Behind Blue Eyes - The Who

No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes



No one knows what it's like
To be hated
To be fated
To telling only lies


But my dreams
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be


I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free


No one knows what it's like
To feel these feelings
Like I do
And I blame you


No one bites back as hard
On their anger
None of my pain and woe
Can show through


But my dreams
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be


I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free


When my fist clenches, crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool
When I smile, tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool


If I swallow anything evil
Put your finger down my throat
If I shiver, please give me a blanket
Keep me warm, let me wear your coat


No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes


--Because some songs come randomly when you least expect them and hit your soul like a sledgehammer.
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Why Isn't Anyone Paying Attention?

THE ORDER #10

Written by MATT FRACTION
Pencils & Cover by BARRY KITSON

Shell-shocked, shattered, and--worst of all—depowered, the men and women that were once the Order stand face to face with the big-bad that's toyed with them for 9 whole issues in various forms and guises and shapes and sizes. They might be broken--but can The Order be beaten? The end of a strange and vicious trip arrives, and God only knows if the Order will survive.
As this is our last issue, y'know, you might think you know the answer. But you might be wrong! You don't know. You DON'T! Hooray! Goodbye!
By Matt Fraction (PUNISHER WAR JOURNAL, Casanova), Kaare Evans (Immortal Iron Fist) and Barry Kitson (Empire, Legion of Superheroes).

32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

Thus ends Marvel's best new property since RUNAWAYS and X-STATIX. Meanwhile, piles of shite like NEW WARRIORS lives to see #11 and beyond?
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Kick-Ass Viral

This video has been making the rounds on the internet for the past few weeks. A sneakily fake video, a lot of people have assumed it's part of a viral advertsing campaign.



But for what? Watchmen? Too trashy. Dark Knight? Too flashy.

but what about:

The greatest super hero comic of all-time is finally here. WOLVERINE: ENEMY OF THE STATE's team of MARK MILLAR (CIVIL WAR) and JOHN ROMITA JR. (WORLD WAR HULK) reunite for the best new book of the 21st century. Have you ever wanted to be a super hero? Dreamed of donning a mask and just heading outside to some kick-ass? Well, this is the book for you--the comic that starts where other super hero books draw the line. KICK-ASS is realistic super heroes taken to the next level. Miss out and you're an idiot!

KICK-ASS is the new mini-series from Mark Millar, with art by John Romita Jr, telling the story of the real world's first super-hero, a normal kid who takes to the streets in a hood/mask to stop criminals. Familiar, eh? On top of that Millar is the one obvious choice from the comics industry who could aspire/stoop to this kind of stunt/advertising. And it would be a brilliant move in either case, as this video is gathering more and more attention blogsphere-wide.

More preview images in the Newsarama article

EDIT: Well, as indicated to me by Rich Johnston, I'm not the first one to make this connection, as there already is a thread on Newsarama and some comments I conveniently missed on the youtube page! At least I reached the conclusion on my own -yay me-

DOUBLE-EDIT: and the viral has been confirmed with the launch of the official MySpace site for the comic! Cosmic Convergence and all that
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Facebook Chain-letters

I've long rallied that Facebook is the most brilliant internet website that is not owned by google (yet?).

It came in out of nowhere and succeeded where all other previous networking websites simply struggled to stay afloat. For me, the attraction is beyond the networking, in the applications it supports.

You can really do anything on Facebook. You can have live chats, group chats, send e-mails, share videos, you can tag your friends on photos (and find out when you get tagged) -which is by far what won me over in the first place-, you can dedicate songs, rate movies, take quizzes, meet dates, grow virtual pets, play board games or even platform games (Zelda, b*tch!)!

It's the internet shrunk down to only include you and your friends!

If there was ever proof of that, it arrived with the first Facebook spoof chain-mail!

Attention all Facebook membeRs.
Facebook is recently becoming very overpopulated,
There have been many members complaining that Facebook
is becoming very slow.Record shows that the reason is
that there are too many non-active Facebook members
And on the other side too many new Facebook members.
We will be sending this messages around to see if the
Members are active or not,If you're active please send
to other users using Copy+Paste to show that you are active
Those who do not send this message within 2 weeks,
The user will be deleted without hesitation to create more space,
If Facebook is still overpopulated we kindly ask for donations but until then send this message to all your friends and make sure you send
this message to show me that your active and not deleted.

Founder of Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg

Honestly, what do you really need email accounts for anymore, you can get spammed more effectively on FunWall!

To actually go in depth about how obviously fake this message is, is to stoop down to the level of all those brainless trolls (a.k.a. over 100 of my friends) who keep circulating this message on a daily basis). Really now, Facebook is not only bothered that it is too popular (i'm sure their advertisers are causing a ruckus there), but they have hired people to weed out the extraneous profiles (including anyone who has gone on mroe than 3 weeks holiday). They're of course not gonig about that business by -oh, I dunno- checking the mini-feeds provided by Facebook on every profile, but by hiring people to monitor each user's Fun/SuperWall, an outside source application!

Oops, I couldn't resist a little ran there. Anyway.

Now as soon as they introduce Facebook Blogs, the rest of the internet can go the way of the dinosaur ;)
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Radio Music Piracy killed the Video Star

A video fairytale with a didactic core. Starring a pop queen, a thieving sorcerer, a band of trovadours, and the court Jester who couldn't keep his mouth shut.

The ingredients of this little story, in video:

Music, is quite good, 'Clocks' from Coldplay



Piracy, is of Greek origin, 'Thelo Na Se Do' (I want to see you), from Despina Vandi, 'composed' by Greece's #1 music man, Foivos



Start playing the videos, and do a bit of mixing, see if you can Spot The Difference.

This is where the Video Star, or VJ, comes in.

Guy Krief is a French-Greek who has been making waves with his part off-beat, part brain-dead way of presenting a music show, on Greek TV's #1 (or is that 'only'?) music channel, MAD TV. Last week, he decided to push his luck, by commenting on the newly released Foivos song, and presenting a mix clip comparing it to Coldplay.



The Kill? That came after the show's end, with Foivos and the company Heaven, 'allegedly', calling in the station, causing havoc and giving Guy the ax for his (=their) sins. Guy's show Ninja TV was never seen again and the young VJ (the second most popular presenter on the station after the actual manager) was laid off.

After this, feel free to make your own conclusions; I'm feeling too happy this morning to get into Freedom of Expression, Media Hypocrisy and Survival of the Most Profitable.
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Speaking of Sean Astin...

I declare today World Sean Astin Day (W-SAD).

How could I have been so blind all these years! I never really made the connection till I wiki'ed him today for the week's O.W. entry.

So, Sean Astin got from this cute 'aww' thing (the Goonies):


to this adorable short-pint mug (Lord of the Rings)


Ok, interesting growth, but still only cute.

Until this:


(adding fuel to my growing belief that everyone looks 10 times hotter in a beard, and that there ought to be a pro-facial hair law protecting against close shaves)

This photo has ignited an intense interest in Mr Astin's 'artistic career' here at LYSAD central. He will heretofore be in such esteemed company, as mr Seth Rogen and mr Ryan Reynolds.

Stay tuned for more as the story develops. Meanwhile:

Sexy beardiness!

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Cover Fads: The Order #4 Vs. X-Force #119

I went to great detail last month about how Marvel's newest Hollywood super-team THE ORDER reminds me of my old darlings, Pete Milligan's X-FORCE.

Taking a look at next issue's cover (#4, by Barry Kitson), I was struck by deja vu; looking back on google, I found the cover to that X-Force team's 4th issue (#119, since they debuted in #116, art by Mike Allred).




Swipe? (nah)

Homage?

Creative Subconscious Synchronicity?

I love them both regardless :)
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Light a candle - Stop Child Pornography

Take a minute of your time to help spread the word, post this on your blog and email it to your friends:

The innocent victims of Internet child abuse cannot speak for themselves.

But you can.

With your help, we can eradicate this evil trade.

We do not need your money. We need you to light a candle of support. The more candles we light, the more powerful our voice becomes.

This petition will be used to encourage governments, politicians, financial institutions, payment organisations, Internet service providers, technology companies and law enforcement agencies to eradicate the commercial viability of online child abuse. They have the power to work together. You have the power to get them to take action.

Please light your candle at lightamillioncandles.com or send an email of support to light@lightamillioncandles.com. Together, we can destroy the commercial viability of Internet child abuse sites that are destroying the lives of innocent children. Kindly forward this email to your friends, relatives and work colleagues so that they can light a candle too.

Candles now lit =

2,267,751

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Brand New Day solicitation spoilers

So, how closely have you been looking at the recent Marvel Comics Solicitations, and the Brand New Day covers?

Like, say, the cover to Amazing Spider-Man #546 above.

You know the one. The one where Spider-Man is pulling his MASK down, swinging on rooftops with a CAMERA strapped on his arm, while on the background J. Jonah Jameson is ranting on a billboard about the MASKED MENACE.

And isn't Peter Parker looking all single in those preview pages where he's mending his spider-man costume on his own?

This humble fan's opinion: JMS is ending his run with a huge RESET button, undoing spider-man continuity all the way back to the spider-marriage and beyond. The world forgets who spider-man is, Spider-man forgets who Mary Jane is, Mary Jane forgets who Peter is, but also gets a nifty power set and superhero identity out of the deal (so they can fall in love with each other all over again, not knowing who each other really is! awwwww)
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Black Canary or... Black Widow!

Am I the only one noticing the subtle absence of Ollie from the first two covers of GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY ?

Exhibit A: Cover to #1

Solicitation:

The new Green Arrow/Black Canary team investigates the shocking results of the Wedding of the Century in an all-new adventure that brings the Star City-crossed lovers together!

Now, we know the united Super-villains are crashing the wedding in the next JLA issue, but could they really be offing the groom? Why else wouldn't Ollie be featured on the cover of the first issue?




Exhibit B: Cover to #2

Solicitation:

Black Canary and Speedy head to Amazon Island, where a job offer from Athena seems to be the perfect opportunity for Dinah to focus some of her frustrations over what's happened to Green Arrow.

Again, no Ollie, but the rest of Team Arrow is present. Artist Cliff Chiang recently posted this cover on his blog, commenting that:

Plus, I can’t really preview much of the art for the book just yet.

Will DC kindly stop offing their characters library? It's been a death-a-month since Countdown started and I'm starting to get ticked off...

p.s. As a bonus, check out Cliff's pencils and inks for the second cover by clicking on the image in this link. Cliff Chiang on the book is the only thing that would make me read this despite Winnick's continuing presence...
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The case of Dan DiDio v. Everyone

Something's definitely rotten in the kingdom of DC

Everything kicked off with Dan DiDio's Newsarama interview which stoked the fires of discontent, by actively denying there is anything wrong, rejoicing in the company's great popularity and the fans' happiness with their product.

I've already gone through my thoughts on DiDio's statements in the interview, and their funny comparison to reality, a few weeks ago.

Well, I'm not the only one being vocal.

Valerie D'Orazio, former assistant editor at DC has recently gone on a long and well-versed rant against Dan DiDio on her Occasional Superheroine blog. If you're going to read one blog this week (apart from this one, duh), make a point of checking this one out.

Best quotes for the fan on the go:

• [...]the situation at DC has become so dire that to continue to publically mock "Countdown" would be in bad taste.
• DC is not Marvel[...]Marvel superheroes are not just flawed to be flawed, but have their flawedness organically built into their backstories and characterizations.[...]By contrast, the serious personality flaws imposed on some DC characters in Didio's regime -- such as sociopath/killer Max Lord, sociopath/killer Superboy, "bad girl" Supergirl, rapist Dr. Light, cruelly unethical Leslie Thompkins, and amoral JLA -- have been superimposed, artifically added, uneccessary.
  
  
• Failure to nurture Editors internally.[...]this point goes back to before Didio, back when DC let Axel Alonso get away [...]there has been a similar failure to make the extra effort to retain a good editor over the last few years that I think has directly impacted the company at present.[...]If they do not feel that they have a future with the company in terms of promotabilty, etc., how does that effect their morale?
  
  
• "Stephanie will never get a trophy case."[...]The Didio era at DC inadvertantly helped launch a renaissance in feminist activism in comic books.[...]Stephanie Brown's grisly demise combined three general c**k-ups of the last six years all in one.[...]First, you have the "filth florin filth" aping of what Marvel is considered to be -- hardcore, violent, and amoral.[...]Second, you have what I will explore later -- short-term investment in gimmicks rather than longterm investment in character and story.[...]Third, you have cluelessness/insensitivity to female issues which are interpreted by some (though not all) as misogyny.
  
  
• One-Trick Pony[...]It is inexplicable to me that DC kept running the "New Crisis" thing into the ground after "Infinite Crisis." Whose idea was this? Who said "let's keep running this into the ground?"[...]Was it simple greed that spawned "Countdown," or was there truly not an original idea left to be had?[...]And whose brilliant idea was it to have each issue be drawn & written by different creative teams? It looks like crap. It's like those late books with 15 different inkers working on it at the same time.
  
  
• Didio doesn't "pull off" a Quesada particularly effectively. And that's enough on that.
  
  
• Didio is an "alpha" -- an aggressive male used to full-on attack and victory.[...]This becomes a problem because you essentially have something akin to a dictatorship.Who can stand up to the uber-powerful "alpha" figure and successfully argue their point of view?
  
  
• Lack of innovation.
  Yes, "Minx" is an innovation -- not a Didio project.
  Yes, "Zuda" is an innovation -- not a Didio project.What are the innovations of the Didio regime?
  a) "Taking the smile out of comics" with the "innovative" "Identity Crisis"
  b) Aping the successful "Crisis on Infinite Earths" of twenty-five years ago with "Infinite Crisis"
  c) Aping the successful "Crisis on Infinite Earths" of twenty-five years ago with "52"
  d) Aping the successful "Crisis on Infinite Earths" of twenty-five years ago with "Countdown"
  e) Aping the successful "Crisis on Infinite Earths" of twenty-five years ago with "Final Crisis"
  [...]The popular wisdom is that if you want innovation, try Vertigo. But I think that's DC's failing. Because Marvel has more successfully blended the innovative/"weird" with their mainstream.
  
  
• DC has basically invested their whole superhero line on a series that sucks."Countdown" is an industry joke, and Didio's repeated attempts to justify it sounds eerily familar to GW Bush trying to justify Iraq.
  
  
• Gimmicks like "Female Robin," "Identity Crisis," "the great Giffen JLA massacre," "All-Star Batman," etc alienate long-time readers, drive parents away from the titles, and scoop up great short-term dividends.[...]Yes, killing off Kirby's New Gods in a much-hyped series will give you initial high sales. But then, you've slashed-and-burned your history. What do you do when your short-term is up?The whole Identity-Crisis/Infinite Crisis/52/Countdown complex is a short-term enterprise that started out cool and interesting and went on too damn long.
  
  
• Who would -- theoretically, of course -- replace Dan?My personal pick would be Dwayne McDuffie. He has the experience running a comic book company, he has Hollywood experience, he's a great writer, and sounds like a good egg.

And I'll second that nomination! Dwayne McDuffie sounds like the perfect choice, and he's been more and more involved with quality projects in both companies lately.

Another interesting article on DC's future was posted this week on Blog@Newsarama by "Grumpy Old Fan"

Best Quotes from Five Ways DC Can Make Me A Happier Old Fan:

Stick To A Schedule[...]However, while it’s good to have the issues actually in-hand, it’s arguably better to have them come out on a recognizable schedule.

Death Is Not An Option.[...] it is more than a little depressing that characters’ deaths are telegraphed in, if not outright selling points for, a lot of these events. The thought of Death of the New Gods closing the door on an entire “family” of characters just makes me ill.

Think Outside The Main Line.[...]I’d like to see more “historical” stories (Satellite Era, Detroit League, JLI) in [JLA Classified] as well. I’d also like to see more period stories of the original Justice Socialites in JSA Classified.


More Eclectic Collections.[...]DC could do worse than to reprint collections of the original Blue Devil, Firestorm, and Nemesis stories. Each of those characters has been fairly prominent these days, and revisiting the old stuff couldn’t hurt.[...]A number of offbeat, fondly-remembered series, including Amethyst, Hourman, ‘Mazing Man, Major Bummer, and Young Heroes In Love, would also make fine trade paperbacks.

Five-Year Crossover Moratorium. [...]DC’s credibility is pretty much zero when it proclaims Final Crisis to be just that. Much of that is due to the company’s perpetual-crossover mentality, going back at least to the start of Identity Crisis in the summer of 2004. [...]With the last issue of Final Crisis coming out at the end of 2008, that’ll actually cap about four and a half years of mega-crossover hijinx, but as you’ll see it pretty much works out.

I really cannot stress the moratorium enough. DC’s reliance on the crossover is approaching “we have always been at war with Oceania” levels. Annual crossovers were the norm for a few years after Crisis On Infinite Earths, but these past few years it’s just been too pervasive. I was ready for it to end with 52, and I’m more than ready for it to end with Final Crisis.

One of the publisher’s old slogans was “More Than Just Superheroes (But We’ve Got Them Too).” Time again to dust it off.

What do you think? I'd like to hear from the readers on this. Contrary to Dan diDio, I do believe the internet's voice is important and representative
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Woah Woah, What's new Kitty-cat?

Now, was that so hard?

Ultimate Kitty Pryde debuted her new sexy costume last week in Ultimate Spider-man #112, courtesy of new regular artist Stuart Immonen (the genius behind NEXTWAVE, Superman Secret Identity, Shockrockets and more)

Now, Kitty has been around for... how long? 25 years give or take.

And how many good costumes has she worn? And I mean something that is not derivative of the X-Men school uniform. UncannyX-Men.net has a nice rundown of her most significant costumes for a taste.

This on the other hand, this shows promise.

Let's do a list (we love lists!)

It's:
sexy, with the exposed shoulders and the choker,
feminine, with the sash,
low-key, with a distinctive color scheme (it's not the school colours for one, and not plain bland blue-black, but still indicative of shadows),
'feline' because of the mask design, suggesting 'Kitty' or Shadowcat
classy, what with the high gloves and all, which also bear a nice little touch with the zig-zag the pattern at their end

In the end though, the sheer coolness boils down to one thing: the mask. It's hard to come up with an original mask or headdress design these days. Think about Storm, Scarlet Witch, Mockingbird (one of the greatest designs, actually), or looking at the men: Wolverine, Cyclops, Ant-Man. ..

These are some of the most distinctive and recognizable designs in comics. They set the hero apart from the crowd and become a vital characteristic of them, much like hair or eye color. Let's face it, as many costumes as Storm and Scarlet Witch are likely to change through the years, the artists always eventually return to the classic head-dress design, since the character feels incomplete without them.

With Kitty, I could comfortably see this as her new trademark look. A superhero look, mature/grown-up yet still playful and fun.

Ironically, I would have preferred this costume on the '616' Kitty instead, who is an actual adult superhero at this point, than the teenager school-girl Ultimate Kitty, but I'm not one to gripe (sic). Adult Kitty also has the extra connection to the costume with her dancer-history, as the costume strongly reminds of the sort of dancer costumes made famous in Fame in the 80s ;)

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Matt Wagner & Christianity in the DC Universe

An excerpt from Matt Wagner's panel from WizardWorld Chicago:

Talking about Jason Todd coming back as the Red Hood, Wagner wondered why there are Christians in the DC Universe since there are so many people that come back from the dead, rendering Jesus' resurrection as not out of the ordinary.

This of course is a very valid point. So Jesus Christ came back from the dead two thousand years ago. Superman did that 5 years ago, Donna Troy does it every month, and even the Green Arrow came back from the dead once. Resurrection should have lost its currency by now.

The problem of course is worse over in the Marvel Universe, where half the population has at one point died and come back to life (some Thanos crossover bru-haha) in the 90s.
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