Locke and Key is Not Happening...but the Jersey Shore Lives On...

I have been reading Joe Hills comic Locke and Key since book one, and it is the only comic that I own both in floppies (individual issues) and in hardback (every six floppies is grouped together like a chapter in the series).  It is an amazing series unlike anything else I've read, and everyone should read it, comic book fan or not.

Anyway, those of us in my circle that have read Locke and Key always talk about what an amazing movie or television series it would make.  And apparently someone agreed.  Director Mark Romanek apparently filmed some of the television series!!! News to me.  Here's the trailer below - and take it from someone who has read the book, it is VERY well done, and for the most part spoiler free.

This is awesome news!  Amazing news!  The best television news since The Walking Dead!  It's also not happening.  Why?  Because it was developed for FOX, the same brilliant people who canceled Firefly after only one season, put Fringe on Friday nights in hopes of killing it off, and is basically known as the place where great things go to die.  (BTW - Thanks again FOX for giving us Deadpool in the Wolverine movie and sewing the Merc with the Mouth's mouth shut.  Nothing like making sure the funniest character in the Marvel U can't talk!)

So basically a bummer, although the above trailer is so well done I'm hoping someone else picks it up or it goes straight to DVD.  Seriously, it would make an amazing series, guaranteed six seasons with each season having one big story arc and a bunch of little story arc's along the way, kind of like Dexter.

AMC, what was your highest rated show last year?  It wasn't Mad Men you say?  It was The Walking Dead?  The show based on the comic?  Well...if you're looking for another...I might know a good place to start...

And in other news - Abercrombie is paying the cast of the Jersey Shore NOT to wear its close next season...because that show is still on the air.

Bad Weekend for the Yanks a Sign of Things to Come?

Sooo, where to start...

How about baseball?  Congratulations to the New York Yankee's for taking over first place in the American League East on Friday night with a 3-2 come from behind win over their rivals, the Boston Red Sox.

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox for remember that you own the Yankee's this year and taking frist place right back.

This is ridiculous.  With last nights win the Sux are 10-2 against NY this year, making it the first time since 2004 that the Sux will win the yearly series between the two clubs.  I mean, it really is terrible.  Remember when the Sux started the year 0-6?  Then they got to New York and by they time they left that weekend their record was 2-7.  It got as bad as 2-11 before they got better.  But the point is, the only team they could beat at the beginning of the year was the Yankee's, and they haven't stopped.

Sabathia - 16-2 against all other teams in baseball this year with an ERA in the 2's.  Against Boston?  0-4 with an ERA in the 7's.  What is going on?  I tell you what, I think C.C. is having Cleveland flashbacks on the mound because he's pitching like he's afraid and won't throw strikes.  Of course teams are going to light you up when you start every count down 2-0.

And as for everyone else?  Everyone else who?  Burnett peaked in game 2 of the world series against Philly and has been a losing pitcher ever since.  Hughes? 18 wins last year...sure, but how did he do after the break?  A couple of old men are stringing together wins, but their both just above better than .500, and a rookie, Nova, who's 10-4, but the Yanks can't seem to find a place for him in the lineup.  Besides, you want to send him to the mound in game 2 of any round of the playoffs?  No, I didn't think so.

Everyone, myself included, said the Bomber's were going to need another arm to get anywhere, but Cash thought he knew better.  Now everyone's got Boston winning the east and having the Yanks take on the Rangers come October.  I'm not sure it matters.  Yeah, we're winning a lot of games, but baseball is different in the fall, and one reliable pitcher isn't going to cut it.  The Yankee's should know that better than anyone else.

This is Why it Pays to Know a Little Something About Pop Culture

And by a little something, I mean the bare minimum.  "Why?" you ask.  The answer is simple.  So that you can avoid falling for pranks like this.

I suppose it would also allow you to pull a prank like this...but only on those with minimal defenses.

Seriously, this is awesome.

And how can you not know Bruce Wayne or Gotham City...seriously...

Although I would like to point out Wayne is a billionaire, not a millionaire...

See, this prank wouldn't work on me...

I'm going to go start disk 3 of season one of BTAS now...because I finished disk 2 (again) this morning...

Captain America: The Frist Avenger Review

Last night I went to see Captain America: The First Avenger and I have to say, I think it is my favorite super-hero movie of the summer.  I thought Thor was okay and way over hyped, I liked Green Lantern more than most people seemed to, and I didn't see X-Men: First Class because I have had no association with the X-Men since a few years ago I was having the comics pulled and, despite Marve's continued promise that there would be no crossovers, one day I opened up my newest issue to find myself smack dab in the middle of someone else's story with no idea what was going on and no idea when they would get back to the story arch I was reading.  But I digress...

The first thing I want to say about Cap is that one of the reasons the movie works so well is that Steve Rogers is such a likeable guy.  Rogers is a true patriot and more than anything wants to be on the front line fighting the Nazi's, not because he want's to kill them, but because he doesn't like bullies.  The problem is he's small, a 90lb weakling with asthma, so the army won't take him.  But he keeps trying, and eventually finds himself in a special group of soldiers - candidates for the Super Soldier Serum.

It's important that Rogers is such a good guy, because as we learn, the Serum doesn't just amplify your muscles, it amplifies everything about you.  A good man becomes great, a bad man becomes worse.  But Rogers is just the guy for the job, having been a small, bullied man his whole life, he knows the true value of power, and more importantly, he knows compassion.  Also, he's the bravest guy ever, never backing down from anything.  "Once you start running," he says, "they'll never let you stop." 

The character of Steve Rogers is in such contrast to the recent run of hero's - Tony Stark being a billionaire playboy who becomes a hero only after seeing all the damage he has done; Thor a god and heir to the throne, a spoiled brat who loves himself more than anything and has some growing up to do, etc.  Rogers is different, he is a hero from the outset, a man who want's to do the right thing because it is the right thing to do.  There doesn't need to be another reason for him. 

While Roger's most endearing qualities could run the risk of making him appear naive, the movie does a good job of not letting the character come across that way (well, he can't talk to girls, but that's mostly because before he became Cap they wouldn't talk to him).  Rather, he is a man who knows what needs to be done and is willing to do it, no matter the challenge.  In light of the recent end of the American space program, with Kennedy's speech about America going to the moon and attempting other hard tasks "not because they are easy, but because they are hard," Cap's star shines even brighter. 

I don't want to spoil too much, so I won't get much further into the plot, but I do have a comment on the way the film was shot.  There is a point where Cap is going around fighting bad guys, and the movie jumps around from action sequence to action sequence.  It may seem like an unusual choice at first glance but the reason it works so well is that it is shot in the style of an old WWII propaganda film, the type of films where a voice over would read all about the brave men and women fighting overseas while showing you a collaboration of shots, tanks rolling, planes flying, someone raising the American flag.  The style wouldn't have worked for Spider-Man or Iron Man or Thor, but for Cap's origin, it is the perfect fit.

So that's my take on it.  I love a good redemption story as much as the next guy, but there is something refreshing and even inspiring about Captain America and the innocence with which he sees things.  Superman is called the boyscout, but as far as the movies are concerned, the boyscout hasn't had a strong showing since the 70's. It is great to finally see someone step up and fill the gap.

Umm, Maybe You Shouldn't Have Told the Post...Maybe

Morgan Webb of G4 has a new show called G4 Underground.  I am actually watching an episode right now.  It's abut a real life crime fighter, a guy going by the name Dark Guardian.  He's based in New York, seems to spend a lot of his time patrolling various rough neighborhoods in Manhattan, and mentioned in his interview that he was born and raised in Brooklyn.

The guys got guts.  He just approached a guy in Washington Park, an alleged drug dealer, and told him to take a hike or he was going to call the cops.  The guy left.  But Dark Guardian may have been able to hold his own if it came to blows, he's been studying martial arts for ten years and has a trainer, Mike, who helps him train every day.  Whether he's any good or not I have no idea since I'm convinced with the right editing I could look like Mike Tyson hitting a heavy bag, but I will tell you this, I wouldn't mess with him.

But here's something interesting.  Morgan Webb, who as far as I can tell only introduces the segments, I haven't seen her actually talking to anyone...but Ms. Webb said that Dark Guardian would only give G4 an interview if they promised not to reveal his "secret" identity.  I put secret in quotes because the guy doesn't hide his face at all, his only attempt at a disguise being a pair of very transparent goggles.  But there's more to it.  While the segment was still on I Googled Dark Guardian and found and article from the New York Post about a handful of New York crime fighters, Dark Guardian among them.  In the article, I learned that, as of April 11, 2010, Dark Guardian, aka Chris Pollak, was a 25 year old man currently living in Staten Island.  So really, preserving his "secret" identity was just a dumb something or other done by either him or G4 producers.  Either way, it's stupid.

Guardian isn't alone in the crime fighting business (I don't know about being alone in being dumb enough to tell your name to one major news source only to deny it to another later) and apparently there is a whole movement, which you can learn about at http://www.reallifesuperheroes.com/ and http://www.reallifesuperheroes.org/.  Say what you want about them, at least they're trying.

Yeah, that's him.  He wears a biker jacket.  At least he'll be safe if he trips on the sidewalk...

And Now, A Word From the Captain...

And to show our appreciation...

Remember kids...if it moves, shoot it.  Unless it's the Captain.

Good News for ME!

I don't know how many of you know this, but I submitted a story for an anthology of crime/pulp/noir stories coming out this November.  The book, the second in the series, will be called Live Free or Die, Die, Die! and my story (hopefully) will be titled the same.  It is published by Rick Broussard, editor of New Hampshire magazine.

I say hopefully titled the same because I entered my story to be the title story, and to get that position would be an honor and extremely cool (as far as I'm concerned).  The good news is that Rick e-mailed me the other day to tell me that my story is definitely in the book (yay!) and that I am actually in the running for the title story (double yay!).  I don't know if I'll get it or not since I have no way of seeing the competition and therefore have no idea where I stand, but really it's awesome just to get in there.

For those of you unfamiliar with New Hampshire Pulp Fiction, you can check out their website here, and you should also check out the first book in the series, Live Free or Undead (did I mention he's editor of New Hampshire magazine?).  I know you can find it in Portsmouth (which is where I found it) or you can look around for it.  That's what the internet is for.  I'm not doing all the work for you.

Anyway, as I said, the book comes out this November, and whether I'm the title story or not I'll be in there somewhere, so show your support.  I'll be reminding people when the time gets closer.