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	<title>Blue Ink Alchemy &#187; Comics</title>
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	<description>Turning dreams into gold, one jot &#38; scribble at a time.</description>
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		<title>Free Comic Book Day</title>
		<link>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2010/05/02/free-comic-book-day/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2010/05/02/free-comic-book-day/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 02 May 2010 21:45:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Comics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/?p=1463</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Didn&#8217;t really feel like grabbing a new image since I&#8217;m feeling a bit lethargic, so have some Guardians of the Galaxy goodness instead. So yeah. TONS of comics. I remember the first couple of times I sort of swung by a comic book store on Free Comic Book Day, and picked up a Keenspot anthology [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/51_guardians_of_the_galaxy_15.jpg" alt="Courtesy Marvel" /></center></p>
<p>Didn&#8217;t really feel like grabbing a new image since I&#8217;m feeling a bit lethargic, so have some Guardians of the Galaxy goodness instead.</p>
<p>So yeah.  TONS of comics.</p>
<p>I remember the first couple of times I sort of swung by a comic book store on Free Comic Book Day, and picked up a Keenspot anthology or some other very cheap promotional offering.  I didn&#8217;t expect the literal wall of titles available yesterday at Cyborg One in Doylestown.  But I&#8217;ve slogged through most of them, and most of them fall on the less than memorable side of &#8216;average&#8217;.</p>
<p>Apart from the reprint of the first issue of <strong>Invincible Iron Man</strong>, the stand-outs for me were <strong>Atomic Robo</strong> (always a beacon of clever writing and a fun action-comedy to boot), Radical&#8217;s preview of <strong>Driver for the Dead</strong> (breathtaking art coupled with chilling mysticism and the most badass hearse I&#8217;ve ever soon), the <strong>Green Hornet</strong> (Kevin Smith writes a great pulp classic), <strong>Iron Man and Thor</strong> (Matt Fraction &#038; JR JR give us not only a preview of what&#8217;s to come in their new Avengers title but also what it might be like to see these two together in a movie) and <strong>The Tick</strong> (I almost started whistling the theme from the animated TV show).  The other Marvel titles were mostly re-caps and anthologies to get new readers up to speed on things like Siege and Spider-Man, <strong>War of the Supermen</strong> came off as somewhat boring to me, and <strong>G.I. Joe</strong>, while taking things amusingly from the perspective of Cobra, didn&#8217;t really get me back into the headspace I once occupied when I was interested in them whenever I couldn&#8217;t get my Transformers fix.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m sure some of this stuff has niche appeal.  <strong>Fearless Dawn</strong> comes off a bit like a Tank Girl wannabe and I&#8217;m sure there&#8217;s an audience for that.  <strong>Archie</strong>&#8216;s formula hasn&#8217;t really changed at all in decades and I&#8217;m sure there&#8217;ll always be readers for that, too.  Ron Marz, a great writer of comics in my opinion, seems to be either trying to keep Top Cow going with his <strong>Artifacts</strong> storyline, or plotting its doom.  <strong>Doctor Solar</strong> felt like he was trying to be Dr. Manhattan, and <strong>Magnus Robot Fighter</strong> has the throwback feeling of Flash Gordon, with neither one really doing anything original or all that interesting.  </p>
<p>It&#8217;s not all bad news.  <strong>Bongo</strong> does a Simpsons story that isn&#8217;t too bad, <strong>Heckraiser</strong> has an old-fashioned adventure-comedy feel that reminds me of the heydays of <strong>Groo the Wanderer</strong> and Mark Waid&#8217;s one-two deconstructionist punches of <strong>Irredeemable</strong> and <strong>Incorruptible</strong> have a lot of promise if you want to see a super-hero go bad or a super-villain go straight.  </p>
<p>All in all, it wasn&#8217;t a bad experience, and the price was right &#8211; all of this stuff was free.</p>
<p>If your local comic book store still has these titles, go pick some up if you&#8217;ve an interest.  Comic books are great places to tell stories, but sometimes the desire to appeal to a small audience or the legacy of older comics can get in the way of new &#038; original things.  Free Comic Book day shows the best and worst.  Go check it out.</p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Josh for <a href="http://www.blueinkalchemy.com">Blue Ink Alchemy</a>, 2010. |
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		<title>A Complete Lack of Bawls</title>
		<link>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2010/05/01/a-complete-lack-of-bawls/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2010/05/01/a-complete-lack-of-bawls/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 01 May 2010 21:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Comics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Current Events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[badass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[comedy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/?p=1460</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Busy day so far. Today&#8217;s Free Comic Book Day and holy crap are there a lot of free comics to be had. I&#8217;ve only managed to get through about ten of the thirty-odd offerings I plucked from the shelves of Cyborg One in Doylestown late this morning. Once I finish them all some time tomorrow [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/lg-bawls.jpg" alt="Courtesy Bawls" /></center></p>
<p>Busy day so far.</p>
<p>Today&#8217;s <a href="http://www.freecomicbookday.com/" target="_blank">Free Comic Book Day</a> and holy <em>crap</em> are there a lot of free comics to be had.  I&#8217;ve only managed to get through about ten of the thirty-odd offerings I plucked from the shelves of Cyborg One in Doylestown late this morning.  Once I finish them all some time tomorrow I&#8217;ll be able to provide you all with an after-action report.</p>
<p>My better half and I are attending a friends&#8217; game night over in Chesterbrook this evening.  She was looking for a bit of a pick-me-up and said, &#8220;You know what I&#8217;d like?  Bawls.&#8221;  The usual jokes involving Bawls in one&#8217;s mouth ensued.  I double-checked the drink&#8217;s website, and apparently Bawls is sold at 7-Eleven and Target.</p>
<p>Except in Horsham.</p>
<p>I went to 7-Eleven. No Bawls there.</p>
<p>I dropped by Acme.  No Bawls to be had there, either.</p>
<p>Target didn&#8217;t have any Bawls.</p>
<p>Even Genuardi&#8217;s showed a complete lack of Bawls.</p>
<p>None of these stores have any Bawls.</p>
<p>&#8230;Okay, I&#8217;ve probably milked that joke enough.  Point is, that&#8217;s where I&#8217;ve been all day.  Still managed to bang out ~2k words on Citizen this morning, though.</p>
<p>So packing, comics and possibly more coming your way tomorrow.  Same Blue time, same Blue channel.</p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Josh for <a href="http://www.blueinkalchemy.com">Blue Ink Alchemy</a>, 2010. |
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		<title>Let&#8217;s Talk Avengers</title>
		<link>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2010/04/24/lets-talk-avengers/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2010/04/24/lets-talk-avengers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:56:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Comics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[films]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/?p=1422</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Iron Man 2 is right around the corner, promising more lead-ins for the upcoming Avengers titles and the eventual movie that&#8217;ll draw them all together. I know MovieBob has already discussed the subject, but here&#8217;s my brief and nerdy pair of cents on the subject. The Incredible Hulk Say what you like about Ang Lee&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/iron-man-movie-trailer-coming-soon.jpg" alt="Courtesy Marvel" /></center></p>
<p><em>Iron Man 2</em> is right around the corner, promising more lead-ins for the upcoming <em>Avengers</em> titles and the eventual movie that&#8217;ll draw them all together.  I know <a href="http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/1604-Avengers-Assemble" target="_blank">MovieBob</a> has already discussed the subject, but here&#8217;s my brief and nerdy pair of cents on the subject.</p>
<h2>The Incredible Hulk</h2>
<p>Say what you like about Ang Lee&#8217;s revision of the Hulk, Louis Letterier took it upon himself to bring the concept into the Marvel film universe and did so rather effectively in my opinion.  Ed Norton, one of my favorite leading men, inhabited Bruce Banner with a soulful desire to be more than just a monster, a man struggling to bring a terrible and powerful curse under control and bend the creature within to his will.  Beyond the stinger at the end of the film, if Bruce were to be tapped for the Avengers he&#8217;d likely see it as an opportunity to salvage something heroic from the inherently chaotic and destructive nature of the Hulk.  Much like the nuclear bomb was conceived as a way to quickly end conflicts and indirectly save as many lives as it destroyed if not more, SHIELD might look upon the Hulk as a super-powered localized tactical weapon, which could lead to friction between Nick Fury and Bruce should Mr. Jackson&#8217;s character view the not-so-jolly green giant as an expendable asset rather than a valuable individual.</p>
<h2>Thor</h2>
<p>After <em>Iron Man 2</em>, Chris Hemsworth (Kirk&#8217;s dad from last year&#8217;s <em>Star Trek</em> relaunch (<span style="font-size:10px">which kicked ass and I don&#8217;t care who says otherwise, it was a lot of fun and felt adventurous and new instead of a tired retread in my opinion, so there</span>)) will star as the Viking god of thunder in May of 2011.  Kenneth Branagh, aka &#8220;The Shakespeare Guy&#8221; is directing, and I think he&#8217;s really going to convey the bombast and slightly hammy charm of Asgard as well as helping Thor project a bit of humanity.  With Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård and Colm Feore involved, I suspect there&#8217;s going to be plenty of powerhouse scenes to be had.  What&#8217;s going to be interesting to me, beyond the ties to the other films leading to the Avengers, is the character of Loki, played by relative newcomer Tom Hiddleston.  Will he be a cool, calculating chessmaster using the passions and aims of the Asgardians to his own ends, or will he be a charismatic mischief-maker channeling John DeLancie&#8217;s character of Q?  We&#8217;ll have to wait a year to find out.</p>
<p>Also, Natalie Portman&#8217;s going to be in it, so yeah, I&#8217;ll be there.</p>
<h2>Captain America</h2>
<p>The full title of this entry is actually <em>The First Avenger: Captain America</em> and is said to be an origin story of the patriotic everyman dressed in blue and carrying a shield.  Chris Evans is taking the lead in this Joe Johnston entry.  I like Evans &#8211; his Human Torch made me smile more often than not, and I thought he did a more than passable job in <em><a href="http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/11/20/it-came-from-netflix-push/">Push</a></em>.  I think he&#8217;s the right choice for Steve Rogers, a guy who really wants to make a difference in the war-torn world of the 1940s but isn&#8217;t quite up to the task until he&#8217;s given the Super-Soldier serum.  And Joe Johnston also feels right for the project.  He directed <em>The Rocketeer</em> and <em>Hidalgo</em>, and seems more than capable of capturing a pulpy sense of adventure while giving the audience heroes that feel three-dimensional and are worth caring about. I&#8217;ve high hopes for this one.</p>
<p>In other Cap news, Hugo Weaving is rumored to be the Red Skull.  I&#8217;ll just leave it at that, with a big smile on my face.</p>
<h2>Other Avengers</h2>
<p><em>Iron Man 2</em> will see the introduction of War Machine (I love Don Cheadle) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson as a red-head in a black bodysuit = WANT), both of whom have been Avengers at one point or another.  Black Widow has had an on-again off-again thing with both Tony Stark and Clint Barton at one time or another.  Clint Barton, by the way, is the Avenger known as Hawkeye, one of the more underrated members of the team in my opinion.  Sure, he can be a bit arrogant from time to time, but no more or less so than Tony, and he believes in both heroism in general and the rightness of the Avengers in particular. Beyond that, no major hints have been dropped and Marvel is being very careful about guarding what&#8217;s to come, thus building up fanboy anticipation, to say nothing of wild mass guessing. </p>
<p>Regardless, it&#8217;s hard to believe that <em>Iron Man 2</em> is only 2 weeks away.  Seriously, I have no reason to believe that it won&#8217;t do anything less than kicking plenty, and I mean <em>plenty</em> of ass.</p>
<p><center><object width="425" height="256"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oOzuBOefL8I&#038;hl=en_US&#038;fs=1&#038;"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oOzuBOefL8I&#038;hl=en_US&#038;fs=1&#038;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="256"></embed></object></center></p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Josh for <a href="http://www.blueinkalchemy.com">Blue Ink Alchemy</a>, 2010. |
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		<title>Why Iron Man Works</title>
		<link>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2010/03/21/why-iron-man-works/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2010/03/21/why-iron-man-works/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:28:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Comics]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Marvel]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/?p=1238</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So I don&#8217;t know about you folks out there in the dark depths of the Interwebs, but I&#8217;m very excited about Iron Man 2 coming out in May. We&#8217;re thankfully living in a time when comic book adaptation films have emerged from the dark miasma of the previous attempts at Captain America and Spawn. But [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/iron-man-movie-trailer-coming-soon.jpg" alt="Courtesy Marvel" /></center></p>
<p>So I don&#8217;t know about you folks out there in the dark depths of the Interwebs, but I&#8217;m <em>very</em> excited about <em>Iron Man 2</em> coming out in May.  We&#8217;re thankfully living in a time when comic book adaptation films have emerged from the dark miasma of the previous attempts at <em>Captain America</em> and <em>Spawn</em>.  But even with the mold-breaking excellence of <em>X-Men</em> and <em>Spider-Man 2</em>, <em>Iron Man</em> stands out.  Like most stories for which I unabashedly sing praises, the <em>Iron Man</em> film wisely focuses on the characters and their relationships to one another rather than just wowing the audience with spectacle.  Now, there&#8217;s plenty of spectacle to be had in <em>Iron Man</em> between the different suits of armor, the shiny supercars, the fighter jets and Gwenyth Paltrow in that fantastic dress.  But it never exists for its own sake, and besides being damn cool to look at it has meaning because we care about the people involved.  So let&#8217;s take a look at these characters and see where and how they worked, other than the fact that their actors improved their way through the entire story, according to <a href="http://io9.com/5417310/jeff-bridges-admits-iron-man-movie-had-no-script" target="_blank">this dude</a>.</p>
<p><center><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/ironman_bigslideshow32.jpg" alt="Courtesy Marvel" width="425" /></center></p>
<p>Speaking of the Dude, here the Oscar-winner is the bad guy.  The nefariousness really doesn&#8217;t come into play until the second act, and up until that point he comes across as the number two guy in the multi-billion arms manufacturing company that really, <em>really</em> wishes he was number one.  He worked with Tony&#8217;s dad, after all, and while the kid was working his way through MIT and impressing everybody with his genius, charm and good looks, Obie was doing the hard work of keeping the arms race going.  Now that Tony&#8217;s come into his own and brought out a bunch of new ideas, Obie&#8217;s in danger of losing the position he&#8217;s built for himself.  Under his various demeanors, this is a scared man.  He&#8217;s afraid of becoming obsolete and forgotten.  His motivations are less about taking over the world and more about the American dream of keeping the world safe from terror and violence by bringing terror and violence to those who <em>perpetuate</em> terror and violence.  &#8230;wait&#8230;</p>
<p>Bridges plays Stane with equal parts flourish and humanity, being just one example of how the actors in <em>Iron Man</em> inhabit their characters.  Given the apparent nature of the film&#8217;s script, the infamous ranting scene&#8217;s silence between his lines takes on a new dimension &#8211; did the other actors not see the shouting coming?</p>
<p><center><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/iron_man_pepper_potts.jpg" alt="Courtesy Marvel" /></center></p>
<p>Tony Stark&#8217;s Girl Friday is a spicy and smart administrative assistant named Virginia &#8220;Pepper&#8221; Potts.  The role of the girl in this sort of story could often have the beautiful actress <em>du jour</em> running around in skimpy outfits getting chased by a malevolent blob of CGI screaming to beat the band.  Pepper, much to my delight, isn&#8217;t that kind of girl.  She&#8217;s the kind of girl who&#8217;s willing to tell the hero when they&#8217;re being selfish or dumb, but does so out of a sense of compassion rather than for the sake of being &#8216;spunky.&#8217;  Gwyneth Paltrow&#8217;s Pepper has depth and nuance, and works not only as a perfect foil for Tony Stark&#8217;s various eccentricities but also as a standalone woman that neither becomes a shrinking violet in the light of the hero nor puts on war paint and hefts a big gun.</p>
<p>The crowning moment for her comes about two thirds of the way through the film where she takes it upon herself, albeit at Tony&#8217;s behest, to find out what Obediah&#8217;s up to.  The entire sequence of events from Pepper entering the office to meeting up with the SHIELD agent after a confrontation with Stane is pitch-perfect.  By &#8220;confrontation&#8221;, incidentally, I don&#8217;t mean there&#8217;s any sort of major over-dramatic standoff.  The scene between Bridges and Paltrow is played quietly, diplomatically and with an air of palpable menace that both actors tie into effortlessly.  More than just two characters sharing dialog, this is two arguable masters of their craft milking this scene for all of its dramatic worth without ever taking things over the top.  It&#8217;s one of the many things that make <em>Iron Man</em> shine without a single special effect being involved.</p>
<p><center><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/iron_man_movie_tonystark_first_look.jpg" alt="Courtesy Marvel" /></center></p>
<p>Just like writers write what they know for the best results, sometimes you can cast an actor into a role they&#8217;ve already played in real life.  Our hero is a flamboyant, decadent playboy who indulges in drinking, gambling and womanizing backed up by a substantial fortune and atypical celebrity status.  He discovers that what he has been doing has been detrimental for others and resolves to make things better, even if it means continuing to do what he did before but in a slightly different but no less brilliant way.</p>
<p>I could be talking about Tony Stark, but I also could be talking about Robert Downey Jr..</p>
<p>Not only is RDJ perfect for this role, he plays it with both a deep understanding of the inner workings of a gearhead and the rambunctious abandon of a kid let loose on a playground.  Tony Stark is a guy who fixes things.  Even if it means tearing down something that&#8217;s broken only to rebuild it better than it was before, he&#8217;s a problem-solver with both his brain and his hands.  More than that, however, he&#8217;s just a guy.  He&#8217;s not bitten by a radioactive spider or an alien from another world, and he&#8217;s not even the product of a tragic past who dedicated his life to fighting evil while dressed up in a swishy cape.  Downey shows us the humanity of the man inside the armor, and later in the film when he re-dons his tuxedo to attend a party, there&#8217;s a sense (at least for me) that he&#8217;s wearing it the same way he wears the Iron Man suit &#8211; it protects him from people around him getting to who he really is.  While Tony learns a lot, and grows as a character from start to finish, there&#8217;s a foundation to his character &#8211; the narcissism and arrogance, the belief that he and he alone is the solution to the problems that arise &#8211; that never goes away and is apparently intact for the upcoming sequel.</p>
<p>So why does <em>Iron Man</em> work?  It&#8217;s more than the suit, the special effects and the diehard fans.  It&#8217;s these folks, along with director Jon Favreau, that catapulted this little movie from just another decent comic book flick to a memorable and fantastic film.</p>
<p>My copy&#8217;s loaned out to a friend, which is a shame, because after writing this up, I <em>really</em> want to watch it again.</p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Josh for <a href="http://www.blueinkalchemy.com">Blue Ink Alchemy</a>, 2010. |
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		<title>Movie Review: Watchmen</title>
		<link>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/07/22/movie-review-watchmen/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/07/22/movie-review-watchmen/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:07:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Comics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/?p=229</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Considering how tight money is for me at the moment, I neither bought new comics today nor the Director&#8217;s Cut of Watchmen last night. However, from the annuls of my LiveJournal, I&#8217;ve plucked the review of the film and am reposting it with a couple revisions to clear up some confusion. So, without further ado, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/watchmen-1719.jpg" alt="Watchmen" /></p>
<p>Considering how tight money is for me at the moment, I neither bought new comics today nor the Director&#8217;s Cut of <em>Watchmen</em> last night.  However, from the annuls of my LiveJournal, I&#8217;ve plucked the review of the film and am reposting it with a couple revisions to clear up some confusion. So, without further ado, (...)<br/>Read the rest of <a href="http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/07/22/movie-review-watchmen/">Movie Review: Watchmen</a> (1,044 words)</p>
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<p><small>© Josh for <a href="http://www.blueinkalchemy.com">Blue Ink Alchemy</a>, 2009. |
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		<title>Dark X-Men</title>
		<link>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/07/15/dark-x-men/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/07/15/dark-x-men/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:38:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh</dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[The Dark Reign event is in full swing over at Marvel. In the wake of the brutal Skrull Invasion, Normal Osborn (aka the Green Goblin) of all people has taken hold of the planet. Tony Stark is on the run, deleting the sensitive information he collected as head of SHIELD from his brain one neuron [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/39_DARK_X_MEN__THE_BEGINNIN.jpg" alt="'Nuff said." /></center></p>
<p>The Dark Reign event is in full swing over at Marvel.  In the wake of the brutal Skrull Invasion, Normal Osborn (aka the Green Goblin) of all people has taken hold of the planet.  <a href="http://www.marvel.com/comics/Iron_Man">Tony Stark</a> is on the run, deleting the sensitive information he collected as head of SHIELD from his brain one neuron at a time, and the <a href="http://www.marvel.com/comics/Avengers">Avengers</a> are pretty pissed that killers, madmen and unstable people are running around with their good name.  The X-Men, on the other hand, were largely staying out of the conflict, settling into their new expansive digs in San Francisco.  With these individuals living openly comes the ignorance and bigotry of &#8220;normal people&#8221; and the combination leads to riots.  Norman and his Avengers step in, and in order to control the mutant population, he turns to Emma Frost and commissions her to form her own team of X-Men.</p>
<p>I don&#8217;t have the entire story yet, as Uncanny X-Men #513 is probably among my father&#8217;s mail up in Allentown and the local comic book store was sold out, but here&#8217;s a breakdown of the team as I see them.</p>
<p><strong>Emma Frost</strong> has quickly become one of my favorite characters in the X-Men comics.  Previously her appeal to me was based mostly on her physical appearance.  However, of late she has developed into a very deep and nuanced character, who manages to straddle that line between harnessing the essence of <em>noblesse oblige</em> and being a cunning and manipulative bitch.  Once a member of the Hellfire Club and concerned solely with her own ends, the survival of mutantkind has taken the place of her former decadent desires, and so she&#8217;s been with the X-Men for quite a while, and has proven that the well-being of her fellow mutants is now what&#8217;s foremost in her mind.  But a new pair of shoes never hurts.  She&#8217;s the leader of these Dark X-Men due to her proximity to Norman Osborn, who invited her to be part of his secret cabal of evil leadership in this new era of the Marvel Universe.  I highly doubt that she&#8217;ll let Norman dictate to her how she&#8217;ll use her team.</p>
<p><strong>Namor</strong>, likewise, isn&#8217;t about to let this pencil-necked human with stupid hair tell him what to do.  His relationship with Emma, however, is long and complex, and for a long time he&#8217;s denied the fact that he&#8217;s more a mutant than he is an Atlantean.  Marvel&#8217;s &#8220;first mutant&#8221; and the first true antihero in comicdom is slowly moving away from Osborn&#8217;s cabal towards a higher ideal.  Atlantis is in a shambles and were I in Namor&#8217;s shoes (provided he wore shoes), I would imagine that someone like Emma Frost will be better equipped in the future to secure the safety necessary for the kingdom to rebuild.  There&#8217;s also the fact Osborn had the Sentry demolish an Atlantean population for political purposes, and Namor can&#8217;t be happy about that.</p>
<p><strong>Daken</strong> is the son of Wolverine and is a character that puts me on the fence.  I love the two aforementioned characters, and am ambivalent about some of the others, but Daken makes me want to hate him while also highlighting something very interesting about his father.  You see, were it not for Logan&#8217;s developed sense of honor and strong loyalty to those who have earned his respect and trust, he would be what Daken is: a stone-cold arrogant killer. Both Daken and Logan are fully aware of their monstrous inner natures and unapologetic about the efficiency of killing those who oppose them, but Logan&#8217;s rage and ferocity are tempered with knowledge and training.  Logan has chosen to be something more than just a mad animal and makes that choice every day.  Daken is his father&#8217;s polar opposite and is interesting as a character study in that regard.  I think I&#8217;d like him more if he wasn&#8217;t acting like such a brat and swinging his alpha male claws around as much as he is.</p>
<p><strong>Mimic</strong>, along with <strong>Cloak &#038; Dagger</strong> to a lesser extent, bring to mind days of Marvel past, not unlike the characters brought back to the forefront in the Annihilation event.  Mimic in particular is a former villain who wants to make himself better, and when he is offered a spot on a legitimate team backed by the government, he jumps at the chance.  I&#8217;m curious to see how he reacts when he realizes exactly who Osborn is.  Cloak &#038; Dagger have a chance to separate themselves from their pasts, which have seen them breaking the law more than once, but I find their story less compelling than Mimic&#8217;s.</p>
<p><strong>Weapon Omega</strong>, to me, feels a bit tacked on.  That might change.</p>
<p><strong>Mystique</strong>.  I don&#8217;t see her in either of the books I picked up today, but I know she&#8217;s a part of this team, and I know Osborn is keeping a very close eye on her.  This isn&#8217;t going to end well, especially if she and Emma begin to work together.  Hell hath no fury etc.</p>
<p><strong>Dark Beast</strong> is a smug and sadistic jerk and I hope Hank recovers enough to kick his furry butt back into his home dimension.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s all for now.  Until next week, you can continue to make mine Marvel.</p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Josh for <a href="http://www.blueinkalchemy.com">Blue Ink Alchemy</a>, 2009. |
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		<title>Iron Bats</title>
		<link>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/07/09/iron-bats/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/07/09/iron-bats/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:49:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Comics]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/?p=189</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The real world is a chaotic and disheartening place. Once again a steady stream of work has kept me from being able to get my thoughts out as expediently as I would like. The major flaw in establishing a schedule is the feeling one gets when falling behind. However, rather than allowing that feeling to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/iron_bats.jpg" alt="Tony &#038; Batman" /></p>
<p>The real world is a chaotic and disheartening place.  Once again a steady stream of work has kept me from being able to get my thoughts out as expediently as I would like.  The major flaw in establishing a schedule is the feeling one gets when falling behind. However, rather than allowing that feeling to defeat me, here&#8217;s a little something that combines Wednesday&#8217;s comic content with Thursday&#8217;s thoughts on writing.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s talk about Iron Man and Batman.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s undeniable that there are similarities between the Armored Avenger and the Dark Knight, so allow me to get those out of the way.  Both characters dress up in self-designed suits to punch out bad guys, act like your typical celebutard to rival any of the Kardashian sisters whenever anybody&#8217;s looking, and actually use their fortunes to undermine the more dastardly uses of their companies&#8217; resources.  Oh, and both maintain disturbingly large amounts of data about the other superheroes around them, just in case one of them does a face heel turn and decides that reducing the nearest city to rubble is more fun than saving the various kittens stuck in its trees.</p>
<p>This is where the similarities end, however, and while Batman is one of my favorite superheroes of either major universe, I&#8217;m still a Marvel True Believer at heart.  The reason I prefer Iron Man to Batman has to do with the depth of Tony Stark.  It&#8217;s something that&#8217;s existed for quite a while and only recently exploded into the mainstream, and it&#8217;s based on a different foundation than Batman.</p>
<p>Bruce as a young boy sees his parents get shot and killed, and as a result is driven to become a force of vengeance and natural justice.  His wounds are internal ones, deep mental scars that border on psychosis.  He&#8217;s badass, to be certain, but he&#8217;s also not quite right in the head.  As the Christian Bale version says in <em>Batman Begins,</em> he &#8220;clearly has issues,&#8221; a funny observation coming from the same person who played Patrick Bateman.</p>
<p>Tony, on the other hand, grows up knowing his father and instead of being vengeful from a young age is genius-level smart.  He carries on the family business of making things that blow up for the men &#038; women who carry such things around at the behest of tax-paying conservatives, and it&#8217;s only after a brush with the dark and bloody world he helped create that he snaps himself out of a haze of booze, broads and Bentleys to do something about it.  So instead of being a driven character that is motivated by the loss of family, we see a man who is struggling to change not only the world around him, but himself as well.</p>
<p>Batman has only ever been Batman.  While this by no means makes him a shallow character, it does necessitate a certain single-mindedness in his character.  His quest for justice in Gotham City may weary him at times, as he is only human, but as he doesn&#8217;t let a personal life or much of anything short of severe injury stand between him and his goals, he&#8217;s never out of action for long.  There&#8217;s also the fact that according to some authors, Batman&#8217;s had ninja training, and we all know what unstoppable killing machines ninja are, even if Batman refuses to kill.</p>
<p>Iron Man isn&#8217;t made of iron.  When he removes his suit, it&#8217;s difficult for him to be seen as heroic or even admirable.  He&#8217;s an alcoholic, a womanizer, and something of an arrogant, selfish prick.  And unlike Bruce Wayne&#8217;s public face, it&#8217;s less of an act and more of who he really is.  He wants to be heroic, to live up to the deeds and accolades associated with Iron Man, but outside of the armor it&#8217;s all to easy for him to fall short of those high expectations.  He&#8217;s a study in duality, even moreso than Batman, and that, to me, is what makes him so compelling.</p>
<p>Don&#8217;t get me wrong, I love the goddamn Batman.  But Iron Man, to me, is a more interesting character and keeps me coming back to the Matt Fraction-penned &#8216;Invincible Iron Man&#8217; title every month.  There is, essentially, more to write when it comes to Tony Stark, and that&#8217;s without even mentioning his association with the Avengers or his own dark pantheon of villains.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s also the fact that his name is the cue for a Black Sabbath song.  This is awesome.</p>
<hr />
<p><small>© Josh for <a href="http://www.blueinkalchemy.com">Blue Ink Alchemy</a>, 2009. |
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		<title>Guardians of the Galaxy</title>
		<link>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/07/01/guardians-of-the-galaxy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/07/01/guardians-of-the-galaxy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 21:10:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Comics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marvel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sci-fi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/?p=163</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I ended up being pretty pressed for time at work today, so instead of tackling two of my current favorite titles from Marvel, I&#8217;ll focus on just the one. Guardians of the Galaxy starts up in the wake of the Annihilation event, which introduced older characters from outside of Earth in the Marvel universe (the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/51_guardians_of_the_galaxy_15.jpg" alt="Rocket Raccoon &#038; Cosmo, Courtesy newsarama" /></p>
<p>I ended up being pretty pressed for time at work today, so instead of tackling two of my current favorite titles from Marvel, I&#8217;ll focus on just the one.  Guardians of the Galaxy starts up in the wake of the Annihilation event, which introduced older characters from outside of Earth in the Marvel universe (the regular one, not any of the odd parallel ones) and made them awesome.  I&#8217;m not exaggerating &#8211; the very first mini-series took Drax the Destroyer and changed him from an energy-shooting Hulk-wannabe resembling a lime green brick to a shirtless badass armed with a couple of knives and more attitude than Wolverine on a bad hair day.  He doesn&#8217;t even wear a shirt when exposed to deep space.  That&#8217;s pretty badass.</p>
<p>He&#8217;s a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, a team of super-powered beings from all over the Milky Way brought together by a guy who has no powers whatsoever, Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord) in order to keep an eye on the goings-on in the greater universe and to keep things from going too pear-shaped.  They&#8217;re kind of like interplanetary troubleshooters.  Their roster is a fascinating mix of individuals, ranging from the most deadly woman in the universe (and one of the hottest) to a gun-toting wise-cracking anthropomorphic raccoon who tends to ride in the branches of a living tree whose got strength that rivals the aforementioned Drax.  I&#8217;m not even making this up.  Rocket Raccoon is awesome and if you disagree with that sentiment I&#8217;m going to have to ask you to step outside.</p>
<p>What makes the Guardians on the whole appealing to me is the way the stories, action and dialog remind me of the very best space operas of the past.  Picking up the latest issue has a feeling that brings to mind the anticipation of a new episode of <i>Star Trek: the Next Generation</i> or reading <i>The Cat Who Walks Through Walls</i> for the first time.  Since the Guardians are mostly adults, there&#8217;s none of the &#8220;Dawson&#8217;s Creek&#8221; feel that could occasionally creep into the <i>Legion of Super-Heroes</i> and the title delights in deep space swashbuckling and high adventure without descending into the camp of the 1980s <i>Buck Rogers</i> series, though there&#8217;s more than a little humor to be found.  I mean, come on, a raccoon riding a walking tree!  And did I mention the telepathic dog who used to be a Russian cosmonaut?</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re a fan of science fiction at all, or you like fast-paced action mixed with humor and diverse character interaction, I heartily recommend this title.  And if you find yourself in desperate need of reading material dealing with sweeping cosmic events and visuals that will blow your mind &#8211; Drax&#8217;s final confrontation with Thanos for example &#8211; go to Amazon and pick up the Annihilation trade paperbacks.  I hear Annihilation: Conquest is just as good but I don&#8217;t have the scratch to spare to pick those up.</p>
<p>If nothing else, you&#8217;ll come to understand how &#8220;I AM GROOT&#8221; can express quite a wide range of emotions.</p>
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<p><small>© Josh for <a href="http://www.blueinkalchemy.com">Blue Ink Alchemy</a>, 2009. |
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		<title>What About Bucky?</title>
		<link>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/06/17/what-about-bucky/</link>
		<comments>http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2009/06/17/what-about-bucky/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:24:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Josh</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/?p=115</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s been announced that Captain America is coming back. For a while, the former sidekick of the original Cap, Bucky Barnes, has been wearing the blue and wielding the shield, carrying on Cap&#8217;s legacy the best way he knows how. It&#8217;s meant carrying a gun, because that&#8217;s how he operates, but he&#8217;s still standing up [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><center><img src="http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j60/bluinkalchemist/WhiteStar2.jpg" alt="Captain America (copyright Marvel)" /></center></p>
<p>It&#8217;s been announced that Captain America is coming back.  For a while, the former sidekick of the original Cap, Bucky Barnes, has been wearing the blue and wielding the shield, carrying on Cap&#8217;s legacy the best way he knows how.  It&#8217;s meant carrying a gun, because that&#8217;s how he operates, but he&#8217;s still standing up for what&#8217;s right, which includes having the Avengers stay at his house during the Dark Reign event.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s something wholesome about Steve Rogers.  The original Captain America might have been everything the misguided Nazi geneticists wanted &#8211; tall, muscular, blonde haired &#038; blue eyes &#8211; but he always stood up for what he felt was right.  And of course, you can&#8217;t argue with the unbridled heroism of a guy armed only with a vibranium-alloy shield wading into automatic gunfire to punch Hitler right in his smug little mustache.  Whatever contrived notion the guys at Marvel have for bringing him back from beyond the grave, considering this is mainstream Marvel and not Marvel Zombies, I think it&#8217;ll be good to have him among the Avengers again.</p>
<p>The question that comes to my mind, however, is where does Bucky go from here?  He&#8217;s been feeling quite a bit of pressure in carrying Cap&#8217;s legacy, so I&#8217;m sure he&#8217;ll be relieved to hand the shield back to its rightful owner.  But will he return to being the Winter Warrior?  Or will he adopt some sort of new persona?  And will he remain with the Avengers or strike out on his own once again?  I think it will be interesting to see whichever way it goes.</p>
<p>Captain America isn&#8217;t one of my regular titles &#8211; I keep up with Invincible Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, both regular Avengers titles and Deadpool &#8211; but I&#8217;m curious to see just how Steve manages to battle his way back from the afterlife.  And if he has any stories of beating up Nazis there.</p>
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<p><small>© Josh for <a href="http://www.blueinkalchemy.com">Blue Ink Alchemy</a>, 2009. |
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