Tag Archives: comic-con

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Four-Color Flashback: ‘Preacher: Vol. 1 – Gone to Texas’

Last summer, I started a column entitled Four-Color Flashback, wherein I went through and discussed/analyzed a legendary run of comic books I’d never read. In that case, it was Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s Uncanny X-Men (read the first part here). It was a fun experience, and toward the end of the column, I stated the desire to return to the concept “some time in the next century.” That time is now!

Unlike last year, which was just me rambling on endlessly by myself, this summer, I’m joined by Paul to discuss Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s notorious Preacher. Paul is a huge fan, and I’ve never read a single issue, so we’re both bringing different perspectives to the table. The series lasted for 66 issues from 1995 to 2000, and has subsequently been collected in nine trade paperbacks. We’ll be going through them one at a time, starting this week with Preacher: Vol. 1 – Gone to Texas, collecting the series’ first seven issues.

So pull up a chair, do your best John Wayne impression, and enjoy.

(That was me commanding you with the Word.)

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Listen to Episode 60, “Comic-KHAAAAAN!”

 

Gobbledygeek episode 60, “Comic-KHAAAAAN!,” is available for listening or download right here.

San Diego had its annual expo/trade show/clusterfuck from July 20-24, Comic-Con International, and while the Gobblers weren’t actually on hand, they discuss some of the biggest comics, movies, and TV news to emerge from its seething bowels. Oh, and some nifty cosplaying. (Also some pathetic cosplaying. But we’re trying to be positive here.) Plus: news and Formspring questions!

Next: “No Country for the Outlaw Josey Wales.”

(Show notes for “Comic-KHAAAAAN!”)

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Listen to Episode 59, “The Good, the Bad, and the Bat-Nipples”

Gobbledygeek episode 59, “The Good, the Bad, and the Bat-Nipples,” is available for listening or download right here.

Captain America has arrived to some very positive buzz, but not all superhero adaptations fare so well. Paul and AJ are here with their official list of the 5 Worst Superhero Adaptations…but to console your inevitable sense of despair, they’ve also got the 5 Best Superhero Adaptations. Tights, capes, laser beams, and nipples are all on display. Merely a day’s work for our intrepid Gobblers.

Next: Comic-Con 2011! ‘Nuff said.

(Show notes for “The Good, the Bad, and the Bat-Nipples.”)

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‘Green Lantern’ Takes Flight in New WonderCon Footage

I don’t usually watch extended “sizzle reels” unless I’m at Comic-Con, as your regular two-and-a-half minute trailers already give away damn near the whole movie. But I was not very enthused by the Green Lantern trailer of a few months ago, and the buzz was that the new footage of the movie shown at WonderCon would dispel any fears one had about it. Warner Bros. has uploaded four of the nine minutes of WonderCon footage, which you can watch right here:

The verdict? This still isn’t a movie I’d pay to see were it not a major geek event. It doesn’t look quite as abysmal as the original trailer made it appear, and indeed some of the action setpieces look like they’ll be pretty decent. I was particularly fond of Abin Sur’s flight from whatever the hell that was near the beginning. But in my mind, the film has to overcome two hurdles, one of which could be easier than the other, both of which are fundamental.

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New Bits of Footage: ‘The Avengers,’ ‘Lost’

Two tantalizing bits of footage leaked online today: the Avengers teaser shown at Comic-Con, and a clip of the forthcoming DVD epilogue of Lost.

Well, you can’t really call The Avengers bit “footage,” as it merely features Samuel L. Jackson’s commanding voice over a slowly revealed logo, but hey, it’s enough to get me excited. If only they’d added Joss Whedon’s name somewhere, I may have wet myself. Ahem. I currently can’t find an embeddable version, so click here to check it out at /Film.

The Lost clip, however, is much juicier. We open on the DHARMA Logistics Warehouse in Guam, focusing on two squabbling DHARMA employees. It’s hard to remember after the series’ cosmic conclusion, but the DHARMA Initiative is still a very important part of the Lost mythos, one that was never fully resolved. Soon enough, Ben shows up, claiming to be from the “home office,” with news that there’s a new man in charge (Hurley, of course), and that the warehouse is being shut down. Click here to watch it at Access Hollywood. I’m dying for more, and can’t wait. The Lost season 6 DVD set, featuring the full epilogue, will be released on August 24.

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Listen to Last Friday’s Gobbledygeek

Saturday was a busy day for me, so I didn’t even realize until just now that I never posted a “Listen to Last Night’s Gobbledygeek” thingy! Time to rectify that…!

Last Friday’s Gobbledygeek, “It’s On Like Donkey Con,” is available for listening right here. We discuss the first two days of this year’s Comic-Con, including the Entertainment Weekly Visionary Panel with Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams, the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World panel, the panel for AMC’s The Walking Dead, and The Joss Whedon Experience. There’s a mini-Con war involving Boston and Philadelphia, plus we find time for vague, spoiler-free discussion of the great Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour. In the bonus hour, we continue our countdown of the Top 100 Characters in Modern Pop Culture with #s 60-51. Halfway done!

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Gobbledygeek #18 Tonight!

Another non-existent week on the blog, another apology from moi. I still haven’t gotten the last Characters post up, and I doubt I will today. That just means you have two posts to look forward to next week!

However, Gobbledygeek is still going full steam, and the eighteenth episode airs live tonight at 10:30 PM EST right here. The topic of the evening is–what else?–San Diego Comic-Con 2010. We’re not on the ground, but we are following all the news, and we’ll discuss the big items from the first two days of the Con. At some point I imagine we’ll also get around to the newly released Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour, the final volume in Bryan Lee O’Malley’s great comic book series. Then, in the bonus hour, Paul and I continue our countdown of the Top 100 Characters in Modern Pop Culture with #s 60-51.

If you’re at Comic-Con or if you’d like to share your memories of past Cons, why don’t you give us a call tonight or e-mail us?

Reminder: Calling into the show is potentially a toll call, but if you’ve got a free Skype account and a free BlogTalkRadio account, you can use the free “Click to Talk” button to call in…for free!

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Westboro Baptist Church Is Picketing Comic-Con

Did you hear the one about the batshit insane lunatic and his inbred clan who spread the word of hatred and intolerance like Christmas carolers from hell? Yeah, there’s no joke there. Fred Phelps’ close friends and family–mostly family–who in the past have picketed the funerals of gays and soldiers, as well as many other political or gay events, are going to be picketing the first full day of Comic-Con, Thursday, July 22 from 1:15-2:00 PM. Why? Why, pray tell, are these soldiers of hate going to be picketing such a geeky, relatively unimportant event? I refuse to link to their website, so I’ll just post their rationale for you, though as you’ll see, rationality has nothing to do with it:

Are you kidding?! If these people would spend even some of the energy that they spend on these comic books, reading the Bible, well no high hopes here. They have turned comic book characters into idols, and worship them they do! Isaiah 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made: 9 And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. It is time to put away the silly vanities and turn to God like you mean it. The destruction of this nation is imminent – so start calling on Batman and Superman now, see if they can pull you from the mess that you have created with all your silly idolatry.

So, um…yeah. Sort of speaks for itself, doesn’t it? I don’t post this to bring awareness to their so-called plight, but to make attending nerds aware. I can’t wait to see the counter-protest that is sure to occur. The only problem with these wingnuts, though, is that they don’t care if you’re mocking them or not because, bottom line, they think you are going to hell no matter what you do. They’re the righteous bearers of God’s word. I’m not a religious man, but it’s plain that they’re not.

I’ve been fascinated with Westboro Baptist Church, its leader, and his congregation for years now. If you’d like to learn more about the disturbing Phelps family, you can read the moving speech by his escaped son Nate, or you can watch the documentary Fall from Grace on Netflix Instant Viewing.

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‘Twilight’ Dawns on Gobbledygeek

To quote the esteemed Dr. Egon Spengler, “This is big, [loving Gobbledygeek fan]. This is very big.” Millions of fangirls and fanboys (or fangirls’ boyfriends) will thrill to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse at midnight tonight. Now, Twilight is not exactly a geek subject. At Comic-Con 2008, the first Comic-Con upon which the Twilight cast and their adoring fans descended, I clearly remember people in Joker make-up and Spock ears proclaiming with disgust that this prettyboy vampire shit was ruining the Con. It didn’t particularly hinder my experience, though I will admit I scoffed at the weirdos camping overnight outside Hall H (then again, I would scoff at anyone camping out overnight for anything…you losers).

Paul and myself are on record as not being Twilight fans. However, Michele Durham, a good friend of the show, is. She has graciously accepted our invitation to join us on this Friday’s show. She’ll shed some light on the Twilight phenomenon for us outsiders, we’ll share our differing points of view, and hopefully we’ll all come away enlightened, having learned the ways of other cultures. Or something. I think it will be fun and, with any luck, rather insightful.

Michele’s already done a lot of impressive prep work for the show, and Paul and I are actually planning on watching New Moon to ready ourselves. So I think this is going to be a good one. All that’s missing is your input. What do you think of the Twilight saga? Love it? Hate it? Super ambivalent about it? Curling in the fetal position until it goes away? We want to hear from you. If you’ll just shoot us an e-mail, we’ll read it live on this Friday’s show. Thank you kindly.