Sgt. Angle Reporting For Duty!

The box office has spoken and Ben “the flea flicker” Affleck’s sophomore directorial effort has come away with the win. The Town rocketed to number one, beating analysts’ estimates and squashing Emma Stone’s Easy A like she was, well, a fragile young woman. That’s because Flick’s Flick is charged with testosterone and gripping gunfights, and is a great, well-made, well-placed end of Summer movie that satisfies the visual and aural senses.

‘Twas not always the case for young Ben Flicka’s status in Hollywoodland, as this issue of The High Low Country will recount for you below.

Ben Affelch hit his big break in the PBS series “Voyage of the Mimi”, a family show that involved a boat traversing the world, and served as a substitute for many geography lessons for substitute history teachers in elementary school during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

Grandmaster Flick then hit an early ‘90s low playing a porn star cool prep kid in School Ties alongside his best bud and future writing partner Matt “I’m Matt Damon” Damon.

After a string of supporting roles in Dazed and Confused and Mallrats, the Flickster 10,000 found a lead role to sink his straight-man lips into with Kevin Smith at the helm, Chasing Amy.

This was followed soon after by Good Will Hunting, the ultimate HIGH in Affleck’s career. Sick of getting lean roles or succeeding only on the festival circuit, Flick and Damon wrote their own piece with their own characters they could control, and won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay.

Oddly, having written a great script doesn’t mean you can read great scripts, as revealed by False-Flicka’s eventual LOW choices of film roles: Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Reindeer Games, Bounce. The Sum of All Fears could’ve given Flickster a chance at his own franchise (the Jack Ryan series), but the movie was flawed more than successful, and the studio wasn’t happy with the results. Daredevil was just…you know.

Gigli easily became the ultimate LOW for the actor, after critics and audiences panned the film and its’ poor plot, and it also suffered the backlash of Hollywood’s brief “Bennifer” era (Lopez, not Garner). After this, there seemed like there would be no turning point for Mr. Aff — Leck.

Then, two interesting things happened. 1) Affleck took a smaller, stylized roll in Smokin’ Aces, and 2) he directed his first feature, Gone Baby Gone.

GBG starred his younger brother Casey Affleck, and was based on a Dennis Lehane novel. Ben also co-wrote the script, in my opinion the weakest part of the movie. As a debut it was considered nearly flawless, and the acting is first-rate. Affleck seemed to find for himself a new niche in Hollywood’s system: Take a bit part for some cash, then go off and spend a few years to make your pet project.

And that’s exactly what he is doing. He co-starred in one of nine supporting players in the ensemble He’s Just Not That Into You, and stole the show in Extract as the stoner best friend to Jason Bateman’s frustrated lead. Only in State of Play did Affleck play anything resembling a lead role — and even there he’d been overshadowed by the mammoth Russell Crowe.

Then he made The Town, played the lead, wrote the script, directed the thing. Affleck knows how to make a role strong in a script, and in this one he was unselfish, giving the juiciest bits to Jim, played by Jeremy Renner.

The best moments in Affleck’s acting career are the bit parts, the small roles, the supporting characters: Dazed and Confused, Mallrats. As Chuckie who almost fights Will in Good WIll Hunting to convince him he’s better than where they come from; as scene stealing actor Ned Alleyn in Shakespeare in Love; the exiled angel Bartleby in Dogma; or even reprising his Chasing Amy character Holden McNeil, and parodying himself, in Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.

Ben Affleck has proven to be more than a half of a Hollywood couple, and he’s done it best when taking a back seat to the spotlight. Do yourself a favor and check out The Town now that it’s out in theaters. Heist scenes abound, but so does a bit of romance and a hell of a lot of gunfire.

His next part is the lead role in The Company Men, which focuses on corporate downsizing, alongside Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, and Kevin Costner. Then he’s part of the ensemble that will make up the next Terrence Malick flick.

You are dismissed!

Sgt. Angle

Happy Sunday Folks!

Today I am going to spotlight one of the legends in the mainstream comic book industry: Frank Miller. While his more recent works have been less than stellar (I will touch on that later), there is no denying that he has been a major force in the comic book landscape for the better part of the last three decades as both an artist and a writer.

Frank Miller began his comic book career with a host of fill-in issues for any company that would hire him. His first printed work was back in 1978 with Gold Key Comics’ THE TWILIGHT ZONE #84. Eventually he would end up at Marvel doing fill-in issues and covers, but it wasn’t until he took over as the artist on DAREDEVIL in 1979 that people began to stand up and take notice. When Miller began writing DAREDEVIL as well as illustrating the book, the title became wildly popular, and Miller became a name to watch. While at Marvel, Frank also illustrated (and co-plotted) the hugely successful WOLVERINE mini-series with writer Chris Claremont.

Eventually, Miller would move over to DC where he did his own creator-owned series, the aforementioned RONIN, as well as some of his most famous work on Batman, including THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and BATMAN: YEAR ONE. In between his bat-opuses, he went back over for one of the greatest DAREDEVIL runs of all time, Born Again, with artist Dave Mazzucchelli (his cohort on YEAR ONE).

Eventually, Miller would split from the big publishers due to creator rights and censorship issues, taking his star to Dark Horse Comics. Once at Dark Horse, Miller launched a slew of new series, including HARD BOILED (with Geoff Darrow, the guy who storyboarded The Matrix), GIVE ME LIBERTY (with Dave Gibbons, the guy who drew WATCHMEN), 300, and, perhaps the work that he is best known for, SIN CITY.

Frank Miller went into the 21st century on a roll, but the latest millennium has not been good for him. Miller returned to DC for a sequel to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN, which was not well received. Miller also began writing a new Bat-centric series named ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN THE BOY WONDER, which is almost universally thought of to be tripe (despite beautiful Jim Lee artwork). He also Directed a film version of WIll Eisner’s THE SPIRIT, which did not go well for him. On a bright note for Miller, the 00’s did see two of his stories, 300 and SIN CITY made into successful films, both with sequels on the way.

As an artist, Frank Miller has evolved tremendously over his career. When he broke into the business he tried to insert his noir-ish sensibilities into superhero books, but he still had to soften his work to make it fit the mainstream mold. As Miller got more successful, he was able to take more risks, not only with his pencilling style but, his story-telling methods. If you compare early 1980’s Miller to late 1990’s Miller the change in style is obvious. Even looking at early Daredevil art compared to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, you can see that Miller was constantly allowing his style to evolve. The turning point seemed to really occur first on RONIN, with his line work becoming looser, and the shading and tone work becoming a more active story-telling tool. By the time Miller began SIN CITY, his lines were exceptionally loose, with heavy blacks and negative space playing as the primary visual devices. Miller’s paneling has also become more risque, moving farther away from the traditional multi panel lay-outs, and moving more and more towards telling stories with series’ of single images.

From a writing standpoint, Miller has always had a knack for telling great crime stories. Be it DAREDEVIL, BATMAN or SIN CITY, there is perhaps no one better at making the dirt of a situation evident to the readers. This is not to say that MIller’s non-crime books don’t also stand out. 300, RONIN, and HARD BOILED are all excellent, and very well written. As Frank has gotten older, however, it seems that he has grown less in touch with the gritty situations he once wrote so well. In his prime, Miller’s dialogue was a strength, making conversations pop. In the last decade though, the line he is most famous for is “I’m the Godd@mned Batman”.

On a personal level, I am a huge fan of just about all of Frank Miller’s early mainstream work. Both of his DAREDEVIL runs are spectacular, and his BATMAN work is a beautiful example of how excellent 1980’s comics could be. Several mini-series that I have mentioned throughout this piece, RONIN, WOLVERINE and 300, should be read by anyone who wants to like comics. That being said, I have always preferred Miller’s writing to his artistic style. While some of my favorite stories have come from the ben of Frank Miller, some of my least favorite art has come from his pencil. Some of Miller’s art I love, I can’t imagine THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS looking better unless Neal Adams himself drew the thing, and the same goes for RONIN. While this artwork fits wonderfully with many of his stories, (SIN CITY being a prime example of this) sometimes his loose lines just look sloppy and rushed. I could barely make it through THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES BACK, and any time I see a variant cover by Miller, I make a little sad noise.

Frank Miller is an integral part of the comic book industry. Without him, creator rights and comic book censorship in comics would not be where they are today. In his prime he was one of the greats, and even if he is fading from his greatest creative years (I’m not saying he is, he could just be in a slump), his older works still hold up beautifully today. If you are trying to get a friend into comics, give them something by Frank MIller . Just make sure it’s not something recent.

LOLLIPOPS!

Greetings folks!

Happy Halloween eve, also known as the last day to find a costume before clothespins, towels, and paper bags constitute a superhero outfit. Now, as we all know, Halloween is great for one single, solitary reason. trick-or-treating. Sure, you could look back into antiquity and glean the reasoning behind Halloween, but none of those old traditions involved fun-sized Snickers bars, so whats the point?

Ah, trick-or-treating, the beautiful practice of begging in disguise. As a child I recall hoping that I would get more treats (Butterfingers and Skittles) than tricks (strychnine-laced Milky Ways, or even worse, smarties) . It is with the glorious convention of trick-or-treating in mind that I offer up your current blog. We have all read a comic book, expecting very little and being treated to a pleasant surprise. On the flip-side, we have all been looking forward to a book, only to be tricked by the hype, and received a 22 page crap-fest. The following is a list of a few tricks and treats from my funny-book reading youth that I would like to share with you all. Enjoy!

The Authority demand peanut butter cups! NOW!

TREAT: The Authority– In 1999, Wildstorm launched the Authority. All I knew was that Warren Ellis had written STORMWATCH, which had sucked, and Bryan Hitch had drawn a rather crappy rendition of the X-men a few years earlier in X-MEN PRIME. I was expecting the book to be “meh” at best, but there was a woman in it who appeared to be naked under a thin layer of liquid metal, so I gave it a shot. Boy, did I make the right decision. The book was filled with sardonic wit and wide-screen action. There were heroin-addict superheroes, man-on-man love superheroes, mean English superheroes, and most importantly, almost-naked-but-for-a-thin-layer-of-liquid-metal superheroes. This book was truly an unexpected treat.

The Ultimates race towards an impending sugar coma.

TRICK: Joe Mad on  The Ultimates 3– I loved Joe Mad’s X-men in the mid-nineties. He single-handedly kept me interested in the X-franchise, heck, he even made Maggot look cool. MAGGOT! So, when Marvel announced that Joey M would be drawing the third chapter of THE ULTIMATES, I got all geeked out. I mean, Maduriera makes everything look cool, for example:

Like Beevis, this man demands TP for his, um, weird light thingie? Never Mind.

This had “slam dunk” written all over it. But then, issue #1 came out, and tears set in. Joe’s art had gotten, well, mushy. The figures, always exaggerated, had become distended-looking and sad. Whoever colored the art, didn’t do Joe Mad any favors either. This was a trick par suck-u-lance.

Under his cape, Stryfe is hiding a cornucopia of charms blow-pops.

TREAT: X-cutioners song– There was a time when Marvel put together a X-crossover just about every year, and it was getting old. Inferno was lacking. Fall of the Mutants was anti-climactic. Extinction Agenda had a bunch of men in happy-face robo-suits. Then came X-cutioner’s song. I was expecting yet another sad excuse to get everyone with an X on their clothes together, but what I got was so much more.The pictures were glorious in every chapter, featuring art by Jae Lee, Greg Capullo, Andy Kubert, and Brandon Peterson. The story was engaging throughout, and actually tied up subplots that had been dangling about for years. This x-over was a true treat.

Gummy Bears or else.

The Midnighter fears for his dental health, while the engineer is transforming into a giant toothbrush.

TRICK: Grant Morrison coming to Wildstorm– When Wildstorm announced that Grant Morrison would be writing WildC.A.T.s and THE AUTHORITY, my heart skipped a beat. When it was announced that Jim Lee would be drawing the cats and Gene Ha would be working on The Authority, I started drooling. Both comics then released one issue and haven’t been seen or heard from since. The trick was on the fans.

In Tranquility, every day is Halloween.

TREAT:Welcome to Tranquility– I picked this book up because of the writing of Gail Simone. The concept of a town full of old, retired, superfolks didn’t really appeal to me, but I figured I would give it a shot. What I got was a spectacular story, filled with fun characters, tongue-in-cheek jokes, and zombies. The art by Neil Googe was brilliant as well.

I wanted to make a Halloween joke, but I have no idea what’s going on in this pannel.

TRICK: Steampunk– Joe Kelly was a writer on the rise. Chris Bachalo had been great for years. Steampunk is always a fun genre. Add the three together, and instant gold right? Wrong. Bachalo’s art was an overcrowded mess that took me right out of the story, which wan’t that great to begin with. Shame, guys, shame.

For Mars Bars!

TREAT: Walter Simonson’s Thor– When I was in high school, I started trolling back-issue bins to augment my comic acumen. I came across an issue of THOR which featured a frog dressed up as the God of lightning, and figured, I’d give it a shot (after all, an encyclopedic knowledge of Norse mythology could only increase my popularity at High school). Little did I realize that I would be picking up one of the greatest comic book runs of all time. Walter Simonson was perfect in his time on THOR, providing a heavy dose of mythology, action, drama, and great art. Thank you Walter, for the soul Snickers.

“My armor tastes like suck. Try it!”

TRICK: Onslaught– This big bad was build up for the better part of the year. Who was Onslaught? How was he so powerful? What was he planning? Onslaught was a mystery, wrapped in a riddle, coated in enigma. I wanted to meet this onslaught character, and watch him kick @$$. Then, Onslaught was revealed, in all his red and purple sadness. He wasn’t even a real person, just a bunch of stray Professor X thoughts. What a letdown.

I want children, just so they can dress up as darklings for Halloween.

TREAT: Darkness– This is a book that seemed ripe to be over-hyped. I knew that Mark Silvestri made pretty pictures, and that Garth Ennis wrote disturbing and funny stories. I also knew that Top Cow stories tended to drift, letting the art keep people interested (see WITCHBLADE). So, while I expected to enjoy THE DARKNESS, my sights weren’t set too high. However, this book exceeded expectations on every level, and the story was even engaging (for a while, until Garth left). I have no problem admitting, I love me some darklings.

Due to a lack of Mounds, Spidey gnaws on gravestones instead.

TRICK: Spider-man:Reign– I should start by saying that I actually enjoyed this book. Why, then, is it listed as a trick, you ask? The reason is the hype machine this book rode into town on. Kaare Andrew’s Spider-opus was supposed to be an answer to THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, but just wound up being a kinda forgettable spider-story. The art was Frank Miller-esque, but any time your main character kills his wife with irradiated sperm, the story is bound to be a disappointment. If someone had billed this story as “Crazy old Spider-man has poisonous sex, and theres a whole lot of Venom” this story could have been a treat.

That’s it for my tricks and treats, go out there and get those last minute costumes folks! Thanks for stopping in and have a safe and Happy Halloween.

Greetings all!

I hope everyone enjoyed the latest installment of “Cinegasms”. I know that I said Wednesdays are going to be the home of Mr. Wolff’s “Hump Day Review” but I am afraid I am a bit of a liar. I have a very busy Thursday schedule for a little while, so Mr. Wolff was kind enough to move to Thursdays. Today I am going to try a new segment I am calling “Remember when…”

Today I wanted to take a look back in time to the magical year of 1998. A year when you spent more time in the airplane than in the airport. The year when Windows 98 debuted (duh) and Jesse “The Body” Ventura became Governor of the state of Minnesota. This was also the year that Marvel Comics unleashed it’s MARVEL KNIGHTS imprint. I could spend all day talking about ’98, but as I don’t have all day (and neither do you, I would imagine), I am going to focus on the MARVEL KNIGHTS imprint. “Why would you do that?” you might ask, well let me tell you: MARVEL KNIGHTS was a huge step forward in Marvel Comic’s evolution.

For those that don’t remember the comic book landscape in the late nineties (or those that choose to forget), it was a bleak and sad place. Sales were don everywhere. The product that was being produced, for the most part, sucked. Comics in general were in a bad place, but Marvel was especially hurting. Marvel had gone bankrupt a few years earlier, and a lot of their smaller titles had fallen by the wayside. The “Events” that Marvel had put together, were less event and more fiasco. “Oh, it wasn’t that bad” some might say, but I retort with this: THE CLONE SAGA. Not enough? How about ONSLAUGHT, or HEROES REBORN? Yes, Marvel was in a bad place and needed something. And “something” came in the form of Marvel Knights”.

It Hurts To Remember…

This Was Supposed To Be Cool.

Now, for big comic companies to have different imprints to appeal to different audiences was not an unheard of concept. DC comics had Vertigo (and still does), and Marvel had tried a variety of imprints as well, but all the Marvel imprints seemed to flop. Imprints like RAZORLINE, MARVEL 2099, and MALIBU were just unable to sustain themselves. Between the crud Marvel was putting out, and their spotty history with imprints, the deck was stacked against the MK line before it even started.

Malibu Comics, flying towards failure.

What helped Marvel with the MK line was the way that they approached it. While Marvel didn’t go VERTIGO status and make this a mature readers line, they did decide that the imprint would be more adult, so kids could still read, but grown-ups could enjoy as well. Second, and even more important, Marvel went outside of the company for help. Marvel went to a small comic company, Event Comics, and got two guys named Joe Quesada (who is now the editor-in-chief of Marvel) and Jimmy Palmiotti to find outsiders to give the MK line a new look. And for the most part, the MK line was a great success. The start of Marvel Knights was four titles, (two ongoing, and two mini-series) Daredevil (one of the comics that had been lost to sagging numbers), The Black Panther, The Inhumans, and The Punisher (who had just died).

The Marvel Knights line was huge. It brought writers like Kevin Smith (the movie director), Christopher Priest, and Paul Jenkins from small press to big market. The same for artists like Jae Lee (who hadn’t been at Marvel in years), Bernie Wrightson, and Mark Texiera. The success of this imprint helped to put Marvel where it is today, and showed that sometimes what the big companies need is that independent flavor.

Thanks all for stopping in, see you tomorrow!

Happy almost Friday folks!

I am on a serious David Mazzucchelli kick. On a recommendation, I picked up DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN last week at the LCS, and it blew me away. 1980’s Frank Miller stories are all great, but Mazzuccheli’s art just blew me away. It was so good, i went back and found my old BATMAN: YEAR ONE comics, and reread them, just for a little more Mazzuccheli goodness. The man is just a great storyteller. He creates dynamic panel flow, never wasting page space with the superfluous. His fight sequences are crisp and easy to follow, with all the characters moving the way real people would. It isn’t the flashiest of art styles, but it is so solid, with clean composition and great use of blacks, that is spectacular in it’s non-flashiness. I looked into it and found that “The Mazz” has just released a brand new graphic novel titled ASTERIOS POLYP, which I am going to be picking up as soon as I can get my greedy little fingers on it. Here’s a few samples for you:

On a more company related note, thanks to all of you who have already pre-ordered MYTHOI issue one. For those of you who have not yet done so, do it now! We are getting closer and closer to our first issue release in September, and I am getting more and more excited with every page I see. You guys are going to love it!

Well, thanks for stopping in, see you tomorrow!