Tomorrow, Same Bat Time…

Due to circumstances beyond our control (Damn you, party liquor!), our content is obviously a little light today, and for that we apologize.

We hope to get right back into the swing of things tomorrow morning, with a fresh pair of eyes, a renewed sense of purpose, and an ability to stray more than 17 feet from a toilet, trash barrel or neighbor kid.

(Seriously, though: Amanda’s review of House of Night, the Dark Horse Comics adaptation of the P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast series of novels for people who love Twilight but can’t afford hardcover books, will be up first thing in the morning.)

In the meantime, by way of apology, please accept our humble offering of the 1966 Batman television show animated opening credits. If that show were directed by Christopher Nolan. You can find it right after the jump,

We Didn’t Start The Fire

It is Wednesday, and since the Arkham City video game has made many of us… shall we say, sensitive to the idea of Harley Quinn in a bustier, that means that this…

…particularly a new Suicide Squad, means the end of our broadcast day.

But let’s talk about a decent take, shall we? We’ve got a new Black Panther, a new Ultimate Spider-Man, and a new Star Trek Vs. the Legion of Super Heroes (Or as we like to call it here at the Crisis on Infinite Midlives Home Office: Two Saturn Girls, One Spock)!

But we’ve gotta read them before we can write about them, and before that we have all this beer we need to turn into hangovers!

So: see you tomorrow, suckers!

Muppet Vindaloo – No, Wait, There’s *Another* Muppet Movie Trailer

Ok, ok. I know that just two weeks ago I posted about what was supposed to be the final trailer for The Muppets before the movie is released a mere two weeks from today on November 23. However according to Bleeding Cool, in the UK the movie won’t be released until sometime next February – so they got an exclusive trailer in UK theaters (which is now on YouTube as of this past Nov. 7 – exclusive is relative in the age of the Internet, I guess).

Do-Over: Fear Itself #7.1: Captain America Review

EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s Wednesday, so let’s slip one more review in before the comic stores open with this week’s books. And this review contains spoilers. But it’s no big deal, because the spoilers in this review have already been spoiled. And sacked. Oh wait, I’m American – I meant teabagged. Whatever. Anyway…

Life Model Decoys are android body doubles that are sold to S.H.I.E.L.D. by Stark Enterprises. Which is owned by Tony Stark. Who is Iron Man. And would presumably recognize one of his products. Particularly when wearing his Iron Man armor, which is all sensory and shit.

So when expert spymaster Nick Fury decided to hide the fact that Bucky Barnes was not actually killed in Fear Itself #3 but instead was apparently just resting, he chose to replace him with a Life Model Decoy. And make Tony Stark, while wearing the aforementioned sensory-and-shit Iron Man armor, the first person to whom he showed said decoy in service of this fraud.

With logic like that at hand, it’s a shame that Fear Itself #7.1 writer Ed Brubaker isn’t writing issue 7.2, so we could see Fury trying to convince Thor that Mjolnir is a buttplug.

My Inner Child Takes A Break – Review Of Peanuts #0

Ok, full disclosure – I once played Snoopy in a school production of “You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown” when I was 8. I was confronted with this fact in full 8mm glory recently. So, I was fully prepared to dislike Peanuts #0 and complain that it shit on my childhood. But, honestly, inasmuch as we tend to focus on the more adult oriented comics on this site, particularly in the wake of “T” and “T+” DC titles that may as well stand for “Tits” (or “Tits Plus!”) instead of “Teen/Teen +”” (Red Hood And The Oulaws, Catwoman, etc.), there are actually a lot of great books out right now that will bring enjoyment to readers of all ages. For example, Boom! Studios has started a kid friendly imprint called Kaboom! Studios. The titles range from licensed properties, such as Darkwing Duck and Chip And Dale Rescue Rangers, to original books such as Snarked! by Harvey Award winner Roger Langridge – who also did The Muppet Show comic book for Boom!. I loved The Muppet Show adaptation, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that I also loved the relaunch of Peanuts released this past week.

…That Thing That Makes You Feel Like A God: Whedon on Wonder Woman

We’re gonna gamble on the giant longshot that there’s any interest whatsoever about Joss Whedon on the Internet and point out that he just did a reasonably extensive interview online (No, not with us. The only way Joss Whedon would answer any of our questions would be if the first one was, “Do you want to see your dog alive again?”).

Most of the interview centers around his upcoming quickie release of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, but he also drops a few tidbits about what his long-gestating and ultimately doomed movie adaptation of Wonder Woman might have been like:

She was very powerful and very naïve about people, and the fact that she was a goddess was how I eventually found my in to her humanity and vulnerability…

Hmm… did I accidentally dial up an interview with Ted Bundy?

Marvel Cozies Up All In Your Nook

Yesterday, Barnes & Noble announced that they’ll be releasing the newest version of their Nook e-reader, the Nook Tablet (which sounds like something you take for a particularly virulent yeast infection) next Friday, November 18th. It’ll have a dual core chip, a gig of ram with 16 gig of onboard storage, integrated Netflix and Hulu Plus apps, and… something else…

Marvel Entertainment announced today that the hotly-anticipated NOOK Tablet from Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) will offer readers access to the greatest graphic novels of all time.

Wow! Marvel’s releasing Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns?

Featuring the Avengers, Spider-Man, Wolverine and more of the world’s most popular super heroes, NOOK Tablet launches with a digital library of your favorite Marvel graphic novels—and more of your favorite stories are on the way!

Oh, okay. Those are pretty good, too.

Step Into The Ring – Review Of Heart #1

Blair Butler is 33 years old. In her time on this planet, she has managed to graduate from college, find some success in stand-up comedy, become head writer of a television show, and, eventually, find her way in front of the camera as the star of her own segment on G4’s Attack Of The Show called Fresh Ink. Oh, and if that’s not an already impressive list of accomplishments, this past week, Butler published her first comic book, Heart #1, with art by Kevin Mellon. She used it, she told Comic Book Resources, as an opportunity to bring together her love of comic books with her love of mixed martial arts fighting:

Most of my co-workers love the NFL, but MMA is my sporting poison. I talk about Anderson Silva and GSP [Georges St-Pierre] the way other folks talk about the Packers or the Bears, I’m like the Paul Aufiero of MMA — he’s the football-obsessed parking lot attendant in ‘Big Fan.’ And there’s sort of an interesting analogy to be made to superhero comics and mixed martial arts, if Batman or The Punisher were real, they’d likely be training MMA to get in proper crime-fighting shape. The Huntress would be subduing muggers with a rear naked choke or a spinning backfist.

Well, I’m 39. I like comic books, occasionally workout to Rachel Hunter’s Cardio Kickboxing Workout and this past Saturday I made the world safe from a bottle of Ketel One by turning it into pee.

So there. I am neither writing comic books nor subduing muggers with my terrifying spinning backfist.

Pardon me while I crack open another bottle of self-esteem. Ok, now let me tell you about the comic book.

Warning before entering the Internet octagon – soul searching, temp work and spoilers after the jump.

A Shotgun and a Wedding Dress: The Strange Talent of Luther Strode #2 Review

On Friday night, Amanda and I were having a conversation about decompressed storytelling versus old-fashioned serialized storytelling in comics. Because that’s how we roll here at the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office: a little wine, a few lit candles, and deep conversations about the esoterica of comics writing… okay, actually more often it’s shotgunning Buds, arson and screeching, “This book sucks, Lobdell! And that’s why we’re burning down your house!” but we’re trying to expand our horizons.

Anyway, the agreement we came to is that the problem with decompressed “writing for the trade” is that writers are all-too-willing to make the story beats in each individual issue subtle and slowly-unfolding, to the point where in some of those issues almost nothing seems to happen. Whereas serialized storytelling understands that, yes, there may be a larger story that the individual comics issue is serving, but that the issue should be a story in and of itself, with enough of an arc and satisfying action to be worth owning on its own.

And we wholeheartedly agreed that when it comes to regular comics, we vastly prefer serialized storytelling… And further, we agreed that we should leave poor Scott Lobdell alone… at least while Rob Liefeld’s walking around a home that isn’t primarily comprised of cinders and regret.

The one exception to all rules that we agreed existed was the self-contained miniseries. In the spirit of the old “Lady, you knew I was a snake when you picked me up” parable, a miniseries almost by nature must be told in a decompressed manner, because on its face each issue is part of a larger story. It is what it is, and whether you like decompressed storytelling or not, you know what you’re getting with an issue marked, say, “2 of 6”. And then, because we were feeling generous, we gave Liefeld an exception of his own. Mostly because we found we were out of kerosene. But I’m digressing again, which is stupid because there actually is a point to all this yammering.

That point is that The Strange Talent of Luther Strode #2, despite being part of a self-contained miniseries, meets all the needs of a good serialized story, and a damn good one at that.

Brain Bleach – Furby Edition

Ok, so I meant to actually write a couple reviews and post them in a somewhat timely fashion today. Clearly, that didn’t happen. I could blame the change back to Standard Time, my vodka induced hangover from last night or my generally poor work ethic, but…meh. Hopefully, I’ll be less damaged and more productive tomorrow. In the meantime, via The Laughing Squid, here’s a Furby trying to make itself understood by Siri. Now, I’m going to go kill this vodka hangover with Scotch.