If we’re going to be honest here, I’m genuinely surprised that this hasn’t happened sooner when Disney has had both brands under its claws for over a decade. Should be an interesting disaster if nothing else.
Category: Comic Musings
All general posts relating to the comic book industry.
Delayed Reaction…
So a certain trailer dropped for a certain movie recently that’s coming up. A certain day of doom, apparently. I saw the trailer when I first got wind of it, which wouldn’t have been more than a day or two after it dropped. I saw it, shrugged, and moved on with my life.
However, if you want me to say something nice… that Lanterns show looks mildly interesting.
The first two teasers didn’t show you much… and that’s fine. They’re teasers; they’re supposed to tease you with something bigger, not blow their wad from the start. Nonetheless, initial reactions were mixed and people assumed the worst… and that’s without getting into potential rumors of the spoilery kind.
Then the actual trailer hits and there’s more to be excited about. There are Manhunters, there is a potential mystery, there’s Sinestro, there’s the looming specter (no pun intended) of Hal Jordan eventually being replaced by John Stewart. While the show is still largely grounded on Earth, there is promise of Green Lantern action. There needs to be. And if the show does well… maybe they lean more into the sci-fi stuff in a potential second season. Assuming they get one, of course.
So yeah… looking forward to Lanterns… Clayface, not so much… not my cup of tea, but hope it turns out well for those who are interested in this one.
Ambivalently Forgetting Supergirl
Yes, it took me over a month to gather some thoughts on James Gunn’s latest contribution to the DC Universe in the form of the Craig Gillespie-helmed Supergirl. And the reason for that was because it took me a while to get around to seeing this thing in theaters.
What happened was that a friend had some tickets that they got on special and invited me along with a couple others in exchange for food and drink (elsewhere; movie goods are too bloody expensive for what little you get these days.) I figured why not and then we went and saw the film… and then we promptly forgot about it.
And that is not a good sign when this is supposed to be one of your tentpole features in your whole Gods And Monsters story arc that may or may not get a Chapter Two.
THE BITE COMMENTARY #19 – The (Not So) New 52!
Next month – August 31st, to be precise – will mark the 15th anniversary of The New 52!
The 2011 attempt by DC Comics to reboot their entire universe, kicked off by the five-issue event comic Flashpoint – which would be used as the basis for the Ezra Miller Flash movie that James Gunn declared “the greatest superhero film ever made” or something – which was done in a rush and without any prior warning ahead of time to give creators time to flesh out their plans, save for a select few involved who got to keep their continuities going despite the whole thing being a “clean slate” for all.
Five years later, the New 52 would slowly be phased in favor of a “Rebirth” that restored elements of pre-New 52 continuity.
There are a lot of pieces and articles out there that can dive into the whole history of The New 52 – here’s one example here – but this commentary is less about how the world viewed The New 52, but rather my own reaction to the whole deal… or perhaps a lack thereof.
Continue reading “THE BITE COMMENTARY #19 – The (Not So) New 52!”
Since We’re Having That Talk…
For the record, I haven’t seen Supergirl yet. I’d imagine it’ll be on streaming in a couple months or so, which is probably the most likely time I’ll catch it unless, so I can’t tell you whether the movie is good or not. I’ve mentioned my lack of enthusiasm for this thing last week and that’s about the extent of my opinion on this thing. That having been, regardless of whether you liked the film or not, you have to agree that whoever made the decision to open it on the same weekend as TOY STORY 5 needs to go home and rethink their life.
I’m not saying that to deflect any failings, but I’d imagine more people would be excited for another round with Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang than they would a largely untested property. And no, six years on the CW doesn’t equal box office success. The Flash on TV was a fun ride (at first) while the Flash movie was… a thing that exists.
And I can say that because I did, for some reason that escaped me, saw that movie.
Anyway, if I get a chance to watch Supergirl – at some point – I’ll post some thoughts on here. Not sure when that’s going to be, though.
Speaking of R.I.P…
Now that we’re past the fun stuff, let’s talk about something actually is R.I.P. and nobody quite knows it yet.
The above image is a John Romita Jr. illustrated cover for the 1000th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man – a number they like to pull out of their ass after rebooting the series number half a dozen times – featuring someone in a Spider-Man costume (okay, let’s be fair here for once and assume it’s the real deal) doing his web-slinging thing… but apparently, according to some stupid people online, he might be shrugging. I think ol’ Web-Head is flexible enough that he can probably do both at the same time and make it look cool. (Apparently, this cover’s being replaced with some other cover that’s not quite as cool… or all that great, for that matter. Par for the course at the one-time Mighty Marvel.)
Honestly, I like this cover. Cool angle. People turning this into a meme are kinda stupid, but they kept this thing going for a long time and the stories have gone to complete and utter dogshit… so I guess it fits.
I suppose congratulations are in order for reaching this massive, massive milestone. Unfortunately, you kinda ruined it by promising that Peter Parker’s life would change forever… because you seem to do that on a regular basis and it often means going back to the same tired status quo that you like to go back to because you’re all a bunch of uncreative hacks.
I don’t know… maybe Marvel should shitcan the entire creative staff and let AI handle all the writing going forward. If anything, that would actually be an improvement over the hot garbage you’ve been putting out lately. Put these humans out of their misery, please!
Or… you know… write better stories. As much as it sucks to see anyone lose jobs, it’s hard to be sympathetic to people who are just bad at doing them.
Later.
Brand New Day… The Movie
I am conflicted. On the one hand, it looks like a promising flick. It hits all the right notes. And it feels like the first time that Todd Holland gets to play in an old-school, back to basics Spider-Man flick.
On the other hand, though… knowing how often the Marvel train derailed itself so many times with empty promises and lackluster returns…
I don’t know… I want to give this thing a chance because it looks like a fun time, but I’m weary of another theatrical letdown…
I don’t know, kids… we’ll see.
Supergirl In One Week
Supergirl is due in theaters next week, if I’m not mistaken. Get your tickets now because we need a trailer for that, I guess.
I haven’t said much about Supergirl around these parts and part of that is because I’m not sure how to feel about this one. I’ve watched the past couple trailers for this thing and I’m like “meh.” Even for this new trailer, I’m just largely ambivalent.
To tell you the truth, I don’t know why that is. Granted, I’m not all that familiar with the Woman Of Tomorrow mini that the movie is largely based on, so this is largely new territory. But also, I’m not excited in the same way I was for Superman, which felt like a breath of fresh air after the dour Snyder stuff.
But also, it had Krypto.
Yes, Supergirl has Krypto, too… but all these trailers tell me is that she does a worse job of taking care of Krypto than her cousin does.
Huh… maybe that’s why I’m ambivalent towards Supergirl’s latest cinematic escapade.
Anyway, I’m on the fence about this one. Not sure about a first weekend viewing or if I’ll hold off until home video hits. Hope it turns out well, though. I’d hate for anyone to come out of this thinking that the one with Helen Slater was better.
When’s The Payoff, Bro?
So, for what it’s worth, the first issue of the new MMPR comic has been released. Naturally, I had thoughts beforehand and promised that I’d give this thing a shot. When that is going to happen is… not anytime soon, I’m afraid.
A matter of busy with other stuff, but mostly, I haven’t had the chance to pick this up yet. I have been wanting to wait until all three series have released their first issues, but Unlimited is only premiering in July and I haven’t kept up on when the other one is popping up. So right now, the only issue out there is the new MMPR. Whenever I get the chance to grab a copy and give it a read, I’ll prep some thoughts soon afterwards. Not sure if this is going to be a quick “review” format or something a little deeper.
Truth be told, I haven’t been keeping up, so I don’t know what the reception for this thing is like. I’d imagine the usual heaping of praise for the bold new direction that Power Rangers desperately needed or whatever, even though it’s just another repackage of the MMPR formula and not even an inspired one. Here’s hoping there’s merit to that praise when I get to the reading. And once I do, I’ll post my thoughts and we’ll see.
I can promise one thing, though; it’ll be honest. If I find things to like, I’ll say as much. If I find things to dislike, the same. But if you’re looking for endless hype and praise, you’re in the wrong place.
Anyway, should be fun.
Slow News Year
So we begin excluding discussion about a certain genre of entertainment for the month of June. The idea being to give that a rest… except how much that affect this blog when there hasn’t been much of it beyond the weekly Wednesday project that concluded?
I’ll be honest with you. There hasn’t been much to talk about in other fronts. Most of you following this blog know that I rarely touch on the current gen console scene. Price hikes due to prevailing circumstances and morons in office is not something that inspires long essays or anything like that. It sucks and it’s going to suck more when certain tariffs are removed and the prices stay up because we gotta make some profits.
Meanwhile, over at the classic gaming scene… new toys to play with, sure. Almost all of it overly expensive and, save for maybe one or two things, almost all of it is a flex. Things you don’t need, but would be nice to have. I’ve got a lot of vintage machines; some of these still work. Not quite the ideal “classic” experience, but they serve me well. And if all else fails, there’s always classic compilations on Switch or PC. And of course, the other avenue that needs not be mentioned because… well, you know… yarrrr.
Over at the comic front, there’s new event comics coming up that leave me uninspired. Movies and TV shows… none of which pique my interest. Honestly, I find myself watching old shit on either Prime Video or Youtube or whatever physical media I have at my disposal. Most of the stuff I have is infinitely rewatchable. Every so often, I can pull that out, give it a watch, have fun, put it back in the dock, and then a few months or so later, I might get a scratch to rewatch it. The quality of good media is not its resale value; it’s the replay. How much are you itching for another go?
I suppose I could on a series of posts dissecting why certain things that I used to take pleasaure and/or joy in no longer provide such things, but that would be too dreary a series at best and at worst, too cut and dry – some things, I lost interest in. Other things, a little more. I’ll try to be a bit more upbeat in my future writings, but as trends on the interwebs have proven time and time again, people love absolute misery and despair… and so does the global algorithms of the universe, it seems.
Thank goodness I don’t care for such things.
Oh wait…