Audio Review- Black Panther: The Client

Hey everyone, it's your super ultra awesome and humble friend Kello. As promised, here is the first of my 3 Black Panther reviews. Let me know what you think of T'Challa, as well as my dead-on Black Panther impersonation near the end of the video! Long Live awkward white guys in the hood, and Long Live the Legion!

Distractions! Feeling Manly

(It's my new feature "Distractions!" In which I pick a topic, and then a few comics, movies, or songs ,a.k.a distractions, to help set the mood. )

As a 26 year old male who proudly owns two cats, regularly uses body spray, and hasn't had anything close to a girlfriend (or an actual friend) in a very long time, I sometimes feel the overwhelming desire to shoot guns, lift weights, eat 5 pound steaks, and soup up a chevys- you know, activities which provide testosterone boosts and make me feel manly.





Unfortunately, outside of the steak, most of those options are a little out of my abilities, forcing me to live a manly life vicariously through other mediums. So today, I present to you a few of the items that never fail to make me feel like an old fashioned red-blooded American male:


Item #1- Comics with a sense of Justice:

In my previous post here at LOL, I mentioned that a lot of the comics I recently purchased had a more violent slant to them. While I admit over-the-top violence gets old after a while(see the movie Punisher: War Zone, better yet, don't see it) there is something ultimately satisfying about the forces of good definitively deal with the forces of evil.

What's manlier? a corpse that won't stay dead, or throwing a grenade in a grave?

I think it's the whole idea of simple justice- "an eye for an eye." If someone does something wrong, the hero makes sure they pay for it in full. There's no chance of the villainous revolving door antics of Batman or Spider-Man's rogues galleries. Instead the endings are cold and final, with a sense of retribution.

Recommendations:
- Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre 1-3 -As the new host for the Spectre, Crispus Allen (a manly man himself), must deal with the punishment of his own killer as well as passing judgment on his own family. While these deaths are not as "cut and dry" as most of the comics I'm talking about, this deals with the idea of true justice.
- Jonah Hex (Anything from the current run)- As a former confederate who lives by his own code, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti's Jonah Hex is his own man, doling out just desserts to each and every vile foe he faces, while upholding the honor of decent folks just trying to live their lives.

- Any of the Dark Horse Robert E. Howard Adaptations- Conan, Kull, or Solomon Kane. Any of these heroes deal with the responsibility of upholding justice with swift and decisive actions that end lives...often graphicly. Solomon Kane puts it best when he states:



Item #2- Anything Eastwood

Over the past few months I have been on a big Clint Eastwood kick. Starting this summer when I finally sat down to watch all the Dirty Harry movies (did you know there were 5? I didn't). I've found that Clint is the one constant in an ever changing world. Tough, brash, a little smug, and apparently indestructible, I'm pretty sure Clint's acting prowess comes from the fact that he probably isn't doing that much "acting." The dude is a bona-fide Bad-A** S.O.B. And although most of the time he plays a sexist, foul mouthed bigot, you can't help but have a fearful respect for the guy's tough as nails attitude.

I remember seeing an interview between Eastwood on 60 Minutes, and when the anchor asked him something about why his kids all had different mothers, Clint gave him this look that I swear could burn holes in things. I thought my TV was gonna melt or something.
But I digress, because I'm sure the actor would much rather be known for his movies. Well, I mean, if he cared what anyone thought....

Must See Moments:
- "Dirty Harry"- Eastwood foils a man's suicide attempt by climbing a cherry picker up to the ledge where the man is threatening to jump from. After getting the guy to start talking about his problems, Harry simply punches him and grabs his limp body and brings it back down safely. Now that's negotiation that gets results!

- "Paint your Wagon"- Yes, the musical that was lampooned on the Simpsons is real (imagine my surprise, horror, and delight at the video store), but somehow Eastwood maintains a rough and tumble hero that doesn't make you lose respect for him. I mean, you lose respect for yourself for watching a musical, but that's why they have a fast forward feature.

(This song has been in my head all week, by the way)

-" A Fistful of Dollars"- Probably my favorite of the "Man with No Name" westerns that I've seen so far, Eastwood plays an untouchable gunslinger who sets two rival gangs against one another, all the while profiting from their deaths and misfortunes. There were a lot of manly moments, but the best was when Clint is beaten to a bloody pulp, manages to set fire to the town, and then escapes inside a coffin on a wagon.

If they ever made an "Old Man Logan", or needed to cast an aged Bruce Wayne in a "Batman Beyond" feature, Eastwood would be the perfect choice.

As far as music, I have no good manly suggestions. I embraced pop/rock/emo a long time ago, and I gave up trying to defend my enjoyment of it. So maybe in the future I'll have some suggestions, depending on the topic.

You'll probably notice after reading this post that your face has more stubble on it, and a need to best someone in any competition no small has come over you, and that you have the increased desired to kill and stuff a bear. That's okay, you just need some distractions...

Immortal Iron Fix

They say that one man's trash is another man's treasure, and I find this especially true in the realm of comic books. Books that I love may be another man's bird cage liner, or comics he salivates for every month may be so far off my radar that I wouldn't get them out of a quarter bin. But that's the beauty of our hobby- there's something for everybody.

I recently wrote a little blurb (ok, it was pretty much free advertising) about a 70% off sale over at the Things From Another World website. Though most of the comics were considered "nick and dent" copies, there was plenty of material I had been waiting to snatch up. On my first pass I bought up $100 worth of stuff. This is what I got:

TPBS:
Black Panther: The Client
Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther
Black Panther: Secret Invasion
Captain America: Road to Reborn HC
Eternals Manifest Destiny
Punisher: Dark Reign
Thor: Ages of Thunder HC
Red Sonja Vols 5 and 6
Conan Vol 0
Jonah Hex: Six Gun War
Immortal Iron Fist Vols 1 and 2

Issues
Conan the Cimmerian 0-21
Groo: Hell on Earth 1-4
Joe the Barbarian 5-6
Supergirl 49


Apparently there's something about discounted prices that makes me want to read violent, warrior based comics, but sometimes you just have to see some good old fasioned graphic violence, you know?

And if that wasn't enough, I went back and got more (blushes ashamedly). I figured I would never have another chance to get the Immortal Iron Fist this cheap again, so I went ahead and got volumes 3 and 4, as well as another Conan volume by Kurt Busiek, and Justice League Generation Lost 8-10.

It was actually pretty interesting timing to find out about the sale, because lately I have been thinking quite a bit about the Immortal Iron Fist series. If you've never read the original run by Fraction/Brubaker/Aja, you should look into it.

In the initial arc, Danny Rand, the current Iron Fist (as well as readers of the Marvel Universe at large) finds out that the "Iron Fist" moniker is actually a mantle that has been passed down over the ages. This opened up so much history and potential for a character that had been a kung fu joke for the previous decade before, only appearing in failed relaunches(the 1990's Heroes for Hire) or crummy "MC2" guest spots (Spider-Girl). Since the series release, Iron Fist has become a supporting character in Daredevil, a New Avenger, and a key player in the Shadowland series.

The reason I connect so heavily with the Iron Fist book is that it launched right around the time I got back into comics in a big way, and I've always felt like it was a serendipitous meeting. It was almost as if the world of Iron Fist being expanded was like my rediscovered love of comics- what had once been a faded joke had become something with potential for the future.

Wow, that's pretty nerdy... Anyway, my whole point today was that the books I got for cheap are by no means "classics", but I can't wait to devour them once they arrive. This makes me wonder, for those of you who got in on the giant sale, what did your shopping cart have in it?

Until Next Time, Long Live the Legion!

And P.S. , I caved and got my own internet connection, so hopefully I'll be around to manage the site a little quicker!