WLG #231: Guest Starring Paul Brian McCoy

By Paul Brian McCoy

Mr. Diaz is a little under the weather this week, so I'll be stepping in to pinch-hit. You don't know me from Adam, but I'm Paul Brian McCoy. I'm a Pisces, I'm 40, I've recently cut down on my consumption of red meat, and I like comics. I like other stuff, too.

But enough about me, on to What Looks Good this week.

It's a slow week for comics in my world. I'm just not excited about much that's hitting the shelves. Well, that's not entirely true. There are a few things:

AVATAR PRESS

Black Summer HC 32.99 (Warren Ellis / Juan Jose Ryp)

This was one of the most daring ideas that I've read in the past couple of years, and one of Warren Ellis' best concepts. What would happen if superheroes decided to take the law into their own hands when confronted with illegal activities at a political level. The answer is bloody as hell and twice as violent.

Seriously. This book opens with the superhero, Horus, murdering the President of the United States, for a list of crimes that come directly from our newspapers. And Ryp illustrates the murderous aftermath and the ultra-violent military response with a level of detail that is mind-blowing (or maybe numbing).

If you were waiting on the trade, I think that's already out. But the hardback version is here this week for you to take home and love.

MARVEL

Invincible Iron Man #6 $2.99 (Matt Fraction / Salvador Larroca)

This is the final chapter of "The Five Nightmares," Matt Fraction's first Iron Man story line and I can't wait to see how he wraps it up. The introduction of Ezekiel Stane back in the closing issues of Fraction's The Order was a very impressive piece of synchronicity once the film was released and Obidiah Stane was introduced to the unwashed masses.

Having a Stane on the scene in the comics once the movie hit was fortunate for everyone involved, and helped to make Invincible Iron Man a natural sell for people who had just seen the movie and wanted to check out the comics.

Granted, Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was good too. Can we have a moment of silence for its passing?

Thank you.

I'm a little concerned about this issue because the cliffhanger ending of issue 5 wasn't really much of a cliffhanger. Not if you know anything about Iron Man, anyway. You just knew that suit that Stane blew the head off of would be empty (and the previews have confirmed this). So that was a bit of a letdown, but Fraction is good enough that I have confidence in his ending.

And Larocca's art is just beautiful.

Marvel Zombies 3 #1 $3.99 (Fred Van Lente / Kev Walker)

I love zombies. I recently spent two weeks marathon-watching zombie films from around the world with Dr. Girlfriend (who actually initiated the idea), and while some of them stunk, some were fantastic. I have novels about zombies. I have books about zombie films. I have one book that is only about Italian zombie films.

So when Marvel launched the first Marvel Zombies mini-series I was there. And it was good. Surprisingly good, in fact. Robert Kirkman wrote a mean, but fun, bit of cannibalistic monstrosity that was good enough to buy in hardback and put on your shelf.

Then came Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness, which, as a devoted fan of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series, was very exciting indeed. Plus, it featured an appearance by Nextwave. How awesome was that? Pretty awesome. Unfortunately, the rest of the series didn't really live up to my expectations.

But then came Marvel Zombies 2 and while it had some good things going for it, ultimately it seemed kind of tired and played out. So when I heard that there was going to be a third series and it was with a new creative team (I know, I know; the Army of Darkness series was a different creative team, too), I thought I was done.

But then I found out that it was set in the Nexus of All Realities swamp (where Man Thing lives), starred Machine Man and Jocasta with supporting roles for Siege (a Deathlok analog) and Morbius the Living Vampire, and introduced A.R.M.O.R., the Alternate Reality Monitoring and Operational Response Agency. What can I say? I'm a sucker for references to the comics I read as a kid, and this one was packed.

It's written by Fred Van Lente, who is doing wonderful things co-writing Incredible Hercules and hopefully he can keep it fun and fresh. And it's only four issues, so it shouldn't be that hard to do.

OTHER

Since this is my one shot at filling in and there really weren't many books I was excited about this week, I thought I'd throw some other things at you that are released this week and have me geeked.

NEW ON DVD

Le Doulos - Criterion Collection (1964) and Le Deuxième Souffle - Criterion Collection (1966) - $39.95 each

These two films are directed by French director Jean-Pierre Melville, who directed the classics, Le Samourai and Le Cercle Rouge, two of the best crime films to come out of the sixties (well, 1970 for Le Cercle Rouge). I've been wanting to see more films by Melville since I saw Le Samourai a couple of years ago, but there haven't been that many of his films released in America. Thankfully Criterion is on job!

In Le Doulos Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as Silien, who may or may not be responsible for squealing on Faugel (Serge Reggiani), just released from the slammer and already involved in what should have been a simple heist.

Le Deuxième Souffle follows the parallel tracks of French underworld criminal Gu (Lino Ventura), escaped from prison and roped into one last robbery, and the suave inspector, Blot (Paul Meurisse), relentlessly seeking him.

You should go rent Le Samourai and Le Cercle Rouge, too, if you haven't seen them. They are classics. Without them, we wouldn't have some of the best films about criminals and/or assassins that were made throughout the Seventies.












The Sarah Jane Adventures: Compete First Season $49.98

There are only ten half-hour episodes and each one is half of a two-parter, so the price is a little steep, but if you're a Doctor Who fan (and I am), particularly of the old Tom Baker iteration and his companion Sarah Jane (played by Elisabeth Sladen then and now), then you should check this out. Especially if you have kids.

You see, this is a kid’s show, but before you start groaning, it's a kid’s show that adults can enjoy. If those adults enjoy Doctor Who.

The show follows Sarah Jane and her teen friends as they fight monsters and save England (and the world) from aliens of all sorts. There are a few species of alien that you'll recognize from the newest Doctor Who series, and there are a few new creations. Not all of the adventures are great, and only one was actually kind of bad, but it's a lot of fun and I'm glad it's getting an American release.

Which is kind of odd, since I don't think it was ever aired over here.

IN THEATERS

City of Ember

I don't really know what this is about beyond it being a fantasy about an underground kingdom, some kids who are trying to escape (I think?), and Bill Murray is in it. It's directed by Gil Kenan, who also directed Monster House, so it should be fun.

Quarantine

This is an American remake of a Spanish horror film called REC and it's about a building that is quarantined with a reporter inside. It seems there's some sort of cannibalistic disease going around inside? Or maybe monsters? I don't know what's going on inside this building, but it looks like it could be pretty scary.

And it stars Jennifer Carpenter, from Dexter, so that's promising. Although she's not exactly my favorite thing about Dexter, to be honest. I really need to see The Exorcism of Emily Rose sometime, since she was Emily Rose, too.

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And that's what's geeking me out this week. Here's hoping Michael is feeling better soon. I just kicked something similar a couple of weeks ago and it was horrible, so stay strong, Mr. Diaz. And for you people reading this, stop by the WLG message boards (see link below) and share what's got you excited this week (keep it clean, please) and be sure to tell Michael how much you missed him and want him to get better.

Peace!

-Paul

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Were Diaz's picks on the mark?
Have your say on What Looks Good at the Looking Good message board.

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