Wednesday, September 26, 2012

X-Treme Fun

As the Marvel and DC universes get shaken up, yet again, new titles will be launched and some will be cancelled. With all these changes I have been taking advantage and really looking at these new titles and deciding what books I want to add to my monthly pull list and what ones I do not. With some of the flagship titles on both sides (mainly Marvel though) raising their book prices and doing more and more tie-ins and crossover story arcs, price point and a self contained story lines are two parameters high on my list of critiques for new books.

I’ve been getting into Green Lantern lately and with Brian Wood writing Ultimate X-Men (as well as X-men) it’s hard not getting pulled into The Ultimate’s and Ultimate Spider-Man with the United events as well as Green Lantern Corpse, New Guardians and Red Lantern with the Rise of the Third Army event. It seems like very few titles are homogeneous onto themselves anymore. I’m not saying crossover stories are bad, I think that having the other titles can extend and deepen story telling but, I’m just stating that too many crossovers can where thin my comic dollar.

So, when I picked up X-Treme X-Men I was pleasantly surprised that the story sends a group of vagabond X-Men from other dimensions through different periods of existence and time. A fantastic sense of speed, especially in the first comic, helps pull the reader quickly into the story. There’s enough quirkiness to the premise proving it could only truly exist in the pages of comic where Emma Frost, James Howlett, Kurt Wagner and Dazzler hop through different dimensions tracking down and killing an evil Professor Xavior that inhabits said dimension all in order to save the multiverse. Did I mention a floating head of Prof. Xavior rounds out the group? Juxtaposing the weird is enough gravity to the characters that make the book feel real with some great character development between the characters; already Howlett and Kurt shown hints of their lives and hardships from their own periods of time. Dazzler acts like a good anchor to a familiar reality and a window to the story, with all the other cast from alternate Marvel U’s while Dazzler’s from the familiar Marvel U that we’ve all grown to love and relate to it as our own actual Earth and home. Once the story is concluded she will also be the one character that carries the weight and deals with the outcome, whether good or bad, so her presence in the story carries some weight.

In a shorter response, in a way, I’d use in casual conversation and, really could’ve saved you all from reading this by saying it at the beginning. But, the easiest way to explain this book is: Doctor Who meets the X-Men. Definitely give X-Treme X-Men a chance especially if you like fantastically weird premises, science fiction, comic adventure and great character narrative. Enjoy!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Music for the Masses: 0003

My lovely wife and I were at the mall, that wretched place, for a bit today and I remembered that F.Y.E. was having a used media sale. I saw this a couple weeks back when I picked up The Chariot's One Wing but I digress. So, I mentioned this to my wife and being a huge music person too we decided to swing by and see if there where any good CD's to pick up and, oh where there. I piked up Shadows Fall Threads of Life and Motorheads Snake Bite Love, just a couple of great bands to fill the holes in my collection. I also picked up RZA's Bobby Digital which I remember coming out when I was a senior in high school. There was a lot of great hip/hop coming out in that time and I always regretted pacing this one up but, now I have it. I also pick up a CD from a band my partner at Side Quest Comic turned me on too.

It's a rare and splendid treat when someone introduces me to new music. The bands called the Meat Heads and they're an old-school punk/alternative band. My friends and I where up north canoeing over summer and we needed some tunes but we all had iPods and no one had a way to hook them to a busted-old stereo so, we had to resort to actual Cd's. I love physical media but I don't carry it with me anymore. But, my comic brethren did and had a Meat Heads CD (in my drunken state I don't remember the title) but I dug what I was hearing and when I saw one of their albums today I had to pick it up. I added Meat Heads No Joke! to my CD stack.

Side Bar: The thrift stores, Sal, and Goodwill are going to be on my radar a bit more when looking for some music scores. I picked up Voodoo Glow Skulls South California Street Music a few weeks back and it is a great ska album by a fantastic band. I haven't picked up one of their albums since Firme and it's great to hear that they haven't let up in the twelve years since then.

Oh, yeah...I'm back!