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Post by rom on Jan 9, 2020 15:53:30 GMT -5
Finished watching JJ S03 in late December last year. Superb show! Really liked the combination of the super-hero & the detective/noir/thriller elements. S03 was possibly the best one (with S01 being a close 2nd). That being said, I found S03 somewhat complex - so I will need to watch it again soon to let the storyline "sink in". I also sometimes appreciate watching TV shows/movies more the second time around because I notice more details/etc. that I may have missed the first time around.
And, JJ was my second-favorite Marvel Netflix show, my first being Daredevil. Though Luke Cage, The Punisher & Iron Fist were were also very solid - to me JJ & DD were superior.
The Defenders was my least favorite Marvel Netflix series; I felt these heroes did better in their own shows than as a team - but that's me.
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Post by rom on Aug 17, 2019 7:21:08 GMT -5
brutalis, very sorry that this happened to you & that it's continuing to happen. I myself can relate to some extent: Almost 20 years ago, I came home from work to my then-newly purchased house and found the back door open; some scum-bags had broken in & stolen all my electronics, my music CD's, etc. There was definitely a strong sense of violation, and I don't mind admitting that for a long time afterwards I had problems sleeping, etc. In your case, it sounds like these scum-bag thieves somehow knew about your possessions; not sure how, but I don't know why else they would keep coming back. Getting an alarm system for your home is a great idea. It won't completely eliminate the possibility of thieves breaking in, but is a definite deterrent. I take a very conservative view when it comes to crime, and as far as I'm concerned - anyone that steals your property (whether it's in your home, on your person, or your car, etc.) is a piece of garbage who you should legally be able to take out. Hell, in some countries they used to (and maybe still do) cut the hands off of thieves - sounds great to me. The problem is that the laws in most countries are written by spineless pu$$#%$, and these laws favor the criminal instead of the victim. So, you - as the victim - will probably get in trouble if you retaliate against thieves (in most states). That being said, I was happy to read this recent news story from Chicago. Some little punk tried to rob the wrong person; and, the other punks with him are being punished. Hopefully the would-be-victim in this case will not be punished - since he was just defending himself & his property from these pieces of human excrement: www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-lake-county-gurnee-homicide-chase-chicago-4-arrested-20190813-vic4fzjmwbf43n2r23bjapjine-story.html
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Post by rom on Jul 23, 2019 20:55:45 GMT -5
Really enjoying the new Swamp Thing TV series; it's one of my favorite new shows currently on (and I watch a lot of current TV). Very creepy & atmospheric, with a definite horror element re: the late-night scenes, the "ghost"?! of the dead young woman that is haunting both Abby Arcane & the girl's mother; the "living" plants that are taking over the swamp; the monstrous appearance of the Swamp Thing; etc. Going along with this, I feel the visual appearance of the Swamp Thing in this series is the most effective & interesting live-action version of the character.
Great cast here, with a lot of familiar faces - though some I haven't seen in years: Virginia Madsen (Candyman I; Sideways); Jennifer Beals (Flashdance); Will Patton (numerous films over the years, and you always know he's going to be playing a bad guy); etc.
SPOILERS below - don't read beyond this if you haven't seen all of the episodes (so far):
It was interesting that Arcane blames herself for her friend's death years before, when she didn't actually cause the death; based on the flashback, she jokingly pushed her friend into the river when they were teens - and then when she was afraid that the girl had drowned, jumped in after her - and the girl was actually fine. However, something pulled the girl in soon after - but Abby had nothing to do with that. It seems like she was blaming herself needlessly for the death all these years - strange. I hope this sub-plot gets explained/resolved in a future episode, but with the show getting canned - probably not.
Going along with this, too bad that the show is getting cancelled. It's excellent, and far better than much of the crap that's on the air these days.
Note that given ST is not a first-tier DC character (like Superman, Batman, Wonder-Woman, The Flash, etc.) it's interesting that he's spawned numerous live action movies/TV shows (both live-action & animated) over the years. Obviously, the popularity of the character has gone far beyond the various comicbook series:
-Two ST feature films (1982 & 1989); the first was solid; haven't seen the second.
-In the '90's, there was a ST live-action TV series (on an independent channel, I think) which I didn't think was that great. I saw a handful of episodes years ago, and it was not a "continuing" program per se; they tried to have stand-alone episodes each week, which I don't think worked too well for a show like this. Plus, it had a cheap budget - which definitely showed.
-There was also an animated series in the '90's; never saw this, but thought it looked mildly interesting.
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Post by rom on Jul 23, 2019 20:50:43 GMT -5
They released a solicit for January of 2020 and the Forever Crimson trade, collecting: Star Wars 16, 27, 29, 50 and the new 108. Have no interest in getting an individual copy of #108 - I hate floppies. I will probably get this forthcoming Trade, however (even though I have the other issues in other collections) - Thanks for the post. What I like about Trades is that they typically have "extras", i.e. alternate covers, other artwork, etc. So, hopefully this Trade will include some extras re: #108.
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Post by rom on Jul 21, 2019 22:38:32 GMT -5
Being a HUGE fan of the original Marvel SW title (1977-1986) back in the day, I have a definite interest in picking up the one-shot Star Wars #108 (picking up where the original SW comics ended with #107 back in '86). Like the art, the nods to the '70's/'80's SW comics, etc.; the green rabbit Jaxxon was one of my favorite characters, even though he/it?! wasn't in that many issues. In fact, I always wanted Hasbro to make an action figure of the character - which never happened, unfortunately.
However, I have 0 interest in collecting floppies (individual comics) these days, and stopped collecting Star Wars comics when Dark Horse still had the license (i.e., late 2014). These days, I only buy Collected Editions (CE's), i.e. Trades, HC's, etc. So, hopefully #108 & some other issues will eventually be collected into a CE - otherwise I won't be getting/reading this.
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Post by rom on Jul 16, 2019 22:13:37 GMT -5
I'm surprised that Punisher S02 didn't get more discussion on here; I just finished watching this. Very impressive season, and I think this slightly topped the first one - to some extent.
Enjoyed the whole season, but especially liked the early episodes:
-The fight scene in the bar was incredible. The young woman that Frank saved was almost like a "daughter" figure for Frank. I.e., I think he connected with her so much because she reminded him somewhat of his daughter who had died.
-The later fight scene in the isolated police station @ night - with the criminals closing in - was probably my favorite single episode in the entire season. This reminded me a lot of the storyline in one of my favorite re-makes, Assault on Precinct 13 (2005). Excellent episode.
-The final scene was one of my favorite TV series finales - i.e., several months after the main events in the series ended, Frank is doing night-time surveillance on two violent gangs who are meeting for a tense "sit-down". And, just as things between the gangs look like they're going to deteriorate, Frank walks in with the Punisher armor on, says something like, "Let's Dance" - and then his guns start blazing. Great scene - that's obviously ripped straight from the comics!
As with all of the Netflix Marvel shows, the many strengths of this series include:
1) Extremely well done & well choreographed fight scenes. Though they are unrealistic (i.e., if a non-super powered hero like Frank Castle received this much punishment, he would quickly end up in a coma/crippled for life, or dead). However, suspension of disbelief notwithstanding - these scenes were incredibly well-done.
2) Incredible casting - especially for the leads. After seeing JB as Frank Castle/The Punisher in these 2 seasons & the DD series, I honestly can't imagine anyone other than him playing the role in future TV shows/movies. Ditto with CC as DD.
Side-note: I did have an initial quibble with the series Billy Russo character - who I thought was supposed to be based on the Jigsaw character from the comics (and he may have been). However, in S02 he was barely scarred up. That being said, I don't see that the psychiatrist character would have still been sleeping with him if he was horribly scarred up - she would have been too disgusted with his appearance to do so. So, I'll buy that he wasn't really disfigured - for the purposes of the story.
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Post by rom on Jul 16, 2019 10:54:11 GMT -5
Haven't seen any new regular 8" Megos at any Targets since late last Fall - so, I've pretty much given up on collecting any of the newer ones. If they can't be made available at the store(s) that is supposed to be selling them, then I won't be wasting my time trying to find them.
No interest in the 14" line either. If they were 12", I may have gotten at least some of them. But, as it stands don't want to collect yet another scale - that doesn't go with any of my figures I have.
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Post by rom on Jun 26, 2019 22:00:28 GMT -5
I really like the sub-plot about a group of Imperial officers planning to assassinate Darth Vader as revenge for the Dark Lord's penchant for capriciously killing them when they make mistakes. That always felt like an entirely reasonable reaction from these officers. That last panel, where the Imperial's hold hands in a circle, while chanting "Darth Vader must die!" is, as an adult, unintentionally hilarious. But as a kid of 9 or 10, which I was when this issue came out, that was a really shocking development and a hell of a cliff-hanger. This was obviously inspired by the similar real-life "July Plot" that occurred during WWII (which also failed): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_July_plotThere is also an excellent 2008 film called Valkyrie (starring Tom Cruise) - which is based on these events: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valkyrie_(film)
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Post by rom on May 24, 2019 22:05:10 GMT -5
Nice thread. As a kid who started collecting comics in the very late '70's, my earliest memories are of going into drug stores & getting comics from the spinner racks. I don't remember any specific neighborhood bookstores that sold comics, but also didn't grow up in an area that would have had them around, either.
Direct market comic stores started popping up (in my area) in the early '80's. I grew up in the Baltimore MD/Washington D.C. area (East Coast), and remember Geppi's Comics in Baltimore City (Harbor Place); Heroes World (Columbia Mall, MD), and another large store in Silver Spring, MD (also possibly a Geppi's). I remember this larger store was on a street corner, and it was one of numerous stores in a strip shopping center. The store itself had a large first floor when you went in with new issues & numerous bins of back issues. They also had a smaller basement area with back issues - IIRC, the ones in the basement were magazine back issues, primarily (Savage Sword of Conan, etc.). I never went there that often since it was out of my way (also, no drivers license at the time - LOL).
However, there was no real sense of "wonder" in going into one of these direct-market places - the back issues were all bagged and boarded, and the people that worked there were very businesslike in their approach to selling the comics. And, as a kid I didn't have much disposable income so could only really buy newer issues.
Also this time I do remember going into Kay-Bee Toys (now defunct) @ a local mall and finding loose older comics there for a good price, specifically the '70's title Kamandi, the last boy on Earth.
I haven't lived in that part of the country for over 20 years, so have no idea if many of these places are still around - though, I suspect most of them have probably closed.
I don't even go to LCS's any more anyway, given that I exclusively get CE's online these days - which I honestly prefer.
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Post by rom on May 23, 2019 20:10:20 GMT -5
Just got this SSH MMW #2. Great volume! Paging through this brings back memories, since I had (past tense) most of these floppies back in the day.
I'm amused at the "caliber" (ha ha) of super-villains Shulkie has to fight, i.e. "The Grappler", "Radius", "Man Elephant", etc. These stories are so cheesy I need crackers - ha ha. That being said, I really dig the early '80's vibe, and the art - while not great - really fits the story/characters.
Also like the inclusion of MTIO #88, where SH teams up with The Thing. I had forgotten this issue was included in here - nice "extra".
SSH has been on my list of titles I have wanted reprinted in color for years, so it's great that we finally got this done-in-two.
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Post by rom on May 14, 2019 14:04:34 GMT -5
Haven't been into a LCS since late 2014, and don't miss going to them at all. Remember it's not just the money that you're saving when you're buying CE's (or anything else) from an online retailer like Amazon vs. a brick & mortar store. There are other elements to consider as well:
1) Time & hassle, which you can't put a price on. My last LCS was a 40-45 minutes drive from me (each way), and I usually went there around once a month (it was too much hassle to go every week). It was also in an area that has a lot of heavy traffic, so I hated having to navigate this in order to get to the store. Conversely, it's obviously a lot easier to get something delivered to my door, and requires minimal effort.
2) My LCS would sometimes make mistakes & not hold items for me that I had requested. So, when I wanted something & they hadn't held it for me, in many cases they were sold out & I wasn't able to get the item (from them, at least).
Taking all of this into account, I can honestly say that even if I weren't saving money by buying items online, I would still buy online - even if the costs of books @ my LCS & the online vendor were equal. The convenience of purchasing online can't be emphasized enough.
The one advantage I can see about going to a LCS is if you still collect floppies; I know you can get delivery service for those, but it would be more difficult to ensure they're delivered in good shape re: the possibility that they'll bend, etc. However, I stopped collecting floppies years ago, so that's not an issue for me
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Post by rom on May 14, 2019 13:41:33 GMT -5
Recently saw Venom on Blu, and was extremely impressed by the film - despite not being a big fan of the character in the comics (I was never a huge fan of Spidey's black suit & the later Venom off-shoot).
However, as in the '90's Animated Spider-man, they discarded the idea that Venom was part of Spidey's black suit, and instead focused on having Venom be a "creature" that came to earth from outer space - on a space shuttle. I strongly prefer this "orgin" story to the one that was featured in the comics.
Tom Hardy was excellent as always, and did a great job as the "conduit" for Venom. Amazing effects & acting. Also liked the SF urban setting.
I will need to watch this again soon at some point - it was that good.
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Post by rom on May 14, 2019 13:33:28 GMT -5
Great thread. In reading these posts/descriptions of the episodes, I'm getting a greater appreciation of the Original TZ series. I made a point of watching every episode (in chronological order) back in Spring/early Summer 2012. Since it's been a while, I may consider going back & re-watching this whole series again. It's definitely iconic.
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Post by rom on May 3, 2019 10:36:22 GMT -5
Yes! That I of Newton episode was great; it starred George Jefferson (the late Sherman Hemsley) - who, back in the mid-'80's, was very recognizable; The iconic The Jeffersons sit-com had just ended earlier that year, and earlier seasons were always being re-run. My favorite part of I of Newton was how the devil's T-shirt kept changing - with different quotes/sayings/etc. - hilarious
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Post by rom on Apr 25, 2019 19:54:51 GMT -5
My enthusiasm for this great line fizzled last Fall when I couldn't find any of the newer releases at brick & mortar Targets (don't like ordering online). If the distribution for these is as poor as it was late last year, I probably won't collect any more.
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