el Diablo Robotico says, “I AM VAMPIRE, SOOKIE!”

I realize this is really later in the week than I intended to post it, but it couldn’t be helped. Over the past few weeks I been slowly consuming the first season of TRUE BLOOD on DVD, and slowly become addicted to it’s delightfully campy mix of sex and cheese. I’ve been dutifully recording the current season on HBO for safekeeping until I was totally caught up on the DVDs. So this past weekend I had a small TRUE BLOOD marathon as I recently decided to get an HD DVR and – Poppa had to watch him some Sookie Stackhouse fang banging with Bill (”I am Vampire!) Compton before the DVR’s got switched out and I lost the chance to catch up. So you can blame Anna Paquin’s boobies for the delay.
 
Now – on to the comics!
 
 
STORMWATCH: POST EARTH DIVISION 22 – This issue marks the first time since Wildstorm’s big “post-apocalyptic Earth” stories began, that I can honestly say I am in love with the direction of this book 100%. After manipulating Winter beyond the breaking point and losing Fuji to the destruction of his containment suit – we finally have ourselves some members of the team ripe for insubordination. And just as they begin to conspire – suicide bombers trick their way on to the ship. The political machinations, mixed with super heroics, that have made me a fan of Stormwatch all along have finally returned. FANBOY FUN!
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Postmodernism and Tiny Wolverine

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There is cultural and institutional interdependence between members of any community, especially the members of any team striving for mutant justice within a flatscan society. Back when Vealinger reamarked “the power struggle will continue while the great tale of humanity remains untold,” he created a monster which society has been attempting to tame ever since. Much like Wolverine. While the western world use a knife and fork, the Chinese use chopsticks. While Canada uses Alpha Flight, we in America rejoice in our plentitude of X-teams. Why shouldn’t we?

Let’s forgo asking the question “Why didn’t Marx forsee mutantcy in his historical dialectic?” The answers to that query would hit us in the face like a pie full of iron truths: either Marx was himself a mutant, or perhaps he was just a moron, like so many ro-men of that era. Ro-man want to be hu-man. This transition was impossible until the advent of the showy guzzler.

Back to the topic at hand: if one examines cultural theory, one is faced with a choice: either accept Debordist situation or conclude that sexuality is fundamentally used in the service of outmoded perceptions of culture, given that language is distinct from consciousness. But Wolverine is both the ur-man in his hairy masculinihilismity and the ultimate woman by virtue of the fact that he grows flesh, by his healing factor. Forgetting for a fact that Wolverine is expending the surely finite resources of an extradimensional Meatspace by regrowing his bodily tissues, Wolvie has himself become a wombless woman, in a neat inversion of crazy Freud’s sex calculus. X-man wants to be hu-man.

Any number of deconstructivisms concerning modernist discourse may be revealed. Thus, the subject is contextualised into a that includes language as a totality. Wolverine can never be a full totality; he is, rather, a mass of Tiny Wolverines, each growing out of the bodyflesh chunks James Howlett has left after multiple battles on multiple continents. These chunks o’ flesh, like the central Wolverine husk, must surely have a holographic tendency to grow a full replication of the same body from which they sprung. However, with limited flesh to grow and shape, these flesh chunks would over time form into Wolverine-shaped masses of small statue; i.e., Tiny Wolverines. Perhaps these Tiny Wolverines would themselves, after tiny battles, shed flesh chunks of their own, further engendering a race of Tiny Tiny Wolverines, onto ad infinitum. In this, Wolverine is no mere mutant. Wolverine is a fractal proposition.

tiny-wolverine

Lyotard’s essay on cultural theory suggests that the significance of the writer is significant form. Wolverine, as a fractal superorganism, has no significant form, merely a sniktin’ form. In a sense, the stasis of Wolverine in the Claremont era, andof precapitalist deconstructivist theory intrinsic to Rushdie’s Satanic Verses is also evident in Midnight’s Children, although in a more mythopoetical sense. But what is Wolverine but pure mythopoeticism?

Look, bitches: the premise of Debordist situation holds that sexual identity has intrinsic meaning, but only if subcapitalist libertarianism is invalid. But Lacan promotes the use of Debordist situation to attack sexism. Wolverine having no sex, a genderless canucklehead,  he is the Situationist homunculus-idea made perfect, and manifest.

Also, Tiny Wolverine. TINY WOLVERINE.

FIRECRACKER, FIRECRACKER SIS-BOOM-BA!!!

I just had about the longest July 4th weekend I’ve ever had, and I still haven’t recovered. In the words of Jonah Hex, “I feel like I been et by a wolf, and s*** off a cliff.” For those that care, and I’ll share even if you don’t, my baby boy, Holden, turned three on July 4th. So the day was filled with cake, ice cream and presents, before keeping the kids up way past bedtime for fireworks. And it was all done in that dry ass Texas heat that come along in the dead of Summer and makes you wish you lived in Antarctica.
 
It was in honor of the holiday that I whipped out the newest Captain America trade paperback and Cap. 600 before devoting any time to the new Captain America Reborn mini-series.  Well…..that and the fact that I just wanted to get caught up on C.A. before I even thought about opening Reborn. Okay….that and the fact that I was all caught up on my Netflix DVDs.
 
Anywho….on to the comics!
 
 
DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS: SERIES TWO 8 – This issue marks the first three installments of Steve Parkhouse’s THE STOCKBRIDGE HORROR. It is a sci-fi mystery involving a TARDIS being excavated at an archaeological dig, two charred bodies lying in fields with no signs of burnt foliage around them, and a mysterious assailant able to attack the TARDIS itself. In terms of Doctor Who stories it is quite good, and in terms of sci fi mysteries it remarkably interesting. GOOD STUFF.
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THRILLER NIGHT w/ el DIABLO ROBOTICO

In losing Michael Jackson this week I was reminded, through various blogs around the Internet, of his deep lifelong love of the comic book medium. He shopped quite frequently at the comic store GOLDEN APPLE in California and over the years had a few comics actually made to tie-in with various entertainment projects he was working on at the time, such as the 3D CAPTAIN EO comic book produced by Eclipse Comics in the 1980s that tied-in with his short movie feature for Walt Disney.

I, for one, was a lifelong (if somewhat closeted) fan of his music, having grown up with his THRILLER album during my formative years and following his career (in secret) throughout his publishing history. I tried, sometimes in vain, to ignore the immense media scrutiny he suffered through and just concentrate on how much fun his music was appreciate it for what it was – but sometimes those glaring paparazzi lights were just too blinding. Say what you will about the man’s private life, but his music is undeniable. He was a gifted man who put a lot of thought and heart into every project he attached his name to. Whether it be a new album, a music video, a comic book tie-in or video game – no matter what he did I had fun and I couldn’t have asked for more.
In this dying age of print and tactile medias – one of the savviest marketing geniuses is gone, and my assorted collections will only suffer for it.
Now – on to the comics!
EUREKA: DORMANT GENE 3 (of 4) – This is far more interesting than it has any right to be, as far as TV tie-in/adaptations are concerned. An odd storytelling implement is used wherein characters fill in background with one or two panels, in some cases a few panels/pages, of unrelated artwork. As if they are telling our protagonist Sheriff Carter one thing and the panel we see is their (or his) thoughts on what they are relating. I’m not doing the practice justice in trying to convey how odd it seems, but trust me (or check it out for yourself) in a comic book like this it really stands out. OKAY.
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LESSONS IN LETHARGY W/ EL DIABLO ROBOTICO

Sorry for the lack of preamble lately, folks.  I am anticipating having to train someone at my “real” job sometime soon-ish and I wanted to try and get caught up on my reading before that happens, so my days and nights have been spent doing just that.  Honestly – my life isn’t the Quentin Tarantino film that you think it is. 
 
Straight on in to the comics for us then? After you….
 
POWER GIRL 2 – I don’t know why I’m just not feeling this book. I’ve always been a big Power Girl fan….well….a fan of her “assets” at any rate. Add in the writing team of Palmiotti and Gray, the always wonderful Amanda Conner on art and Adam Hughes on covers and you should have a winning team. One thing I’m not thrilled with is the introduction of a supporting cast that felt a little wedged in, with no time to get to know any of them, and not to mention the Ultra-Humanite as the first villain. For a kid raised on PLANET OF THE APES you would think I would dig seeing big talking gorilla villains more than I actually do.  I’ll stick around for a good while to see if this book grows on me, but I’m gonna call this one – OKAY. 

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el DIABLO ROBOTICO RIDES THE COAT TAILS OF CAPT. AMERICA!

Thought I would throw these reviews out on Monday to try and ride the coat tails of the CAPTAIN AMERICA 600/REBORN media train going through comic book land on this most auspi….ah. Who am I kidding?  I was just too lazy to post them over the weekend.
 
Lets get right in to it, m’kay?
 
BILLY BATSON AND THE MAGIC OF SHAZAM! 5 – This issue a new creative team takes over for Mike (HEROBEAR) Kunkel and for once it doesn’t take me 20 mins to read an issue.  Ah, but I kid. I kid. But seriously – the absence of Kunkel, who took his inspiration from Jeff Smith’s under-rated MONSTER SOCIETY OF EVIL graphic novel, has seriously hurt this book. Instead of the childlike whimsy and wonder that Kunkel filled each panel with, not to mention beautiful artwork, the book took a quick walk into the deep end of “kiddie” comics. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was a major disappointment from expecting Calvin & Hobbes style adventures and humor and receiving  Hagar The Horrible action and drama.  EH.

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WEEK OLD COOKIES w/ el DIABLO ROBOTICO

Welcome back for another thrilling installment of FANBOY FUN WITH el DIABLO ROBOTICO! 
 
I don’t really have much to ramble on about here, although I did trick fellow METROPOLIS alum Wombat into eating a week old cookie.  BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!  …so….I’m going to Hell.  On to the comics….
 
DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS – SERIES TWO 7 – In this issue – The Doctor bitch slaps a guy wearing glasses when he freaks out on an alien space ship. Don’t go all girly girl on the Doctor, ya’ll.  He don’t play dat!  OKAY.
 
ASTRO BOY: THE MOVIE – OFFICIAL MOVIE PREQUEL 2 (of 4) – I’m not really sure what to make of this book. If this is a faithful prequel in terms of style and tone, then that upcoming CGI Astro Boy movie is gonna piss all over the memory of Osamu Tezuka. While trying to remain “all ages” fun harmless, the book loses all the whimsical and moral turmoil that Tezuka pretty much cornered the market on.  It’s decent, and I can safely read it to my kids before bedtime, but the deeper adult meaning just isn’t there. Ah, what did I expect from an IDW production? EH. 

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The Art of Brevity w/ e; Diablo Robotico!

It has long been my desire to write my reviews with one simple word that encapsulates everything about the issue in question.  One word so succinct and perfect that anyone who reads the issue in question couldn’t help to say that I totally nailed it in my review.  Unfortunately I am not quite good enough, or confident enough, to do that just yet.  But I’m working my way up to it. What you see below is the result of my brevity for brevity’s sake attempt at churning out a review in as few words, or sentences, as possible.  i will admit the sheer volume of single issue titles that I amassed this week had more than a little do with it.  That, my friends, is a lot of comics down below. 
 
So without further ado….
 
EUREKA: DORMANT GENE 2 (of 4) – Why do I get the feeling someone read TWILIGHT before they sat down to write this? Lab partners, indeed.  OKAY.

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Bleeding Cool, New Comic Book Resource

It’s no secret that I have a mild obsession, wanting to sleep with, love of Warren Ellis.

He recently has been whoring for talking about this new comic book centered website on his blog.

If you like Metropolis, Bleeding Cool is a good place to look towards for another for of a comic book news fix.

Below is an excerpt from the intro to the site,

“This site will not so much pull back the curtains of the comic book industry, as give you a series of upskirt shots. But as well as news, rumours and gossip, there will be reviews, previews, features, interviews, videos, columns and a place for comic book readers to call their own. Whatever your tastes from mini comics by Sean Azzopardi to blockbuster events by Geoff Johns, from the Guardianista middle class commentary of Posy Simmonds to the righteous right hook of Chuck Dixon, from Rob Liefeld’s cankles to Robert Crumb’s thighs, from Frank Quitely’s OctoMumLips to Frank Cho’s shapely hips, you’re welcome here.”

THEY CANCELLED WHAT? -or- FANBOY FUN w/ el Diablo Robotico

Sorry I didn’t post any reviews last week.  I took the week off due to a massive influx of new comics.  Far too many to review! After I waded through the stack of new monthly titles, I decided to try and get caught up on that brick-like wall of new trade paperbacks that has been steadily growing at el Diablo Central.  I finally got around to reading the last three Osamu Tezuka’s BLACK JACK collections, the new volume of ESSENTIAL HULK, JACK KIRBY’S THE LOSERS (Excellent!), and the FERRO LAD SAGA in DC’s new library classics line.  All that, and I barely made a dent in the stack of stuff.  UGH!
 
So in between reading all that, and this week’s new comics, I’ve been busy mourning the cancellation of some of my beloved TV shows.  This week has been the major television network’s upfronts – where they present their new schedules to advertisers. I can’t remember any time in my television viewing history when so many shows I watch were cancelled all at once.  MY NAME IS EARL (NBC), MEDIUM (NBC – moving to CBS), REAPER (THE CW), THE UNIT (CBS – This one pisses me off the most!), TERMINATOR: SARAH CONNER CHRONICLES (Fox), PRISON BREAK (Fox), LIFE (NBC), SAMANTHA WHO? (ABC), etc. I’m sure I missed one.  My only consolation is that SUPERNATURAL and SMALLVILLE were renewed for one more year.  Did anyone see that SUPERNATURAL Season Finale? Holy Sweet Jeebus, that was awesome! I can’t wait to see how they resolve that in the series final season.  The worst (?) thing is that none of the shows on the networks schedules look all that interesting to me.  THE LISTENER? Seriously?  Other than the remake of “V” there really isn’t much that I plan to try out. I guess that means I’ll finally have time to catch up on my reading? 
 
Now – on to the comics –

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