Friday, May 9
A G'nerd original! Not safe for work if your work frowns on curse words and bare bums.
I hit up a press preview of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's newest special exhibit, Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy. The exhibit features a variety of, how do you say, costume pieces?
Originally intended to show off existing and prototype clothing/bodywear that is designed to actually enhance one's physical abilities, the works became an exploration of the symbolism and metaphor inherent in superheroes, and experimentation with those symbols and iconography surrounding superheroes. To sum it up, a bunch of famous designers created works based in some part on existing superheros' costumes.
Some of them are very crazy-runway fashion-y, but there are also some really interesting costumes that play with the basics behind hero costumes. I took a bunch of pictures for you guys to preview before you drop by. They're more runway than they are utilitarian (designed by the likes of Dolce and Armani), but they do give an interesting insight into the way different kinds of hero costumes are designed.
Takes on Superman, Spider-Man, The Flash and more after the jump....
Sponsored by Armani, who was onhand to give a little speech all in Italian. I left those pictures out, since he was wearing a suit that didn't include emblems, armor, spandex, or a cape of any kind.
First on the list was of course, Superman. The designers did a bit more playing around with the iconography of Supe's than re-imagining his costume, but Alex Ross in the background is a nice touch. They also had the original Supes movie costumes on display with a ghosting effect that transformed the mannequin wearing the costumes from Superman back to Clark Kent. Unfortunately the way it was set up taking photos didn't really work very well.
Here's a little taste of the Spider-man area. Most of these outfits were various evening gowns with hints of webs in them. Personally I found them pretty boring in terms of exploring Spidey's costume. Taking one of the most iconic costumes in comics and parsing it down to webs on a dress isn't really that interesting.
These lycra/spandex suits are actually speed suits, designed to help athletes move faster, specifically speed skaters or runners. As you can see by the backdrop, they are Flash inspired. This was the stuff I found pretty cool, as they were designing costumes that had real life applications and were still a throwback to comics.
A couple of flying suits, including a glider suit (back) and glider wings equipped with twin turbine engines capable of generating enough thrust to propel a person through the air. They can both actually be used and do work at what they do, which is let you move freely through the air (though I believe parachutes are required when one actually goes to land).
The original costume worn my Lynda Carter for the Wonder Woman series. They split the heroes up into archetypes, armored, mutant, speed, patriotic, etc. This is the centerpiece of the patriotic section.
I actually really enjoyed these two costumes in the Patriotic display. They remind of a lot of Sandman (obviously), and also of the sort of non-costume but still emblematic Starman.
The "mutant" heroes area, which focusing more on clothing that symbolized mutation rather than served any utilitarian purpose, was really gorgeous.
The exhibit touched upon the way that female characters are portrayed primarily as sexual creatures to be viewed by men. A variety of Catwoman inspired costumes played with fetish and revealing clothing. Surprisingly they weren't even that risque compared to a lot of comic book fodder. I'm not going to go into depth here, but their touch on sexism and misogyny in comics was greatly appreciated.
This lady was reporting for Marvel and making all sorts of cheesy jokes in her little snippets. Oh Marvel.com, you and your quirky pink haired reporters.
The "armored" heroes area, showing a variety of "armored costumes" touching on both Iron Man and Batman as examples. That's the actual Iron Man suit used in the movie. I'm pretty sure that costume in front of it was what Witchblade creators originally wanted, until they were told that it hurts to get punched in the boob. (kidding)
I couldn't for the life of me get a clear shot of this costume, but I really like the human bullet motif going on, with the entire top and helmet designed like shell casings and bullets. There was also a female version, and of course I couldn't help but think of the new Bulleteer.
This was one of my favorite designs. It looks like a costume straight out of Batman Beyond, and I really love it. The use of armor-like materials and the big bulky armored arms look really cool, I was really looking for more stuff like this, things that looked like they could almost make their way into the comics.
Also exciting, they had issues of characters first appearances on the wall, actual issues. I've never wanted to steal something from the Met as much as I did right then.
And lastly, maybe the BEST reason to come to this exhibit is the chance to see this:
Ladies and Gentlemen, when else are you going to see huge statues of the Big Three in the atrium of the Metropolitan Museum of Art?
That's it for now. If you're interested take your behind over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where this exhibit will be showing until September 1st.
It's Cinco De Mayo! Apparently this holiday is celebrated more in the US than in Meh-hee-co proper, EXCEPT for in the town of Puebla, which is right around where my family is from, so there's legitimacy for you. And though Mexico is not particularly renown for it's exportation of geek culture (it's no Japan, I'll tell you that much), I could think of at least five (or CINCO; get it?) nerd icons of Mexican ancestry, and I'm not even including myself. So what follows is a collection of folks both real and fictional, born inside and outside of Mexico, all of whom are totally freakin geeky.
5. Pedro
4. Guillermo Del Toro
3. Betty Suarez
2. Jaime Reyez
1.Robert Rodriguez
Friday, May 2
I was waiting for someone to put this clip online, and here it is. In last week's episode of 30 Rock, Tracey decides his legacy will be to give the world the first great porn video game. Judah Friedlander explains why this is impossible, because of what he dubs (and what will forever be known as) The Uncanny Valley. All CG-happy filmmakers need to watch this clip before the movie-going public has to deal with another freaky, gold version of Angelina Jolie that doesn't have nipples but does have a tail. Uch.
Coincidentally, Sam of Sam and Max: Freelance Police (as channeled through comic genius Steve Purcell) recently had this to say about his computer-generated counterpart currently starring in Telltale's episodic adventure games ;
"We're depicted by patented, computer-generated simulacrums called "sythespians". They act up a storm for just pennies and except for the dead, soulless looks on their pasty, inhuman mugs I actually prefer them to our real selves!"
That is exactly why I can't get into those games, as big a Sam and Max fan as I am. That and I don't own a PC.
Just to drive the point home, some classic examples of the Uncanny Valley in action, after the jump...
Here's that horrible Final Fantasy movie from 2001. I actually saw this in theaters for some reason, and spent the whole time trying to put my finger on what was wrong with the way the characters move. Every gesture and change in facial expression is agonizingly slow, and weirdly fluid. This is back when people thought all you had to do to for realistic motion-capture was to tape a bunch of ping pong balls to a green screen suit. Shudder.
Since his lecture was framed around Star Wars, it seems like Jonah would have wanted to mention the public relations disaster that was Jar-Jar. Maybe they just didn't want to go there. I didn't even want to put a picture up. Cartoonish yet disturbingly bound to selective laws of real world physics, horribly ugly (he's got seg-ment-ed eyes!), and with a loping gait that would have flunked him out of clown college, he is genuinely upsetting to watch. It's upsetting to even talk about him, really. Let's move on.
Just look at this nightmare of soulless devil children and floppy, way-too-slow CG physics. What circuit is Robert Zemeckis missing from his brain that makes him think this is a good way to make a movie?
It's worth noting that the Uncanny Valley principal can be used in a filmmaker's favor when creating a CG character that is meant to be disturbing. Some successes in this vein include General Grevious, Davey Jones from Pirates II and III (and then at least they kept Bill Nighy's actual eyes), and of course the most well regarded CG performance to date, Andy Serkis's turn as Gollum. Gollum was actually TOO uncanny for me to be captivated by, I never believed his shiny skin texture and cartoonishly bulging eyes actually existed in that rough, tactile world of New Zealand, or wherever those books take place. Here's that scene that made people want to give Serkis a hundred Oscars for, but I still find too silly and unrefined to take seriously as any kind of brave-new-world indicator of how CG can blend with acting. But I can't deny, it's creepy as hell.
Teen Titans: Year One #4 was the first comic I read today, and I noticed this panel:
If you'll notice the stock ticker near the bottom of the panel, you'll see that above the Wayne Enterprises and Lexcorp stock quotes, the words "PERU 81-08" are scrolling across the screen. This is a nod to artist Stephane Peru, who died from a heart attack in February. I had no idea the guy was so young. Peru had been doing colors for the beautifully illustrated Teen Titans: Year One, which I had gotten so excited about when the first cover images showed up in previews. Back then I had given all the credit to penciler Karl Kerschl, but I wish I had taken the time to look up the name of the incredibly talented, young guy who had brought the excellent art to life with subtle yet vibrant, sculptural colors.
This is the cover for Teen Titans #6, the final issue in the series, due in May. I hope it's not morbid or crass to assume this too is a nod to Peru, given the obvious theme of the cover and the uncolored Titans in the sky. It reminds me of the famous "Speechless" tribute to Mel Blanc.
Issue #5 (thanks to inker Serge la Pointe for the correction) will be the last issue of Teen Titans:Year One with a cover colored by Peru, make sure to check it out.
Everyone knows that nerds like Star Wars and Star Trek. But you can really tell when you're dealing with a geeky individual of true good humor and taste by how strongly they react when you mention Galaxy Quest, the unbelievably wonderful sci-fi comedy classic. I used to work in a video store where we'd watch this about twice a week on the store monitors. Galaxy Quest and Bring It On. That was a great job.
Galaxy Quest ended with the doors wide open for a sequel, but stupid Dreamworks never made one. Why?! The movie made money and Tim and Sigourney Weaver both said they'd do another one, but ours is not to question the will of movie execs, just to complain about their decisions. Luckily, like the throngs of Buffy fans, we GQ cultists may now be able to half-satisfy our fandom with a new comic book that picks up where the movie left off. You can read the full press release over at Comic Book Resources, but the bullet points are:
Every week we at Geekanerd rip panels from our comics and put them on display here, recognizing the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the week. Beware some major SPOILERS.
Click the pics for high res goodness!
Only In Comics: Hack/Slash #11
You know you're reading a comic book when a girl like that gives a look like that to a dude wearing a replica Star Trek uniform. Also unlikely; that a guy with such model-esque looks would be wearing a Star Trek uniform in the first place. But this part of why we read comics; they're better than real life.
After the jump, farewell to Countdown and Bruce Wayne just like we like him; violently insane!
Writer Self-Commentary: Countdown #1
This may not in fact be meta-commentary, but I'd guess that many folks on the Countdown team are glad to be done with what must have been a pretty unrewarding book to work on. That and Donna and Co's laughably self-important hero stances makes me think that Ray Palmer speaks for the DC creatives as well as DC readers.
Best Actor: Bruce Wayne, Batman #675
These panels could also be filed under our "Clearest Example of Batman's Insanity" catagory, but I really want to give props to artist Ryan Benjamin, whose work I've had problems with in the past, but who really brings it with his depiction of Bruce Wayne going from smarmy jerk to monstrous bat-demon.
First we get several of these shit-eating grins as Bruce attempts to smooth things over with his girlfriend...
But as she presses him on his increasingly evident dark side, the cracks begin to show...
This pic is a little silly, but I love how Bruce's bulk is accentuated and his eyes are just black silvers of nothingness...almost fully into Bat territory here...
One terrorist attack later, Bruce goes Bat for reals, sans costume. Nothing scarier than Batman with out the cowl.
This classic splash panel makes no apologies. Lightning crashing in the night sky before the bat signal? I'll take it!
Hey Gnerd readers! We're thinking of making Weekanerd a weekend feature only. We'll still have daily event listings on the right-hand sidebar, but we'll only do write-ups for Friday through Sunday. Is that cool with you? Let us know at tips@geekanerdblog.com.
Friday, April 25
Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. There are probably some spoilers herein. Arranged from BEST to WORST.
Batman #675 gets an A from AHR
Excellent emotionally-charged art from Ryan Benjamin, and a story from Grant Morrison that on one hand feels like covered ground (Bruce's girlfriend senses a dark side), but on the other is done with a raw sense of urgency and ugliness that indicates a very dark road to come in the R.I.P. storyline.
Hack/Slash #11 gets an A from AHR
I dropped off this book for a while cause I thought it was getting a little cheeseball. But this issue is great; it picks up on old plot threads, yet also has a simple, impacting done-in-one storyline. It's nowhere near as depressing as the last issue, but still maintains some emotional depth around main character Cassie, who is thoughtful and reserved about her sexuality in a way that's highly unusual for an ass-kicking comic heroine to be. I'm hooked again.
Ultimate Spider-Man #121, Fall of Cthulhu #11, The Spirit #16, Countdown #01 and Flash Gordon #0 all after the jump!
Ultimate Spider-Man #121 gets an A from Albo
I haven't read an issue of this comic since the first couple of years it was on the stands. I never could get past Bagley's art to fully enjoy Bendis' great storytelling. Now Bagley is gone and the team of Stuart Immonen and Wade von Grawbadger are producing some really great stuff. They are capable of drawing teenage kids that actually look like teenage kids and have oodles of personality. Oh yeah, and Bendis is still a great writer.
Fall of Cthulhu #11 gets a B from Albo
I picked up Cthulhu Tales on a whim last week and really enjoyed it, so I took a chance and hopped onto this book to see if it provided the same level of solid horror storytelling. The verdict: Pretty much. It doesn't really do anything new, but the ominous sense that the people in this small town are about to face some truly horrific shit provides a chilly enjoyment.
The Spirit #16 gets a C from Albo
*Sigh* I miss Darwyn Cooke. This tale is such a by-the-numbers murder mystery you wonder why they bothered.
Countdown #01 gets a D+ from AHR
This issue opens with Jimmy Olsen recounting a bad dream in which he was given the impossible task of writing a good story about the post-52 multiverse. Get it? Bet the fans who bought this crap every week for a year are loving that one. Though apparently Harley and Holly Robinson are living together now, so maybe it was all worth it.
Flash Gordon #0 gets an F from Albo
Oh God why? The storytelling in this preview book is nonsense. The art looks like the anime crap you can find painstakingly scrawled on notepaper in every high school in America. And not content to just draw poorly, the artist reuses the same drawings over and over again. Not in succession or for comedic effect but just whenever he doesn't have the energy to draw a character's face again. Which for some reason is a lot. You'll see what I mean when we do Panel Discussion this weekend.
Jackson Publick and Quickstop Entertainment just posted a totally official, non-bootlegged version of the Venture Brothers Season 3 Preview that was shown at the New York Comic Con last weekend.
This high quality goodness reveals a better look at younger-versions of The Monarch and Phantom Limb, a glance at Dr. Girlfriend in her new (spoiler alert for lame-os who haven't seen Season 2) Dr. Mrs. Monarch outfit with crown included, and a nice clear version of the G.I parody theme song! SWEETNESS AND LIGHT!
Got a camera and a hankering to be a part of the Watchmen movie? Well get your creative hat on, because director Zack Snyder is looking for a few good Veidt commercials he can use to populate the many TVs in the film. Forty finalists get a poster signed by Snyder, then those go to a user voting round where the top five videos get a High-Definition Canon Vixia HG10. Up to twenty of Snyder's personal favorites get $1000 and a chance to be in the film itself. Download some product assets here, read the official rules here, and hit the jump for a couple of sample commercials. Videos are due June 2.
As we wrap up our Comic Con coverage, let's take a look at some of our favorite cosplayers...
This Golden Age Green Lantern was extremely well put together. Although... *ahem* Alan Scott wore the ring on his left middle finger.
There's a bunch more enthusiastic dressers after the jump!
Batman sneaks up on his rogue's gallery while I distract them with a camera.
The Black Cat. Prrr.
This Chewie had an awesome voice box that gave him a very authentic Chewie grumble.
Team Fortress 2's Medic is looking for someone to heal. He struck this pose without even thinking twice about it, the body language is straight out of the game. TF2 was a really popular cosplay choice this year, probably cause it gives folks a chance to make big cardboard and PVC versions of the weapons.
Aura Sing is just happy to be here. Remember how big a deal she was before Episode I? She was supposed to be the new Boba Fett....but the prequels destroyed all that they touched, and she's been mostly forgotten, though apparently not by this lady.
An unlikely couple, but I guess Superman has plenty of time on his hands now that he's drinking Red Bull. Click to get the high res pic so you can check out his killer blue contacts.
An excellent Static Shock, looking like a life-sized action figure with flying disc included.
The Monarch and the butter-voiced Dr. Girlfriend. At the Venture Brothers panel, these two asked Doc Hammer to be their minister at their upcoming wedding. He said he'd seriously consider it. A match made in nerd heaven, obviously.
Mario and Luigi in the house, plumbing gear at the ready.
These Spider-Men were getting along famously, posing for photos together and chatting up a storm.
This guy nails the Hugh Jackman eyebrows, and his claws were impressive to say the least.
This is one deadly lady. Francine Castle?
Anyone know who the lady with V is?
I came to Comic Con on Sunday for one reason; The Mighty B! panel. A full episode ("Sweet Sixteenth") was screened along with a number of pencil tests, character models, and background art, and I am now certain of what I had already suspected; this show (premiering April 26th) is going to be a solid hit with my slice of the cartoon watching demographic. That would be the Too-Old-To
