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 Jake's Clever Banter I've apologized before, and today's Gom filler kinda' explains what's going on, but the long and short of it is, it's become very hectic lately. It's going to remain hectic until the end of E3. After E3, I can prettymuch garuntee you there'll be a huge update following, involving all sorts of info about the stuff at the show, in addition to resuming the release of comics on a semi-regular basis again. No, I don't know how long the regularity of comic releases will last. And as for the time up until and during E3 (Now through until next Friday/Saturday or so), I'm not sure what to tell ya'. By the turnout from last month's contest, I'm assuming few people even still care about Mognet. I can tell you that I, for one, don't plan on giving up on this webcomic, and Tim is still fervently trying to integrate the demanding comic schedule into his life. So, yeah, at the moment we're unreliable. (I hate to say it) Much moreso than Megatokyo. I believe that sometime in the future, though, we'll get settled into routine, and everything here will start to work like clockwork. I only ask that you give us time. Give us the chance to fill out the potential this comic has. We have such grand plans- don't let our initial stumble dissuade you. 5/8/02 - Expanding on an earlier thought There's something I mentioned in passing last update that has become all the more poignant to me upon re-examination. And perhaps there aren't enough people reading this for it to truly make a difference, but if I can get one person to take interest, it'll all be worth it. I am a huge frickin' Batman fan. Now, if you knew me, really knew me, and heard me say that, you might laugh in my face. I never read any of the comics, graphic novels or books. I didn't see the fourth Batman movie, and have barely seen any of the Superfreinds/Adam West/B&W iterations of him. I only have one action figure. But I feel a strong respect for Batman. I've always seen Batman as the most realistic of superheroes for many reasons. He doesn't have wacky super-powers and the villains he fights are more often than not regular people with extreme mental issues. And rather than the standard, "I use my powers for good, not evil!" reasoning most Superheroes seem to have, he has a real motivation- redemption for the helplessness he felt in his parents' death, and vengance on the type of people that caused it. To those just coming back from the Spider-Man movie it may seem like a similar situation, but it was treated so much differently with Batman- it was something dark in his past that haunted him. But why am I preaching when I've never read a single comic? The animated series. I weep at the modern crop that passes for Saturday morning cartoons these days, having seen something so much better... so much more powerful, back when I was a kid. Every aspect of that show was a brilliant peice of art. The character designs and animation, so simplistic and incredible at the same time. The music, every episode a new wonder of orchestration on par with the very best that the motion pictures had to offer. The acting, superb. To me, no one is a better Batman than Kevin Conroy, no one a better Joker than Mark Hamill (And you'd never know the Joker's voice was done by Luke Skywalker himself unless you were told). And the writing... oh, the writing... At first, it was fairly common as they come, but as time went on, the series hosted some of the most gripping and thought-provoking stories ever penned. The "What if" story where Batgirl was killed and Commissioner Gordon hunts Batman down in a fit of vengance is one of the most memorable things I have ever watched. Ever. I can truly say that this series had me breathless time and again in awe of it's beauty and in the clutches of suspense. And the comedy episodes were just as fantastic in the other direction. The inventiveness of such ideas as the Joker Fish episode are so original in and of themselves as to cause me to laugh just thinking about them. All of this stuff I watched as a kid, and never realized just how much it affected me, just how powerful it was. On a whim lately, I went out and snatched up prettymuch all of the DVDs released for the series (I missed World's Finest and the new Justice League DVD, but I think I'll get those another time), and I've been watching a LOT of animated Batman these past few days. The Legend Begins (The first of what I hope is many releases of the series on DVD- this one is first five episodes), Mask of the Phantasm, Sub-Zero, and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (Uncut, as it was meant to be). And everything's coming back. This is why I got up early on Saturday mornings. And not just because I was a fan. Because I was getting, peice by peice, one of the greatest peices of animation... no.... One of the greatest stories told through any media, ever. Ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever. I don't know if they still show this stuff on TV, but if they do, and you haven't watched it, or only watched it casually, you need to start setting your VCR. Now. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm ranting. Maybe I am. I think it's well-deserved. I know that every time I watch a new anime or see a new Disney movie and am dissapointed in it, it's because I know the medium is so powerful, has so much potential. Batman wasn't a show about a guy in tights fighting loonies dressed in Halloween costumes. It was a show about the choices people make in their lives, and how those choices affect themselves and others. This is also maybe a part of why I'm so hard on Spider-Man. I know in my heart Spider-Man was a good movie. But I also know that comic book stories brought to life in celluloid are capable of far, far greater things. 5/6/02 - Spider Sense... Tingling! Well, I've heard people talking about it and even got an E-Mail or two, and I wasn't gonna' say anything for fear of sounding like an internet whiner, but since it seems to be a popular topic at the moment, I'll talk about the Spider-Man movie. Yeah, I saw it. For starters, let me tell you I'm not a die-hard Spider-Man fan, so if anything I say hits you the wrong way and conflicts with something said in issue #423 (Or whatever), you can stuff it. My experience with Spider-Man is limited to the old cartoons (The ones with the theme song that went, "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a Spider can"), and the (good) videogames. I like Spider-Man. As one of the most acrobatic of superheroes, he has an inherent coolness. I also like good comic book movies, even if they stray from the source material. So long as it's a good movie and keeps the spirit of it's origin intact, I say that's A-OK by me. I also don't mind a movie being a pointless action flik, as long as the action was done well. So, what did I think of Spider-Man? In the end, I have mixed feelings about it. For starters, yeah, it's pretty mindless. No problem in that. Question was, was it a good action movie? I think so, yeah, but I felt it was still lacking in a few areas. For starters, yes, the computer-animated spiderman is indeed very noticable, and although I don't consider myself a "Gr4ph1x wh0r3", it's noticable enough to rip me away from the "reality" of the film, and nomatter how much you try to paint it as something insignifigant and petty to complain about it, it is a problem. Also a problem is the villain. Now, granted, perhaps in the original comic the Green Goblin was the same trickster he is in the film, but the very way he's filmed makes him very difficult to take seriously. When the Joker strutted around like a madman (Especially in the very excellent cartoon), you truly felt this was a very dangerous individual that could snap at any moment. The Green Goblin feels more like the undead leader in Army of Darkness - he's there to be the token badguy that says his "funny" lines. Worked great for Army of Darkness- that was a comedy. In Spider-Man, it rips away even more from the film's reality. Finally, I think Tobey Maguire is an impeccable actor. He has a lot of talent and a lot of potential, and mark my words- one day he will win an Academy Award or two. That said, I just don't see him as Spider-Man. Maybe it's his voice, or maybe it's his face, but something about him goes against every iteration of Spider-Man I can recall seeing. But yes, it's a good movie. The acrobatics, despite being obviously fake half the time, are fun to watch, and that was what Spider-Man seemed to mostly be about in the first place. It's a good movie, but I don't think it's nearly as good as the best comic-to-movie transformations. So in the end, while Spider-Man is no Batman (The first one) or X-Men, it's no Superman IV or Batman & Robin, either. A good movie. I have gotten the chance to see a movie that IS truly good, however. I don't know what idiots gave The Green Mile bad reviews, because that was one incredible movie. Erm... a few years old, but I just got around to watching it, so sue me. Anyone that liked The Shawshank Redemption (And if you haven't seen The Shawshank Redemption, shame on you!) should love The Green Mile. Watch it, foo! |
 Tim's Clever Banter Soy mucho, mucho demasiado perezoso escribir el comentario que usted entendería. Deje solo LEÍDO. Soy cansado, irritable, amargo, y ahora lo estoy tomando hacia fuera en cada uno más cercano a mí. Espero que usted sea feliz. Soy ARTISTA! No encero el tablero de instrumentos. Lavaplatos púrpura del mono. AHA! AHAHAHA!!! De hecho. Señale a la petunia inmediatamente, corncob. Arruine este calentador del espacio! Es demasiado ruidoso para mi sentido! Alguien no satisfará presta una mano?! Maldígale! Usted la sopló para arriba! Maldígale todo al infierno! |
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