I would have to say, “No, Ti-ti, you are absolutely in the right because the newly returned Kryptonians acted like complete morons.” For the love of Rao, aren’t the Kryptonians supposed to be incredibly intelligent and a hell of a lot more logic based? Where is that logic when they decide to just imprison Superman’s enemies, ignoring international laws, beliefs and borders? I guess we see symptoms of Kryptonian “illogic” right from the beginning. “Quakes, Jor-El? Bah, it’s nothing. Krypton is fine and all you accomplish here is spreading panic with speculative science and the conjecture it researches. Krypton isn’t ready to explode and I will have you removed from this quorum if you continue to incite such absurdity based on your, your………..crazy thinkin’! Oops, that quake was a little bigger than the last one. Bah, Jor-El!” Yep, maybe the Kryptonians ain’t quite so brainy after all.

Anyway, so the Kryptonians basically decided to just leave the confines of their newly expanded city of Kandor and …do what they want? Great strategy, fellas. Of course, a less than forthcoming, seemingly unaccountable and never amenable ring of government is NOT happy that a few hundred more “Supermans” have imposed themselves on the native population. In fact, they are so not happy, they sought allies from the immoral dregs where villains posture and irreparably splintered egos dwell. When I say “irreparably splintered egos,” of course I mean Lex Luthor. And scraped fresh from those “immoral dregs,” we have the return of the REAL Braniac. This is not iteration 1,076, this is the real deal; the one who, through defeat, started this whole “Kandorian Revival” in the first place. The other Braniacs were…scouts, or something? Yeah, that’s it. Scouts. Ok, ok, I can go along with it. The one true Braniac has finally located Earth, travelling in a vessel stuffed to the gills with forcibly relocated civilizations (significantly diminished ’cause, y’know, space is tight in a worldship) and…yadda yadda. Superman whoops him, saves Kandor (one such diminished sampling of Kryptonian civilization) and proclaims, “Grow.” While the object of his victory begins leaning more towards the macroscopic, a missile launched from Braniac’s vessel destroys the Kent’s home, ending the life of Pa Kent. This dichotomy of events is Super-neato, as something great is sacrifced to earn another state of greatness. I find that quite relevant, as I have to sacrifice opera fudge during the week in order to stay thin and super-attractive.

So, I haven’t actually finished the damn story yet because I’m perpetually 2-3 months behind in my comic reading. Wherein lies the blame for such an inexcusable strain of apathy? Call it life, a job…and more life containing outside interests…and…. I just get too many damn comics. If you’re caught up, you’re already into the 12 part, “Superman: World of New Krypton.” Reading the blurbs and adverts, I’m getting a sense of where Superman fell when humanity gave its unspoken ultimatum. If you comment, DON’T SPOIL IT FOR ME!

So, even though I haven’t been overly pleased with the “New Krypton” story, at least it gave us some more James Robinson written Superman. Y’know, the self assured Superman. The one who tells Lois, “He’s a good dog. He’s our dog.” Yeah, tell that Lois bitch to back the F!@k off!” WOOO!

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If you aren’t reading the Wasteland Comic Book series from Oni Press, you should be.  Friends who are reading this blog will likely skip this post as they are sick of me talking about this book.  I read a lot of Marvel and DC but recently, I have been branching out and trying more independent comic books.  While not all of them have been great there have been so many great surprises that I am once again really excited about comics.  I can’t wait to try new titles and explore new worlds.  Wasteland was one of those great surprises.

Okay, enough intro blather, on to the review.  At the time of posting this, Wasteland is up to 19 issues.  I have only read 14 of them.  Yes, I know, pretty sad for someone that just slobbered all over himself talking about how much he loves it but I am behind in all my reading.  I am getting caught up but I like to read my comics in the order in which I receive them.   My review will be spoiler free, I am not going to tell you specifics, just going to give you a quick overview to get you started.

The comic book is written by Anthony Johnston, penciled by Christopher Mitten and covers by Ben Templesmith.  The interior art is amazing, it’s a perfect match for Johnston’s writing.  Don’t bitch and moan that it’s in black and white, good art is good art and the black and white lends itself to this gritty story.  The covers by Ben Templesmith are a nice bonus, they are gorgeous!

Wasteland is set in a post-apocalyptic future America that was ravaged by a yet to be explained event called the Big Wet.  The main characters that the rest of the story revolves around are Abi and Michael, two very different, yet very similar individuals who find each other in the first issue.  They discover that they both have special and unexplained abilities.  They are on a mission to find the fabled city of A-Ree-Yass-I which is where the Big Wet was said to have originated.

As the story begins, Michael is a ruin runner, a loner that survives in the waste land.  He is the strong silent type that is always in survival mode.  Abi is the sheriff in a small town and does her best to take care of the people that have chosen to live there.  Throughout the book we run into many different types of characters, including Sandies; creatures that live in the wastes and feed on people, the Townsfolk; normal people just trying to survive in a very difficult environment, Suneaters; a new religioun that has spread quickly through the wastes, and the City Council; corrupt religious fanatics who feel threatened by the peace loving sun eaters.

The book has a lot to offer, it’s gritty, vicious and heroic all rolled into one.  The story keeps you guessing with plenty of twists and turns and clues are dropped as to where they might be in the future USA.  Little has been revealed about that we should expect.  So far the series has been collected into two trades and according to Johnston they are looking to keep this going as an ongoing series for at least 75 issues.  Now is as good a jumping on point as any other.  Support the book and I am sure you will enjoy it.

It’s been a long time since I watched the original Godzilla movie but what better time to do that then while I am launching this blog.  I purchased the fairly new release by Classic Media featuring both the original Gojira and the American remake, Godzilla.

Gojira was originally released in Japan in 1954.  Gojira, who is more commonly referred to as Godzilla, was awakened and mutated by atomic testing.  With the ability to breathe destructive radioactive breath, Godzilla goes on a rampage through Japan and ultimately destroys Tokyo.

Two years later, the American version, Godzilla, King of All Monsters was released.  This version stars Raymond Burr and is more of a compilation of scenes cut directly out of the original Japanese version and new footage shot with Raymond Burr and others.  There are scenes from the original move that now, through the magic of 1950’s movie editing, has Raymod Burr’s character interjected into them.  It’s really great stuff especially when you watch both of them back to back.

Growing up, I had never seen the original Gojira, I had only seen the American version and while I still love that version for nostalgia sake, the original Japanese version is better.  The American version becomes distracting when you know those scenes were shot without Raymond Burr and he was interjected for the Americanized version.

In either version I love the overshadowing “atomic” theme throughout this movie.  Sure, Godzilla is a fun monster movie but it also speaks to the intimate knowledge that the Japanese had with atomic fallout destruction.  Gojira came out just 9 years after we dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Godzilla is a creature created out of testing Atomic Bombs.  Later in the movie, a scientist accidentally discovers an “oxygen destroyer” that is more powerful than the atomic bomb and would kill Godzilla.  It’s so powerful, the scientist doesn’t want anyone to know about it for fear that it would be misused.   As Godzilla rampages through Tokyo, the scientist is posed with a difficult choice, does he unleash this new weapon on Godzilla, wiping out all living things in the surrounding ocean or does he hide this technology from the world, afraid that someone will use it for evil and hope that they find another way to stop Godzilla?  It comes across as a very similar thought process to what we might expect America went through when deciding to drop the bomb on Japan.  Very interesting stuff.  it’s almost as if the creators behind Gojira were justifying Americas use of the atomic bomb.

If you are interested in Godzilla, check out some of the Godzilla figures and merchandise that we carry.

Oh, yeah…..And it is sweeeet! YOU would really like one, wouldn’t you?  Well, just go to YOUBUYNOW.COM and…Oh, never mind; I bought the last one!  HAHAH!  It is soooooo very super-cool!  I keep it right next to my San Diego Comic Con exclusive Iron Man Movie Armor Mighty Mugg.  Sometimes, when I look away, they look at each other and laugh a little Mighty Mugg laugh. Sometimes, I hear them say things like, “Tiras is soooo #$%@$% cool, man. I mean he REALLY is just oh so very…..coooooool.”  And sometimes, I can hear my Optimus Prime Mighty Mugg call out things like, “Autobots transform,” or, “I could really go for a ham sandwich right about now.” I am so tempted to take Optimus right out of his box and cuddle and snuggle and hold him oh so tight! I just CANNOT STAND IT!  HE IS SOOOOOOO CUTE!

When I first saw him, I thought to myself, “There is just no way I can ever own this.  His shape is perfect and his plastic facade is so meticulously painted that I just….well…..that I just….MELT.  MY FACE MELTS!  Oh, soo cute!  I took a chance.  I saw it was available and I went for it! I clicked my mouse on the add to cart tab and I closed my eyes and held my breath and remembered my first date and the black eye that followed and added that ding dang darn thing to my cart….And it was IN my cart!  HAH!  I heard a song playing, just then.  I couldn’t quite discern the wording since it was more of a pulsing then a voice.  It was the sound of Immaculate Intervention, smiling down, winking and pointing and throwing lettuce and unbagging comics.  In a haze of Soymilk breath, I rested.  The order complete. The item purchased.  The balance restored.  The pimple popped and the jelly spread.  I thought, “you know what, I think I want another.”  I went back to YOUBUYNOW.COM to relive the felicity of my most recent experience and…….IT WAS NOW OUT OF STOCK!  Ladies and gentlemen……….On this day, I win. HUZZAH!