Joss Whedon has been wildly successful (at least creatively) with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly.  He’s one of the most original and talented creators I can think of.  And there’s no question he’s at it again with Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along. 

As any good comic book fan knows not all villains are cut out for the lime light.  Some just don’t quite have what it takes to become the next Black Mask. 

I don’t want to spoil too much of the action, but you should check this out.  And you’d better do it in a hurry.  The whole series disappears on July 20th.   

You can catch Act 1 here.  With Act 2 and 3 arriving later this week. 

I did it. Something I was convinced I would never do. I finally went and saw Iron Man.

After several years worth of columns saying how horrible I thought this movie would be, it turned out to be one of the best comic book films I’ve ever seen.

Apparently admitting you’re wrong isn’t quite as hard as I thought it would be.

Before I get to the stuff I liked, let me talk about the one thing I didn’t – the pacing. There was something about the movie that made me keep looking at my watch. What’s strange is I can’t pinpoint what. It’s not like the movie wasted a lot scenes like the Transformers movie. And it’s not like there wasn’t a lot of action to keep my attention. The only thing I can figure is that since I knew the origins of Iron Man, I just wanted to get to the giant suit of armor!

Outside of this one object though, I really enjoyed Iron Man.

I thought Robert Downey Jr carried the movie. Now lets be honest – that’s not a sentence I ever expected to type. He was truly the perfect cast as Tony Stark: impulsive, playboy, technological genius, and a bit obsessive compulsive. He really did a great job.

As most fans of Iron Man will tell you, one of the secret joys of the character is “the montage” of technology. There’s something that appeals to fans in that sequence. It’s the same thing that makes us want to go and upgrade our own computers. And the movie perfectly captures this.

Think about it, the A-team had an entire TV series built around the montage. As did MacGyver and The Pretender. The montage is such an important part of this “culture” that Team America and South Park even wrote a song about it.

So what’s not to like about a movie where you get at least three extended montage sequences?!

I probably won’t watch Iron Man in theaters again for a second time (who can afford that with $10 tickets?) But I will watch it again in the future. Iron Man is one of the classics, and I look forward to a sequel.

Okay, I admit it, I’m a sucker for these quizes. They obviously have no scientific value. But what they lack in accuracy they more than make up for in fun!

Interestingly it came down to a tie breaker question between my love of technology and my laid back personality.  I went with the technology.  But I think Iron Fist might have been a bit more accurate.  After all, who would think of me as a super nerd?

On second thought, don’t answer that.

So how about you?  What superhero are you?  Take your test and post your results here.

Marvel Superhero Personality Test created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Mister Fantastic/Reed RichardsYou are the super nerdy, intelligent and adventurous Mr. Fantastic. Mister Fantastic/Reed Richards 83% Iron Fist/Daniel Rand 83% Multiple Man/ James Madrox 75% Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange 67% Power Man/Luke Cage 67% Silver Surfer/Norrin Radd 67% Professor X/ Charles Xavier 58% Thor/Thor Odinson/Donald Blake 58% Captain America/Steve Rogers 58% Spider-Man/Peter Parker 50% Daredevil/Matt Murdock 50% Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes 42% Cyclops/Scott Summers 33% Human Torch/Johnny Storm 33% Ghost Rider/Johnny Blaze 25% The Hulk/Bruce Banner 25% The Punisher/Frank Castle 17% Gambit/Remy LeBeau 8% Wolverine/James “Logan” Howlett 8% Nick Fury 8% The Thing/Ben Grimm 8% The Sentry/Robert Reynolds 0% Iron Man/Tony Stark 0% Deadpool/Wade Wilson 0%

Google has become powerful because of its ability to find, store, and sift data with amazing speed.  In many ways the internet is successful thanks to these very abilities.  But that doesn’t mean everyone likes to be virtually “stalked.”  And that’s exactly what’s happening in Pittsburgh where a couple is suing Google for showing their home on Street View.

But Google may be in line for even more trouble – according to the Smoking Gun, Google has been filming Street View on private property.  That sounds like something that people will be upset over.  Plus, if they’ve done it once, you can guarantee that they’ve done it several times. 

This raises an interesting philosophical question.  Google’s always been about collecting information.  But just how much information is too much?

Do we have Brainiac 5 on our hands?  Have we learned nothing from Hal or the T-1000?

As our society continues to collect, retrieve, and sort data these questions will only become more common.  And in a way, I think they will drive the popularity of characters like Brainiac. 

So next time Google refers to you as “Kal-El”, you might want to just turn your computer off and go play outside. 

*edited: changed Brainiac 5 to Brainiac.  Mostly because I’m a moron.

What I’m talking about is the unexpected twist at the end.  (for those of you who haven’t seen this movie, stop reading now).  At the time I didn’t know who M. Night Shyamalan ways, and I didn’t know about his penchant for surprise endings.  So when Jackson revealed himself to be the main villain I was shocked.

I never expected him to be a villain, but it all made sense.  The whole point of the movie was that there are real life superheroes.  And if that’s the case, there must be real life villains.

And obviously there are. 

But this was a surprising admission for a movie.  So this is what I thought of when I read about a man in Florida who is currently standing trial.  This individual has declared that he wants to be evil, just like Mr. Glass from Unbreakable.  And to prove his evilness, he wants to be allowed to wear a cape and carry a cane. 

On the surface it’s kind of funny.  Except that this man has a history of mental illness. 

I love comic books because of their crazy and outlandish villains.  I love watching good triumph over evil.  And I look at it as “entertainment.”  But sometimes a good dose of reality reminds me that evil isn’t just limited to comic book villains. 

Does art make a comic book / cartoon good, or is it the story?

I’ve always viewed this as a bit of a false choice.  Just like Abbott and Costello you can’t have one with out the other.  For me the cartoons or comics I’ve enjoyed the most have blended appealing art with brilliant story telling.  Will I watch a show with bad art and a good story?  Probably.  But I’ll find it difficult.  Will I read a well drawn comic book with a bad story?  Probably.  At least for a while.

But what I can’t stand is when art changes in mid-story.  Good art becomes part of a story, and when you change it, it’s as if you remove part of a character or plot element.  You see this all the time in comic books.  Comic books are just a medium where artists and writers come and go, sometimes within a few issues.

But it’s a lot less common in TV shows.  Which is why it makes Naruto so shocking.

In many ways it was a show built around bright, vibrant colors, and sharp, hard edges with lots of depth.  But somewhere along the way (and I can’t find out for sure which episode because I can’t read about the show without revealing plot elements*) the art changed.  Now we see muted tones, blurry edges, and “wiggly” lines.

To make matters worse, the art actually changes the tone of the story.

In my mind this is a “worst case” scenario.  Artists and writers need to consider how their work impacts the other.  Ideally they should compliment one another’s craft.  But they should never, ever, reduce the quality of the work.

*Part of the issue with Naruto is that it’s moved away from “Canon”.  These new episodes are not part of the manga series and are considered “filler” material.  This partly explains the change in style.

But a funny thing happened as I began to look for more examples of papercraft on the internet.  I discovered that there was a serious lack of any comic book related papercraft.

 Why?

Is it because this is a more traditional Japanese past time?  Is it because comic book fans don’t care?  Or is it all part of that Martian ritual?  If we learned anything from cartoons and science fiction, it’s that you can’t trust a Marian (except, of course, J’onn J’onzz). 

The closest I could come to finding a good comic book papercraft was this IronMan.  Which is an excellent example.  But I want more!  I want to see some clever papercraft involving Batman or Doc Ock. 

I want to see a paper Spider-Man swinging his way through NYC. 

Is this really too much to ask?

In the meantime I will have to sit back knowing that anime fans are way ahead of comic book fans. 

By Eric Barrett

It seems appropriate that I was watching Batman Begins on TV last week.  As you’ve heard by now Heath Ledger, who played the Joker in the upcoming Batman movie died this week.  Whenever I see someone who doesn’t live out their full potential, I find this to be a tragic event. And unfortunately that describes Ledger. 

However, enough commentators have said far better, and more interesting things than I can say in this space.  So let me turn my attention to somewhat related note: Ra’s death in Batman Begins.

Batman is a character who walks that fine line between good and bad, light and dark, as well as any other cliché you can think of.  That’s partly what makes his character so compelling.  How does someone who gets so close to becoming a criminal, not actually cross that line?  People like the Punisher have similar backgrounds to Batman, and yet they have become just as bad as the people they hunt. Why is Batman able to stay away from that?

In my view it’s because of Batman’s rigid value system.  There are some things, no matter what the situation, that he simply won’t do.  He could have killed the Joker or a dozen other villains hundreds of times over.  And yet he never does.  It’s part of what makes Batman, Batman.

So when he willingly allows Ra’s to die in the movie, this goes against his entire nature.  Batman would never allow someone, even Ra’s, to die if he could prevent that death.  If he allowed it, he would be just as guilty as the people who murdered his parents, or any other person. In Batman’s mind, he would become just as evil and corrupt as they are. 

Taking that hard, unbreakable stance is what keeps Batman from going “rogue.”

In many ways this is the most interesting aspect of his character.  For someone who deals in “shades of gray”, he has very “black and white” views. 

As I think about Batman I have to wonder, is the only reason he spares villain’s lives is so he doesn’t cross this line?  Or does he hope, in some small way, that by sparing their lives, they can redeem their own?

By Eric Barrett

Another week, another story about video game publishers and video game reviewers. This time it involves a major magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly, better known as EGM.

According to a column by Dan Hsu, their editor, certain companies don’t like the “less-than-totally-positive previews” EGM has been writing. Anyone who has ever read a gaming preview knows that they are almost always pure fluff with very little based in “final” reality of the game. Usually these previews are nothing more than an advertisement for the game, disguised as “reporting.” So EGM has a somewhat unique stance.

This is the second story in about a month that’s suggested game companies, or more specifically game publishers, are intentionally punishing reviewers for less then positive reviews.

Now this is obviously appalling. It strikes directly at the integrity of a company and the industry. For instance, how can I ever trust CNET (which owns Gamespot, the site of the “original” controversy) with a review?

The bottom line is I can’t.

I will always assume that advertising is guiding their review. Especially when I see negative end-user comments. It will be years before I ever take any pre-release information seriously from Sony, Ubisoft, or anything on Gamespot.

In a digital age, companies can not afford to alienate their customers with heavy handed tactics. People, now more than ever, will find out. And that word will spread. That’s both the beauty and curse of the internet.

Now the question has to be raised, what about comic book reviews?

We all know someone who is convinced a reviewer is a “fan boy” of DC or Marvel. But what can reviewers do to prove their trustworthiness? Or do they even need to?

In my opinion that’s a resounding “yes”. Reviewers of all products need to show that their opinion is legitimate and not store-bought. And in my opinion the only way to do that is to consistently give your honest opinion. If you’re honest, the majority of people will trust you, even if they disagree. But if you’re not being honest, why should anyone care what you think?

The good news for the comic book industry is that it’s a lot more fragmented then the game industry. There are fewer “powerful” sites that review comic books. A bad review of a comic book may upset a publisher, but it doesn’t represent a loss of millions of dollars like a negative review of a computer game.

These factors, I think, help to limit the impact of “biased” reviews. But there’s no question, publishers always want good reviews. The question websites and reviewers need to ask is this: is it more important to get news, any news, from a publisher? Or is it more important to remain honest, even if it costs you?

The answer to those questions will determine the future of the site/reviewer.

Wait for it….

Wait for it….

Kristin Kreuk.

That’s right, Lana Lang from Smallville.  Now on the one hand I think she could pull off the character looks wise.  But is she really skilled enough to be a martial artist?  I have no idea.

I will say, I can’t imagine this movie being worse than the original one.  That was such a bad movie…it still makes me shudder.