The M.O.D.O.K. Holiday Special feat. Tori Amos

Saw this from one of Azrael’s notes —

Happy Holidayzzz, yow!

kick-ass trailer!

Only because you’ve all seen this one while I was away…

And to think I was talking about the first preview just over a year ago… and we’re still waiting for the KICK-ASS conclusion!  W00t!

Ultimate Spider-Man 133 Review

Ultimate Spider-Man’s last issue.

To end the terrific series, Bendis crafts a “silent issue.”  No lines of dialogue, to maybe convey the heft of what Ultimatum has brought about.  (Wait, but didn’t we like USM because of the Bendis “back-and-forth” dialogues?)

In the last few issues of USM, we see Spider-Man doing his best to help save the survivors of flooded New York — and that’s it.  He tries and tries and tries to save all he can, never thinking that he might not make it back alive, you see — and I guess that’s what Bendis was going for in this issue.  We know that when tragedies strike, there will always be heroes.  The fireman who saved the baby from the burning building?  I guess that’s what Pete thought he was doing — his job.   Only this time, he doesn’t make it back.  He saves the baby at the cost of his own life.

We spend the last issue with Kitty and Spider-Woman (the Peter Parker clone) trying to locate Pete, while doing what they can to save lives.

Know how the Ultimate line of comicbooks sorta (but not explicitly-stated, methinks) positioned itself to be a modern/realistic take on the Marvel U?  In the real world, people die. (And this is no spoiler) Spider-Man?  Peter Parker?  He dies.  Spider-Man no more.

It’s been stated before that the crossover event Ultimatum would end all Ultimate titles save for Spider-Man, which sorta begs the question — who will be Spidey in USM: Volume 2?  Will the title go through something like Battle for the Cowl?  There’s still USM: Requiem to look forward to, but from what I’ve heard, it will be about J. Jonah Jameson depicting (finally) Spidey as the hero he really was.

Pretty heavy stuff — a tragic end to such a great title.  USM will be missed.

3.5/5

kick-ass movie preview images!

What the hell is a “Kick-Ass” anyway?

It’s the newest Mark Millar book about a regular teen who decides, “Fuck it, today I’m gonna be a SUPERHERO!”

In my opinion, this is the best “superheroes-in-the-real-world” book out there.  No superpowers, nothing — just pure Kick-Assery.

Dave Lizewski wanted to be MORE.  More than school, more than crushes, more than a comicbook geek — he wanted to be a superhero.  During his first outing, he got stabbed.  After staying in the hospital for several weeks (he got hit by a car after getting stabbed) — he goes out and saves an innocent civillian.

Bystanders who’ve managed to capture him using their camera phones uploaded the video on YouTube, propelling him to instant stardom.  He’s even gone so far as to setting up a MySpace page for people in need of saving to get in touch with him.

(Sounds familiar?  Regular boy wants more in life?  Kinda like Wanted in reverse, huh?  This promises to stick closer to its comic book roots.)

With the viral marketing thing, it grounds Kick-Ass more into the present — using YouTube, MySpace, camera phones to mirror the world we currently live in — you do outrageous things, people take notice.  Not only that, but the real-life viral marketing has people producing the “video” to support their favorite comic.  In the MySpace page (which is rumored to be Millar-maintained, or at least the people who work for him) bands have even volunteered to include their songs in the comic’s soundtrack.  There’s also Millar’s shout-out to comicbook shops in every issue, prolly guaranteeing support on their end.

Fans are already pointing out that the movie costume, as faithful as it is, has a mouthpiece — which is comically inaccurate.  My concern is: issue 5 isn’t even out yet (was supposed to come out this week, delayed ’til Dec. 12) — so how would we know that the movie won’t spoil the comic?  Reverse-style, yow.

[images from Newsarama]