August 12, 2016

Such an emotion-wrecking good time. I've said it many times... every time I read The Judas Contract, I always get that hope that eventually Terra's going to "come around". Of course that's not how things work. Terra's tale was a difficult but enjoyable one to chronicle here last Summer.

Justice League #1 (May, 1987)
"Born Again"
Giffen/DeMatteis (W) / Kevin Maguire (A)
Original Post-Date: January 1, 2017

This piece was special to me as it was my picking up on a previous failed-blog attempt. It felt good to actually see this one through. The issue was also quite fun to discuss.

Superman Meets the Quik Bunny (1987)
"Quik Thinking"
Mike Carlin (W) / Carmine Infantino (A)
Original Post-Date: March 6, 2016

Discussing this book was one of the things that illustrated the potential this blog has. I have a love of the obscure and "novel" in comics... and it doesn't get much more novel than this! This issue kinda fell into my lap, and I'm happy I was able to share it.

Batgirl Special #1 (1988)
"The Last Batgirl Story"
Barbara Randall (W) / Barry Kitson (A)
Original Post-Date: January 23, 2017

A very recent entry... but one I had a lot of fun reading and writing about. It comes from a time in Barbara Gordon history, which up to this point, I didn't even know existed! Stories like this are part of the reason I started writing about comics.

Wild Dog #2 (October, 1987)
"Blowed Up Real Good!"
Max Collins (W) / Terry Beatty (A)
Original Post-Date: May 17, 2016

Around mid-May I hit my 100th Daily Post... and kinda fell into a bit of burn out. Writing became a bit of a chore, and I was considering stepping away for a bit. I felt like I was trying to hard to write for an audience, covering books that I didn't really want to... then along came Wild Dog. Pure fun!

Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer #1 (1986)
"I Knew I Shoulda Taken that Left Toyn Back in Albakoyky"
Keith Giffen (W/A)
Original Post-Date: July 7, 2016

Despite the fact that my Christmas entries almost always result in a pretty hefty dip in readership, I still had a blast covering this wacky book.

Angel Love #3 (October, 1986)
Barbara Slate (W/A)
Original Post-Date: August 27, 2016

This was the one issue of Angel Love that eluded me for over a year. This was another "re-invigoration" issue for me. I was getting a bit tired of writing, and again... considered stepping away for a little while. Was lucky to come across this little book which reignited my interest in discussing these silly stories.

Lois Lane #1 (August, 1986)
"When it Rains, God is Crying: Chapters I & II"
Mindy Newell (W) / Gray Morrow (A)
Original Post-Date: February 18, 2016

This was a very interesting book to cover... in light of my own "Secret Origin" which I droned on about for far too long above. This has to do with missing and abducted children... and Ms. Newell absolutely crushed it with her research. A pleasure to read and discuss.

Weird Comics History - The Sentry

2017-01-08T21:13:00.004-08:00

Below is a depository for Sentry-related research materials for Weird Comics History, Episode 18... click to embiggen.

ABOVE: The first mention of Artie Rosen. This appeared at the very end of a letters column in Daredevil (vol.2) #9 (July, 1999)

ABOVE: The underrated Rosen passes away from heart failure on January 14, 2000. From Wizard Magazine #103 (April, 2000).

ABOVE: The widow-Rosen finds some interesting things packed away... From Wizard Magazine #105 (June, 2000)

ABOVE: The news is out... from Wizard Magazine #116 (May, 2001)

ABOVE: Stan's Scintillating Sentry Scoop lettercolls from the miniseries.

Chris is on Infinite Earths Top 10 Posts - 2016

2017-01-01T11:28:00.002-08:00

#1 - DC/Marvel All-Access #3 (1997)
Original Post-Date: 11.02.2016
View Count: 742

This, my most-viewed post of 2016 (which is to say, all-time), definitely owes a great debt of gratitude to the force that is #SuperBlogTeamUp (Magic Edition). Without the shares and support of my fellow Super-Bloggers, I doubt this post would've received even a quarter of the views it did!

#2 (tie) - Justice League of America #233 (1984)
Original Post-Date: 05.05.2016
View Count: 585

This was my sorta-kinda Cinco de Mayo post where I took a look at our old friend, Vibe. A lot of fun here... and neat that the story title was Rebirth, in light of the events of the late-Spring/early-Summer. Many thanks to Justin over at DC in the 80's for sharing this one, along with residual SBTU viewers... which takes us to...

#2 (tie) - Justice League America #52 (1991)
Original Post-Date: 05.04.2016
View Count: 585

This was my first Super-Blog Team-Up offering... and boy was I nervous. The theme was "Versus" in light of the release of Captain America: Civil War in theaters. SBTU has definitely been one of my highlights of the year... really dig the camaraderie and the friendships!

#3 - Justice League of America #179 (1980)
Original Post-Date: 04.29.2016
View Count: 521

Another Justice League appearance in the Top Ten! This one "moved up the charts" thanks to shares from both DC in the 80's and Shag from Firestorm Fan. Both great sites, well worth your time... though, if you're here, you're probably already aware of them.

#4 - Superman (vol.2) #70 (1992)
Original Post-Date: 10.18.2016
View Count: 492

Here's one that came out of nowhere... I really don't know how it received so many views. It was part of my October-long #boohauntedblog special event, which was a brother-concept with one of my brother-bloggers, Mike Carlyle over at the Crapbox of Son of Cthulhu.

#5 - Batman #350 (1982)
Original Post-Date: 10.26.2016
View Count: 394

Another oddity for the list... not one I was expecting to break triple-digits. Maybe folks were scouring the blogosphere for Vampire stories this October? Anyhoo... great three-part horrory Batman story, well worth checking out!

#6 (tie) - The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans
Original Post-Date: 05.27.2016
View Count: 298

A special review timed to hit when X-Men Apocalypse hit theaters. A great issue to revisit featuring my two favorite comic book teams. Big thanks to the Danger Room podcast for sharing this on social media.

#6 (tie) - Christmas with the Super-Heroes #1 (1988)
Original Post-Date: 12.21.2016
View Count: 298

A very recent entry, helped in no short measure by it's inclusion in the Super-Blog Team-Up (Holiday). My Christmas-themed reviews almost always see a dip in viewership, but this one soared. This is also my longest post written in 2016, weighing in at over 5,000 words!

#7 - Man of Steel #1 (1986)
Original Post-Date: 04.25.2016
View Count: 296

This was a post I wrote to coincide with a Weird Comics History Segment for the Weird Science DC Comics Podcast. Reggie and I discussed the time in which Marvel was trying to license the DC characters... leading to John Byrne writing a treatment for "Marvel's Superman". This post not only reviews the issue, but compares and contrasts it with the original pitch!

#8 (tie) - Justice League of America #224 (1984)
Original Post-Date: 06.07.2016
View Count: 288

I remember writing this piece while suffering the effects of heat stroke! After spending a few days at Phoenix Comicon... and forgetting to drink any water, I was in a bad way. While at the Con, I interviewed the writer of this issue, Kurt Busiek! He, along with DC in the 80's both graciously shared this post on social media.

#8 (tie) - I, Vampire #1 (2011)
Original Post-Date: 10.25.2016
View Count: 288

Another appearance from a #boohauntedblog vampire book!

#9 - Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man (1976)
Original Post-Date: 05.09.2016
View Count: 277

This was my 100th Daily Post on the blog, and I wanted to make it a special one. This was a helluva book to synopsize, and was a lot of fun. This one received a bunch of traffic from CBR's message boards... ~~likely~~ definitely due to my prolific picture taking more than anything.

#10 - Action Comics #582 (1986)
Original Post-Date: 06.22.2016
View Count: 240

Hmm... wonder how this one got there... a DC Comic posted in June with the word Rebirth on the cover. Ahem... anyhoo. Big thanks to Weird Science DC Comics for sharing this bugger (and many others) as well!

The End of Uncanny, Revisited

2016-06-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

In light of this week's release of Action Comics #957, I decided to dredge up my thoughts on the (grumble grumble FIRST) renumbering of Uncanny X-Men done back in 2011, post-Schism story line. Nothing Earth-shattering here, mostly just me kvetching and acting like an old man... but, the point still remains that legacy numbering is important to a great deal of comics fans... and I'm glad that DC Comics is starting to notice that. This was originally written/posted somewhere in the Fall of 2011... and is sadly and disturbingly wildly out of date. Never at the time of writing would I imagine in just a few short years we'd be on volume-freaking-four of Uncanny X-Men.

In recognition of this week’s FINAL ISSUE of Uncanny X-Men (#544) I wanted to take a little while to reflect on the passing of the series I’d collected since the late 80’s. When this was announced several months back, we were assured that this wouldn’t be a stunt, or sales trick. There would be a legitimate reason for the re-launch. In a post-Schism Marvel Universe, I’m left wondering exactly how *this* is worth re-numbering a nearly 50 year old title. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Schism. Thought it was a decent enough story... I just don’t think it required restarting the book.

I understand that re-numbering is all the rage right now in light of DC’s New 52… however, Uncanny X-Men (vol.2) #1 will be a direct continuation from Uncanny X-Men (vol.1) #544. No real justifiable reason for a restart. The status quo of the X-Men has changed several times throughout the past five decades, never necessitating a new #1. That said, I’d like to go through the (Uncanny) X-Men run, and point to some other instances wherein I feel a re-numbering would have fit better than Regenesis.

(Uncanny) X-Men #94 (1975) – All-New, All-Different. If we’re discussing places in X-Men history where a re-start would comfortably fit… this is it! Following the introduction of the “All-New” X-Men in Giant-Size #1, their adventures would continue in the main title, which for several years prior had only served as a reprint mag for the original X-Men’s 1960’s stories.

Uncanny X-Men #229 (1988) – Following the Fall of the Mutants cross-over, the X-Men were believed to be dead. In “reality” they had left to rebuild in Australia, leaving the world at large to continue believing their demise. This starts the X-Men “Outback era” which would continue for the next couple of years.

Uncanny X-Men #281 (1991) – In a time when the New Mutants became X-Force, X-Factor shuffled rosters and X-Men (vol.2) was launched, Uncanny still managed to maintain its numbering. Famous for the first real non-Claremont Uncanny issues for quite some time, these stories felt… different than anything that had come before (not necessarily for the better, but still… different).

Uncanny X-Men #322 (1995) – The Age of Apocalypse had just ended, and the already hiatus-ed X-Men titles, including Uncanny were brought back under their original numbering. A relaunch upon the title's return would have fit.

Uncanny X-Men #337 (1996) – In the wake of Marvel’s onslaught (no pun intended) of #1 issues, with Heroes Reborn and influx of new titles (Thunderbolts, Alpha Flight (v.2), Deadpool, etc.) the X-Men titles all kept chugging along at their legacy numbering.

Uncanny X-Men #381 (2000) – The “X-Men Revolution” featured the return of Chris Claremont to the X-Men after nearly a ten-year absence. In addition, this was just around the time the first X-Men movie landed in theaters (in fact issue #384 just three months later featured the new movie logo taking the place of the traditional one for several months). A movie these days often mandates a new volume of a title, to allure and ensnare the non-existent “New Reader”.

There are a few more instances I could argue, however, these are the one's that stand out most to me.

In closing, while I don’t like random re-numberings of comic books especially when we readers are told that there are REAL storyline justifications for it… with the way sales are going right now, I can see why it is done, and done so often. I’m not sure if this is a long-term measure, or if in six-month’s time, Uncanny will be re-re-numbered to #550. Or if in two years, Uncanny will be re-re-numbered in conjunction with the 50^th Anniversary of the X-Men, or if we will have to wait until Uncanny would have reached #600 for a return to traditional numbering… if at all.

The importance of numbering to me is probably quite silly I must admit. As long as the story is good, that’s all that matters, right?

I enjoy collecting high-numbered titles, makes a collector feel as though they're piecing together a puzzle. One of the things that kept me away from DC Comics in the early 1990’s was the fact that titles like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash and Green Arrow were still only in the double-digits. Characters created several decades prior, to me, should have high numbered, long running volumes. I was wary I’d get invested in any given DC title, only to have it re-started (which, has happened time and time again since.)

As a collector, I enjoy filling in gaps of my collection. Picking up various old issues of Uncanny X-Men makes me feel as though I’m actually accomplishing something. I know, silly. Right now, picking up early issues of, say, the Avengers aren’t nearly as satisfying as it could be, it feels as though I’m collecting for a dead series.

Cliff Notes version of this entry – Wahhh, wahhh, don’t renumber my comics!

[Comics] Some DC New 52 Thoughts, Six Months Later...

2012-02-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

Regardless of the fact that DC Comics is still touting “The New 52!” on the covers of their books, the “New” 52 is now six months old. In those six months, I had gone from being a fairly completest DC Comics customer, to buying FIVE books with any regularity. DC Comics is writing for a different audience and good on them, they seem to have found one. In the past several months, DC has dominated the sales charts in units sold (though, now falling below Marvel in dollar share thanks in no short measure to Marvel’s inflated pricing structure). My decade and change investment in the publications and characters of DC Comics is over.

Admittedly, I would be tempted to drop the remaining five DC books I have managed to hold on to… my completest nature, however, will not completely allow me a clean break. The five books I continue to collect are:

Action Comics

Batman

Justice League

Justice League International

Teen Titans

Batman is my pick for strongest title. It’s no surprise, considering that the Batman titles (along with the Green Lantern books, apparently) kept most of their backstory. If the “New 52” had not come to pass, this Batman could have easily existed pre-Flashpoint (with a markedly younger version of Commissioner Gordon, admittedly). Keeping in mind, we are still in the midst of the opening story-arc, whether or not existing Batman characters will be “re-introduced” or “re-origined” in the coming months remains to be seen.

Action Comics is the title I was most excited for during the lead up to re-launch, and thus far it has struck me as rather underwhelming. Not bad, by any stretch of the imagination… just not what I expected. I’m too big a fan of Grant Morrison to outright drop this title, and I would imagine that if anything noteworthy to the DC (n)Universe were to go down, it would happen in either this title or…

Justice League. The flagship book for the new DC, has delivered on what it’s promised. What it’s promised, however, is not really to my liking. Though, I understand the addition of Cyborg as a founder of the team, for diversity’s sake… I’m still not a fan of it. I’ve always enjoyed Cyborg as a Titan, who “graduated” into the ranks of the Justice League. Then again, I’m a bit of a sucker for the “Legacy” methodology to the old DC Universe. In the last volume of Justice League (of America), the team was comprised primarily of legacy heroes… graduated Teen Titans. This displayed that there is a hierarchy to DC’s super-hero teams… that a Teen Titan or an Outsider could one day become a member of the vaunted Justice League. Hell, I’m also a pretty big Martian Manhunter (who Cyborg replaced) fan, so that may be clouding my judgment a bit as well. Back to the new volume, it feels as though the new backstory is being shoe-horned rather painfully into place. A handful of issues in and Batman ALREADY shared his secret identity with Green Lantern? In the book, they’d just barely met… I know, I know, this is not necessarily the Batman I grew up reading, so I cannot use his “existing” pattern of behavior to diagnose his current personality. It still rubs me the wrong way, however. This title will likely remain on my pull-list, as I have a nearly complete run of Justice League starting from a couple of years before the original Crisis.

Justice League International is a bit of a strange one. Being “launched” out of 2010-2011’s Justice League: Generation Lost maxi-series, this title features most of the characters normally associated with the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League. However, with this being the re-launched universe, the characters now share no backstory. The whole purpose, at least to me, for launching this type of title is to play off the character’s existing histories. Why would anyone care about the dynamic between Booster Gold, Batman and Guy Gardner without being able to reflect on past experience with the characters? I know it’s unfair of me to say that these characters are being written “out of character” considering we are playing tabula rasa with the whole affair, however, I am having a difficult time reconciling myself to the fact that these are for all intents and purposes NEW characters.

Teen Titans rounds out my list of keepers… a rather dreadful book, in my opinion. The only reason I keep this one on my pull-list is, like Justice League, I have a nearly complete run of the Titans dating back to the 1980 Wolfman/Perez “New Teen Titans” run. That, in addition to the hopes that the title will improve will keep me coming back for at least the foreseeable future. Again, I need to be careful not to harp on “mischaracterization” of some of my old favorites…

So, has the DC re-launch been a success? Undoubtedly. DC should be applauded for their risky undertaking of turning their existing universe on its ear, and coming out on top (as of this writing). I do hope that this does not become the precedent for boosting sales throughout the industry.

Unfortunately, I can see Marvel doing something like this come the Avengers vs. X-Men summer cross-over. With all the talks of late of the Phoenix returning to earth to make things die, and be reborn… I fear Marvel may be going the re-launch route this coming fall. If this were to occur, I fear it may be my time to tap out. If/when this occurs; if DC is anything to go by, it will be a great boon to sales, and fiscally speaking… I cannot think of a reason NOT to do it. I am rapidly shifting gears here, going into a subject which may be better off a new post… so I will save it, for if and when we get any further details.

[Wrestling] WWE Vengeance 2011

2011-10-24T00:15:00.000-07:00

WWE’s Vengeance just wrapped up a few hours back, figured I would give some of my thoughts on the event.

Before I get into the matches, I gotta say… if the WWE *NEVER* mentions twitter again, it’ll be too soon. I could not care less what WWE buzz-phrase is currently “trending worldwide”. Instead of worrying about attracting followers and ridiculous made up hash-tags (like #ridiculousmadeuphashtag) concentrate on putting out a regularly-delivering top-quality product.

The show opened with a tag-title bout with Air-Boom defending against… um, Zig-Swag? Decent match, however, I don’t think I ever need to see Dolph and Kofi in the same ring again. Air-Boom got the win. I was hoping Ziggler and Swagger would take this one; they’ve been making everyone they’ve worked with look great. I don’t see any ceiling for either of them, and I hope to see them both moving up closer to the top of the card.

The second match again featured Dolph Ziggler… this time he was defending the United States title against Zack Ryder. I know we’re supposed to dig Ryder, I mean, he’s the guy who made himself when WWE couldn’t be bothered. I just can’t get into the guy, I think his appeal was that he *was* being held back. Was worried for a bit that he’d beat Dolph and take the title… was very pleased when he didn’t.

The Divas Title match was quite good. Eve and Beth worked well together, and for a few seconds there I thought Eve was going to win. I’m glad Beth retained, it took her so long to win it (featuring far too many clean losses to Kelly Kelly), if she dropped it now, it would be tough to rebuild her as a credible threat.

I was shocked to see the HHH/Punk v Miz/Truth match this low on the card. Considering how the World Title match ended, it becomes a bit clearer. This was a fun match that showcased all four competitors. Would have liked to see Miz and Truth look a bit stronger here (especially if this is all building to a Survivor Series elimination match), but for whatever reason, outside of Mark Henry, the WWE seems incapable of booking strong heels. Was happy to see Kevin Nash return, that jackknife however, looked a bit rough.

Sheamus and Christian was a great match, which allowed Christian far more offense than I feared he’d get. Really fun match, both men came out of it looking great. Sheamus hit a wicked looking Brogue Kick on a spearing Christian to win. Again, a really fun match.

I became otherwise engaged during Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. Had to pick a match to miss to handle some laundry… this was the one. All I know is I heard Orton’s music twice, which was exactly what I expected. Adding the Intercontinental title to this match would have made it more exciting. Putting a secondary title on Orton could really improve the belt’s prestige in a time when it really needs it.

Mark Henry is probably my favorite thing in Pro-Wrestling… and he has been since his return to SmackDown! Pitting him against the Big Show provided an awesome power-match. This was a great match, featuring an incredible spot. The ring implosion hasn’t been done in, what 8-9 years? This was a lot of fun. I hope this leads to another match in this feud.

Alberto Del Rio *barely* retained the WWE Title against John Cena in a Last Man Standing Match. Over the past few years, I’d begrudgingly become a John Cena fan… this match, however… Cena was booked far too strong. It took Alberto Del Rio, Ricardo Rodriguez, The Miz, R-Truth, the backstage interview set, the Vengeance “V”, and a belt shot to keep Cena down for a ten-count… and JUST a ten-count… if this was a “Stay Down for an 11 Count” match, it would probably still be going on. The bout featured a lot of neat spots, and I’m glad Del Rio retained… just wish he could be booked a bit stronger.

Assuming The Miz and R-Truth running in on this match further builds the big Survivor Series Elimination Tag match (which will feature the in-ring return of The Rock), the attack should have left Cena laying until the show went off the air. Instead, he got back up and had to take a belt-shot to end the match. I’m sure Cena can cleanly lose a match, and not lose any fans… all this does is cause the heels to look incredibly ineffectual. Alberto Del Rio, looked like he’d be the WWE’s next big heel going into 2011… now, he’s on his second dirty WWE title reign, and can only get clean wins over John Morrison… who I think *I* even have a clean win over.

Looking at it this way, Cena on his own is damn-near a Terminator-level beast. It took four men and several gimmicks to (barely) end this match. How are we supposed to fear for John Cena and his team of 3-4 partners (including The Rock) against a group of guys that have been booked like geeks over the past several weeks when Cena can just about withstand them all on his own?

Vengeance 2011 was definitely a miss-able show, not terrible… but not necessary. I’m probably coming off sounding pretty bitter over the whole thing, and I apologize if that’s the case… maybe I need a bit of a break from the product. It’s been a pretty grating few months of WWE programming; I may just require a small respite. The good news is the “three pay-per-views in a six-week span” is over. The upcoming build to Survivor Series should be interesting and I’m looking forward to it.

[Comics] DC Reboot Thoughts

2011-07-12T09:39:00.000-07:00

Figured I may as well join the rest of the comics blogosphere and share my thoughts on the DC Comics Reboot post-Flashpoint. Funny, I’m actually quite enjoying Flashpoint, however, I’m not altogether certain that I will be able to fully appreciate what follows.

Back in the mid-late 1990’s, I found myself in a strange place in my comics fandom… I was a new reader. To DC Comics, that is. Of course, I was fully aware of Superman and Batman their origins and what they were all about, I just had no desire to follow their monthly adventures. Coming into my late teens, and finding myself with the first “disposable” income I’d ever possessed. Being a foolish teenager, instead of putting said income aside for the future or for my higher education, I blew it on comics. DC Comics. I’d already been buying the nearly the entire Marvel line I was interested in. Grant Morrison’s JLA, No-Man’s-Land Batman, Mark Waid’s Flash were just some of the new titles I’d used in effort of dipping my toe into the DC pool.

In the years to follow, I’d bounce back and forth between being a Marvel guy and a DC guy. Up until recently, I’ve been pretty heavily biased towards DC. What with the lower prices and less snarky editorial teams, DC just seemed like a nicer universe to play in and follow.

Now… Flashpoint and the Great DC Reboot. I can’t claim to have been a comics fan during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, so it’d be silly for me to compare this to that. I wonder if in the near future if we’ll be referring to the time we’re in now as pre-Flashpoint, or if this will serve as a simple blip of a gimmick that had already been overturned.

I don’t really have any problem with DC deciding it’s in their best interests to inject a bit of youth into their established franchises. I did, at the onset, think it was rather foolish to reboot titles such as Action Comics and Detective Comics back to Issue #1. I’ve come around to it (at least the logic of it) when DC announced same-day digital availability on all titles. It only makes sense to re-start the titles at #1 with that in mind. Granted, to use such logic is to buy in to the theory that it’s the scary numbers on the established titles that are keeping new readers away. Either way, it is what it is… time to buckle down and enjoy (or not) the ride. On to the… ahem, 52 Number One’s DC will be launching come September.

Action Comics #1 (by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales)

This list is obviously alphabetical, though, I really couldn’t pick a better title to start the list with. Grant Morrison on Superman may just make this entire experiment worthwhile. Out of the entire line, THIS is the title I’m looking most forward to. The apparent affinity for the silver age that Morrison has keeps me a bit more at ease on the entire affair. Definite buy from me.

Animal Man #1 (by Jeff Lemire, Travel Foreman and Dan Green)

Enjoyed some of the old pre-Vertigo Animal Man series (the Morrison and Milligan runs especially). Not really sure I’d like to read more solo-Animal Man. It’s likely I’ll pick up Issue #1 to try it out.

All-Star Western #1 (by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Moritat)

Creative team notwithstanding, I’ve heard great things about Gray/Palmiotti’s Jonah Hex series, this is likely a pass from me. Not terribly interested in a Western Comic.

Aquaman #1 (by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis)

Aquaman looks to be finally coming into his own as a bona fide A-Lister with Johns and Reis at the helm. I’ve not enjoyed Aquaman since the Peter David run of almost 20 years ago. I’ll more than likely try this one out.

Batgirl #1 (starring Barbara Gordon; by Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes)

Not interested in seeing Barbara Gordon as Batgirl. Pass.

Batman #1 (by Scott Snyder & Greg Capulllo)

Really digging Snyder’s current run on Detective Comics, will probably grab this.

Batman & Robin #1 (by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason)

Tomasi and Gleason had a brief run on B&R earlier this year that was really quite good. Not sure if I’ll continue being a Bat-Completist after the relaunch… this one seems like a good jumping off point for me.

Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (David Finch and Jay Fobok)

If we see this one in the year 2011, I’d be shocked. Pass.

Batwing #1 (by Judd Winick and Ben Oliver)

Batwing is one of the new Batmen from Batman Incorporated… so, does that mean Batman Inc. is still around in the new DC Universe? Utterly confusing that they’d pick Batwing of all people for an ongoing title. I don’t see this one hitting the double digits. An experimental title to show that DC have black heroes, perhaps… it’s taking place in Africa too, so maybe Winick can pummel us with more HIV/AIDs lectures. Pass.

Batwoman #1 (by J.H. Williams III, Haden Blackman and Amy Reede)

Wasn’t interested in this one pre-reboot, definitely not interested in it now.

Birds of Prey #1 (by Duane Swierczynski and Jesus Saiz)

Not feeling a non-Simone, non-Dixon BoP. Of course it’s unfair to judge a title under such circumstances… and to be completely honest, a Simone or Dixon BoP would barely interest me at this point.

Blackhawks #1 (by Mike Costa and Ken Lashley)

This may be a fun title to try out. I know next to nothing about the title, only having read the Howard Chaykin series of prestige format stories. Will probably give this one a try.

Blue Beetle #1 (by Tony Bedard, Ig Guara and Ruy Jose)

I really rather enjoyed the previous Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle volume post Infinite Crisis. Will likely give this one a whirl.

Captain Atom #1 (by J.T. Krul & Freddie Williams II)

Just last year I came into an almost complete run of the Captain Atom series from the 1980’s. Really enjoyed what I read of it. Didn’t so much enjoy the WildStorm mini-series or Bob Harras’s abortive Breach. I feel Captain Atom is a better team-member than a solo-hero. I’ve liked him as chairman of the JLE and as part of the Generation Lost JLI. Will probably grab at least the first issue though I’m not expecting much.

Catwoman #1 (by Judd Winick and Guillem March)

Nah. Nothing against the creators, but the only solo Catwoman I’ve ever liked was the Ed Brubaker one.

Deathstroke #1 (by Kyle Higgins, Joe Bennett and Art Thibert)

Always thought Deathstroke was a bit overrated as a character. Surprisingly, I liked the first issue of his Flashpoint mini. Dependent on how the mini works out, I may try this one out.

DC Universe Presents #1 (Anthology - first arc Deadman by Paul Jenkins & Bernard Chang)

I have a really hard time paying even $2.99 for an anthology title. I’ve never bought an anthology title and felt that I’d gotten my money’s worth. Depending on reviews, I may pick this one up in trade.

Demon Knights #1 (by Paul Cornell, Diogenes Neves and Oclair Albert)

Etrigan the Demon, you say? Sorry, I was napping just then. Etrigan, for me, is just THAT character. The one where whenever he’s on panel I’m suddenly more interested in just about anything… laundry, weeding, checking the smoke detectors… you get the point. Paul Cornell is a fantastic writer, and hopefully he can do something with the character that could draw me in. The fact that this title is apparently taking place in medieval Europe doesn’t really help matters. I have a feeling this will be a title with a cult-like following… all of whom will be terribly disappointed when it gets cancelled within its first year.

Detective Comics #1 (by Tony Daniel)

So, Snyder goes from 'Tec to Batman, and Daniel goes from Batman to Tec. I guess that makes it feel, err, kind of new. I’ll probably grab the first issue, though Daniel’s current run on Batman really isn’t holding my attention.

Flash #1 (by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato)

Bit of a Flash completest, I may be… this one may depend on which Flash it showcases. Barry Allen was never MY Flash. I grew up knowing only Wally and hearing of the legend of Barry. I liked that. If it’s a Barry book, I’ll try it. If it’s a Wally book, I’m all over it. I won’t even hazard that it may be a Bart or Jay title.

Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE #1 (by Jeff Lemire and Alberto Ponticelli)

The current Frankenstein Flashpoint mini hasn’t captured my imagination, and his Seven Soldiers mini didn’t either. Not really looking forward to this one.

The Fury of Firestorm #1 (by Gail Simone and co-writer Ethan Van Sciver; art by Yildiray Cinar)

I’ll try this one. I tried getting into the early 80’s Firestorm recently. The stories were always solid and decent; however, on the whole it felt terribly dated. Glad to have the opportunity to read a contemporary Firestorm (having missed out on the Jolley run post Infinite Crisis).

Green Arrow #1 (by J.T. Krul and Dan Jurgens)

I can’t really mince words here. I really like the Green Arrow. Years ago I’d devoured the Grell run, and have been looking for a Green Arrow title that could recapture the magic, as it were. J.T. Krul’s already had over a dozen issues to do so… and hasn’t. Granted, he’s been stuck towing the Brightest Day line… but, still. I’ll grab the first issue.

Green Lantern #1 (by Geoff Johns, Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy)

Green Lantern Corps #1 (by Peter J. Tomas, Fernando Pasarin and Scott Hanna)

Green Lantern: The New Guardians #1 (by Tony Bedard, Tyler Kirkham and Batt)

Remember when I mentioned using the reboot as a jumping off point for some of the ancillary Bat-titles? Green Lantern has been on my chopping block for a few months now… I’d only stuck with to see it through to the War of the Green Lanterns. Post-Flashpoint, I’m cutting Lantern titles cold turkey.

Grifter #1 (by Nathan Edmondson, CAFU and BIT)

Eh? Grifter was always a character I wanted to dig. He’s got a great look… sadly, I’ve never found him anything resembling interesting. Doubt I’ll pick this one up.

Hawk & Dove #1 (by Sterling Gates and Rob Liefeld)

Pass… and No, not because of Liefeld. Liefeld art isn’t something that’s bothered me in years… it’s obviously fashionable to bash his work… he’s a man who clearly loves comics, and was able to carve out his own piece of the industry, good on him. His work hearkens back to a very interesting period in comics history, I think it’s neat that he’ll be part of this. That said, I truly have no interest in the characters.

I, Vampire #1 (by Josh Fialkov and Andrea Sorrentino)

Wait, what? I think this may be a DC attempt at testing the axiom “If you build it, they will come.” catering to the bookstore crowd. Not for me, though… no thanks.

Justice League #1 (by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee)

This appears to be the lynchpin of the entire DC Universe post-Flashpoint. Yeah, I’ll be getting it.

Justice League Dark #1 (by Peter Milligan and Mikel Janin)

Perhaps the silliest title on this list. Really like the characters (and creators) involved in this, however, I just can’t shake the feeling that John Constantine does NOT belong on any Justice League team. Just feels wrong.

Justice League International #1 (by Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti)

I never thought I’d EVER say “I wish Judd Winick were writing this” but, here we are. Love the JLI, so I’ll be picking this one up.

Legion Lost #1 (by Fabian Nicieza and Pete Woods)

Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (by Paul Levitz and Francis Portela)

I’ve never been able to get into the Legion. I’m sure I’ll be passing on both of these.

Mister Terrific #1 (by Eric Wallace and Roger Robinson)

Look DC has Black Superheroes! Mister Terrific is an odd pick for an ongoing title… especially as he’s most associated with the Justice Society… and the Justice Society is nowhere to be found post-reboot. Pretty sure I wouldn’t buy a solo Reed Richards ongoing… so, I’m really sure I wouldn’t buy a Mr. Terrific one.

Nightwing #1 (by Kyle Higgins and Eddy Barrow)

Maybe. I’ve invested a lot of time, interest (and money) in the current Batman direction… The current teams on the Bat-titles were able to convince me to accept Dick as Batman. I’m not totally happy with demoting him back to Nightwing. May try the first issue, doubtful for the long haul.

Omac #1 (by Dan DiDio, Keith Giffen and Scott Koblish)

Nope. Love Giffen… but, nope.

Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 (by Scott Lobdell and Kenneth Rocafort)

This is an odd one… Why isn’t Winick writing this one, now? Not that I would have been interested in the book either way. Pass.

Red Lantern Corps #1 (by Peter Milligan, Ed Benes and Rob Hunter)

I’d like to give this one a shot, due to it having Milligan writing it… however, I fear that since I’m not planning on picking up any of the other Lantern titles, I’d only be getting part of a story… that, and I’d hate to be pulled back into the Lantern-verse, just as I’m ready to leave it totally.

Resurrection Man #1 (by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Fernando Dagnino)

I remember liking what little I read of DnA’s Resurrection Man from over a decade ago… the first issue had like a holographic pog on it, I believe. Still, as it didn’t exactly set the world on fire then, this is a strange title to pick for a launch. Haven’t decided on this one yet.

Savage Hawkman #1 (by Tony Daniel & Philip Tan)

I thought James Robinson was supposed to be writing this one? Oh well, the only Hawkman I’ve ever been able to get into was the Geoff Johns version from JSA and the solo-title from that era… hearing the rumblings of Hawkman being given yet another new origin has me spooked… Pass.

Sgt. Rock and the Men of War #1 (by Ivan Brandon and Tom Derenick)

I can’t even think of an interesting way to say I’m not interested in this one. Pass.

Static Shock #1 (John Rozum, Scott McDaniel and Jonathan Glapion)

See, DC has black superher—oh, Static? I may actually be interested in Static. Great creative team at that. Yeah, I’ll grab this one.

Stormwatch #1 (by Paul Cornell and Miguel Sepulveda)

Never read any Stormwatch… wonder why they’d launch this, and not something like, say, WildCATs… I’ll have to do some Stormwatch reseach and see if this sounds like something for me.

Suicide Squad #1 (by Adam Glass and Marco Rudy)

It’s suddenly apparent why we have no Secret Six on this list. I’ve recently gone on a crusade to collect the entire Ostrander run on Suicide Squad, and am nearing completion. The Squad is a fun concept, and I look forward to checking it out. The cover, however, is… well, not so good.

Superboy #1 (by Scott Lodbell, R.B. Silva and Rob Lean)

Depending on how Superboy is in Teen Titans, I may check this one out from time to time. Probably not though.

Supergirl #1 (by Michael Green and Mike Johnson)

Nope. Sorry, nothing more to say on this one.

Superman #1 (WRITTEN BY George Perez; art by Jesus Marino)

Nah, I think Action will be my Superman title.

Swamp Thing #1 (by Scott Snyder and Yannick Paquette)

I’ll reserve judgment on this one, until seeing how the Brightest Day Aftermath series pans out. Swamp Thing without Moore has never even registered on my interest meter, though.

Teen Titans #1 (by Scott Lobdell, Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund)

Scott Lobdell wrote a whole load of X-Men comics during my more formative years. Seeing him on a Teen Titans book shouldn’t excite me as much as it is. Will be grabbing this one.

Voodoo #1 (by Ron Marz and Sami Basri)

Voodoo? The WildCATs member Voodoo? This was green-lit, why? Will any of us be surprised when this one goes down?

Wonder Woman #1 (by Brian Azzarello and Cliff Chiang)

Never read Wonder Woman… the creative team here feels an odd choice. Though, I actually now find myself interested in checking this one out.

Well, there we go. Fifty Two Number 1’s for DC this September. I’m sure the sales will be incredible that month… October through the end of 2011, however, will give us the real story.

For the moment, I’m reading all the Flashpoint tie-ins, and will be opining on those shortly (this week’s comics has the last of the flashpoint #1’s). I’ll do a full run down on them either later this week, or early next… I’ll pass on which ones I’ll continue reading, and which ones I’m not going to grab the last two issues of.

I know this was a long one, thanks for reading!

[Wrestling] WWE WrestleMania XXVII

2011-03-31T21:48:00.001-07:00

I've attempted to put this little column together for most of the day... can't seem to shake off the write-rust. Gonna give it another go... haven't written anything of substance in quite some time now... nothing for fun, anyway.

Anyhoo... off we go. WrestleMania 27! We'll attack this beast from top to bottom.

WWE Championship Match

The Miz (c) vs. John Cena

Regardless or where this match falls on the card, I feel this is THE main event of the evening. Most places I've seen this program discussed, the main focus was placed on the ongoing discourse between John Cena and WrestleMania "Host" The Rock, leaving the actual MATCH somewhere in the background. I think it's been played quite well so far, however, this past week on Raw, the WWE may have crossed the proverbial rubicon in teasing us with a potential Rock/Cena match-up... that I feel they're going to have to eventually deliver.

As for the match, I must admit... I figured The Miz would have dropped the title, either at the Royal Rumble or in the Elimination Chamber... leaving him free to give Jerry Lawler (who we'll discuss later) his inaugural WrestleMania match. I've enjoyed the Miz's reign thus far, and feel his sneak attacks on Cena in recent weeks have been extremely well played... however, I don't see him leaving Mania with the strap. With a heel more than likely going over in the World Title Match (spoiler: I'm picking Del Rio), I think they'll give Cena the win.

World Heavyweight Championship Match

Edge (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio

Alberto Del Rio has sure become a big deal... pretty quick. Not too many will "get" that, I'm sure. Del Rio fulfilled his "destiny" by winning the 2011 Royal Rumble match, launching him into the WrestleMania "Main Event" (which I'm guessing will be placed firmly in the mid-card) and a shot... er, opportunity for the World Heavyweight Championship. I really can't see him losing here. Across the ring, we have Edge... who, well... I'm not really sure where I see him fitting right now. It simply seems as though there isn't a whole lot left for him to do... On Smackdown! he's either World Champion or challenging the World Champion. He's in the 2006-2008 Batista rut, which wasn't a whole lot of fun to watch. While I was hoping for the inclusion of Christian into the match, it appears that he'll probably get involved in some way... possibly costing Edge the title, either by accident or design.

No-Holds-Barred Match

The Undertaker vs. Triple H

Okay... I *know* I've seen this match before... Could've sworn these two faced off at WrestleMania before... nah, if that were the case, they'd have surely mentioned it, right?

All joking aside, I guess I kind of understand their not bringing up Hunter's WrestleMania X-7 loss to The Undertaker... many younger fans probably haven't the foggiest idea it even happened. I can understand it... but don't appreciate it. I keep feeling as though I should care about this match more... or at least, that I'm being told by the WWE that I should. This match is being portrayed as the second coming of Hogan/Andre. Though I can't argue it'll probably be a better match from a technical standpoint (may even be match of the night), there's no way this match has anywhere near the spectacle.

The Streak is the thing, of course. Winning this year, would put the Undertaker at 19-0 at WrestleMania. The recent face-to-face confrontation these two shared on Raw (along with a surprise visit from HBK) just may have served us a bit of a curveball. They were clearly setting up the classic guy who looks better on the go-home Raw loses the PPV match, with Michaels telling Triple H he wouldn't be able to win. Even with all of that, I can't see The Undertaker losing here. I think NEXT year will be the more likely end to the streak, with Taker hoping to go 20-0.

It bugs me whenever I think of how the WWE blew John Cena's WrestleMania undefeated streak in a lousy three way match at WrestleMania 24 (Cena's WM record now stands at 6-1). If next year, Cena were to challenge the Undertaker to a streak vs. streak match... now, THAT match would have a decent amount of spectacle to it.

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton

I'm a big fan of CM Punk. It bugged me that he was taken off program with Cena and put with Orton for WrestleMania. I wanted the Raw Main Event to be Cena/Punk for the WWE Title (with, as previously mentioned... the Miz vs. Lawler). I haven't really enjoyed the New Nexus storyline. Prior to losing Wade Barrett, the Nexus felt like a force of nature... now, they're just a faction. Hell, right now, they've all been punted back to FCW. Orton's always come off a bit wooden to me... kinda dug his more sociopathic persona, right now it's like he's being shown caring for his family... I just don't "get" Orton as a sympathetic character. I think Orton will take this one, in a great match.

Rey Mysterio vs. "Dashing" Cody Rhodes

This is the match I've forgotten about several times while running down the card in my head. Cody Rhodes has grown leaps and bounds as a competitor and a character, and Rey always shines in big-match scenarios... The lead up to this match was almost done in the background... very well done. The announce team making comments during the Royal Rumble that Cody couldn't compete due to the facial injury suffered at the hands (err, knees) of Mysterio... leading to the confrontation and challenge. Fun build which will lead to a fun little match. I think Mysterio will take it.

Jerry "The King" Lawler vs. Michael Cole

This match is a bit of a double edged sword for me.

On one hand, it displays the importance and prestige of a "WrestleMania Match". Jerry Lawler has mentioned in passing on commentary for the past several YEARS that he's never once had the opportunity to compete at WrestleMania. It goes a long way to show how competitors strive to and work their entire career hoping to showcase their talents at WrestleMania... and cements it as the biggest show of the year... not just for WWE... but for the entire wrestling world. It's great the Jerry Lawler, after nearly 20 years in the WWE, is finally getting his match.

On the other hand... he's facing Michael Cole. So, we've already established the prestige and honor it is to have competed at WrestleMania... and instead of giving Lawler a match against a credible talent... we get Michael Cole? Don't get me wrong, as a character... Michael Cole has been fantastic since the inception of NXT and his heelish character... a character we've all been begging to see Jerry Lawler throw a fireball at... I was just hoping, again, that we'd have Lawler vs. The Miz (with Michael Cole).

This is probably the match that has been given the most build... as Lawler and Cole are ALWAYS on-screen (at least vocally), and I must say... the build has been absolutely fantastic. I'm hoping the fall-out of this match has Cole left on Smackdown! as a commentator, while appearing on Raw as a manager... with Jim Ross returning to Raw's announce booth permanently. Oh, yeah... the match... Lawler wins... hopefully with a piledriver.

WWE United States Championship Match

King Sheamus (c) vs. Daniel Bryan

I'm glad they're finally showcasing a secondary title at WrestleMania. Sheamus and Bryan have had some really fun matches leading up to this... and I'm quite confident they'll "bring it" at WrestleMania. I'm very excited to see Bryan Danielson's first WrestleMania match. This is the only match of the show that I can't with great confidence, pick a winner. If I have to choose, which I don't... but I will anyway... I think Daniel Bryan will re-capture the United States Championship.

6-Person Mixed Tag Match

John Morrison/Trish Stratus/Snooki vs. Dolph Ziggler/Layla/Michelle McCool

Up until recent episodes of Raw I had no idea what a "Snooki" was. I know I'd heard the name before, and that she was on a reality show of some sort, but I wouldn't be able to pick her out of a line-up... and life was just a little bit nicer. I haven't followed TNA Wrestling since Hogan and the gang came in... but I'm hearing they are also using Jersey Shore people... jeez.

Anyhoo... the match. It's a real shame to waste the talents of... well, everybody involved in this match... in this match. Ziggler and Morrison certainly deserve better... and a Trish return to the ring would've been, in my opinion, best served in a non-gimmick match. Perhaps a one-on-one with Layla El or Michelle McCool.

This being a celebrity match, Snooki's team will more than likely get the win... more than likely with Snooki pinning Ziggler after either a botched "finisher" they teach her, or via capitalizing on a Starship Pain. Not looking forward to this one... and it will ultimately be this generation's "Limp Bizkit is WWE's favorite band", in trying to use popular culture without realizing how terribly it dates the product.

8-Man Tag Team Match

Big Show/Kane/Santino Marella/Vladimir Kozlov vs. Wade Barrett/Heath Slater/Justin Gabriel/Ezekiel Jackson

Hmm... Just where in the hell is Diesel? I was hoping that Big Daddy Cool would somehow get involved in this one. While we're at it... where's Kofi Kingston? He certainly deserves to perform at WrestleMania more than... err, Santino? Kozlov?

Oh well... what can ya do? The Corre needs to get the victory here to stay strong. I feel that since the original Nexus dissolved, the founding members lost a bit of their cache. Don't get me wrong, three of the four members currently carry championship gold (Intercontinental and Tag Team, respectively) but, the dangerousness of the original Nexus just isn't there.

The lack of a Money in the Bank ladder match really hurts the card, in my opinion. Too many worthy competitors are being left off the biggest show of the year. Kofi Kingston, Jack Swagger, Christian, Evan Bourne, Drew McIntyre, Ted DiBiase, Mark Henry... guys that should have fit somewhere on this show... ultimately will be relegated to the pre-show Battle Royal, that nobody will care about, or even mention the winner of, possibly only in passing. Hell, they could have debuted Sin Cara (Mistico) in the Money in the Bank match. Maybe even Awesome Kong.

Warts and all, this IS WrestleMania, and should be a good show. Haven't decided if I'll head to O'Sullivan's for this or maybe just order it and have some friends over. I am looking forward to it, for sure... and will hopefully share my thoughts on the proceedings after the show.

[Comics] The "Jim Cornette Analysis" on the Four Groups of Comics' Target Audience

2010-03-12T09:40:00.000-08:00

About a hundred years ago, I'd mentioned on this site that I was planning on shamelessly ripping off an article I read about an interview with pro-wrestling's James E. Cornette, where he opined about the "Four Groups of Wrestling's Target Audience". Original article, here.

I hadn't done so yet, as I really hadn't been motivated to talk much about comics at all. I feel I've become far too "familiar" with the industry... and as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt.

I was flipping thru a few copies of the more recent Marvel Previews while waiting for the shower to heat up, and suddenly became painfully aware of something. Though I've been supporting Marvel Comics for the past twenty-odd years, I am not their target audience. Seeing blurbs of "From the writer of Entourage", "From the writer of Heroes"... tells me that Marvel (and mainstream comics at large) are becoming more about the singer and less about the song.

What follows is word-for-word what Jim Cornette had said in regards to the Four Groups of Wrestling's Target Audience... with all the mentions of WRESTLING removed and changed to fit the comics industry. There's a bit of salty language... which I'll cut out. I guess I'll never get a job at DC with that kind of attitude, eh?

The First Group: "There are this many people who buy anything in a comic shop. They're going to come and buy anything comics related no matter what. They're hardcore. They are on the internet. They want to come because either they can't get enough comics or they want to b**** and complain about something and say how they could do it better."

The Second Group: "This crowd likes good comics. Not old comics, not new comics, just good comics. There's two kinds of comics: good comics and bad comics. I don't care who presents it or what it is, that's this crowd, that's the second crowd. They want to read good comics and if you present a good product for an extended period of time to where it gets the point across, they will come to see you.

The Third Group: This crowd comes to see the star, comes to the see the big event. "The Writer of Entourage", Kevin Smith, Civil War, Ultimate Final Crisis part 7. Either somebody really gets hot like Claremont/Byrne's X-Men two decades ago or Image Comics in the 90's or whatever. Or the Summer Crossover is hot. That's the crowd where no matter what you do they aren't going to come all the time, and they're not going to read every month, but they know it is around. That's the third group, the people who will come for the big stories or the big stars.

Everybody else in the world is in the fourth group. They don't give two flying f****. You could put a reincarnated William Shakespeare behind a book, they don't give a s*** because it's comics and they don't want to read it. They want to read magazines, Harry Potter and I don't give a f*** what else. You ain't going to get them.

So you've always got these people [group one] right. And I'm not saying you should s*** on them because they are your ticket purchasing patrons, but you have always got these people. If you've got a good product, you've got group number two so concentrate on that. There's really no way that you control group number three because how do you just say 'Ok, this guy is going to be the next Wolverine. Or the next Sin City or Sandman'. You can't do that, they've got to come along. That's when you get the really big sales, record months, whatever.

And the fourth group, who gives a flying f*** what you people want to see, if you people are going to read g-d Harry Potter, f*** you! Because we're doing comics. And the people who try to say 'Well, we're going to give people who don't like comics something to read'. They've got something to read, it's in all the other f****** books while your books don't sell you dumb son of a b****! So why do you do s*** that's not related in any way to comics in the comics industry. They don't stop Saturday Night Live to have Curt Gowdy give the g-d Olympic freestyle skating report. The people watching Saturday Night Live don't give two flying f***s about the god damn Olympic freestyle skating. So WHY DO IT is all I am saying?

You've got group one. If you're good you get group two. When you're lucky you get group three, and the rest of them it don't make a f*** because they're not coming anyway."

[Manga] Naoki Urasawa's MONSTER

2010-02-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

Re-upload of a review from 2010.

I finished reading Naoki Urasawa's MONSTER late last year. Was probably the only manga I was willing to buy new and at full-price. I've put off writing a "review" of it ever since.

Whenever I attempt to review this manga, I have to keep reeling myself in from gushing over it. Not sure that this will be any different, tho, if I feel it heading in that direction... I'll run for the exit as quick as possible.

Naoki Urasawa's MONSTER is an eighteen volume manga released over the past few years by Viz Media as part of their "Signature" imprint (The Signature imprint is now also home to two other Urasawa titles, PLUTO and 20TH CENTURY BOYS... both of which I have not yet read. The Signature line got a price-hike, and I'm still weathering a rather tumultuous financial storm). Urasawa was also (at least partly) responsible for the anime MASTER KEATON, which I'm waiting to show up used at the local Bookman's.

Getting it out of the way right here, I feel strongly that MONSTER is one of the finest stories to EVER be told in/with sequential art (I've been reading comics for about 25 years too). There's layer upon layer of story and characterization, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure that I have the writery ability or talent to sum up ANY of those layers with any kind of precision or brevity (this IS a nearly 3,000 page story after all). I'm definitely the wrong guy to be reviewing this. The characters, besides the main handful are changed out rather often to keep things fresh, and to provide new insight to the story at large. I've never seen a writer have the ability to introduce bit characters every so often, equip them with a FULL back story, and make me care about their well-being. Even the characters that were written to be irritating actually felt whole. By the end of their arc, you knew WHY they acted the way they did, and could either empathize or reaffirm your disinterest.

The MAIN storyline of MONSTER is that of Dr. Kenzo Tenma, a brilliant young Japanese brain surgeon working in Germany (this takes place right around the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall). He is chief surgeon of his department, and engaged to the daughter of the hospital head. Very early on, a decision is made by his superiors that cost a man Tenma was operating on his life (Tenma is pulled off the operation to operate on a local Mayor). Wracked with guilt, he vows to himself never to let himself get pulled away from an operation again. Shortly afterwards, a young boy is rushed to his table with a bullet in his head. Tenma is once again pulled off the surgery to work on a higher profile patient. Tenma refuses, saving the boy's life.

The higher profile patient dies, and Tenma is run thru the wringer by his superiors, his fiancee leaves him, and he is quickly demoted. He sits at the side of the young boy's (who is still comatose) bed, and starts talking to the boy about his troubles. Over the next few days, everybody he had a problem with, was killed. Then, the boy disappears.

Those are the first few chapters, and I'm sure I didn't do them justice. From this point, we flash forward about a decade... and the boy who's life Tenma saved has become a "Monster", a serial killer with a small nearly cult-like following that helps him do his bidding. Tenma is a wanted man, for several murders and is on the run. He's also looking for the boy, now man (his name is Johan) to clear his name.

This is a "seinen" manga, meaning it's marketed for adults (it does feature several mature themes, nothing too outrageous tho). This is probably why it hasn't gotten the kind of lip service as the Death Note's and Bleach's that are marketed to teens-young adults. The fact that there's very little mature anime on TV anymore is probably the reason that this has not yet been licensed for DVD release in North America.

I'm sure I'd ventured into the gushing side above, but it's all good. I'm no professional manga-reviewer anyway. This manga is definitely worth your time, is easily found in bookstores, comic stores, online (they're super cheap at DCBS - Discount Comic Book Service), or for a try-out I'm sure you can procure a few of the chapter scans online all webcomiclike. Just remember, you read right to left.

[Wrestling] TNA Hard Justice 2009

2009-08-14T01:16:00.000-07:00

Well, it's certainly been an interesting month for Total Non-Stop Action. Turmoil behind the scenes, as well as a rumored power-shift, could be the perfect recipe for exciting wrestling television. This month's offering is Hard Justice. Initially, it was announced/rumored that all of the matches will be contested under "No-DQ" ruling, much like WWE's Extreme Rules and WCW's Un-Censored... I'm not entirely sure if this stipulation remains. I would bag on TNA for taking this page out of the WWE playbook, however, it's a perfectly decent idea for a gimmick pay-per-view.

Now, onto the matches:

TNA World Heavyweight Title Match

Kurt Angle (C) v Sting v Matt Morgan

It's nice to see TNA elevating new talent to the Main Event level. I'm not much of a fan of Matt Morgan, but it's still very nice to see nonetheless. Other the past several weeks, The Blueprint was put in a "Best of 3" series with AJ Styles. With AJ, Morgan put on some great matches, potentially the best of his career thus far. Kurt Angle and Sting continue their rivalry that has been going on for the past few months. I don't see TNA taking the title off of Angle this close to Bound For Glory (October), as I feel that should be saved for the bigger show. I can see Morgan having a rather impressive showing for his first pay-per-view main event match.

TNA Legends Title Match

Kevin Nash v Mick Foley (C)

Kevin Nash further proves to be one of the most entertaining guys on the roster (probably any roster, right now). I gushed over his "Businessman" gimmick in my last TNA-PPV post, and those feelings remain. As far as Foley is concerned... I'm not sure why I should care. He's a heel, he's a babyface, he's a heel, he's a babyface. He's been in TNA less than a year, and has turned so often, I need to be reminded each week which entrance way he should be coming out of. I'm guessing at this point in time, he's playing face... possibly shifted into a conjoined Foley-Jarrett role, had Jarrett not taken a leave of absence a month or so back. Regardless of all that, this should be a fun match. Foley will still push his limits, and it will be fun watching businessman, Kevin Nash pick and choose what's "worth" doing for him and his paycheck. I'd like to see a Nash victory.

X-Division Title Match

Samoa Joe v Homicide (C)

I almost feel bad for Samoa Joe. I wouldn't go so far as to say the X-Division title is below him, however, it seemed as though they were building a head of steam for him to leave a lasting impression in the main event scene. Taz's arrival last month didn't really do much for either man. Homicide is always impressive, as is Joe. This should be a great match, possibly match of the night. I would like to see Homicide retain.

Steel Asylum Match

Suicide v Chris Sabin v The Amazing Red v Alex Shelley v Jay Lethal v Christopher Daniels v Consequences Creed

TNA announced that D'Angelo Dinero would be debuting at Hard Justice (who is heavily rumored to be former WWE/ECW Superstar, Elijah Burke). Not sure if his debut will be as an entrant in this match or not. It's also interesting just how quickly Christopher Daniels dropped out of the upper mid-card. He certainly deserves better. Both Suicide (as Kaz) and Jay Lethal have won Steel Asylum's in the past. I'd like to see Daniel's take this one, and hopefully gain a decent foothold in the upper mid-card once and for all. That is, of course, unless Dinero DOES debut for this match... in that case, I pick him.

$50,000 Bounty Match

Jethro Holliday v Abyss

Abyss's old "counselor" Dr. Stevie Richards has placed a $50,000 bounty on his head. This is a great old school set-up, leading to several interesting opportunities. I don't see Holliday (the former Trevor Murdoch) winning this one. It should be fun watching to see who else tries to cash-in and take Abyss out.

Rob Terry v Hernandez

Rob Terry is physically impressive. In the ring, however, is a different story. Hernandez has been on a tear since returning from injury (as well as before he was injured). This match is predicated on the Feast or Fired Briefcase that Hernandez won at Sacrifice earlier this year. The British Invasion took possession of it (as well as Homicide's case) before taking Hernandez out. They seem to be building Hernandez as the next big thing (and rightfully so). That said, he should take this one.

IWGP Tag Team Title Match

Beer Money, Inc. v The British Invasion (C)

Up until last week there was a bit of confusion over whether or not New Japan would let The British Invasion's title victory stand. Ultimately, the title switch stands, and honestly, that's for the best. The British Invasion, Magnus & Williams are a couple of great wrestlers. This match, if not for the X-Division Title match would be my pick for Match of the Night. I'd like to see The British Invasion retain here, and scoot Beer Money over to chasing the TNA Tag titles.

TNA Women's Knockout's Title Match

ODB v Angelina Love (C)

Another breath of fresh air. A title match without Tara or Awesome Kong in it. Opening up the field for a new challenger in ODB. Great decision in my humble opinion. ODB, with sidekick/love-interest, Cody Deaner have been incredibly entertaining both in and out of the ring. At this point, I don't see Love dropping the title, however, I wouldn't mind seeing an ODB run with the belt.

TNA Tag Team Title Match

Team 3D v Scott Steiner & Booker T (C)

Well, it's certainly nice to see Team 3D in a feud that doesn't have anything to do with "respect" or "beating respect into anybody". How they became the #1 contenders to the Titles, I don't know. Not that it matters, they're clearly TNA's marquee tag team (especially with Beer Money, Inc. otherwise engaged for the evening). This match is probably the hardest one to call... or even care about. Personally, I'm tired of all four men. I'd reckon The Main Event Mafia retains, and builds towards Bound For Glory with Beer Money, Inc. chasing for the belts.

Well, there ya have it. All in all, a decently stacked show. If I had the money, I'd consider making the purchase. TNA has really picked up their game over the past few months... and if some of the backstage rumors are true, they'll continue to raise the bar in the near future.

By the way, next week we've got WWE's SummerSlam... Enjoy the show!

[Wrestling] WWE Night of Champions 2009

2009-07-24T15:43:00.001-07:00

Another week, another Wrestling pay-per-view. This time it's WWE's Night of Champions. The event where every WWE Title is on the line. A very fun concept, and a nice way to add something special to the show. I mentioned in my last WWE PPV article that Cyber Sunday was going to be changed to Annihilation. The title has been changed again... this time to the even lamer "WWE Bragging Rights"... and how I was looking forward to seeing the Superstars bust out "Fatalities" at the end of their matches.

This show had the great advantage of being placed several weeks after the last PPV event, giving feuds time to percolate a bit more than usual. In a nice touch, the WWE stopped having ANY title matches over the past few weeks to ensure who the champions would be going in and to make this show feel a bit more special.

Onto the matches:

WWE Title Match:

Randy orton (c) v Triple H v John Cena

Okay, before I go into this one, I'd like to say that I hope the Triple H/John Cena comedy tour doesn't come to my town any time soon. This past Monday on Raw, we were treated to about five minutes of shtick between HHH and Cena... all the while poor (WWE Champion) Randy Orton had to stand outside the ring and seethe. This match was put together thru a mini tournament that came down to John Cena and Triple H. Their match went to a No-Contest, so the natural result is a triple threat match. I'd like to see Orton pull this one out, however, his character and effectiveness has been neutered, seemingly at every turn. I can't remember the last time he was made to look credible. I guess an argument can be made that he's playing the classic chickens*** heel, but that kind of clashes with his current heartless, remorseless "viper" gimmick. I have a sneaking suspicion that Triple H will take the title here, and we'll be seeing this same match again at SummerSlam (possibly with a stipulation).

World Heavyweight Title Match:

CM Punk (c) v Jeff Hardy

CM Punk's heel turn doesn't seem complete just yet. He's still playing a (little) bit in the middle here. This match has been built very well, and has featured great work by both men. We're currently in July, which is when Jeff Hardy's contract was rumored to expire. There hasn't been any news on his contractual status as of yet, so with that niggling thought in the back of my mind, I almost have to give the win to Punk. Unless this is a rare occasion where the news hasn't been leaked yet, I can't see Hardy going over when he could just take off on the next week or two. I expect a great match regardless.

ECW Title Match:

Tommy Dreamer (c) v Christian

This match is kind of dependent on the Unified Tag Title Match. I've picked Christian as Jericho's mystery partner. I think it could be telegraphed here if Dreamer gets the win, and is immediately swooped into a Vladimir Koslov confrontation/feud. It would be interesting if Christian were to win here, and also be the mystery partner. I'm not sure how big the WWE is at the moment on having a double champion. Either way, Christian and Dreamer have worked together surprisingly well over the past several weeks/months. This should be a decent match. If I had to pick a winner... I'll go with Dreamer, if only to further push my outlandish hope that Christian is Jericho's pick.

Intercontinental Title Match:

Rey Mysterio (c) v Dolph Ziggler

One of the most improved superstars on the roster versus one of the most consistently awesome superstars on the roster. This match has no downside. Ziggler, goofy name aside, has really stepped up his game since moving to the blue show. Mysterio has been great for as long as I can remember, at this point. Since there are no strange stipulations attached to this one, I'm going to pick Dolph here.

United States Title Match:

Kofi Kingston (c) v The Miz v Jack Swagger v MVP v The Big Show v Carlito Colon

The omission of Primo Colon here is mind boggling. Primo had an awesome showing this past Raw in a six-man-tag, where he pinned his brother Carlito for the win. Putting the, not so awesome Carlito in this match in his stead seems kind of strange. No Evan Bourne here either, which is also odd. Anyhoo, I'd like to see Jack Swagger walk out with the US strap, and move on to a singles feud with MVP. It's only fitting for the "All-American American" to be the United States Champion. The Big Show inclusion is a bit annoying here as well, he should really be in WWE Title contention (which is a terribly stale program at the moment). It seems as though his pushes are sporadic enough to where he looks like a contender, but too sporadic in that he doesn't look like a credible champion.

Unified Tag Team Title Match:

Chris Jericho & ??? (C) v Priceless/Legacy (Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes)

Chris Jericho and Edge won the Unified Tag Team Titles last month at The Bash, when SmackDown! General Manager, Teddy Long added them to the Colons v DiBiase/Rhodes match in the interest of "shaking things up" and appeasing Mr. McMahon (who had just put Teddy on "probation"). In the weeks that followed, Edge had suffered a torn Achilles tendon which may keep him out of action for up to a year. Rather than strip Jericho/Edge of the titles, they've gone another route. Chris Jericho claims to have written special stipulations into his Championship agreement. Knowing that Edge is "injury prone", he had these stips written in to protect his investment in the team... now, Jericho is sole owner of the Unified Tag Team titles and reserves the right to choose his next tag team partner.

Got all that?

Good.

DiBiase and Rhodes are still in the same position they've been in since forming Legacy. They're Randy Orton's back-up, and are the guys that generally take the beatings that are meant for Orton. Last month, I picked Priceless to take the titles, so that all members of the Legacy would have gold. This time, I'm going the other direction. Jericho and his new partner will win, and the loss will further sow dissension into the Legacy stable, which is already incredibly weak as it currently stands. I'm still convinced that Ted DiBiase Jr. is being groomed for a babyface run, especially with his movie coming out sometime soon. As far as the mystery partner is concerned... Jericho has claimed that this new partner and he shared a lot of like traits. Right now, the (possible red-herring?) best guess would be Dolph Ziggler, who is currently feuding with Jericho-foe and Intercontinental champion Rey Mysterio. Another rumor is Matt Hardy, who's not doing anything besides healing from injury himself at this point. I, however, would really like for it to be Christian. It would allow Christian to remain on the ECW roster, and be able to float as 1/2 of the Unified Tag Champs. Christian's face run so far has been fun, however, I think he's always worked better as a heel, and has history with Jericho to boot. Ought to be a good match.

WWE Divas Title Match:

Maryse (c) v Mickie James

Mickie James and Maryse have been feuding since the draft. Mickie's always been fun, while Maryse... is kind of a poor-man's Angelina Love from TNA. She's okay to watch, and as long as she's holding the Diva's title, she'll be relevant... but, I really don't know how the WWE will make us care about her once she loses the title. There's really not a whole lot more to her than the belt. Her character only has an upside as a winner. If she's made to lose, her character changes. I think for this reason (or not, I may be in the minority here), that Maryse will retain here, and possibly move into a program with Gail Kim... while they waste Mickie in multi-diva tags for the next several months until it's her turn for a title program again.

WWE Women's Title Match:

Michelle McCool (c) v Melina

Hadn't seen this one advertised anywhere besides Jim Ross's Blog (haven't watched the go-home episode of SmackDown! yet) and almost thought they decided to leave this one off the show. Last month at the Bash, Michelle McCool became the first lady wrestler to have won both the Women's and Diva's Titles, respectively. Since then, there was a little roster shake-up explained away as (former Raw-owner) Donald Trump having arranged a 15-Superstar inter brand trade. In that trade, McCool lost her sidekick, Alisha Fox to Raw (I try not to read the rumor-mill... okokok, I try to take everything I read in the rumor mill with a grain of salt), because they feared that Fox was taking away some of McCool's heat. Also, in that trade... Gail Kim headed to the Red Show. While both lady's divisions are pretty shallow (no pun intended), SmackDown!'s is, in my own uneducated opinion, especially so. Beside the women involved in this match, I can only think of Natalya Neidhart (a heel) as a credible threat to the title. Eve and Layla, may, in time become contenders (Eve especially has shown much passion of late). All that said, I think McCool will retain, and Melina will chase the title until SD! can build another credible contender to McCool.

There you have it. Notable Superstars NOT involved in this show: Mark Henry, John Morrison & Evan Bourne (and to a lesser extent, Primo Colon). I would assume that Kane and Khali are being held off until SummerSlam (and by the fact that neither of them currently hold any gold. Seems like a fun card that may just be worth a purchase. Personally, I'm waiting for SummerSlam, where I'll probably hit up R.T. O'Sullivans with the guys... but, if I had money to blow, I wouldn't feel all that bad about blowing it on this show. Enjoy.

[Wrestling] TNA Victory Road 2009

2009-07-19T14:34:00.000-07:00

I figure it's been awhile since I'd done any wrestling round these part (TNA especially)... so today I'll discuss TNA's Victory Road 2009.

Victory Road has the makings of a really good show... I must admit that my fandom of Total Nonstop Action has grown significantly since I'd last posted about them on the blog. The wrestling is always solid, however, the story lines and in-between wrestling bits do leave me a bit flat.

On with the show:

TNA World Heavyweight Title Match:

Kurt Angle (c) v Mick Foley

This was a match I was really looking forward to about three years back when Angle was "drafted" to the newly restarted ECW brand, and immediately Olympic Slammed (an at-the-time anti-ECW) Foley. I thought they'd have a fun match then, and I think they'll have a fun match now. Growing up, I was a huge Mick Foley fan... of late, my opinion of him has lowered a great bit, but his TNA run has shown that he can still bring it when necessary. Kurt Angle is probably the greatest wrestler in the United States at the moment. I think Kurt will win this one, and move into a feud with Sting that will culminate in another Sting World title victory at this year's Bound For Glory. Various wrestling news sites are stating that Angle has recently suffered a groin tear, which may slow him down a bit. Keeping in mind that Angle once tore his groin completely off the bone at a WWE HOUSE SHOW against Rob Van Dam and continued the match to completion leads me to believe he won't show too much of an injury here.

TNA Legends Title Match:

A.J. Styles (c) v Kevin Nash

If you told me a few years ago that Kevin Nash would be at his better than he'd ever been right now, I'd have told you you were insane. Nash is one of the best characters that TNA has right now. The story goes that Nash wants to win the Legends title in order to be able to charge more at autograph signings. It's just about the most simple storyline, however, I can't think of anybody doing anything like it before. A.J. is always awesome, so I expect a nice outing here. I'd like to see Nash take the title here, and A.J. moved into World title contention. It's almost hard to believe that it's been about a decade since Kevin Nash held any kind of gold.

TNA World Tag Team Title Match:

Beer-Money, Inc. (c) v Booker T/Scott Steiner

Beer-Money is one of the finest tag teams going at the moment, and this title reign is a deserved one. It's been the first vehicle that has me actually caring about Robert Roode... he's come a long way from having Eric Young as an "employee" and feuding with him on and off for nearly a year. In a perfect world, BMI wins this one convincingly and further solidifies themselves as a tag team to be reckoned with... however, a Booker T/Scott Steiner victory could move the Main Even Mafia into a "they have ALL the gold" position that bookers seem to enjoy. I was wrong about this with Legacy at the last WWE pay-per-view I discussed... but, I have a feeling they're going to do this here. The Mafia are inching closer and closer to their one-year anniversary. This could be a way of celebrating it.

Sharmell v Jenna Morasca

I can't believe they're making people PAY to see this one. No idea who will win, now do I really care. This may be a way to sow some dissension into the Main Event Mafia ranks... but, really... I'd rather see this match mysteriously fall off the booking sheets. It'll probably end in a No-contest or a schmozz of some sort.

Sting v Samoa Joe

Or, the match where Taz shows up. Samoa Joe swerved TNA at Slammiversary by handing Kurt Angle the World Heavyweight Title and joining the Main Event Mafia. He's been working with a shadowy "advisor", wearing a black towel over his head when he approaches the ring, and just this past week on iMPACT! he busted out the Tazmission. With TNA all but telling us that Taz is going to show up during this match, it's hard to believe that Samoa Joe won't win this one. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of shape Taz is in, I'm not sure if he's going to try and make a return to the ring. Either way, Taz's appearance here will more than likely overshadow the match itself. I only hope this doesn't lead to an anti-WWE diatribe when it's all said and done. TNA's grown so much that I'd hate to see them fall back to their old bush-league ways.

Christopher Daniels v Matt Morgan

I *almost* left it as just "Daniels", but I couldn't do it. Matt Morgan has been working with the Main Event Mafia of late... almost like a pledge to a fraternity. He's been doing the odd-jobs to prove he's worthy of membership. I've never really been a fan of his, though, I will admit his agility is definitely impressive. Chris Daniels has always been great. If I had to hazard a guess for this one, I'd begrudgingly give the duke to Morgan to continue his monster push.

TNA Women's Knockout Title Match:

Tara (c) v Angelina Love

Tara/Victoria's come a long way since retirement, hasn't she? I wish they hadn't blown her first TNA title victory within her first month with the company. It's similar to the mistake that the WWE made with her back in the day. There's only ONE women's title in TNA, so there's really nowhere else for her to go now. She won the title... now what? You can put the Knockouts in angles left and right, but the title is what it's all about. Her victory should have been built instead of just handed to her. She's far too talented to be treated as a "flavor of the month". It's way too often that TNA is booked as though it's a child's action figure federation the day after Christmas. So much new talent at once... interrupting ongoing feud and being handed titles instead of being built as contenders. I think Tara (which is short for Tarantula... and not "Killer" backwards, thanks Mike Tenay!) will retain here.

IWGP Tag Team Title Match:

Team 3D (c) v The British Invasion (Williams/Magnus)

The British Invasion is a talented tag team, that has unfortunately been thrown together as an "anti-American" troupe with the likes of Kiyoshi and Sheik Abdul Bashir. That can only mean one thing... a feud with, er, America's team... the Dudleys. Haven't been a fan of the Duds in a very long time. I do see them retaining here, as I'm unsure whether or not the IWGP titles would ever change hands on a TNA show/non-New Japan Show. I could be wrong, but it's just a feeling I've got.

Dr. Stevie Richards v Abyss

Stevie Richards recently surfaced in TNA as an abusive Behavioral Therapist for Abyss. Not sure which way this will go... Richards is great in his character, but it just feels like "another Abyss feud that will cause him to fall into something (fire/thumbtacks/a landmine)" that they'll use in their highlight reel. Sadly I see them stretching this feud out a bit longer (as they do with ALL Abyss feuds) so I see Stevie winning due to some shenanigans to further the brutality.

Like I'd mentioned above, it reads like a fun show. It seems as though Bobby Lashley will be on hand, as well. It's worth mentioning, that Pro-Wrestling Torch is reporting that this will be the first TNA Monthly Pay-Per-View without an X-Division style match on the card, which is interesting. I wouldn't be surprised if a Homicide vs. Suicide match was added last minute. I'd consider buying it, if I were in the position to buy anything at the moment. I do look forward to checking out the results throughout the evening. Hopefully my predictions are a little bit more on target than they have been recently... Enjoy the show!

[Wrestling] WWE The Bash 2009 Thoughts

2009-06-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend will WWE will hold it's Not-So Great, No-Longer American BASH! Pay-per-view. This is just one of the three or four PPVs that are getting name changes this year. It was recently announced that "No Mercy" will now go by the name "Hell in the Cell" and "Cyber Sunday" will be "WWE Annihilation"... a week or so ago, "Unforgiven" (I think it was Unforgiven) was changed to "Breaking Point". I'm not a big fan of name-changes for the sake of it... and I really hope these name changes aren't indicative that the WWE will hold an ENTIRE show full of stipulation matches... I figure Breaking Point will be all submission... Hell in the Cell will feature (at least a few) Cell matches... Annihilation, um... perhaps the matches will end with "fatalities"?

Enough of all that, this time, we've got THE (great american) BASH! Let's get started.

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP

THREE STAGES OF HELL MATCH

Randy Orton (c) v Triple H

Randy Orton just can't seem to catch a break. He's clearly head and shoulders above any heel as a performer and character than anybody on the roster now (and probably for some time), however, he just can't seem to shake Triple H. Every time Orton does something to further establish his heel character, it doesn't take all that long for HHH to put him back in his place. For instance, this week's episode of "Trump" Raw ended with a homoerotic HHH promo on Orton... while he was literally ON (a beaten down) Orton.

Anyhoo, this is a "Three Stages of Hell" match. A stip that hasn't been used in several years. It's best out of three falls. First fall being straight wrestling match, second being a Falls-count-anywhere affair, and the third (if necessary... which we know it will) is a stretcher match. I'd have rather they end it with a cage, but with a "Hell in the Cell" PPV forthcoming, I can see why they didn't.

Despite being paired in matches for quite a while now, I've never liked the in-ring chemistry between these two. I think Randy will win this one, in the third fall. Full predictions, HHH wins 1st fall. Orton cheats to win 2nd fall. The Legacy assists Randy in winning the 3rd fall. This way it'll make it seem that the feud isn't fully "blown off", and can continue into the next 73 weeks of Raw.

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

CM Punk (c) v Jeff Hardy

This will be a fun match. They've been slow-burning a CM Punk heel turn over the past month or so, that's been a blast to watch. It isn't so often in the WWE where they use subtle nuances to move a story forward.

CM Punk "cashed in" the Money-in-the-Bank contract at the end of the last PPV on newly crowned champ, Jeff Hardy. This was met with a decidedly mixed reaction. From there Punk and Hardy have had several subtle interactions. I think they'll pull the trigger on a full blown Punk heel-turn at this show, and he will retain his title.

INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Chris Jericho (c) v Rey Misterio

Another fun match from the SmackDown! side. Jericho and Rey have had several great matches since they were both drafted over to the blue show. This time, after teasing it for so long, the mask is finally added as a match stip. There are rumors of Misterio putting in his notice, which seems to be a trend of late... I'm not sure if it's to "work" the Internet, or if it holds any validity. Either way, I'd like to see Rey win here. If he ever WAS to lose his mask, I'd rather it be at a MAJOR show (SummerSlam, WrestleMania) than just a one-off PPV.

ECW CHAMPIONSHIP

CHAMPIONSHIP SCRAMBLE MATCH

Tommy Dreamer (c) v Fit Finlay v Jack Swagger v Christian v Mark Henry

Last month Tommy Dreamer was finally able to pull out an ECW title victory (besides the 15 or so minute reign he had in the original ECW). This time it's being put up in a "Scramble Match". This type of match is fun and unpredictable, for the fact that for 15 minutes these five will wrestle. If a Superstar gains a victory in that 15 minutes they become an "Interim Champion", and the match continues. Whoever is the "Interim Champion" when the time limit expires becomes the ECW Champion. This is a truly stacked match up, and I can actually see any of the five walking out with the strap. If I *had* to pick, I'd go with Swagger.

WWE WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP

Melina (c) v Michelle McCool

The deal here is, if McCool wins this match, she'll be the first lady wrestler to have won both the Women's Title, and the... urm, Diva's title. I'd like to see Melina hold on to the title, as I'd rather see Mickie James or Beth Phoenix be the first woman to get the "Both Championships" nod.

GRUDGE MATCH

Dolph Ziggler v The Great Khali

Ziggler has been making great strides since making the move to SmackDown! I had written him off (literally and figuratively... if you'd read my Supplemental Draft Thoughts) and I'm glad to be wrong. I think Ziggler will somehow pull this one out. The loss won't hurt Khali, as I'm sure it won't be a decisive one.

UNIFIED TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

The Colons (c/c) v Priceless/Legacy/Cody and Ted

The Colons had unified the WWE and World tag team titles at WrestleMania 25... err, well... *before* WM25. Since then, they've had a few defences here and there, but, overall... haven't really done anything special. Priceless, on the other hand, spends most episodes of Raw taking beatings by people trying to get at their boss, Randy Orton. So, we've got a really un-special match here, folks. Ted and Cody will take it, just so we can get the image of all three members of [The] Legacy holding championship gold.

SPECIAL GRUDGE MATCH

John Cena v The Miz

The Miz has been "calling out" John Cena for nearly 2 months now. It's actually been the one angle on Monday Night Raw that I've enjoyed since the draft. The Miz has been claiming "victories" over Cena for just about anything. I've never been a Mizanin fan... but, this angle is a winner. Miz is oddly reminiscent of a 2003 era John Cena himself, when he spent some time calling out Brock Lesnar. The Miz could really use a victory here to further push him into the main event full-time.

Worth buying? I lean towards a No here. I'm sure the HHH/Orton affair will take up 45 mins at least... and that's not something I'd pay to see. I'll definitely be keeping up with the results tho.

[Wrestling] WWE Backlash 2009

2009-04-24T14:09:00.001-07:00

Even though it feels like WrestleMania just happened, it's time for another WWE PPV. This time it's BACKLASH. One of the more redundant events of the WWE calendar year... primarily used for WrestleMania rematches and rehashes. This is a show I'd like to see fall off the schedule to be honest. Over the past couple of weeks since WrestleMania, we've been treated to not a whole lot besides fallout. WrestleMania, from how I understood it... was supposed to be the "blow-off" event. Where long building feuds reach their climax and give the fans the pay-off they'd been waiting so long to receive. Instead, we're given a paid-show full of rematches and rehashes three-weeks later.

Before moving to the current "monthly pay-per-view" format, over a decade ago... there was something the WWF/E ran after WrestleMania called the "WrestleMania Revenge Tour", a (untelevised) house show circuit featuring the rematches, and TV would move forward into the "new" WWF/E year. Since adopting the monthly PPV format, it's near impossible to book (and advertise) BACKLASH as anything but rematches, or else they'd run the risk of giving away the results of their biggest show of the year.

Anyhoo, that all being said... I'll get it out of the way, and say I won't be watching this one. It's not even worth the $10 they charge to watch it at O'Sullivans. I'll probably read the results as it's ongoing, but that's about it. Let's get on to the matches...

WWE Title Match:

Triple H (c) & Batista & Shane McMahon vs. Randy Orton & Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase

(WrestleMania Match - HHH v Orton)

This one's a bit of an oddity. It's as though the WWE took a page out of the TNA playbook. The rules of this match are - If ANY member of Orton's team pins ANY member of HHH's team, Randy will then become the WWE Champion. With this in place, I can only see Triple H losing the belt without dropping the fall. This bout has discension written all over it, as a member of Legacy could gain the pinfall, but not be awarded the title. With Ted DiBiase's movie (The Marine 2) due to come out in the near future, I see him picking up the pin on either Shane or Batista... which will mean he "won" the WWE title FOR Orton.

World Heavyweight Title:

Last Man Standing Match

John Cena (C) vs. Edge

(WrestleMania Match - Edge v Cena v Big Show)

I really don't see how Edge could lose this match... being as though the recent draft made it so SmackDown! was left without a World title (which is getting really old... for the past 3 drafts one of the shows has been left w/o their title). Cena and Edge generally have great chemistry together, and with the Last Man Standing stipulation added, it should be great fun.

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat

(WrestleMania Match - Jericho v Steamboat/Piper/Snuka)

Ricky Steamboat showed the world that he's still better than 75% of the active wrestling world at WrestleMania 25. The next night on Raw, Steamer was part of an incredibly fun 10-Man tag, where again, he stole the show. If I *were* to buy this show, THIS would be the match I'd buy it for. I couldn't hazard a guess for this one, as both endings could work. I'd like to see Steamboat win, just because.

"I Quit" Match

Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy

(WrestleMania Match - Hardy v Hardy)

This match may play out a bit oddly. Recent Internet rumors are claiming that Jeff Hardy has given his notice that he will not be re-upping with the WWE when his contract expires this July. If that IS the case, I figure Matt will win thi match, and pretty much put Jeff out of the picture. Of course, this bit of news could have been released with this timing to swerve the Internet community. I'm really not sure. They've pulled several work-shoot angles with the Hardy's of late... so it wouldn't terribly surprise me if this were another case of that. Rumors aside, I still pick Matt for the win, as it appears as though he's being groomed to be a top heel on Raw.

CM Punk vs. Kane

(WrestleMania Match - Both were in Money in the Bank, though it's not terribly relevant...)

Not even too sure why this match is happening on PPV. Both CM Punk and Kane were recently drafted to SmackDown! from Raw. They had a match on Raw a week later... and somehow that brings us here. CM Punk is currently holding the Money in the Bank briefcase, though I don't think that it's on the line in this match. I expect Punk to win, as he works his way back up the card to be in position to cash in the briefcase at Judgment Day (which I believe is in his hometown of Chicago).

ECW Title Match:

Jack Swagger (c) v Christian

(WrestleMania Match - Whoa! This one's NEW!)

Both of these men have had some excellent offerings in losing efforts of late, Christian in the Money-in-the-Bank Match at WrestleMania, and Swagger in a match against John Cena on Draft Night. The ECW title, as a result has been somewhat elevated to a place of at least modest prestige. I think Christian will win this one in a very hard-fought matchup. This match will be great for both men, as well as the title.

Well, that's all they've announced for this show as of this writing. With SmackDown! still to air tonight, there may be more. There's also a "Khali Kiss-cam" bit set to happen between the Great Khali and Santina Marella. This bit is one I'd usually deride, though with Khali and Santino being on top of their comedic game, it could be rather humorous.

All in all, a skippable show, in my opinion. Nothing we won't be able to see elsewhere, save Jericho/Steamboat. I guess we'll see how it pans out.

[Wrestling] WWE Supplemental Draft 2009 Thoughts (4 of 4)

2009-04-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

19 - From RAW to SD! - JTG: Ugh. This guy seems to be able to go in the ring... which is why I was hoping they'd keep Shad and JTG apart during this draft. I just hope SmackDown! ring announcer, Justin Roberts doesn't try to talk street when introducing them.

20 - From RAW to SD! - Dolph Ziggler: Can't seem to get behind this guy. Don't like the gimmick... it's based on some stupid "locker room law" where new guys have to go up to all the veterans and introduce themselves... therefore, Ziggler is constantly extending his hand and introducing himself. That's it. That's his entire character. No depth, no personality... just that. Hopefully something good will come out of this move, I'd like to be proven wrong on this one.

21 - From SD! to RAW - The Brian Kendrick: I don't like this move. TBK started out fairly strong on SmackDown! last year... he was even an "Interim" WWE Champion. He's petered out a bit since then... I felt with the change of SmackDown! roster, he would have done well remaining there. I think he'll find himself lost in the shuffle on the already over-crowded Raw.

22 - From RAW to SD! - Charlie Haas: Charlie's latest gimmick is that of a gimmick-homage... he impersonates other wrestlers. It seemed to get him over pretty well when the folks in charge were behind it. He hasn't been used on Raw in months... but he's far too talented to simply let go. Hopefully the not as top heavy SmackDown! locker room will be a good place for him... as he would probably continue not to be showcased if he remained on Raw.

23 - From SD! to ECW - Hurricane Helms: Great move. Helms recently returned from injury with little fanfare. Moving over to ECW and putting him near the top of that card should help him in the long run.

24 - From ECW or SD! to RAW - Brie Bella: The other Bella twin... you can pretty much read the entry for Nikki, and just write Brie's name in her place.

So, there you have it... the 2009 WWE Supplemental Draft. It wasn't terribly exciting, but the Supp-Drafts very rarely are. It will be interesting to see which of these 24 actually make something of the change in scenery... and which won't even be given the opportunity before being let go. I hope with WWE SuperStars on WGN starting, they'll limit the inter-branded matches to that show. It wasn't too long ago, where the brand split was enforced, and rather rigidly at that. When I actually get excited to see a SmackDown! wrestler show up on Raw, you're doing something right. Now, it seems as though wrestlers float to whichever show they wanna stick him/her on.

Anyhoo, thanks for reading... lemme know if you want me to continue doing wrestling entries with any sort of regularity... or if I should save it for WrestleMania.

Thanks again!

[Wrestling] WWE Supplemental Draft 2009 Thoughts (3 of 4)

2009-04-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

We're past the halfway point... let's continue.

13 - From ECW to RAW - Hornswaggle: This one's a bit bizarre to say the least. I'm not really sure what they can do with this guy without having his storyline-father, Fit Finlay involved. I can't remember ever being entertained by this character on it's own. Hell, I don't like him much even as part of an act. The silver lining is not lost on me though... maybe Finlay can re-find his more heelish side losing the comedy portion of his bit. The fact that we'll be subjected to Hornswaggle-Hijinks every Monday Night makes me a bit queasy.

14 - From SD! to ECW - DH Smith: The son of the late British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith has been shuffled from brand to brand over the past couple of years, without making much of an impact (I actually had to be reminded that he was *technically* part of the SmackDown! roster, as he'd never made an actual TV appearance for the brand). Hopefully this means he'll be teaming up with fellow-Hart/Stampede-type Tyson Kidd in ECW.

15 - From ECW to SD! - John Morrison: Great move! Morrison's pretty much done everything he can in the ECW, and moving him to SmackDown! instead of Raw is the right way to go, in my opinion. The Morrison character has been (technically) an ECW original (Morrison originally went as Johnny Nitro... and is a multi-time former Intercontinental Champion), working his way from the C-Show to the B-Show instead of straight to Raw will assist him tremendously in establishing himself. A slow build to the main event is refreshing in these days of 24 year old green World Champions.

16 - From SD! to RAW - Carlito Colon: Okay, so I guess they're not splitting up the Unified tag champions... however, I'm still concerned with whether or not the champions are going to float between shows and defend against the top teams throughout the WWE. Maybe they'll be relegated to the new tri-branded show, WWE Superstars on WGN.

17 - From SD! to ECW - Nayalya Neidhart: The daughter of Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, and girlfriend of Tyson Kidd, Natalya should do just fine for herself in ECW... she has appeared there almost weekly since Kidd's debut as his valet. Putting her with Tyson Kidd and DH Smith seems a natural choice.

18 - From SD! to RAW - Festus: At first, I'll admit, I didn't dig the gimmick. It's since grown on me. It's silly, of course... but not enough things in wrestling these days are. Not sure how they'll work Festus as a solo act. I figured if they'd split this team up, they would have brought Jesse over to Raw, to play off of The Legacy faction, as Jesse is the son of the late Fabulous Freebird, Terry Gordy. This move could be interesting, though, I for whatever reason, see Festus moving over to another tag team situation... probably with Jamie Noble, who will be taking advantage of Festus's size and bell-ring induced fury.

One more to go, I'll try to have it up by morning...

[Wrestling] WWE Supplemental Draft 2009 Thoughts (2 of 4)

2009-04-16T10:50:00.000-07:00

Carrying on with picks 7 thru 12.

7 - From ECW or SD! to RAW - Nikki Bella: One of the Bella twins who I'm actually not entirely sure WHICH show she's coming from... she has been prominently featured on both ECW and SD! for the past several months alongside her sister, the Colons and the team of Mike Mizanin and John Morrison. Regardless, she'll be more fodder for multi-woman tag matches each week on RAW.

8 - From RAW to SD! - Candice Michelle: Another female wrestler being moved. About a year or so back, Candice was showing incredible amounts of improvement in the ring, unfortunately she was sidelined with an injury. Upon her return, she seemed a lot more self-aware in the ring, leading to a sloppier style. The taped, SmackDown! broadcast should be a welcome change for her rather than the live Monday Night Raw. She should do well there.

9 - From SD! to ECW - Zack Ryder: One of the indistinguishable Edgeheads leaving behind the other indistinguishable Edgehead should be a great boon to both of their careers. I honestly couldn't tell you which one this is. Hopefully this change will fix that.

10 - From SD! to RAW - Chavo Guerrero: Well *somebody* has to push new Raw General Manager, Vicki Guerrero's wheelchair... may as well be Chavo. I see him playing a similar role as Jamie Noble... a lower-midcard heel hurdle for an up and coming babyface.

11 - From ECW to SD! - Ricky Ortiz: This new face should help freshen up the SD! midcard a decent amount. Hopefully this time around the announce team will know who he is. I think he could be over pretty well as a fan-pandering heel. He has a "towel waving" fan-gimmick at the moment (like the Pittsburgh Steelers, kinda) which doesn't look like it's doing all that well... I'd like to see him acting heelish and still thinking the fans are behind him.

12 - From RAW to SD! - Layla: Well, she wasn't doing too much for William Regal, who she had been seconding on Raw. I think she'll have a better chance to flourish on SmackDown! rather than being stuck in the multi-woman tag matches that seem to occupy the Raw women's division.

More to come...

[Wrestling] WWE Supplemental Draft 2009 Thoughts (1 of 4)

2009-04-16T01:13:00.000-07:00

Here's another Wrestling Related entry... I was going to wait, however, it's pretty topical as the Supplemental portion of the 2009 Draft was held earlier today/yesterday (Noon, est. - Wednesday).

I'm not sure if they're kayfabing the respective General Managers "choosing" the draftees, or if it's straight "lottery" much like the televised portion from this past Monday Night Raw.

Anyhoo... on to the picks... there are 24 in total. This post will tackle the first 6.

1 - From SmackDown! (SD!) to RAW - Mr. Kennedy: Last I'd heard, he was contemplating retirement. He seems to be a guy who gets drafted every year... gets injured early into his push, and remains on the sidelines until the next draft. I would have rather seen him go to ECW, to maybe take on a "Franchise" type character, like Shane Douglas in the original.

2 - From RAW to SD! - Shad Gaspard: I think this guy could be big on his own. He has an impressive and imposing size... plus he doesn't make the ridiculous faces his Cryme Tyme partner does. Best of all, I won't have to hear (Raw ring announcer) Lillian Garcia introduce "Crahhhhm Tahhhm" in her faux "street".

3 - From ECW to SD! - Alicia Fox: No real thoughts on this one... it's too bad they're seperating her from her act's male counterpart, DJ Gabriel (a dancing gimmick, oddly reminiscent of WCW's Alex Wright).

4 - From SD! to RAW - Primo Colon: This one's confusing, as Primo (along with his brother Carlito) just recently (WM25) unified the World Tag Team titles... which I assumed meant they would float from show to show, much like the "Undisputed World Champion" did in the early days of the brand-split. I'll have to wait a bit before making any judgment on this one.

5 - From RAW to SD! - Mike Knox: With the Big Show moving over to Raw, it makes sense to move the smaller "monster" character to the other show. The change should do him some good... his last several showings on Raw have been jobs to Rey Misterio.

6 - From SD! to ECW - Ezekial Jackson: I don't really like this one. As the bodyguard for The Brian Kendrick, Jackson served a purpose. In ECW, I really can't see him reaping any benefits. His appeal is that he's a large bodyguard type character... in ECW he'll be sharing TV time with Mark Henry and the recently drafted Vladimir Koslov. I don't see him measuring up, no pun intended.

Will continue tomorrow.