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Review: Ezra #3

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:December 8, 2004
Post category:Pop Culture Reviews
Post comments:0 Comments

At first glance, Ezra appears to embody many of the things I dislike about comic books these days: multiple variant covers, scantily-clad women for no apparent reason, too little story and a late shipping schedule. And yet, despite all of that, when I saw it on the stands today, I was happy to finally see it after what felt like months of waiting. You see, Ezra, Sean O'Reilly's highly-appealing, blue-tinted, medieval mercenary, has what I refer to as the Drew Barrymore Appeal. Against all odds, no matter what she does, no matter how ridiculous - ie: marrying Tom Green -…

Review: New Avengers #1 / The Ultimates 2 #1

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:December 4, 2004
Post category:Reviews
Post comments:1 Comment

To say I was skeptical about Marvel go-to-guy Brian Michael Bendis' New Avengers seemingly self-serving reload would be quite the understatement. Based on the ill-conceived complete disaster that was Avengers Disassembled, and it's half-assed epilogue/retrospective in Avengers Finale, I was fully prepared to hate it on sight. Boy was I wrong! After the requisite - and, thanks to its brevity, sad in that wow, that really was lame kind of way - first page recap of the Disassembled disaster, Bendis starts things off with a shadowy meeting between a silhouetted figure and a thug who turns out to be Electro.…

Comment: A Fanboy’s Rant #1

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:December 3, 2004
Post category:Media Pop Culture
Post comments:1 Comment

1. One of the sequences in Comic Book Superheros Unmasked (2003) dealt with the crash of the comic industry during the early 90s. I'd like to bring up one point made by Marvel's Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada during the interview, where he basically states that the variant cover phenomenon during that time played a big part in the industry's crash. Back then, the hottest books were selling in the several hundreds of thousands. Nowadays, a publisher would kill for 150,000! Well, more than a decade removed and it looks like the industry is back at it. This time though, rather than…

Review: New X-Men:Academy X #1-6

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:November 26, 2004
Post category:Media Reviews
Post comments:0 Comments

When the New Mutants re-appeared on the stands 20 months ago, I was just returning to comics after a 15-year hiatus and welcomed the sight of a familiar face to ease me back into the monthly habit. Joshua Middleton's beautiful cover art featuring some of the women from the original lineup drew me in, and Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir's patient, nuanced introduction of the first mutant of the new generation, and their reintroduction and use of a tortured Danielle Moonstar as the story's anchor, kept me glued through to the last page. The closing dialogue sealed the deal for…

COMMENT: On Reloads and Relaunches

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:November 22, 2004
Post category:Media Pop Culture
Post comments:3 Comments

Answer: Everyone that bought a copy of Astonishing X-Men #1. [See the end for the Question.]As someone who stopped buying comic books back in the early 90s - missing the worst of the speculator-driven boom and bust - and started again last year, I can see both sides of the "Relaunch/Reload" debate that seems to be flaring up on several fan sites.As Comics Buyer's Guide pointed out in a great article a couple of months ago, the comic book industry doesn't really know very much about its audience. Other than the accepted stereotypes - predominantly young, male, into superheroes and…

Comment: Comic Book Superheros Unmasked (2003)

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:November 20, 2004
Post category:Pop Culture Reviews
Post comments:0 Comments

Comic Book Superheros Unmasked (CBSU) is a History Channel documentary that has aired numerous times over the last few months. Released in 2003, the film was directed by Steve Kroopnick and he takes us on a tour of the comic book industry from its Depression Era-beginnings through its modern-day multi-million dollar enterprises. Our guides are some of the industries greatest legends, and current innovators, names like Stan Lee, Frank Miller, Joe Quesada, Neil Gaiman, and Will Eisner. I've seen CBSU three times, and I'd watch it a fourth time if it were playing right now. What struck me the most…

Review: Iron Man #1

Post author:Guy LeCharles Gonzalez
Post published:November 19, 2004
Post category:Reviews
Post comments:0 Comments

Issues with Marvel's questionable relaunches aside, I admit to being...intrigued. I wasn't going to buy it at all but, seeing how Marvel didn't release a single title of interest to me this week, I figured I'd take a gamble. It's no secret that Warren Ellis is a good writer, and I've thoroughly enjoyed his run on Ultimate Fantastic Four so far, so I was curious to see what he'd do with another Marvel icon that I'd never been partial to. It's made very clear on the cover and the first page that this is the first part of a six-issue…