(July 5) I’ve decided to stick this to the front page until they’re all done adding updates. I’ll remove this line when I unstick it. New posting appear underneath. (Latest update: July 5)
Want to know how behind I am on my RSS feeds? Besides the fact that my three blog political commentary group is almost at 200 postings? I just found out that our heroes at X-Ray Studios, the masters of awesome behind Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures of the Eighth Grade(aka the best comic put out since this blog began if not ever, but I haven’t re-read Fanboy in a while) have announced that they’ll be taking over another favorite Johnny DC title, Batman: The Brave and the Bold. I’ll be rooting for them, but if goes too far from the comic (as other toon-spinoff comics by both of the big two have done in the past, getting too close to the mainline titles), I will call them on it. Still, between X-Ray on B:TBATB and Tony Lee on Doctor Who, I’m a happy guy.
(Now we just need Brad Mick and Adam Patyk back on Transformers, or better yet Bob Budiansky, or even better yet, me–OK, nobody would hire me…yet–and I’ll be even happier.)
As to the best crack this side of World of Warcraft, which I don’t actually play but I’ve heard, Landry is posting early concept designs for the characters in Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures! As of now, there are only six articles up, but you will learn many interesting things about the designs, characters left behind, and more. In fact, I’m not even going to post any of the art…OK, maybe my favorite bits of Lena art.
But the rest you’ll have to check out for yourself. But here are some handy links (which will be updated as they do for fellow late-commers.)
Short week, but with family parties and buying the current Previews catalog (because I’m tired of missing out on comics I hadn’t heard about until it’s too late), I didn’t have the time and money to devote to comics. I picked up the final issue of the Revenge of the Fallen adaptation from IDW, but I was more looking at differences between it and the movie, so it’s tough to give it a proper review. Besides, I can’t tell what to blame on early script drafts, how much to blame on compression (a 2+ hour movie versus 4 modern-sized comics) and how much to blame on Simon Furman. At least I still have my three-comic minimum for the weekly reviews, so let’s get to it!
Spoiler-blocked versions available at ComiXology
“Disney-MGM Studios 4th of July Fireworks” from 2005 posted to YouTube by themack618
“This is the 4th of July fireworks show at the Disney-MGM Studios in Walt Disney World, FL. Taped in 2005. This version of the show made its debut in 2004 and has been the same since.”
Saturday Night Showcase returns next week. My apologies to any non-US viewers, and to those who hate the USA, 
.
Taking the easy way out for Independence Day. Also, I think too many Americans forget what the holiday is all about, and Hollywood would probably just make the Founding Fathers look bad (I can imagine what a new version of Johnny Tremain would look like). So my fight music this week (and will have that entry next week, I promise) comes courtesy of YouTube poster “creatively210″.
I’m just going to assume Spacebooger joins me in wishing everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July.
Track 6 of 12
Now go vote for one of the real entries in Track 6. Consider it your patriotic duty.
The month of July, when we of the United States celebrate our decision to break free of a tyrant king in order to establish a nation run by the citizenry via representatives who have our best interests at heart. I miss that country.
July is also the month of my birth. Don’t judge it too harshly.
Finally, July is the month of this edition of the ComiXology Pull List. What are the odds?
Disclaimer: All comics listed will be reviewed subject to publisher’s final release, whether or not my comic store ordered enough, if I decided to actually pick it up based on my budget and in-store browse, and if Diamond didn’t flub things up. Again.
OK, it’s another comic book, but at least this time it’s not a Transformers title. 
I first heard of James E. Schaad…actually, I thought I knew where. I could have sworn he worked on Robotech for the defunct Academy Comics, Ltd. However, I really can’t find any evidence to back me up, so maybe I picked up tonight’s entry based solely on the solicit. Now this strikes me as odd, because Against the Grain isn’t exactly the type of comic I usually pick up. As you’ve seen here, when it comes to my fictional choices I tend to go super heroes, science fiction, and the occasional adventure story. In fact, the only comic reference I can find for him is a story in Ninja High School called “Against the Grain”. I wish I had a memory that bloody worked!
At any rate, I’m glad I got it. Against the Grain is billed as a “slice of life” story surrounding a group of kids about to enter high school. The center character is Terry Galloway, someone I actually have quite a bit in common with except he’s a math geek and I’m more of the storytelling variety. Both of us were in love with a girl in high school and never had the guts to tell her. Heck, he even looks a bit like I do, except I didn’t wear glasses until maybe my late 20’s. So let’s look at the second story to surprise me by grabbing my interest. (The other is Oh! My Goddess.)
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, the sub-titles have nothing to do with the content. I was planning to dedicate the whole week to “getting caught up” in hopes finally beingcaught up. Then I remembered Wednesday is the beginning of the month, and I don’t want to do the monthly Pull List late again. So plan for next week, which will give me time to pre-write some articles for the following week, which will be my birthday week (July 13, I accept Transformers as presents, unless someone wants to buy me a Wii–yes, I’m kidding, but I do want a Wii and please deal with it) and thus my vacation.
- No link here, but quick review on Revenge of the Fallen if anyone cares. Not as bad as I’ve seen reviewed, because I don’t think the money was wasted. Not that I disagree with some of the complaints (I thought the plot was ok, but it’s the story itself that’s empty, the final scene SFX were below par, and the brownie scene is up there with “Sam’s Happy Time”), and it is the weaker of the two movies. But I didn’t think it was that bad. A lot of wasted potential, but it’s hardly the worst movie I’ve ever seen. That’s still reserved for The Shadow. Now THAT was a waste of good money. If anyone wants me to do a full spoiler-ridden review just post in the comments. I’m curious to see how much attention I’m really getting.
- Valerie D’Ozarino (I can pronounce Vulcan names and I know I’d trip over that one) at ComiXology has a got-it-right article about some of the flaws in the story stylings of today’s comics. OK, that sentence made little sense. Just read the article.
- I’m not sure Viper Comics is my kind of comics, but if your looking to get into the industry, they’re holding auditions.
- GWOtaku at Toon Zone’s blogs uses The Last Unicorn to discuss the differences between “animation” and “anime”. And why elitist fans are morons, but that’s my words, not his.
- The good news for Batman/Superman Adventures fans? Tim Daly, Clancy Brown, and Kevin Conroy will be back in their “proper” roles (Superman, Lex Luthor, and Batman) in the next direct-to-video movie from DC animation. The bad news? It’s that one based on the Jeph Loeb Superman/Batman story that I’m not hearing a lot of good things about. Also, a release date: September 29th.
- The upcoming “Gathering of the Gargoyles”, a convention for fans of the animated series masterpiece, will be the final convention.
- As part of their Comic-Con coverage, G4 will be airing the Lucasfilm panel live. Now if they’d actually cover something comic related like that, I’d be pleased.
- “The Watchman” take a look at the old Batman movie serial. You know, the one with the “Jap” character that everyone rants against.
- And finally, Timothy Callahan defends his scathing critique of X-Factor #44. I haven’t read the comic or the review, but I can support everything else he writes in the post.
I think that’s a good one to end on. Again, if you want the full, spoiler-happy review of the new Transformers movie by mineself, say something. I don’t even need a high number. Know what? If you don’t like posting, I’ll make a poll, instead.
