Black Dragon Death Squad Edition

By Paul Brian McCoy

I'm sorry. Michael can't come to the column right now. He has been inundated with work (you know, the kind that pays and demands results) and can't get What Looks Good together for you this week. Instead, I, Paul Brian McCoy shall be providing you with another glimpse inside my head and expose you to the things that are arriving this week that make me giddy with geeky delight.

Please see what I've chosen after the beep.

Um. Beep?

COMICS

The comics that I'm excited about this week are pretty much confined to two hot young writers whose work gets me all tingly. Of course, I'm talking about Jason Aaron and Fred Van Lente. Both are doing some of the best books Marvel publishes, and this week we get two from each.

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

This is the best Marvel Zombies series yet, hands down. The first two issues have sent Machine Man and Jocasta on a mission to find uninfected human blood in the Zombieverse in an attempt to develop a cure, before the regular Marvel Universe is overrun with the cannibalistic monsters. Van Lente's characterizations are spot on (especially the very nextwave Machine Man) and Walker's art, while not as inventively gory as Philips' original work, has still been very impressive.

This issue they must deal with zombified Inhumans along with the Kingpin and his henchmen. Henchthings. Whatever. It looks like it could be a disgusting good time for everyone.

X Men Noir #1 $3.99 (Fred Van Lente / Dennis Calero)

Van Lente's What Looks Good two-fer is complete with the inclusion of X Men Noir #1. What we have here is a re-imagining of the X-Men as an alternate reality 40s Crime story, where their genetic mutations aren't super powers, but being sociopaths. Professor X ran a reform school and trained them to be outstanding criminals while Magneto (here called The Chief) is a rule-bending cop with his own Brotherhood, fighting crime by any means necessary.

Calero's art is gorgeous and reminds me of Jae Lee or Alex Maleev. It's painted. It's photo realistic. It's the best looking book on the shelves. I can't wait to get it in my grubby hands.

Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #2 $2.99 (Jason Aaron / Stephen Segovia)

Jason Aaron returns to writing Wolverine for this four issue mini that takes Logan back to Chinatown to settle old scores once forgotten, but recently remembered. Aaron uses Shaw Brothers Kung Fu films as the inspiration here and so far I'm impressed. This issue matches Logan up againt the Black Dragon Death Squad for an all-out beat-down.

One of them can punch you in your soul.

In your freakin' soul.

Awesome. Can't wait.

Punisher Max X-Mas Special $3.99 (Jason Aaron / Roland Boschi)

What's that? Reuniting the creative team from Jason Aaron's first arc on the Grindhouse Glory that is Ghost Rider to tell an ultraviolent Christmas story starring the Max version of The Punisher? I think I just peed a little.

That's a good thing. I think.

Anyway, Frank finds himself protecting a mobster and his pregnant wife who are on the run from rival gangsters who want their baby dead. I've only seen the preview pages for this, but the violence is extreme and not for the faint of heart.

Awesome!

FILM

Punisher: War Zone

This Friday is the release date for Punisher: War Zone and I am getting more and more excited every time I see a clip or read a review. Sure, the reviews aren't all that good, but the same phrases keep popping up. You know, stuff like “heads exploding,” “excessive gore,” and “reveling in violence.”

That's what I've always wanted from a Punisher move.

Add to that the casting of Ray Stevenson (Titus Pullo in HBO's Rome) as Frank, and Dominic West (McNulty from HBO's The Wire) as Jigsaw, and I think I'm genetically predisposed to love this movie. Sure, neither of them is American. So what? Seems like every TV show I enjoy has foreigners playing American these days (Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Fringe, Sons of Anarchy, and The Mentalist), so why not in my movies, too?

Plus we get Julie Benz (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Rambo, Dexter) as a mom who touches Franks cold, cold heart, so yeah, I'm definitely on board for this.

DVD

There are a number of DVDs out this week that I'm sure comics and genre fans will be excited about. There's Wanted, X-Files: I Want to Believe, and even Prince Caspian. But I don't really care about any of those. What looks good to me?

Metalocalypse Season 2 $29.98

What could make the second season of Brendon Small's brutally anti-social cartoon about the greatest Death Metal band in the world better than the monstrous first season? Add Malcolm McDowell to the mix and watch the screaming start.

Even though I've watched all of these episodes over and over again thanks to the magic of the DVR, I NEED to own this two-disc set. I can't find any listings of extras yet, but really, the episodes alone make it worth owning.

Lone Wolf and Cub TV Series (Vol. 5) $24.95

I had no idea that this Japanese TV series was being released in America until checking today's releases. Granted, Tokyo Shock is releasing them in two-disc sets for a ridiculous price, and this set, Volume 5 only takes us up to episodes 19-22.

For those of you who aren't familiar, this is the first season of the 1973 series that ran for three full seasons, adapting the classic manga by Kasuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. You know, the one about the wondering samurai and his small son, who declare themselves demons and hire themselves out as killers on a regular basis while looking for revenge against those who wronged them in the past.

I've wanted to see this series since I first heard about it, and now I can at least try to rent them and see if they hold up to the manga or to the absolutely fantastic film series. Netflix, here I come.

Seeding of a Ghost $19.98

This one really has no connection to comics, but I'm practically drooling in anticipation of owning this film. This is not for the squeamish. Here's the description that website HKFlix gives for this previously impossible-to-find “masterpiece”:

This erotic gore-fest follows a man seeking revenge on his wife's rapists and killers with the help of a demented magician. Its blood-spurting and body-exploding ensure its status as one of Hong Kong's goriest films ever.

I just giggled while typing that.

This was one of the Shaw Brothers' last horror films of the eighties (1983) and it was so gruesome that it ran into censorship issues when shopped around to Western audiences. Nowadays, from what I understand, it's really not all that, but there is apparently enough blood splatter, gratuitous nudity, soft-core sex, and bloody, bloody gore to make it something I'm really looking forward to.

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So there you have it. What Looks Good to me this week.

Anything else that you are geeked about this week? If so, just stop by the WLG message boards (see link below) and share your thoughts!

Before I head out, I just want to thank Michael for the opportunity to step in and do something a little more fun and satisfying than just writing reviews all day. Hopefully work hasn't wiped him out completely and next week he'll be back in all his geeky glory.

Stay strong my brother!

-PBM

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