Comics Review: The Astonishing X-men Volume 1

I picked up this graphic novel last week. It was written by Joss Whedon, who you may remember from the short-lived yet very well done TV series Firefly. I started reading graphic novels a couple of years ago, having avoided comic books in my youth, but have mostly avoided the superhero genre until now. With the recent release of the X-men 3 movie, I thought it would be fun to take a look at this "re-imagining" of the famous and long running X-men series.

The book collects the first 6 issues of the new comic. It starts with Kitty Pryde returning to the Xavier Institute after some time away. Things are much different than in the movies. A mutant named Emma Frost is apparently running the school now. Along with Cyclops (aka laser-boy), Logan, and the blue beasty guy. Professor Xavier is not around and Jean Grey is dead. I'm not sure where this new series fits into the overall continuity of the X-men, but that doesn't matter much as the story requires only a vague understanding of what the character's individual situations are. Similar to the latest movie, the story revolves around a cure for the mutant gene. Familiar X-men themes of human hatred toward the mutants and whether the right reaction to that hatred is peace or violence permeate the story. I really enjoyed the writing and the artwork. You can really see Joss Whedon's style come through in the writing, as there are some great one-liners to go along with the strong character development. Overall, I'd give Volume 1 of the Astonishing X-men 4.5 stars. I'm looking forward to the next issue.

Do not, repeat, do not, defile Wonder Woman.

 

A DVD club for the rest of us.

Isn't it time you joined the William Shatner DVD club?

What do you mean you already have! 

Amazon women are from where?

Behold. Surpassing Wilma Dearing in my mind - Wonder woman.
Young and impressionable, one thing became crystal clear as I sat ever so much closer to the TV gazing upon her herioc figure: I want that. I don't exactly know what I'd do with it if I had it, but I want it.
Remember during her "transformation" when she would take off her glasses, start spinning around, her hair would come down, and then she magically go from a business suit to that gravity-defying outfit? Whoever thought of that was a genius. 

Bald Women in SF

Here is an interesting article on bald chicks in science fiction. The author makes some interesting points on how baldness can be used to both masculinize a female hero (think Ripley in Alien 3) and enhance her sexuality and femininity (the bald chick in Star Trek: The Movie). But personally, no matter how bald they get, nobody, and I mean nobody comes close to Colonel Wilma Dearing:


P.S. In the article I link to above, be sure to take a look at the author's photo on the right. Is this guy a ringer or what? It's just creepy.

When Not Walking Anywhere Isn't Enough

Now you can sit while not walking. Brilliant.

Does this guy remind you of anyone?

I can't quite put my finger on what it is...

The End of the World: An Update

For all you post-humanists who are looking forward to major life extension breakthroughs in the next century, be advised that asteroid 2004 VD17 has a 1 in 500 chance of impacting Earth on May 4, 2102. Prepare accordingly. Personally, I recommend consciousness uploading to a quantum databank buried deep beneath Olympus Mons.

The Power of the Death Star

Here is link to an interesting article on how powerful the Death Star would need to be to destroy a planet. This is the kind of cutting-edge geekery I'd like to see from my co-bloggers.

Bullsh*t

I've started watching season two of Penn & Teller's Bullsh*t on DVD, and I have to say the season is off to a great start. Their relentless mocking of that creepy "Men are from Mars" guy and pointing out the rampant hypocrisy of PETA and the war on drugs has warmed this libertarian's cold, black heart. Highly recommended if you don't mind extreme profanity every few seconds.

Leonard Nimoy's Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

I offer the following without comment:

Brief and crappy review of X-men 3

Mutants, something, something, conflict, chick painted blue, stuff blowing up. 4 out of 5 stars.

That's not too brief is it? I guess what I really liked about the movie was the special effects, and the lingering shots of a blue figure. Oh, and that prick with the laser eyes finally gets killed. Thank Zeus that happens early on since I can't stand him. He was such a whiner, too bad he didn't suffer more. And don't yell at me for that being a spoiler that he gets killed, think of it more like a reason to go to the movie in the first place.

Anyway, the flick was entertaining, even though it was mostly about some woman with a serious PMS trip existing in a universe in which they break about 50,000 laws of physics per second. So it's hard to feel like "oh man, how will they get out of this mess?!" when you know they will just break a ton of laws of physics and magically solve everything. Let's start with the basics: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If you hurl a car, or lift an entire bridge, the equal force has to go in the other direction. I'm just sayin'. And somebody get that mutant woman some Pamprin before she kills everybody. Magneto thinks he can control her? Ha! Bad move pal. If Magneto had ever had a girlfriend he would not have made that mistake.