In the meantime...

...follow my new themed tumblr! It's kind of the best thing ever.

http://nakedhawkeye.tumblr.com/

BUSYBUSYBUSYBUSY

For the next 2-3 weeks I'm going to be super super busy, so updates will be sparse. But when I come back it'll be with a bang! Got a lot of stuff planned - part two (three? two-and-a-half?) of my Kirby retrospective, analyses of the Lizard and Bane, a review of Chronicle by my good friend Dom, and a secret project we're both working on. Stay tuned guys!

THAT TIME OF THE YEAR! (part 1)

Just got back from The Artist with prooker; inevitably it got us thinking about our top 10 films of 2011. Before I dive in I should probably mention that I haven't seen most of the Oscar bait movies this season (yet), including Moneyball, War Horse, The Descendants, The Ides of March, Midnight in Paris, My Week with Marilyn, Shame, The Skin I Live In, Certified Copy, Beginners, A Separation, Margin Call, A Dangerous Method, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, or The Help. I'm working on the latter three - I'll probably see A Dangerous Method and TTSS with prooker, and even though I have no interest in seeing The Help whatsoever I got a free DVD of it.

Also I really wanna see Attack the Block. Just sayin...

And without further ado, here are my picks:

1. Drive
2. The Artist
3. Take Shelter
4. Hugo
5. The Adventures of Tintin
6. The Tree of Life
7. Martha Marcy May Marlene
8. Melancholia
9. Super 8
10. Rise of the Planet of the Apes


I bet this list will be very different once I've seen the films I mentioned in the beginning; at the very least I'm sure the bottom five will have changed significantly. Nothing's dethroning Drive, though. Nothing.

UPDATE 1/23: In the past two weeks I've seen The Help (dreadful), The Descendants (actually decent), Moneyball (great), Attack the Block (swag as hell) and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (spectacular). I'm seeing Shame this weekend and will likely get around to Midnight in Paris too via iTunes; after that I'm probably going to have to call it quits. I'll write up my completed top 10 list then, with brief explanations for each pick. Since I was underwhelmed by The Descendants, the likeliest best picture winner after The Artist and maybe Hugo - is it really Oscar-worthy or has this just been a mediocre year, a la 2008? - I'm assuming the less-favored of the big contenders (Ides, War Horse, Beginners et. al) will inspire the same reaction. Still upset that I didn't get around to Marilyn, The Skin I Live In and A Dangerous Method, though. :(

The Adventures of Tintin in One Sentence

Most fun I've had at the movies in a long, long time.

And only 107 minutes! All these trudging three hour epics in theaters these days could learn a thing or two from it...lookin' at you, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

A bad month in comics history.

Exactly one week after Jerry Robinson's untimely death, his good friend and fellow comics legend Joe Simon has passed away. He was 98 years old. Simon was best known for his bountiful partnership with Jack Kirby during the Golden Age of Comics, beginning with the creation of Captain America in 1941. The first issue's cover, which debuted 9 months before the United States entered the war - a time when American sentiment still leaned toward isolationism - boldly depicted the star-spangled patriot socking Hitler in the jaw. Captain America secured Marvel (then called Timely) Comics' status as a major publisher in the Golden Age; without him, there would likely be no Marvel Universe.

As with Jerry Robinson, I had a chance to see Mr. Simon at Comic Con, although by then his health was waning considerably. He and Robinson were living legends, two of the last the great Golden Age creators. Soon there will be no one left, and the last vestiges of that amazing period of imaginative realization will be gone forever.

It's been a sad seven days for comics fans, and in general for all lovers of literature and visual art. Rest in peace.

A Letter to Brain Michael Bendis

Dear Mr. Bendis,

Your new series Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man was one of the most talked-about things going on in comics when it debuted in September. Miles Morales had gotten a lot of media attention due to both his position as the new Spider-Man and his race; he is a character many, many people are following closely. So far, the cover of every issue released (four months worth of comics) has featured Miles in the new Spider-Man costume, which itself has received an enormous amount of attention - it's already a t-shirt. And yet, in the comics themselves, Miles has so far appeared in-costume a total of...zero times. Yep, as of issue #4, he has not even received or made it yet.

It is our humble suggestion, then, that you get Miles Morales in that fucking costume already.

Your notoriously slow - sorry, decompressed - writing style has hemorrhaged - sorry, deterred - many people in the series' short run, but it seems to have settled at a steady readership of about 50,000. Surely Miles finally - sorry, finally - donning the costume, and the quickening in pace that would logically accompany it, would help restore sales to a fraction of the series' debut level. So let's get on with it already, Mr. Bendis. Give the people what they want, what those who still haven't jumped ship are so desperately waiting for. Because if you don't do it soon, there will be no one left to read about it when he does.

At the very least people would no longer be able to accuse Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man as false advertising.

Hugs and kisses,
Everybody

Jerry Robinson Died Today

He was 89 years old. His is the third passing of an industry giant this year, the other two of course being Dwayne McDuffie last February at a tragic 49 and the criminally under-appreciated Gene Colan this past June. Both prooker and I had the honor of meeting Mr. Robinson twice. He was a man of matchless presence, emanating an overwhelming sense of calm and civility - I remember when prooker and I were outside the convention center at Comic Con 2010, and I turned around and recognized the face right next to us as none other but Mr. Robinson's; in that moment, a serene aura enveloped us. It was as if we were in a timeless bubble, the three of us sheltered in the eye of the storm, pure composure amidst a raging chaotic sea of cosplayers. Many who make the pilgrimage describe Comic Con as a magical experience. During that encounter, I saw that magic at work.

A great man whose contributions will never be forgotten. Rest in peace.