wow, this all sounds even worse than I expected.Super big spoilers - includes lots of comic spoilers also I am guessing. Having slept on it, I need to get this out of my system. I don't even know how much worse it must have been for someone watching it with no Hellboy background.
Where do I even begin. It felt more like a Hellboy parody starring Jack Black.
In 120 mins, they squeezed in everything they could think of. The movie just jumps around quite a bit.
- Opens with a random Lucha Libre fight.
- Hellboys origin story (Rasputin has like 5 secs of screen time before he gets scarred and killed by Lobster's claw.)
- Alice's origin story/Gruagach's origin story
- Daimio's origin story - narrated and visualised while he is flying a chopper. (Similar to the the Katana scene in SS...).
- Nimue's origin story.
- All of Wild Hunt/giant slaying/Gruagach collecting up Nimue's parts/invasion from hell/Merlin-Arthur backdrop/invasion of demons.
- Lobster Johnson who is propped up as this star everyone is in awe of. With no build up whatsoever.
- Visit and fight with Baba Yaga. (Which was admittedly decently done. The house and her were very creepy).
- A pointless action scene to discover Abe Sapien as the ending scene
Some highlights-
- Bruttenholm is still alive for some reason and a constant thread is Hellboy behaving like a spoilt teenager. I was expecting him to mumble "you're not my real dad" and he even says something close to that.
- Hellboy asks Bruttenholm why he was made into a weapon to kill his brothers and sisters... and then every non-human in the movie was shown as blood-thirsty baby eating (literally) monster.
- Bruttenholm asks Hellboy to "grow a pair".
- There's a parallel plot of Daimio planning to kill Hellboy and creating some special bullets with holy water.
- The "jokes" are all painfully unfunny. e.g. - Gruagach gives a dismembered Nimue (who is sitting on a couch watching tv) a box of Jaffa cakes.
- Daimio turns into a Jaguar to fight alongside Hellboy. After one scene, Alice says "I like cats". Daimio says "I am more of a dog person".
- Nimue asks Hellboy to be his king. He says it wouldn't work out because "he is Capricorn and she is nuts".
- Hellboy kicks away Nimue's dismembered head and says "You should have quit while you were a head."
- 'fuck' and its various forms are used more in the movie than in a Tarantino flick. For no fucking reason.
- The sound track and sound editing was terrible. I actually think a couple of songs were cut off mid lyric sentence to jump to the next scene.
- Lots of lip sync problems for some reason? At times it felt like I was watching a dubbed 1970s HK action movie.
- Alice's and Daimio's accents were physically painful to listen to. As was everyone elses.
Oh, just remembered the opening line of the movie. No need to spoiler this.
"It was called the Dark Ages for a fucking good reason"
Really? That's what Lobster Johnson looks like? I know they got Thomas Haden Church to play him, but that was the best they could do with his costume???? Both Tom and Lobster Johnson deserve better.
Very dumb. I'm just going to read it via DC Universe.Going through the DC solicits.
https://www.newsarama.com/44744-dc-comics-july-2019-solicitations.html
wtf is Hitman greatest hits. Can't they just put out an omnibus or something?
Shame, because it's dopeIsn't Shazam tracking to be the worst performing DC movie, despite it's popular buzz?
Isn't Shazam tracking to be the worst performing DC movie, despite it's popular buzz?
I wouldn't say "worst." In terms of total gross, it'll be on the lower end but it's not anywhere close to as bad as Green Lantern or Catwoman, etc.Isn't Shazam tracking to be the worst performing DC movie, despite it's popular buzz?
This is probably the best comic I've read in a long time. It's a silent comic about the adventure a woman finds herself in after her mastectomy. While subject and early plot points are all somber (the character loses their longtime partner and their job following the procedure), the book is practically all joy. It's got absolutely fantastic and inventive art. A lot of the art is NSFW so I cant post it here, because y'know nipples or the explicit lack of breast and nipple, but this page is an excellent example of the artwork.
I had a bit of hope for this book, but honestly, it was pretty average. I think the dialogue fell short often. The plot was pretty good and so was the art, but this didnt stand out in any real way to me. Average paper stock even.
I'm a big fan of Brubaker and Phillips. I've read almost everything they've worked on together and I'm pretty much always satisfied. I dropped Kill or Be Killed since Elizabeth Breitweiser is part of comicsgate so Im glad to see a different colorist (Phillips's own son!) on this book. It gives this OGN a very different look from their previous collaborations and keeps it from feeling like a worn down retread. That being said, I think the main character here is a bit weak. It might have to do with the length of the work, but I felt the story fit well into this format. I think Brubaker has just been writing the same kind of character for too long and its beginning to read like it. Anyway, the production of the book is on the higher end but not like a nice Dark Horse or Archaia collection.
This is enough for a lot of people. I think its one of the most superficial comics I've ever readI really like the Long Halloween. To me Hush always felt like the only reason it existed was to have Jim Lee draw all the major Bat characters and Supes
The funny thing about the book is that its technically the very first in continuity story post Secret Wars. But when it came out it was basically sent out to die (from what I remember) since it was an ogn. Plus it came out at the exact same time as Bendis's Age of Ultron which got most of the promotion, since it was also at the same time as the Avengers Age of Ultron movie lol.The art here kicks so much ass. Opena and Dean White make up one of the most devastatingly great action duos I can think of. Pepe Larraz fills in for a couple pages here and there and theyre not bad. This is a short read but Remender still tries his hardest to squeeze in as much sad dad as he can think of at the expense of satisfying plot. This book came out right around the Age of Ultron movie and I cannot imagine an MCU casual picking it up and being satisfied by it outside of the incredibly dope art. Its pretty heavy on the reader knowing their continuity so its hardly new reader friendly.
Paste: You're no stranger to event comics from your time at Marvel, but Event Leviathan marks the first time you're pulling out the all-hands-on-deck approach at DC. How soon into your DC career did you start conceptualizing Event Leviathan, and what made it the right opening salvo for your event storytelling at the publisher?
Brian Michael Bendis: Well the history of it is really interesting. When I was first thinking of coming over to DC, I met Dan DiDio, really for the first time—we had never met, even in passing, all those years, even though we had a lot of mutual friends and acquaintances. So we got together and we were just talking about stuff, and we got to what he was hoping for for DC, and one of the things that was bothering him was the organizational clutter of the DC Universe, I think was how he put it? There're a lot of organizations and there seems to be a lot of organizations that do similar things.
Whereas Marvel had S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra and a couple of others, there are about 30 or 40 versions of that at DC and that could be a little frustrating from a storytelling point of view—and maybe there was a story there. And I was like, "Oh, okay, let me think about that." I certainly was intrigued by the door he was opening for me. He knew I kind of had a real soft spot and passion for espionage and that angle of the superhero genre. So I was like, "Oh, let me look at this." From there, we started cooking what would happen if someone started thinking like Dan. [Laughs] What if someone thought there were too many organizations in the world, like Dan, and took it upon themselves to restructure the world to what they think is the right way to be? So this villain is going to reveal what their point is. And it may not be as black and white as the heroes would like it to be. That's going to be a big part of it because, as we all know, one person's justice and another person's justice—they're not necessarily the same thing.
Brubaker doesn't like cape books.I really like the sound of this. Now that theyve mentioned it, there kinda are a bunch of different Orgs at DC that all do pretty much the same thing lol. Would like to see Rucka and/or Brubaker do something with this after its over.
About Bettys Boob
This is probably the best comic I've read in a long time. It's a silent comic about the adventure a woman finds herself in after her mastectomy. While subject and early plot points are all somber (the character loses their longtime partner and their job following the procedure), the book is practically all joy. It's got absolutely fantastic and inventive art. A lot of the art is NSFW so I cant post it here, because y'know nipples or the explicit lack of breast and nipple, but this page is an excellent example of the artwork.
The more you examine these four panels spread across four pages, the more you're rewarded. The entire book is like this. I highly recommend it. Also, its printed by Archaia so you know the printing is quality.
My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies
I'm a big fan of Brubaker and Phillips. I've read almost everything they've worked on together and I'm pretty much always satisfied. I dropped Kill or Be Killed since Elizabeth Breitweiser is part of comicsgate so Im glad to see a different colorist (Phillips's own son!) on this book. It gives this OGN a very different look from their previous collaborations and keeps it from feeling like a worn down retread. That being said, I think the main character here is a bit weak. It might have to do with the length of the work, but I felt the story fit well into this format. I think Brubaker has just been writing the same kind of character for too long and its beginning to read like it. Anyway, the production of the book is on the higher end but not like a nice Dark Horse or Archaia collection.
I was thinking more like Gotham Central, but for whichever organization takes over after Event Leviathan. Basically a spy book in the DC universe. Velvet, but working for Checkmate.
I mean, itll never happen, hes making that Hollywood/TV money now.
oh neat, didnt know Image actually had exclusivity contracts.He also signed another 5 year exclusive deal with Image in December. Doubt he'd go back to Marvel or DC.
Brubaker has a deal with Image where he can get any book published without having to pitch it.
I was hoping that Checkmate could've grown into this large SHIELD-like organization and been a permanent fixture but no one really picked up the thread after Rucka left it around Infinite Crisis and 52. Waller, Alan Scott, etc butting heads in an international espionage organization was a great dynamic. I hope we can bring some of that back.I really like the sound of this. Now that theyve mentioned it, there kinda are a bunch of different Orgs at DC that all do pretty much the same thing lol. Would like to see Rucka and/or Brubaker do something with this after its over.
I was hoping that Checkmate could've grown into this large SHIELD-like organization and been a permanent fixture but no one really picked up the thread after Rucka left it around Infinite Crisis and 52. Waller, Alan Scott, etc butting heads in an international espionage organization was a great dynamic. I hope we can bring some of that back.
Though one of the things that I do like is some of the international fragmentation of DC heroes. They've done a really great job fleshing out China with The Great Ten, JLC, and New Superman.
This is a really great preview page. Maleev joins Fabok as the only artists who can make the new Batgirl outfit look good.
Of the things I can say about this page, the batgirl outfit is the bottom of them. There's nothing remarkable about this take on the suit. it barely registers.This is a really great preview page. Maleev joins Fabok as the only artists who can make the new Batgirl outfit look good.
Forget the outfit. That doesn't even register as Babs to me.This is a really great preview page. Maleev joins Fabok as the only artists who can make the new Batgirl outfit look good.
but you literally only see her face and a bit of the bat symbol??This is a really great preview page. Maleev joins Fabok as the only artists who can make the new Batgirl outfit look good.
The problem was no one actually used the spy organizations other than their creators with a few exceptions. Checkmate? Dropped after Rucka left. ARGUS? Dropped after Johns left JL. DEO? Dropped after Orlando's Supergirl run ended. SHADE? Other than the occasional Frankenstein appearance it was never used. Spyral? It was utilized great in Grayson but after that it was dropped. I really hope whatever new organization arises from the ashes of all these groups actually gets used more widely.I was hoping that Checkmate could've grown into this large SHIELD-like organization and been a permanent fixture but no one really picked up the thread after Rucka left it around Infinite Crisis and 52. Waller, Alan Scott, etc butting heads in an international espionage organization was a great dynamic. I hope we can bring some of that back.
Though one of the things that I do like is some of the international fragmentation of DC heroes. They've done a really great job fleshing out China with The Great Ten, JLC, and New Superman.
God damnit I knew I should've bought a month for 80 cents but I wanted to wait for a DCU app to come to consoles first. Oh well at least it's finally here.
Maleev is a god
but you literally only see her face and a bit of the bat symbol??
I am distinctly not sold on this interpretation.
Where is the app at in terms of all the old issues being uploaded? Still coming?
Last week they added all the Golden/Silver/Bronze digital issues, and this week they're adding all digital issues from end of bronze age to right before New 52. So like ~1980-2011.Batman Rebirth OHC 4(not many of these happening anymore) and Dr. Strange by Cates OHC this week!
Interesting. Where is the app at in terms of all the old issues being uploaded? Still coming?
With both eyes!
Batman Rebirth OHC 4(not many of these happening anymore) and Dr. Strange by Cates OHC this week!