Batman likes yogurt

Random encounter

 In Long Beach today, while jogging I was passing through Bixby Knolls park when I had the feeling you get when someone is following you, the feeling like someones peepers are defiantly giving you the creepers. So I stopped jogging and turned around. To my surprise in front of me stood a short stout man draped in black. It took my eyes a minute to adjust but when they did I noticed this was no mere man,this was  Batman. 60's stain on the shirt, smelly costume a little to snug, bearded Homeless Batman to be exact.  Now I love me some Batman and normally I wouldn't be scared, but we have all seen Batman copy cats before. Hugo Strange, vigilantes with hockey gear and guns, you get the gist. Before I could say anything this impostor asked me in a deep gravely voice if I was OK.I looked around and shrugged my shoulders and said " Why wouldn't I be? ". He looked at me for a second then leaned towards me and said " Somebody has taken my yogurt, we have a yogurt snatcher on the loose. I gave him a half smile half ok buddy your crazy look and turned to walk away.With some hidden speed that must of came from his worn out sandles he was in front of me. As I kept walking he shuffled backwards in front of me and yelled I will get my fucking yogurt back!!! no doughts! With one quick motion he turned around and clumsley hopped over a trash can and ran down the alley. This concludes my random ass true story while jogging. Never agian will I run through that park around 7:30.

Exploring the Comic depths Random Comic pick up's: LUCID, Death of Zorro, Science Dog

Publisher: Archaia

OH MAN!! the first comic I pick out and its a dud! I guess I'm a sucker for cool looking anime on the cover, I mean look at that Manga chicks cheeks.
Nothing about Lucid's story jumps out at me. Plain and simple its boring, there are some imaginative ideas but the coolness of the subject matter of  modern day Mages and magic are never taken full advantage of. Imagine an alternate world where are U.S. government agents are really mages belonging to a ultra secret sect called the Ambrosian order.These mages rely on the occult and magic to protect our U.S. Presidents and the general population from the dark arts and have been doing so for hundreds of years. Oooo!! sounds cool right. Well its not,with a Back story that involves betrayal, assassination of Presidents, the Illuminati,secret worlds,and the looming threat of a golden age where everyone has magical powers. It doesn't come off as good as it sounds plus its confusing. If you'd asked me what all this crap means in the grand scheme of the story, Shit I couldn't tell you all I know is it sounds a little Poetteresque to me, Aurors anybody??. I usually eat this kind of stuff up but nothing about Matthew the whiny main character or any of the other players involved spark my interest or make me want to care about them. The manga influenced art is kinda cool, it reminds me a little of Aeon Flux, but that's not enough. While flipping through the pages all I'm really thinking of is how better Kyle's Godzilla comic probably is, and that I'm glad Lucid is only running for 4 issues. Skip this and move on to something else.

Side note: Executive editor of Lucid is none other then Spock himself Zachary Quinto (He would have to mind melt me to like this shiz!)


Lone Ranger: The Death of Zorro

Publisher: Dynamite

I'm gonna be honest, I don't know crap about the Lone Ranger, but I do love me some Zorro. Ive seen most of the movies and watched the TV show that ran on Disney, If you haven't seen Zorro The Gayblade you need to. Seeing this comic made me feel little nostalgic. Dynamite has brought a cool little throwback hear bringing together two American icons. I have two small gripes though with this comic. One, the death of Zorro comes off a little under whelming. To me if Zorro where to ever finally get killed it wouldn't have been the way it was depicted in this issue. The end result without saying to much felt cheap and it made me think wow! old Zorro or not if killing him where that easy he should of died along time ago. Two, the Lone Ranger and Zorro never actually meet, researching some back material both Hero's are at the opposite ends of their careers one just starting and the others ending long ago. I am interested to see how Zorro inspires a young Lone Ranger. Still it would of been cool to see these two guys riding next to each other.Small gripes aside its still a great read, Bottom line check this comic out, if you don't like it your not an American.

Also see if you notice some Batman references when Zorro finally makes his appearance

Publisher: Image

Science Dog

I heard that Science dog was ranked as the 29th most recognizable icon of pop culture right after Savage Dragon? What the hell?, where have I been.

Only in its 2nd issue but having appeared many times as a mini issue inside Invincible comics. Science dog overall premise is some wacky shit. S Dog's orgins have him chasing a ball into a experimental time machine making him a powerfully built bipedal dog man with increased strength and speed along with a  super-genius brain ten times as intelligent as the smartest human being.Sounds like something someone created while high as shit right? Well I had a fun time reading this issue high or not, I though it was fresh and exciting, and it Starts off great. Science finds himself in the middle of a crumbling city trying to thwart the evil Walter (giving off a Hector Hammond vibe), when mysteriously he is teleported to an alien spacecraft.The rest of this issue is Science desperately trying to get back to earth  under any circumstances necessary, but at what length and risks is he willing to take to get back home? And will he even recognize home when he returns? For such light and imaginative characters Science dog feels intense and serious. For a comic where I didn't expect any of this to begin with is a great surprise.

Random Comic Reviews

 ROCKETEER Adventures #1

A throw back to the good old days

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Release Date: May 18, 2011

Dave Stevens introduced us to Cliff Secord and his nifty rocket pack back in 1982 which paid homage to the  American serial heroes of the 30's and 40's. But if your like me you got introduced to him in the 1991 movie The Rocketeer. There's certain things that bring you back to your childhood and this comic was one of them. Like a smell or a sound that triggers past memories flipping through this comic made we want to revisit the movie and the comics of old .Like the title reads this first issue focuses on the strain of being the Rocketeer and his girlfriend . Cliff and Betty's struggles are told through the dialogue and art of three different story writers and artists. 

The first story has Cliff in a tight pickle against the villian Maroni, all the while having to choose a drastic action to not only take down Maroni and his thugs but to save Betty at the sametime, (she seems to never catch a break). Although short this first story is a great introduction to the world of The Rocketeer while still being fun to read.  

The second story which is just as artistically aesthetic but a little less pleasing has the old clifster rocketing through the skyline with signature style, but at last falls a little flat with nothing much happening. Strongest of the three finishes The Rocketeer #1 on a strong note with the best written dialogue between Cliff and Betty showing how strongly Betty feels for Cliff even though you think she is waining in her affections. Cliff sends her love Letters reguralry during WWII while she is getting advances from another suitor, all the while worrying if Cliff is alive. Each letter Betty receives feels as if its going to be about Cliff's death. This builds and builds until the final letter, which ends in a great comic book way. Each page feels like an old serial movie or a throwback to Gone with the Wind and the last few pages really show how much love has gone into the look and art.

Hands down the strenght of this comic is its throw back artistic style and clean colors! Shout out to artists John Cassaday, Michael Allred, Michael Kaluta and Colorists Laura Martin, Laura Allred. They bring the quirkiness, lush period visuals that you would expect to see from something like The Rocketeer. Cover by Alex Ross is what drew me initially to pick up the comic, its eye catching. That said I cant wait for future issues that show Cliff in more action with his pack and tangling with some new inventive villains. One issue on relationships while entertaining is enough for me, give me some more rocket man action please!!!

Blake Random Comic Reviews

Planet of The Apes #2 

Somebody gets called something mean and it starts with !Damn!

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                 Boom Studios 

                                                                                                                 Start : April 2011- present 

                                                                                                                                                     

Ive always been a casual fan of The Planet of The Apes. Growing up I remember always flipping through channels and being able to find any one of the five movies playing on Cable. But I never was a fanatic or cared one way or another what happened in the movies. But with this primal inclusion of the second issue of the POTA's series, it raises the stories stakes by drawing the line down the sand between the two races.While bringing in high tension moments on every page making you even more invested in both sides of the storyline.

Right off the bat we get introduced to Nix, an old grizzled gorilla warrior who has been jailed by the now dead Lawgiver for reasons unknown to us. But has now been pardoned by Alaya to hunt down the human Assassin. I'm excited to see Nix in ass kicking mode in future issues. While we only get a taste of that action in issue #2 we see how much of a commanding presence he holds over his soldiers and how his views on humans differ from that of the other apes. You definitely get an honorable samurai  vibe to Nix but you also know he is going to bring the proverbial shit storm down on skin town.                                                      

                                                                                                                      

On the human side of the story we have Bako and his mute daughter Chaika  sent scrambling by the Mayor of skin town to investigate and interrogate Jack a cranky ape face arms dealer who might know who and how got the tech to pull off this assassination. The fact that the assassination happened so quickly in the beginning pages of issue #1 has me all the more compelled an intrigued to this mystery that just keeps on getting deeper.

All of this leads to a boiling point between Apes and Men that literally has the last page making you want   more, throw in beautiful detailed illustrations and your going to start to care about Planet of The Apes again and follow this amazing series before those !!DAMN DIRTY APES!! gets their hands on it first.

Finding your way

Since moving back to CA my life has felt like its been in a state of flux because of  a lot of different circumstances. I'm 25 and like a lot of my friends Ive been searching for meaning in work and everyday life. I find comfort in knowing that a lot of people I talk to are in the same situations that I am in. Finding a job that I can stand for more than a year is easier said then done, and this is one of my main struggles to find my place in life. But I am a very optimistic individual and I know that if I stay patient a opportunity will arise. I'm writing this because I just want to let other people out there know that they aren't alone in feeling stuck or in a rut and eventually with perseverance you will come out on top.

figuring out life

Trying to find a better JOB

I always hate looking for a job, because when you haven't been working steadily you feel like you need to take the first crappy one that comes long. But that's not true, its good to take some time and search for something that you're gonna want to stay longer at for more than a month or year.  Staying positive is the key component and having a great outlook in life is a must. It will happen the great jobs will come

Blogging is tough

I was into blogging for 1 day when I was writing about Comic-Con, Then I fell off the map and didn't blog after that for many months. Well now I'm back suckers and I have two follower's to add to the Sanchez army. Anyway I promise  to blog more from now on so look forward to it.

 Look at this bad ass picture of Freddy I found