Archie Goodwin and Walter Simonson's Manhunter

 

TITLE-Manhunter

SOURCE-Early 80s DC reprint

When I was still young and hitting a comic shop I would hear the old guys talking about the infamous 70s Manhunter run. When this above pictured comic came out one of them jokingly gave me some shit for not buying it. $2.50 was half my weekly comic budget back then and the new GI Joe was out.

Now many decades later I have read it. Thanks to me not reading closely I didn't realize the copy I had bought was being shipped from Canada. So 13 bucks for shipping and 2 weeks later I had a copy. Thought about  it and decided against reading it all in one sitting. Nah pace it out. One chapter every day or so. 

So each night normally after dinner I would read a chapter. And I see why this is acclaimed. Plus see how it had major influences on stuff I was reading not many years after this. Yes Frank Miller credits managa and mostly Lone Wolf and Cub for his page and panel layouts on his Daredevil run. I see a pile of influence from this short run of Manhunter.

Until the ending  chapter where Batman shows up this feels more like a spy thriller than a 70s Superhero story  from DC. Paul Kirk is back from the dead. He has a healing factor and is on the run from The Council. A  group of powerful men that are slowly taking control of the world. Besides clones of himself ,Paul also has a Interpol Agent on his tail.

I rather not spoil much of the story cause of how good it is. Word of warning  if you find older comics wordy this is a WORDY comic. But even then it reads fast. Just a masterclass of words and drawings to create a run that ended sadly too soon.

Manhunter by Archie Goodwin(writer) and  Walter Simonson(Artist) gets a A+

Terminator Infinity VOL 1

 

TITLE-Terminator Infinity Volume 1

SOURCE-Dynamite TPB

I have read some of NOW Comics Terminator stuff,mostly The Burning Earth mini series. A handful of the ones Dark Horse published. Just never read any of the Terminator stuff from Dynamite. Found this TPB cheap and took a chance.

Set a few years after Terminator 3,John Connor is alone in the bunker. His girlfriend died a few years ago. He knows it is as safe as I will get to go out and see what is left. But he is scared.

Thankfully he leaves and ends up meeting up with a small group of resistance. Who have in their group Old Bob,a T-100 terminator sent back with it's mission to protect John Connor. And in this group is a young boy,who doesn't talk much. And is named Kyle.

First issue in this TPB sets up all that. And then we meet the T-Infinity. The most powerful Terminator so far. A shapeshifting unkillable machine that has a mission to killer a Connor. But is that Connor John or another one?

Our group is heading to a giant radio station out in  the desert. Hoping by using it they can get a message out to whoever else is alive. John is trying his best to not let the group know Old Bob is a Terminator. 

The issue is a Hunter Killer base is nearby. John and Old Bob lead a raid on this base taking out the base and 2 Hunter Killers. And a group of resistance meets  them back at the radio station.

Will the T-infinity complete it's mission? Why is Old Bob vague as fuck about what his mission is? Is Kyle KYLE REESE?

I got answers to two of these questions and I'm hoping if there is another TPB I find out the answer to the other one.

Terminator Infinity Volume 1 gets a B.

Superman Batman Public Enemies

 

TITLE-Superman Batman Public Enemies

SOURCE-Warner Premiere DVD

Now I have never read the comic series this  film is based on. Never really been a big Superman fan. And Batman is one I like but depends  on the creative team.

A meteor is heading to Earth,Lex Luthor is President of the USA. Using manipulated footage Luther convinces the US citizens that Superman murdered Mentallo. Leading to a pile of heroes hunting for Superman and Batman. All while Luthor is up to something and this meteor is not that far from hitting Earth.

I love how the animation style used in the film looks like a tweeked version of the Timmverse style. The voice work is well done. And the film isn't too long. 

What I really enjoyed is how many lesser known heroes get to appear. Black Lightning,Captain Atom,Nightshade and so many others get appearances. Then you got Power Girl in a major role. With a sly joke about her best known feature when her,Batman and Superman have to goto a 13  year old genius to stop the Kryptonite meteor from hitting Earth.

I know there is a sequel. Which deals with what was in that meteor. Had that part spoiled for me already. Will track that sequel down soon.

Superman Batman Public Enemies gets a B-

D.O.A.Dead or Alive

 

TItle-D.O.A. Dead or Alive

SOURCE-Dimension Extreme DVD

I was the perfect age when the fighting game genre blew up in the arcades. By the time  DOA hit systems I was out of video games. So while I had played some DOA game a few times I don't know much about the  franchise or it's lore. Just wanted to get that out first before talking  about the  film.

There is  an invite only fighting  tournament. The film starts with us seeing the various people getting invited.  Got Devon  Aoki as a princess who is  also a ninja, Holly Valance as a thief. And Jaime Pressly as Tina Armstrong a pro wrestler.

This is a plot I've seen many times in various martial arts films. Fighters invited  to an island for a tournament. The twist  this  time is the guy  running  it all  is  Eric Roberts. And he  is injecting  each  fighter with nanobots. So he  can  record them  and  then  sell  this  data to  other fighters around  the world.

Yes the film is dumb,and knows this so runs  with it. Imagine a bigger budgeted Bruceplotation film. That is what DOA Dead or Alive is. Not the  best movie  based  on  a video game,but also far from the  worst.

DOA Dead or Alive gets a C+

Meatballs IV

 

TITLE-Meatballs IV

SOURCE-MVD Rewind Collection Blu Ray

Starting off as a film known as Happy Campers,no not the early 2000's film. But mid way through  production they paid for the  Meatballs rights,which pissed the director off. He hate sequels.

But really this ain't a sequel. Just another film set at a summer camp. This time it is a ski camp. On a lake where there is two camps. One ran by the late great Jack Nance,and the other ran by Sarah Douglas. Jack's camp is losing customers so he rehires the best skier ever Ricky Wade (Corey Haim) who even though he is the same  age or maybe a year older than the campers calls them kids often.

The camp ran by Sarah Douglas starts pulling stunts to get the other camps campers to leave. Leading up to a contest winner gets both camps. 

It's your standard 80s camp comedy. Just happening in the  early 90s and almost  all the female cast if former Playmates of the month. And  really it is one I happened to see so many  times. When it hit cable SHowtime had the rights  and aired it  at least once a week. 

This Blu Ray looks  and sounds  great. Way better than it looked when I saw it on Showtime. And better than the DVD rip  I have had for years. 

Extras there isn't many. Get trailers for 3 other films  MVD is releasing/has released. Trailer  for Meatballs 4.Then  a 55 minute interview with the director. Which is loaded with info. The director also did Repossessed and a few other cult classics.

Meatballs 4 isn't some amazing comedy. But if you want a throwback  to 80s style comedy it is perfect. And this release is a great  way to watch it.

Meatballs 4 gets a B.

TMNT Mutant Mayhem

 

TITLE-Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem

SOURCE-Blu Ray

I bought this Blu Ray  at least a year ago if not longer ago. Had heard it was really good,found  it for 5 bucks new and grabbed it. Opened it  ,redeemed the digital  code. Then  never watched it. Until recently.

We get the standard TMNT origin. Splinter living in  the sewers finds the turtles and the ooze. They mutate and Splinter  raises them  teaching the ways of  the  NINJA. What changed this time is  the teenage aspect  is in  the  forefront. The 4 brothers are in their mid  to late teens. Wanna goto  school,they wanna explore the city. There is 2 other major changes. One is that April O'Neil is  now a high school kid. The other change I will mention near the end of this piece.

Seems someone known as Superfly is getting various pieces of equipment stolen. The TMNT gang along with  April try to  figure this out and fastly learn it is a gang of Mutants. Superfly,voiced by  Ice Cube,is their leader. But you got Rocksteady & Bebop,Genghis Frog,Mondo Gecko,Wingnut,Leatherhead and many of the other mutants. Seems Superfly wants to build a device that will mutate all the other animals and they can then  take over the world from the Humans.

The  animation is gorgeous. Like at first I wasn't sure,it has a very different look to it from any other animated TMNT thing. Once you get use to it it works well. I like how they made each of the turtles look different. Really in this film  there was no need for  each turtle to have a different colored bandana. Each of them  has a distinct body. 

I loved the soundtrack. A  nice mixture of mostly NYC based artists. Wasn't expecting to hear Wu Tang Clan in a TMNT movie!

Now time for that other change I mentioned... Shredder only appears right at the end before the credits start. Yep a TMNT movie with out Shredder. And I was 50 minutes into the film before I realized he wasn't in it.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem gets a A-.

The Big Hit

 

TITLE-The Big Hit

SOURCE-Tri Star DVD

This is one of many films I saw back in  the  early days of DVD. Had a buddy who would go every Tuesday and rent pretty much every new release ,on vhs,from Hollywood Video. Pile of us would gather at his home 2 nights a week and  watch  movies.

Mark Wahlberg is a hitman/robber with a heart. He is trying to balance not only his one girlfriend,played by Christina Applegate,but another woman in  his life,who is only there to scam money from  him.

The group of wacky criminals he works with is a pretty decent  group of Hey that guy.
Lou Diamond Philips as the defacto leader of the group.
Antonio Sabata Jr as the ladies man.
Bokene Woodbine as a guy obessses with jerking off.

I said they were wacky.

They kidnap the daughter of an Asian businessman. Not knowing he is now broke from  funding a major movie that bombed. The kidnapped daughter gets dropped off at Wahlbergs house the same day his gf and her parents are  coming  to visit. Oh and we learn the  kidnapped daughter is the god daughter of these criminals big boss!

Che-Kirk Wong is the director and this feels like a Hong Kong action/comedy filtered through a US studio,which was Tri Star. We pretty much  go from  comedy to a stunt piece back to comedy.

And how can you hate a film  where a major plot point revolves around a rented vhs  of King Kong Lives?

No clue if this has a 4k or Blu Ray release? I got the DVD for a buck  and  am happy with it.

The Big Hit gets a B+.

What the hell is Manhua?

 

Back in 1988 I was at Magnolia Jr High. And my best friend was excitedly telling me about this "Japanese" comic he had found the previous weekend at Waldens Books in the  nearby mall. The  way he was describing  it  I just figured he was making stuff up. Out of his book bag he pulled a copy of the above pictured comic. Jademan Kung Fu Special #1 a full color 64 page comic. Once I was home from  school I started bugging  my  mom to drive me  to the mall to get a copy.  Now at the time I like my buddy just assumed this was more Japanese comics. And unlike say Mai the Psychic Girl this was in color. 

Few days later I went  got  my own  copy. Wasn't happy with the high cover price. But the next day at school a kid  paid me 2  bucks for the poster that  was  inside the comic. A poster of  The Stan Lee  of Hong Kong Comics Tony Wong standing in front of a red Ferrarri. I must have read that Special 20 times  that month. Eagerly awaiting the 4 monthly titles from Jademan. And then they never appeared. Never saw them  at Waldens.  Never saw them  at Gulf Coast Comix in Biloxi and never saw them at Sincere Comics in Mobile Al. For years I just assumed that Kung Fu Special is all that came out.

Skip ahead decades. I had forgotten about Jademan  and the Kung  Fu Special. Right around the  time  I got back in touch with the friend  that  showed me his copy ,the Cartoonist Kayfabe Youtube channel  did an episode on Kung Fu Special  #1. And I learned that  it was Chinese comics aka Manhua. And  there was a pile of these  issues.  

Off I went to the  online branch of Lone Star Comics.  Bought the Kung  Fu Special. Loved  it and since  then  when I find them  cheap I buy any comic Jademan put out.

Cause even now there isn't another company that has the combo of great art plus extra long books with some of  the best coloring  I have seen. 

Also learned that while  that Kung Fu Special was nothing but action  comics  Jademan  branched  out. I now have a few issues of their  horror anthology series. Plus all three issues of Jademan Comics,a anthology series that has 6 to 10 page stories  of all genres.

Doing  some research seems  I am not  the only  person  that got that Kung Fu Special and was hooked. A quick Google search  led  me to  a blog with  scans of all 55 issues of Oriental  Heroes. Plus the various online comic shops have  issues for cover price or cheaper if you  dont require Minty Mint copies.

Parenthood

 

TITLE-Parenthood

SOURCE-DVD

Now  I am sure I had heard of this film when it was hitting theaters. Just never saw  it till for what felt  like 2 years it aired at least once a week on Showtime. I watched it and loved it so much I ended up watching it  each time  it aired.

Steve Martin  has 3  kids,an almost teen boy who has anxiety issues,a younger girl,then a new baby boy  who  is  maybe 3. And while Steve and his family are the  leads in the film the film also focuses on his  siblings and parents.

Got his one  sister who is a single mom trying to raise  2 kids. The older kid is Martha Plimpton and she is  dating Keanu Reeves,in one of his earliest roles  I  saw. Then there is  the younger kid,a son played by Jouquin,listed as Leaf,Phoenix. All the kid wants to do is stay in his room,and when  we find out why it leads to a great speech from Keanu.

Then there  is Steve's youngest brother,the kid  that never did  well. He shows back up after  years with a young child now,named Cool,and is trying to turn  his life around.

Now when  I  first saw this film I was 15 or 16  and it made me laugh. Now I'm in  my  early 50s and not only  do I laugh  but also get all the anguish and pain Steve  is going through.

Covering  about a year in  the life of this family Parenthood is just a great film. Not many films can have me laughing  hard  at one scene then by the next scene has  me  wondering where the tissues are.

Directed by Ron Howard it feels to me like Parenthood is forgotten. I never see anyone mention the  film. And just learned there  is now 2 tv shows  based on the film.

Funny,heart warming and  a film that makes you realize everyone's family is a bit nuts.

Parenthood gets a A+.

Hi folks

 Sorry for the long gap between posts. I had a day planned out to work on a few and then the night before tornados hit near my area. We had no damage,just went almost 5 days without power.

I hope to have something up on here by the middle of the month.