'Snowpiercer' May Be The International Movie To See This Summer...

Ho-ly SHIT! I just saw the trailer for Snowpiercer, the South Korean import film from Bong Joon-ho (director of The Host & Mother, both insanely great flicks) that marks his English speaking film debut. The film is an adaption of a graphic novel La Transperceneige, a French comic by Jacques Lob. The film focuses on a dystopian future in which mankind has forced a new Ice Age while trying to cure global warming. The only surviving folks, rich and poor, live on a train called 'Snowpiercer'. The train has a perpetual motion engine and travels along a world spanning track. The rich people live in the front of the train, and as you get to the rear of the train you travel down in class. At the rear of the train is the poorest of the poor, the ones who keep the train functioning. Lead by a rebel named Curtis (Chris Evans) they begin to travel car to car towards the front, overthrowing the guards and taking control of the train. Bloody car after bloody car, the class system that has been set begins to crumble and a true power struggle ensues. Who will control the train, rich or poor? Whoever comes out on top controls the only environment that is fit for life... wow, what a great concept that looks even more bad ass on screen. The futuristic, yet primal conditions on the train (who fights with axes in 2031???) make this movie even crazier! The film also stars Jaime Bell, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Ed Harris & Alison Pill. Snowpiercer receives its US release June 27th, and will gain a wider release if the market dictates. They got my money for sure... how about you? Check the trailer out after the jump...

Poster:

Trailer:

  

Great Comics Revisited: The Rocket Raccoon Mini Series (1985)

I am someone who can't read comics month to month anymore... I can't bear to wait four weeks to continue a story, and 22 pages of an issue just don't satisfy me. So I usually let storylines build up and then read collected editions to get caught back up. I also like to back and read the classics that laid the groundwork for some of the stories being told today. So recently I decided to revisit a mini series from the golden era of comics... well, the golden era to me anyway... 1985. It is the Rocket Raccoon mini series, published in 1985 and introducing the character of Rocket to a wide spread audience in his own book for the first time. The series was written by Bill Mantlo, and the art comes courtesy of a young Mike Mignola (pencils) and Al Gordon (inks). I must have read this as a kid as the story seemed familiar to me, but I honestly can't remember... and boy does that make me sad! This is such a great series, for a variety of reasons.

Check more after the jump...

First of, this is when Marvel had fun with their characters. It was not the age of continuity police, constantly posting on chat boards about the shade of characters costume being different issue to issue or if a character should know someone based on past interactions... The creators had room to breathe. It's not that the comic geeks weren't up on things like continuity... it was just harder for people express their general malaise. Rocket's mini series perfectly illustrates all that is good with comics in the 80s. Fun art, goofy stories, and some legit groundwork for the future of the company. Rocket is about to become a household name with next years Guardians of the Galaxy. People are going to go crazy for the little fur ball. This is where it all began. And boy is it good...

The story revolves around Rocket Raccoon and his group of anthropomorphic (talking) animal friends, and how they act as a type of super hero team on Halfworld in the Keystone Quadrant of Outer Space. Two evil toy makers (it sounds stupid, but is really genius) are locked in a corporate struggle to control the making of the toy robots that entertain the crazy people who occupy Halfworld. But one of these toy makers, a mole by the name of Judson Jakes and his accomplice, the evil genius turtle is out to take over the whole Keystone Quadrant. And to do so he needs to find and decode Gideon's Bible, an ancient book that was written by a long lost race of people (probably humans who visited Halfworld) and is unintelligible to the intelligent animal population. Apparently the book contains secrets that will  help whoever deciphers it become a supreme leader. Rocky tries to keep the book safe, and out of the hands of the murderous Jakes.

There are two things that make these books great. First off, the art on the covers and interiors are just amazing. I love Mignola's style, but this is his early stuff so it varies a bit from the prototypical style we are used to seeing from him on Hellboy and other projects he worked in the past. The second thing is the cool animal tales. I dig these kind of stories. One of my favorite comic books ever is Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew,which was published around the same time by DC Comics and tells a similar story. These books are fun, and a change of pace from super hero books that were the majority of the landscape at this time. Isn't comics being fun a big part of reading them in the first place?

The story is a fun one shot, and the four issues are able to be read as a stand alone. It is a great starting point for anyone not really familiar with Rocket, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to know much more about the back story of such a great character... especially in lieu of the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Great trip back down memory lane, and well worth the 5 bucks that I spent on the hardcover at this years NY Comic Con. You can grab it on Amazon for (albeit for a bit more than 5 bucks) by cliciking here...

CCD Holiday Geek Gift Guide #5: What To Get The Comic Book Newbie In Your Life

I am a veteran of the comic book game... I have been collecting since I was four (just over 28 years) and I have tons of comics/graphic novels to prove it. I, along with many of my fellow 80's baby comic geeks, were way ahead of the current comic book movie craze and have read ALL of the source material that is making the summer blockbusters the masses are devouring at a record pace. But what if you have to buy a gift for the person who is just getting started with comics? Here is a list of a few of my personal faves that will give any comic fan, new or old, a smile on their face. These will even work for a hardcore fan, even though a true comic book head SHOULD have in their collection (both in issue format and collected versions...lol). Click after the jump for my suggestions...

Watchmen by Alan Moore & David Gibbons-

Why do I start here? Well, to put it simple and plain, this is THE GREATEST GRAPHIC NOVEL EVER WRITTEN!!! Period. Nothing to discuss. Pure fucking genius. Didn't like the movie? Doesn't fucking matter... if you read the source material, you will forget there even was a movie (even though I thought the movie was wonderful). Alan Moore is one of the greatest comic writers of all time, and David Gibbons drew one of the greatest comics ever. A good story and great images... what else does a comic need. The best part is that this is a self contained story in its own universe, which for all you non-comic heads means you don't need to know any back story to enjoy it. It's all there in this beautiful black and yellow covered comic... click here to buy the softcover version or here to buy the fancier hardcover. 

Batman: The Long Halloween by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale-

Who doesn't love Batman? Not anybody I know, especially after Christopher Nolan did his thing on the past few Dark Knight movies. With the third film coming next summer, why not get somebody into the Batman groove? Now this is where most comic nerds would point you to Frank Miller's Batman: Year One (which is a solid choice and a great gift as well, but I digress)... but I have chosen to go in a different direction. Loeb and Sale revisit the early years in this Batman story that took place over 13 issues and is focused on Gotham Cities mafia families as well as all his colorful rouges. The gang is all here, from Joker to Riddler to Two Face... and the story is magnificent. Published back in 1996/97, it helped jump-start interest in DC Comics and The Bat for a whole new generation. I have my own copy signed by both Loeb and Sale, and it may very well be my favorite Batman story ever. This 384 page collection will definitely inspire more trips to the comic store for stories of Gotham's shining knight. Click here to order.

Wanted by Mark Millar & J.G. Jones-

Listen, I liked the movie as much as the next guy. James McAvoy is great as the loser Wesley Gibson, Angelina Jolie is perfect as Fox. Not to mention that sexy shot of her naked and soaking wet leaving the healing tub... nerd boner!!! But the movie, dope as it was, really has very little to do with Millar and Jones's original work. There is a shell of a story in the movie, but not at all like the one that is in the book. If you thought the movie was twisted, wait till you see this book. This one also takes place in a self contained universe (no complicated back stories that you need to know), but in this universe the bad guys won. All the way. And they have killed off EVERY SUPER HERO in the world. All of them... and brutally. These bad guys mind-wiped the rest of the world's memories of these heroes, and they rule the world free to rape/pillage/murder with impunity. And they do just that... a lot. Cursing, innocent people getting maimed and killed, rape for fun... yeah, it's a bad guys dream world. But bad guys can't play by the rules, so it's only a matter of time before one tries to overthrow the rest. Then it's bad guys vs badder guys, which can never be bad. Click here to order this one...      

Start with these three, and then if all else fails try these other winners:

The League of Extraordinary Gentleman Omnibus by Alan Moore

The Sandman: Absolute Editions 1-5 by Neil Gaiman

Marvel 1985 by Mark Millar

Marvel: Zombies by Robert Kirkman, Sean Phillips, and Arthur Suydam

City Of Others by Steve Niles

Marvels by Kurt Busiek Alex Ross

Superman: Red Son by Mark Millar & Dave Johnson

Kingdom Come by Mark Waid & Alex Ross

A Clockwork Orange: The Comic Book.... Viddy Well, Little Brother!!!

Comic artist/writer Kevin Colden loved the Anthony Burgess novel/Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange so much that he decided to come up with a graphic novel adaption of it... what a great fucking idea! How come no one had thought of this sooner? Anywho, Colden drafted a 150 page script from the original novel and came up with a few pages of concept art to pitch. Nothing has come of it yet, so Colden decided to release the art on his blog, Optical Disillusions.

Here is what Colden had to say about the project:

Every once in a while, like most comic creators, I'm asked the question "If you could do your dream project, what would it be?" For me, the answer is easy: for many years now, I've wanted to adapt Anthony Burgess' classic novel A Clockwork Orange into comics form. I'm not entirely sure why; I'm also a big fan of Stanley Kubrick's work, and no one could successfully argue that his iconic film adaptation is in need of improvement. Maybe I just like a good challenge. In any case, during the summer of 2009, I found myself dealing with a major family crisis and in need of something to keep my mind occupied during long interstate train rides and otherwise insanity-inducing idle time at my destination, and the one thing I found that could occupy mind enough was this long-dormant idea.

Sounds good to me... here are the pages he published. Click the link above and show him some love in his comments section. These are wonderful!!! My favorite part of them is the orange hue that each page has... very original and creepy. Enjoy!

 

Google Doodle Celebrates Will Eisner's 94th Birthday

Yesterday Google celebrated the father of the graphic novel, comic great Will Eisner's, on what would have been his 94th birthday. The comic book hall of fame is named after him, and he created one of most recognized superheroes in the history of comics in The Spirit. To honor the legend, Google placed a logo bearing his trademark heroes likeness as the search engine header (which is called a Google Doodle). Here it is in case you missed it.

Very cool gesture from a company that "gets it". Very rare from a corporation that size. Google we salute you for celebrating the genius that is (and always will be) comic greatness!!! Happy Bday Will.