The Rage Lives On! (or 28 Week Later)

Hello Chums,

As I have written before, I'm kind of new to the zombie craze. But I am catching up fast. Now I know that the creatures in 28 Weeks Later aren't technically zombies, but what else would you call them? Fast moving zombies (FMZ) that have a hankering for any type of living meat, even brains. I don't know. Maybe it doesn't matter.

If a movie is even remotely successful, the makers will churn out a sequel (you can take that to the bank). They are usually not as good as the original, right? Although sometimes, on that really rare occasion, they are as good or better. That wasn't the case here unfortunately.

28 Weeks Later starts off right at the end of the original. They give you a kind of time line that leads up to now (28 weeks later). The story focus' on a house with people in it that are hiding out from the Rage infected. Which is pretty cool but it goes to crap quickly.

The Rage infected (ragers) follow a kid to the house and break in easily. Too easily. It was so easy, how are we to believe they've been hiding there the whole time. They had no defenses. Maybe they should have watched The Omega Man to learn how to fortify their house.

Of course one guy survives and we follow his story. (It's not nearly as interesting as the people in the first movie). He makes a few (major) bad decisions. These decisions come back to bite him and everyone else in the ass later on. You can't root for this guy.

There are some other unbelievable parts also. Like how they let people start living in areas of London that has been rid of the infected, separated only by bridges or fences. You know that this can't end well. They would never do that in real life. What if some kids snuck over to the other side? Why not fire bomb the city instead? Get rid of the ragers once and for all.

As much as I liked the first movie, I'm more than a little disappointed by this sequel. Oh well, trilogy anyone?

Rating: C+

Happy Viewing.

D.L.

Wizard World Texas '07

Hello Chums,



As I have written before, I love comic book conventions. So going to Wizard World Texas is always a priority. This year it was held Nov. 16th - 18th. Unfortunately fellow convention attender Scott couldn't attend that weekend. After much debate, I decided to attend for one day only. Hearing of my one day plan, Buck (owner of New World Comics) decided he could go too.

We left OKC at approximately 0830. Driving down to the "Texas Metroplex", we talked comics, action figures and the finer points of running a comic book store. We arrived at the Arlington Convention Center at about 1130. Of course, we then had to stand in line for 30 or more minutes. And then the doors opened.



At first I couldn't believe my eyes. Where were all the "cool" booths? Gone were the three 1/2 price trade booths (NOOOO!!! SAY IT ISN'T SO!!). No Dark Horse Booth. No Aspen booth. No Whiz Kids booth (who cares). No Spike TV booth (yes! that booth is always annoying). No IFL (independent fighting league) booth (another yes!, why were they ever there to begin with?). You get the idea. Of course no Marvel or D.C. booths either, but they were not expected.



Basically, what makes that show a decent show (for me) was gone. What happened and why this year? Who knows? The programming has always been VERY light. In the past, a lot of quality guests have been grossly under utilized. But that's never affected attendance. That never caused retailers not to show. Did they raise the table rate? I don't know. Something kept them away though.



Now for the programming. I took four items to get signed. All drawn by Darrick Robertson. Of course he didn't make it. The excuse I got was he missed his flight. But if he's suppose to be there for the whole weekend, couldn't he catch the very next one? Are you telling me there is only one flight from NYC to Dallas for the whole weekend? And that flight is in the wee hours of Friday morning? Totally ridicules.



But the show was not a complete loss. There was plenty of cool comics, toys, prints, graphic novels and trades to see and buy. I talked to a few artists in artist alley, including cover artist Joe Jusko. Uncanny X-Men artist Billy Tan was there. But where was the Ed Brubakers, David Finchs or the Michael Turners? Who Knows? And did I go to any programming? No. There was none worth going to.



At about 1400, We took a break from the show and had lunch at Steak and Shake. Good food and better than spending $10 or more on crappy con food. Then we were back to the con for any final purchases.

We meandered around the con until about 1730. Then it was off to Half Price Books (my favorite book store). If you like books at all, check out a Half Price Bookstore sometime. Their selection is incredible. After picking up a couple of books there, it was time for dinner.

1900: Dinner at my favorite Texas restaurant, Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen. If you like Cajun food, this place is a must. I had the "mixed seafood grill", delicious!

2030-0015: We drive back to OKC talking about the con and the events of the day.

So it sounds like the trip might have been a bust, right? Wrong. I can't speak for Buck, but I had a fun time. Sure the trip would have been way too long if I had went for the entire weekend. There just wasn't enough to do. But this size show was great for one day.

What more could you want from a one day trip?

See you at the cons.

D.L.

More Zombie Love and a monkey.

Hello Chums,

I thought I'd talk a little bit about what I've been reading recently. A stand alone comic book trade (Trinity), two graphic novels (Superman: True Brit and Marvel Zombies Army of Darkness) and the first trade of a continuing story Y- The Last Man vol. 1.

First up is Trinity, a DC comics story by Matt Wagner. This story features the first meeting of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. All three heroes band together to stop eco-terrorist Ra's al Ghul and his allies, Bizarro and Artemis. Although the ending is rather anti-climatic, the story is enjoyable and the artwork is terrific. Not to be missed by fans of the big three. Rating: A

Secondly, we have Superman: True Brit. This story is basically what if Superman (Kal-El) landed in England instead of Kansas. This type of Superman story has been done before and done much better. The writers Kim Howard and John Cleese try to make this story light and funny but they fail miserably. The "funny" parts where young Colin (Clark) play sports and deal with family and friends are more painful than funny. While being drawn by John Byrne is a plus, this story is terrible. Ratings: story D- art B

Next up is Marvel Zombies vs. The Army of Darkness. Another Zombie book! This book features Ash from A.O.D. getting dropped into the Marvel Zombie universe. Ash has to battle his way through Zombified versions of Marvel heroes and villains. While this book is okay, it would have benefited greatly from Kirkman's writing and Phillip's art. It does have Suydam covers though. Rating: B

Lastly is Y-The Last Man. This is the story of Yorick Brown and his monkey. They are the last surviving males on the planet. The last two Y chromosomes in existence. This first arc takes place mainly around Washington, D.C. Yorick and his friend go in disguise to stay safe from Republicans (wives of the dead congressmen) and Amazons (roaming packs of lesbians). All Yorick wants to do after seeing his mom is go to his fiancee (in Australia). Doesn't that sound interesting? It is. It kind of reminds me of "A Boy and his dog" (in reverse). Rating: A

KRC (keep reading comics)

D.L.

My TV update 10 weeks in.

Hello Chums,

Have you enjoyed the fall TV season this year? I have. I don't watch everything of course, but the shows I watch I've enjoyed. I haven"t had to drop one yet!

Let's get right into it, Journey Man is my sleeper hit. I knew Kevin McKidd was awesome in Rome. So I tried out his new show. Who knew it would be so good? Not me.

McKidd playing time traveler Dan Vassar, goes back in time righting some wrongs, fixing some problems. All the while, there is a good twisting story that involves him, his ex-girl friend (who is dead in present day)(or maybe not), his wife, his brother (the nosy cop) and a rogue FBI agent.

If you haven't watched this show give it a try. Getting caught up in the underlying story might be difficult though. That's what DVDs are for. Rating: A+

How about Heroes? This show started off with a whimper. It has really (steadily) improved to be my favorite show this season. But remember Lost hasn't started yet.

Now that Hiro's side trip from feudal Japan has finished up, the overall continuing story is really coming together. Now we know about all the people pictured on the photo and what they created. And we have not one, but two nasty bad guys killing off characters. How cool is that? If these guys got together, would they kill each other or team up? Lets hope team up! Rating: A+

You have to love Monday's TV line up. First of all at 7PM on CBS, you have two good comedies. Okay I didn't say great. They're not Seinfeld or Friends, but How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory are pretty good. Then at 8PM you switch over to NBC and you get Heroes and Journey Man. What's not to love?

My other favorites include:

Tuesday's Boston Legal. Shatner + Spader = TV Greatness. Rating: B+

Wednesday's Bionic Woman. Rating: B

Thursday's Survivor. Rating: B

Friday and Saturday? Nothing.

Sunday's The Amazing Race. Rating: A and Desperate Housewives. Rating: C+

If your into Heroes as much as I am, pick up the Heroes Vol. 1 hardcover. It features all the online comics that came out each week during the first season. Check out the sweet Alex Ross cover. I got mine recently at Wizard World Texas. Good Stuff. Rating: A+

Happy Viewing.

D.L.