Bassoonjedi's LibraryAug
3
2010
Sorry guys, been a bit busy, but I have been writing and blogging and podcasting like a fiend lately. Check out my stuff @ Giggaheim.com.
Here’s what’s you can look forward to in future posts:
iPad/iPhone and the Bassoon
Practice methods for rehabiliotation (Autobiographical)
More Bassoonery 101
Arranging for Bassoon Ensemble – What Not To Do
Mar
11
2010
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Hey all, I just wanted to drop a line and let you know that you can listen to me voice my opinion on comic book reviews, tv shows, movies, video games, geek dating advice, and comment on tech news from the bleeding edge on the Giggaheim.com Podcast, which is now available on iTunes. New episodes are available for free download every Sunday, and we have 2 shows this week with the Orlando Megacon on the horizon. If you are in Orlando for the con, feel free to say hello. I’ll be the geek with the Giggahiem.com podcast shirt on.
Mar
9
2010
Although it has nothing to do with Bassoonery, I am proud to announce that I recorded my first podcast for The Giggaheim.com. The Giggaheim.com Podcast covers comic book reviews, video game news, dating tips for geeks, and the latest tech news from the bleeding edge. If you like one or many of those things, head over to the Giggaheim, and download the episode. We should be on iTunes shortly for you to subscribe to. This week, we’ll be doing a special episode for the Orlando Megacon.
Nov
19
2009
My Comic Book Reviews have been moved to The Giggaheim.com. The Giggaheim is my little project to gather all my geekyness into one area, and now I can focus all the bassoonery into one place here.
Aug
20
2009
Blackest Night: Superman#1
Written by James Robinson;
Art & cover by Eddy Barrows and Ruy Jose
Variant cover by Shane Davis and Sandra Hope
I think what sums up this book the best is a bit from Bill Cosby’s “Himself” album:
What is it about cocaine?
Well…it intensifies your personality.
Yes, but what if you’re an asshole?
Of all the tie-in titles to Blackest Night, this was the book I was looking forward to the least. I’m not much of a Superman fan, and have never felt any suspense for a character who is super at everything, but after reaching the end of this book I was happy I read it. As I previously stated in my review of Blackest Night: Batman, these tie-in issues are painfully developed with a first issue that will drag the pacing in order to get the reader “up to speed”. Thankfully, Robinson assumes that a reader who is picking up this book is also reading the main event book, and jumps right to the story at hand. With exposition taken out of a typical quiet-town-horror-film we are taken on a journey that reinforces the ideas that the Black Lanterns are merciless, single-minded in purpose, but they also retain their senses to know how to inflict the most pain they can on their targets. Their vicious tenacity to kill everyone they come in contact becomes more intensified as this damned power of the Black Lanterns corrupts E2 Superman, and for once, it looks like the Superman “family” is no longer impervious to the threats of the DC universe. The danger is real as Kal-L creates a conflict reminiscent of a Star Wars light saber Battle as Conner and Clark fight against a darker version of themselves.
The art in this book illustrates the story well, catching the right beats and emotions, but the coloring is the star if this book. The variations of the emotional spectrum through the eyes of the Black Lanterns stand out more than in the main title, and make this book a keeper. The main idea behind a tie-in for me is to illustrate the outer fringes of the main story, and this book continues to reinforce the curiosity I have for this entire event.
How will they get out of this one?
Story: 4/5
Art: 4.5/5
Invincible #65
Invincible #65
Story Robert Kirkman
Art & cover by Ryan Ottley & Fco Plascencia
Once again, a large event passes by in the Invincible Universe, and Kirkman deftly sweeps up the remains while setting up the next story. Kirkman crafts a story with his strengths of writing personal loss and interaction as the world dusts itself off from the events of the past 6 issues. The art in this book was just as solid handling the quiet interactions as it was with the intense fighting scenes that preceded it. The coloring and shading were well done as every character had just as much depth to them physically as Kirkman wrote them emotionally.
I’m going to be sad to see Ottley leave the book for the next exciting story, but happy to see this book come to a close worthy of the weight that was called for. As always, the highlight of every issue for me was the letters column where in this particular book, the vicious nature of irate fan boys was put on full display. At this point in his career, I have come to expect a good issue from Kirkman on all his endeavors. What catches my attention now, is his patience for handling these crazed loonies who buy his books every month, and are emotionally invested enough to write what they do in response to his stories.
Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Aug
14
2009
SPOILER WARNING: If you haven’t read these books yet do so before proceeding.
I got quite a few books this week, but haven’t been able to get through the whole stack yet. In the meantime, here are the Blackest night books that came out this week:
Blackest Night: Batman #1 - Kalimaaaaaaaah
Blackest Night : Batman #1
Written by: Peter Tomasi
Art by: Syaf, Dell, Cifuentes
From the solicits a few months ago, I knew that Blackest Night would be the comic book cross over event that I would actually pull every book. Batman? Pull it. Wonder Woman? Pull it. Feo Boy? Eeehhhh….Pull it. I’m not normally a Batman reader, but I have always liked the Graysons, and I knew that Tim Drake’s family had to play into this. The Bat-Family has suffered some grievous blows the past few months with the death of Bruce, Damien being Robin, Tim taking the Red Robin Mantle, and Jason finally leaving. Well, the last one was a good thing. But, with such loss and mortal endings, Blackest Night should really resonate with these underpowered vigilantes.
However, the first issue of this book suffers from the same Cross-Over problems that all side books suffer from. The first issue of a cruddy tie-in always makes the same mistake of having these characters take 22 pages to get YOU caught up on the action. Frankly, if you aren’t reading the main event, then why are you pulling the tie-in? Wouldn’t you know what’s going on? Skip to the good stuff man! “Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge” worked on two levels for being a good tie-in to a major event.
1) The first issue didn’t spend 22 pages getting you caught up on what’s happening. It just leapt into the action and meat of the story.
2) It had nothing to do with Final Crisis. Frankly, No one knew what the hell was going on in Final Crisis anyway, so a boring summary wasn’t possible.
The artists did a fantastic job of illustrating the story as Deadman leaps from one body to another, but the way the acrobatics were illustrated, such as Brand/Damian back flipping onto the hood of the batmobile seemed a little too ethereal, and used the same convention for illustrating ghosts, rather than sequences of acrobatic maneuvers. Story-wise, I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out. Tomasi is doing a great job plate-spinning with Green Lantern Corps, and I’m sure that the story of our heroes confronting their dead relatives will be both heart-wrenching, and exciting to witness. Unfortunately, you just don’t get to the heart of the story until the last 2 pages of this issue.
Story: 3/5
Art: 3/5
Green Lantern Corps #39
Green Lantern Corps #39
Story by: Peter Tomasi
Art by: Gleason, Buchman, Nguyen
Blackest Night continues as we catch-up with our favorite honor guard. I really admire Tomasi’s ability to write in such a large scope, and keep the book interesting. He is writing a buddy-cop adventure that is infused with a cosmic war and romance without getting bogged down in cheap dialogue, and slow pacing. The art illustrates the story well as we change scenery from the dead of space, to crypts, to cityscapes. The black rings breaking through the lantern constructs was especially nice, and I don’t envy anyone that has to illustrate Kyle Rainer’s mask without making it look like a cornball 1990’s cartoon.
My gripe with this book is that the editing team didn’t accelerate this book’s publishing schedule to compensate for the story’s timing. Green Lantern #36 followed Blackest Night #1 one week after with a seamless story that never dropped a beat. In Green Lantern Corps #39, we are basically treated to the same scenes we saw in Blackest Night #1, and not much else. Frankly I was expecting to see a massive fight between the GL corps as they fight their honored dead, more scenes with the Guardians, and more scenes from the War of Light that is raging across the galaxy.
I’ll have to wait for next month to see all that I guess.
Story: 2/5
Art: 3/5
Blackest Night #2
Blackest Night #2
Story by: Geoff Johns
Art by: Ivan Reis
Going from “meh” to “Yeah!”, we finally reach Blackest Night #2. Johns puts the story in drive and keeps accelerating as DC’s Zombie Comic unfolds. This book has several things going for it, and this issue has quite a few moments that will stick in my mind for a long while. I’m glad no one else was in the house Wednesday night because I actually yelled “Hells Yes!”, and “Take it bitch!” a few times without even realizing I did so.
Firstly, I have NEVER liked Aquaman much. Like the majority of the comic book population, I just don’t really care. Be it Aquaman or Namor, I don’t care if there’s a guy who has sea-powers. When you bring in writing’s greatest cheat of magic into the mix, I can’t be bothered. However, seeing the sea king rise from his grave and use his telepathy to rip apart the Atlantian soldiers was a hundred time better than seeing him “Save the day” on Superfriends. My favorite part of the panel with the sharks erupting out of the water to rip the royal escort apart was the cuddly Sea Lion that was ripping off a soldier’s lips. You are a sick man Ivan Reis.
The second moment that got me was when Barry and Hal team up to take out J’onn. The words “Flash Fact” ALWAYS get me, and in that moment, I was ecstatic. Unfortunately for our heroes, their creativity was met with disappointing results, which brings me to the greatest strength of this book. The “How the hell will they get out of this one?” story that Johns is writing is fantastic. Most events, such as Infinite Crisis, Secret invasion, and Final Crisis have some dark moments, but as a reader I always knew that the heroes will save the day. In this book, I’m not so sure. With the powers and resiliency that the Black Lanterns exhibit, I don’t have an inkling of how our heroes will save the day, or even survive.
The only way this book could get any better is if they would double the size of each issue, and give us more scenes about the Guardians and the War of Light. This week’s Blackest Night stories are very self-contained and small in scope as we are Earth-bound and reading about the same fights from issue #1. The only thing I fear about this series isn’t a zombie Justice League, but the story collapsing under the weight of such a massive scope. The personal character development needed to address the weight of sorrow and loss is a stark contrast to the great galactic disaster that is spreading across the stars. Still, I’m eagerly looking forward to more.
Story: 4/5
Art: 4/5
Aug
12
2009
T
his particular podcast has reached over 500 episodes, and I have been a faithful listener since I first discovered them in 2005. This particular podcast isn’t a bunch of geeks sitting in their parents’ basement, blazed and shouting into a cheap microphone. Fanboy radio is an actual radio program that focuses on creator interviews, produced at home station at KTCU FM 88.7 – The Choice in Dallas/Ft. Worth.
What first attracted me to the podcast was the high quality of the show, the fun shows such as “Stump Mark Waid”, and the camaraderie between Scott Hinze and Oliver Tull. Admittedly, I don’t enjoy the episodes that are missing Oliver as he travels with his comedy troupe, but I still faithfully listen every week to a new episode, and it is one of the few podcasts where I am occasionally inspired to call in and voice my opinion.
One chief ingredient that Fanboy Radio is missing would be the hate. Scott and Oliver only talk about the books in a positive manner, and rarely critique a movie or book as harsh as most fanboys indulge themselves. Another strength of the show is the menagerie of independent creators and writers that will call in such a Scott Kurtz and Jim Mahfood. Also their game show, Sub of Flub, is usually quite enjoyable as guests will voice their opinion on current pop-culture news.
This podcast ranks high with me since you get interviews from comic industry professionals, reviews of current comics, recommended reads, and news from the industry. To learn more about Fanboy Radio visit their site, and try and episode off iTunes.
Aug
10
2009
Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville
Written & Illustrated by Jeff Smith
Writing: 5/5
Art: 5/5
I must say that I have avoided reading this book for years. Some books have been lauded and built up to a point where there is no satisfaction in reading them. You hear people speak of them as the end-all-be-all of literature, and in the graphic novel/comic book arena these enthusiastic endorsements can run out of control. The latest disappointment for me was “Secret Invasion”. It had some “Holy Crap!” moments, but in the end was a “meh”. You can hear one starry-eyed review after another, until you finally snap, read the book, and walk away feeling like you were suckered. Comic book shops in Southern Florida have many Bone toys, books, posters, and other assorted merchandising in them which screamed “Children’s book” to me. The Scholastic logo on the front of the books always rubbed me the wrong way. “Crap it’s a kid’s book”. The illustrations were always simple, and had no semblance of “reality”. I was a macho, adult reader that enjoyed the “deep” books by Vertigo about Dream Lords, and Lucifer, and untraceable bullets. Characters that had raunchy sex, and violent murders. So, what was the big deal with this kids’ book?
During my usual Saturday trip to the library, Bone Volume 1 finally appealed to me enough to overcome the “hype-fear” and check it out. I must say it was on the bottom of my reading pile, even underneath the “Blackberry for Dummies” book I had checked out that day too. (I can’t figure out how to get apps to automatically shut down when I am done with them. I MUST be missing something). So on Saturday afternoon I finally decided to see what Bone was all about.
I felt like an idiot. Why did I resist for so long? This wasn’t a stupid-assed kids book. This was just a book. A book for everyone. Lately I have been bemoaning the lack of entertainment I enjoyed in 80s. Where were the TV shows and movies that kids enjoyed, but had sly adult humor laced in them? Where were the E.T.s, and the Muppet Show? Well, Bone is a book that helped keep the dream of something for everyone alive. After my first reading, I checked the jacket cover to make sure Bill Waterson hadn’t written and drawn this. It read and looked like Calvin and Hobbes. Clean artwork that was simple, but dynamically drawn to capture the peak actions frozen in time. Characters that interacted with each other organically, and writing that was witty with jokes that weren’t aimed at the lowest common denominator.
Jeff Smith should be proud of the Fanboy ravings he received on this work. You can tell a lot of love went into this book, and every panel mattered. It wasn’t a race from one peak panel to another, but truly a story told with sequential artwork. Congrats Jeff, the gamble to read this “kid’s book” paid off, and I’m looking forward to reading more.
Aug
6
2009
Since I had a week without anything on the pull list, I thought I would make a habit out of recommending comic book related media and reviews on the slow weeks. I am seriously late to this party, but I had to share this podcast with you:
Visit the TOM vs THE FLASH PODCAST
This podcast only lasts 15-20 minutes and features Tom Katers (A comic book fan of the Chicago-land area I think) reading a Flash or JLA comic book to you with commentary mixed in. Normally I would have laughed at the idea of the power of sequential artwork lost in a purely audio format, but Tom’s reading style coupled with his witty commentary make these podcasts nuggets of comic joy. This series isn’t for everyone though. If you read and collect comic books this podcast is up your alley, and all the humor should tickle your funny bone. If you don’t know who Mirror Master is, or know that the JLA have a headquarters in Detroit, then you might want to pass on this.
Podcast Rating: 5/5
Aug
4
2009
Green Lantern: First Flight
Green Lantern: First Flight
Rating: 7/10
With this summer’s big event, Blackest Night eclipsing all things exciting and cool, I have the Green Lantern fever. What better way to feed that hunger than watching a Green Lantern movie? The Direct-to-DVD cartoon movie is always a gamble. “Superman:Doomsday” was merely a “meh” with 5/10 rating, the Wonder Woman movie didn’t even go across my radar, and the Marvel “Wolverine VS….” movies didn’t grab my attention either. Most Direct-to-DVD cartoon movies suck. Sure, they are good fun, and I’m a guy who grew up with 5 hours of painted celluloid every Saturday morning, but when it comes down to repeat viewings, I normally stray away from the cartoons.
I do enjoy a few of Bruce Tim’s earlier outings with episodes of Batman and JLA, but lately the direct to video productions have left me a little flat. So, with hesitation, I put the latest DC offering into the Blu-Ray player, and braced myself. And I was pleasantly surprised. Now this Green Lantern movie has a few faults, but if I were completely new to green Lantern and never read any of the books, I’m sure I would have enjoyed it quite a bit more. So let’s start with the bad, and end with the good.
The Bad
1) First to hit my bad list was the clunky CG meets traditional animation. The power batteries looked like a final project from a 3D design school I see on TV during Adult Swim. The lack of texture and lighting on them made the stand out as such a clean element that I was drawn out of the film. You can change the design of the power batteries, the same as you can update uniforms and looks for different mediums, but keep the styles and mediums consistent.
2) Secondly, where’s all the training? Is Hal supposed to be some sort of wunderkind with the ring? After a few mere hours of it, he has the wherewithal to figure out how to fly, change uniform, defend himself, and make a Bluetooth cell phone call? The rings select the best candidates on a sentient world, but part of the fun of Green Lantern is the discovery period where the ring bearer has to get a grip on what the ring does. Another gem of the Green Lantern story is the first arrival and training on Oa. There is so much room for character development and story when new recruits train with Killowog, and all of that fun stuff got cut out. It’s the origin/First Flight movie, and if are telling the beginning of the story, tell the beginning, don’t leap forward, and cut out all the good stuff. And on a picky fan-boy note, I like that in the comics new recruits don’t have the symbol on their chest until they have passed training.
Sinestro In First Flight
3) The Story of Sinestro. This has been told at different angles, but I would have liked to have seen Sinestro be Hal’s training partner, and the main villain be someone else for the first film. That way Sinestro’s betrayal of the corps and fall from grace would have been that much more powerful, and his rise to yellow power would be fantastic.
4) On a related note, I didn’t care for the Yellow Death Star. What the hell was that? Since when does the Yellow Battery run around and nuke stuff? And this also relates to gripe #1. The inorganic movement of the Yellow Battery drew me out of the rest of the film.
Nitpicks
Why does Sinestro have a normal head? He shouldn’t have a head the size of Leader, but it should still be different.
The yellow power and Weaponers of Qward should be in the anit-matter Universe. That’s my preference.
Why are the guardians always drawn like they are in utter shock the entire time? I missed the rings talking to bearers. (“10% power left” ect…)
“I own your ass.” – Really? Was that necessary dialogue? How about: “You answer to me.”?
The Good
1) Once we got past the 1st act, the story moved along well. Origin stories are so hard to get right because the group of writers editors and producers can never normally agree on the point of the story. Stan Lee made it real easy for the origin stories of the Marvel universe, and that’s why they worked so well onscreen. Green Lantern has a surprising amount of layers to it, and finding the common thread to bring the movie together had to have been difficult. Do you make it a rookie-cop space story? Do you make it a story about overcoming fear? Instead the movie makes a surprising compromise, and makes the movie about willpower. It shows why Hal got the ring, and not Bruce Wayne. When stripped of everything, and when the chips are down, Hal never quits and tries to fix the problem.
Sinestro Corps War #1 Cover
2) I was massively happy about Sinestro’s costume design once he began to wield the Yellow ring. Seeing Ethan’s Sinestro Corps design on screen made me so happy, I wound up reading that event again over the weekend. I thought it was a smart move to leave the purple elf uniform behind, and just embrace the Yellow Corps look instead.
3) Sounds of the rings were great. In the book you don’t get many sounds apart from the onomatopoeia (Choom! Kra-Kow!) and it was cool to hear the ring clang on the floor. I especially liked it when the rings all came back to Oa when the lanterns across the galaxy were de-powered. It was a nice borrow from the books.
4) PG-13 rating. There were a few things that were unnecessary, but overall, it was nice to see some gore, and violence. I always thought that some of the culture shock of encountering other species would be their tolerance of violence, and I have always loved how some Green Lantern Corps issues address the differences in the “police work”. I especially like the interrogation of the corpse. Nice touch.
5) Hal’s imagination was a good difference from the corps members. One thing that constantly irritated me in the JLA series was that John Stewart would just blast everything with this ring. There was no style or any imaginative constructs. Here in the GL movie, we see ring slingers do their best, and Hal makes a good example of why imaginative humans can be the best corps members.
6) The sailor-moon transformations were nice when Hal and Sinestro first try on their rings. I really like that sequence, and thought it was a good demonstration of the Universe’s most powerful weapon.
Overall, this was a good first outing, and as a Green Lantern reader I’m going to pick on it a little more than I would other material. I did end the movie wanting more, and the Blu-Ray certainly delivers. Along with a commentary track, the Loony Tunes Duck Dodgers episode was a real treat to watch, as well as the topical interviews with Geoff Johns. The little movies about the GL mythos were also nice for the uninitiated, the selected GL episodes of JLA were good even though I would have picked a couple others instead, and I thought the extra features on the disc made them worth the money. I won’t be grabbing a copy of this immediately, but it will definitely be on my Amazon wish list. I’m glad the origin is out of the way, and I’m looking forward to more ring slinging in the future.
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