Justice League Unlimited: Season 1, Episodes 7-8

“The Return”, “The Greatest Story Never Told”

1,000 Strong

Well, everyone, Read/RANT is all grow’d up – we’ve now reached 1,000 posts in our 2+ years on here.  We’ve reviewed hundreds of issues of comics and dozens of trades, we’ve written awesome columns and some pretentious twaddle, we’ve been bashed as haters (of Geoff Johns, mostly) and praised as lovers (… of comics), and you’ve stuck by us through it all.

So, thanks for reading, and I hope you’re all having a FANTASTIC weekend!

- Cal Cleary

The Unread Canon #9: The Walking Dead: The Best Defense

“The Best Defense” is the fifth volume of The Walking Dead, and it’s pretty different from what’s come before.  Previously, each volume was a solid stand-alone story.  Yes, each one built off of everything that came before, and did so VERY, very well… but they were nonetheless essentially standalone stories.  You could conceivably read, enjoy and understand “Safety Behind Bars” without having read “Days Gone Bye” or continuing on to “The Heart’s Desire”, and while you’d miss out on some interesting and important character development, I think you’d find each story enjoyable in its own right.  But while “The Best Defense” is an engaging, enjoyable read, it’s also almost purely wrap-up from the previous arc and set-up for the next one.

Justice League Unlimited: Season 1, Episodes 5-6

“Kids’ Stuff”, “This Little Piggy”

Blue Beetle TV Show

By now, many comic fans have heard the news – Geoff Johns announced on Twitter (and was backed up by Cully Hamner and others) that DC is trying to develop a live-action BLUE BEETLE TV show, and they have the test images to prove it.  Now, as Johns assures us, this is in no way a done deal.  These images aren’t final, no real casting has been done – it’s purely in theory mode.

But given that Blue Beetle was, for its 3 year run, consistently one of the strongest titles published by any company, this is worth getting excited about.  If you want to see more images, or read Johns’ full announcement, head on over to Superhero Hype…

- Cal Cleary

One Shot 1: Sandman #8

Twenty-two pages fills up fast.  There’s no denying that.  Action sequences often eat up huge chunks of a book, and you can only fit so much dialogue on the page before it becomes cluttered, not to mention how much of the probably excellent art you’ll be covering up by doing so.  So, understandably, most writers will have their stories run in arcs, getting 44, 66, 88, etc… pages to tell it.  It’s not hard to see why, but the tendency to keep expanding the story is part of what makes it so rewarding when you come across a single issue that manages to not only exemplify what it is you so love about the book, but that manages to do so with an impressive economy of storytelling.  One Shot is meant to take a close look at why those issues work as well as they do, the way they do.

Justice League Unlimited: Season 1, Episodes 3-4

“Hawk and Dove”, “Fearful Symmetry”

The Unread Canon #8: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life

Everyone has a set of entertainment by which they’ll swear, the ones they’ll eventually convince every friend to watch/listen to/read.  Sometimes, those suggestions are echoed time and again all over the place, and even the most jaded, world-weary or dirt-poor fan of the medium has to get curious about just what all that fuss is for.  That’s why I’ve started The Unread Canon, my attempt to experience a great deal more of comics than I already have and take a look at the books that, over the past few years (or, in some cases, decades) have achieved passionate, vocal critical and fan supporters that have nevertheless managed to slip by me and to try and look at how they grew, how they aged, why they work, or why they might not work so well anymore.

A Brief Apology

Hey, loyal readers – Cal here.  I wanted to apologize very briefly that The Unread Canon and my Justice League Unlimited reviews didn’t appear.  I had a job interview in Little Rock, I left my laptop in Nashville during my drive from Cincinnati – long story short, my computer and I were separated for longer than we have been in years, and by hundreds of miles.

So, to my 12 loyal readers, I apologize, and with hope, I will soon be in one place long enough to have both my comics AND my laptop available at the same time!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend… and enjoy New Comics Day!

- Cal Cleary

Review: Avengers Prime #1

The best thing about The Siege is that it ended what was for me a very frustrating era.  The Avengers have long been my favorite Marvel franchise.  And after years of languishing, the Avengers were finally in the forefront of the Marvel Universe.  Unfortunately, most of the stories that put them there just didn’t appeal to me very much.

Who is Hawkeye?

I’m getting excited about the up-coming Avengers movie.  First, Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Friggin’ Vampire Slayer) signed on to direct.  Then we got some pretty exciting leaks of concept art for Cap and Thor.  Now, Entertainment weekly is reporting that “The Hurt Locker”‘s Jeremy Renner is close to signing on to play Hawkeye.

How’s that for casting?  Perfect, says I!  Renner has the intensity to play Hawkeye.  But he also has the charisma to make the sometimes unsympathetic character likable.

Review: Red Robin 13

*spoilers*

Review/RANT: Brightest Day 03

*spoilers*

Captain America and Thor Concept Art?

These are rumored to be authentic pics of the concept art for the upcoming Captain America and Thor movies.  Look pretty sweet if you ask me.

Cap after the jump…