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Reboot Blues

Today it was announced that following the 'Flashpoint' crossover event that DC will be completely rebooting their continuity. That means they are ditching 75 plus years of stories and starting from scratch with their characters. While this concept isn't entirely new it has never been done to this extent before. Both DC and Marvel have published stories outside the main continuity of their shared universe, a conceit that allows for the freedom to go anywhere with a story. They have also made a couple of attempts to streamline their continuity with "The Crisis on Infinite Earths', "Zero Hour" and "Infinite Crisis". But never before have they decided to just start the entire story from scratch, with every character and over 50 new #1 issues. It could work. But I admit the idea has made me agitated. I mean, if you are starting the whole thing from scratch then why buy the current 'Flashpoint' crossover? Nothing that happens there will have any bearing on the ongoing story. And this takes the punch out of the big changes DC has made. If they are starting over then it no longer matters that Lois Lane died or that Batman had a son who is now Robin or that Blackest Night saw the return of zombified deceased heroes or that Alec Holland is the new White Lantern or Dick Grayson is Batman. None of it matters. All the good done building the Green Lantern and Batman universes is down the drain. Who knows what characters will be lost? I love Stephanie Brown (the former Spoiler) as Batgirl. I like Bart Allen as Kid Flash. I like the cloned Superboy. But these are characters steeped in backstory. If they reboot will they remain? Can you tell the story of Stephanie Brown with her as Spoiler and with the 'War Games' arc? Can you tell the Superboy story without the death and rebirth of Superman?
The official line is that the reboot will serve as a jumping on point for new readers and make the characters more accessible to the modern world. I don't know how they intend to do this. Maybe Green Lantern can update his Facebook status with his power ring. Maybe the Reverse Flash will get his powers from human growth hormone.
So far only one piece of good news has trickled out of this potentially devastating announcement. The first title to launch will be Justice League #1 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. This is good news. I love Jim Lee's take on DC characters so much that I would buy a diaper if he drew Harley Quinn on it.

Direct Market

Along with yesterday's announcement about the reboot of the DC Universe was the announcement that DC will also, at that time, begin releasing all of their titles directly to electronic media (like the Ipad). While I certainly encourage this, I disagree with those that say this will bring about the end of the direct market (paper copies sold in stores). As great as it is to have an entire comics library at your fingertips, reading a digital comic (even at full size) is less satisfying than holding it in your (the same argument people have against the Kindle, but different in my opinion). And you know what is going to keep the direct market alive? Collectors. And people like me who like to display their graphic novels on their bookshelf.

Comic Movie Cameos

Having witnessed the awesomeness that was 'X-Men:First Class' I got to think about cool movie cameos in superhero movies. Here are the five best.
5. Stan Lee (every marvel movie)- Has cameod as a postman, a clueless pedestrian, a guy driving a truck and a guy who drinks tainted juice. Every Marvel movie now has me scanning to Stan The Man's cameo.
4. Robert Downey Jr. (The Incredible Hulk)- Cameod as his 'Iron Man' character Tony Stark at the end of this one. Just one of the small things they did to build up the Marvel Movie Universe.
3. Cillian Murphy (The Dark Knight)- A small part as his 'Batman Begins' villain The Scarecrow. This movie already had tons of great performances but it was nice to see Murphy just the same. He is an immensely entertaining actor.
2. Hugh Jackman (X-Men:First Class)- Reprising the role of Wolverine just long enough to drop an F-Bomb on Magneto and Professor X.
1. Samuel L. Jackson (Iron Man)- The cameo was after the credits. Jackson cameoed as Nick Fury, super spy extraordinaire. The 'Ultimates' comic series had already portrayed Fury as looking like Jackson so this was a real treat. The best part? He came back for part 2 and will be in Avengers.

The Injustice

So most of you will realize that today's comic is a reference to the advertising campaign of Chik-Fil-A. Chik-Fil-A is one of the absolute greatest fast food chains in the world. Their chicken is hands down the best. What I DON'T like is that every Chik-Fil-A is closed on Sunday. And of course it's exactly Sunday that you always want a delicious Chik-Fil-A pack of nuggets, waffle fries and lemonade. Mmmm lemonade…

Bad, Bad, Bad

Today I was thinking about movies that I like that I KNOW are terrible. What compels me to watch these cinematic monstrosities? Oftentimes it is just a nostalgic feeling. As a kid I had no idea these movies were as bad as they are.
– Howard The Duck- The movie that made me write this post. It's bad. It is the complete antithesis of the source material. But I like it. Plus it's the one movie that makes me lust after Lea Thompson.
– Joe Dirt- This movie operates on the principle that if you watch something on basic cable enough times you will eventually enjoy it. I enjoy this movie against my will.
– Jackie Brown- It's the one Quentin Tarantino movie that I KNOW is terrible. But it's got two things I like: Samuel L. Jackson saying all his dialogue very loudly and Bridget Fonda in a bikini top.