4.19.2010

C2E2: My Overview


It's a funny thing that happens when you are really looking forward to something for a long time. I find that I always build things up so much that it would be impossible for anything to match my level of excitement over something, especially with everything that's happened recently I found that I was projecting even more anticipation at how awesome C2E2 weekend was going to be. I had built it up in my mind so much, there was no possible way that it was going to match or surpass what I expected.

I was wrong. It was far better than I had ever imagined.

Yes, there was a lot of standing around in lines waiting to meet people. Yes, there was a large number of people that smelled as if they hadn't showered since the first day of Spring. And yes, there was an inordinate amount of people wearing spandex that should never be allowed to wear spandex. But that is all part of parcel of any and every comic-con, and honestly it's those little touches that makes cons so enjoyably bizarre and fun. But C2E2 stood out because of the atmosphere, the people, and most of all the quality of the show. I've been to numerous conventions before, almost all of them WizardWorld Chicagos from when I was a kid and that convention actually meant something and most recently last year's WizardWorld that was filled with wrestlers, bit players from Twilight, and the usual Star Wars actors that go to every con. I can unequivocally state that C2E2 was the best convention that I have ever been to by far. While there were some great news items announced at the con, which you can read about at a different comic book site, that wasn't waht made this the best con ever for me. And here's just a short list of the reasons why it was the best con:

-I got to meet 5 of my all-time favorite comic book artists and 3 of my absolute favorite comic book writers and now I have books signed by them that I will always treasure.

-I spent five minutes talking to the Marvel Editor-in-Chief about pizza, why I think Deep Dish is better than New York style, and where the best place to get pizza in the city is (Gino's East, if anyone is wondering).


-I got to ask a question at almost every panel I went to, and never felt like an idiot no matter how silly my question was (I was the one who asked where Captain Boomerang's fat went to after getting resurrected. I really want to know why he's suddenly skinny again!)

-I got to touch the original Batmobile.

-Ethan Van Sciver, one of my aforementioned favorite artists in comics, sketched a design for a tatoo that I'm going to get in the next year for free, and even gave me tips about what to do for the tatoo.

-I spent an inordinate amount of money, but it was all worth it for the seven pieces of signed art that will now adorn my apartment, not to mention my sweet ass Flash t-shirt.

-I got to talk to Alex Ross about living in Chicago and why it is awesome.

-I spent all day Saturday with my brother, and even though he had an allergy headache and I was exhausted and hungover most of the day, we still had an awesome time hanging out all day.

-While waiting in line for sometimes an hour or longer to meet people, I started a conversation with the strangers waiting in line with me and always had a fun and positive interaction with them as I realized that comic book fans are always friendly with each other, whether or not you like the same books as each other.

-I never had a bad time at any of the panels I went to, as there was always this fun, positive energy in the room, particularly at the Brightest Day and the Green Lantern/Flash panels but really at every one.

-Most importantly, I discovered that my hero and comic book writing legend Geoff Johns is an awesome guy.

First off, all three days Geoff signed at his own table and every single signing time there was a huge line despite him only being able to be there for an hour at a time. Friday and Saturday he also signed at the DC booth and again there were huge lines every time. On Sunday, the last day of the con, Geoff was only able to sign at his table because of the different panels that he had to be a part of. This was the day that I got my stuff signed by Geoff. Me and David got there at 10:15 for the 11:00 signing, and there was already a huge line that filled up an entire row. They had to stop people from getting in line almost a half hour before the signing was going to start, and even then it wasn't a guarantee that everybody was going to make it through the line. About a half hour/forty minutes into the signing I was a couple people away from the front when I heard one of the volunteers explain to Geoff Johns where they told people that there was no guarantee that they were going to get stuff signed by Geoff, and there was still a bit of a crowd past that point. At this point, Johns told the staff member that he didn't have to be anywhere until after 12:30, and that he was going to stay as long as he could to make sure no one waited in line for nothing. One of the chief architects of the DC Universe, a man recently promoted to be one of the head guys in DC Comics, was sacrificing for the sake of his fans.


Me and Mr. Johns

Then, at the Green Lantern/Flash panel, Geoff started it off by asking around at who was the youngest person in the audience, with a bunch of kids that were all around 11 or 12 years old. Johns gave out white rings to them (which you can't get in any stores for another three weeks) and he also gave them signed copies of different issues of Blackest Night. Just because they were kids who came to the panel. When one of the kids who got an issue asked him what happens next to Sinestro, Geoff brought the kid up on-stage and let him read an un-colorized version of Brightest Day #1 (again, not being released to stores for almost a month).

The panel itself was tons of fun, and even though there wasn't a ton of new info or spoilers, everyone had a great time and there was a real lively feel from everybody there. And then, at the very end of the panel, Johns sat in the room with the fans that hadn't had the opportunity to get their comics signed by him, and he signed some more comics books for still more fans. This may not sound remarkable, but think about it: this guy is one of the most prolific names in the medium and he's just spent the last three days signing thousands of comic books every day for free (I'm sure he gets paid for an appearance, I just mean is that was no charge to the fans for his signature or taking a picture with him), and then on the last day of a long weekend he goes out of his way to sign comics for the unlucky fans that got turned away because there were already so many people.

Geoff Johns didn't have to do any of this stuff, he could have just worked his signing schedule, appeared at the panel, shook hands with his fans and be done with it. But he didn't. He showed just how much he cares for his fans in one of the classiest appearances I've ever and possibly will ever see from the biggest writing superstar in comic books.

All too often when we meet our heroes we worry that we've built up this person that we've never met to an unrealistic level, where nothing that they could do would match that which you've projected onto them. In this case, I was lucky that I got to see mine doing the exact same things that got him to this level of popularity; going out of his way to please his fans and make sure that everyone goes home happy.

There were literally hundreds of reasons why I loved C2E2, but I only need two words to describe to you why this comic-con restored my faith in comic books and has inspired me to get out of the funk I'm in and get everything back on track and better than ever: Geoff Johns. It's a Brightest Day indeed.

4.13.2010

C2E2 This Weekend

I've been looking forward to this weekend for over 6 months now, but it is finally almost here. The debut of the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo is Friday and it runs through to Sunday. With Geoff Johns, Alex Ross, Steve McNiven, Ethan Van Schiver, Peter Tomasi, Joe Quesada, Garth Ennis, and so many more all going to be in attendance. I'm still a couple weeks away from premiering the new Event Fatigue, but I'm still going to be talking about C2E2 and doing a wrap up of my experience and my review of the con next week. For this week, I'm still very busy getting ready to hit up the con and dealing with the mess that has become my personal life, so this might be the only post before the con. However, I really wanted to do a post about S.H.I.E.L.D #1 (which was one of my favorite first issues of a comic since Thunderbolts #1), so if I have some time tonight I'm going to do that. Hope you guys have a great week, and if you're going to C2E2 then send me a message, I'll be there everyday.

4.05.2010

Comic Books I Love

I gotta say that I'm in a much better mood today: the sun's shining, it's opening day, the White Sox won 6-0 against Cleveland, and I finally feel like the old Johnson luck is turning around again and things are going well for me. So, I thought I'd make up for the "Doom and Gloom" of my last post by talking about some comic books that are out now that I absolutely love. Because too often I think I focus on the bad aspects of comics, like the rediculous love affair with the Silver Age at the expense of some of my favorite characters, that I don't spotlight how good comics are. So let's take a minute and do that shall we? Here's some of my current fav's in no particular order:

Jonathan Hickman's Secret Warriors and Fantastic Four- I'm now a huge Hickman fan. This Wednesday marks the debut of his new ongoing series S.H.I.E.L.D and I couldn't be more excited for it. This guy can flat out write amazing stories that combine continuity with new ideas and layer in rich characters all the way through. Hickman writes possibly the best Nick Fury in comics, and his take on Mr. Fantastic in the first arc of FF was outstanding. Not to mention all of the great work he's done with the titular Secret Warriors, who are my favorite part of the book despite other people's objections to them. The most recent issue where J.T and Daisy go out to eat was just an incredible, sweet, and poignant moment that felt real. Do yourself a favor, if you love Marvel heroes than buy these two titles.

Rick Remender's Last Days of American Crime- The first issue of this just might be my favorite issue of any comic this year, as the deck is already stacked against our main character (no one would ever call him a hero) as he tries to pull one last great heist before a government signal prevents anyone from being able to commit crimes ever again. The art is great, in a gritty and twisted way much like the world itself.

Geoff Johns' Green Lantern- Say what you will about Blackest Night, and I'll have my review of the event as a whole up soon, but this title is consistently one of the best on the stands and now that it can go back to doing what it does best, I think it's really going to take off and soar. GL is always balls out outer space action with a likeable (surprisingly) Hal Jordan and it's got all of the usual Geoff Johns touches throughout. If you're like me, than you consider that a good thing.

Jason Aaron's Wolverine: Weapon X- This is just an amazingly fun and awesome comic book. Aaron is the master at crafting brutal and engaging characters and ideas that are so incredibly bizarre and twisted yet are so well-developed that you can't help but love them. The villains he's faced Wolverine with so far, especially Dr. Rutt, have all been top-notch and the stories themselves are fascinating. Plus, this is the first creator in a LONG time that just flat out gets Wolverine. I reccommend everyone read The List: Wolverine and see just how awesome Aaron is at creating Wolverine stories. You'll fall in love, I guarantee.

Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead- Who doesn't love zombies? And better than that, this series never lets up for a second, as no character is ever truly safe and you really witness the despair and hopelessness beset the survivors led by Rick Grimes. The most fascinating part of this comic is witnessing the slow death of the survivor's humanity as they give up every tenant of society in order to survive. It really is a chilling look at what this situation would do to someone.


Those are mine. I love these comics, and I shouldn't get too down about the state of my beloved medium if such terrific series are being produced.

4.01.2010

I'm Back

Hey guys. So I've clearly dropped the ball writing for my own blog that I started. It's been a couple weeks since I've posted anything, except for Pete's reviews going up last week. Now, I'm not the type to whine and complain about stuff in my life so I'm not going to. Shit happens to everybody and sooner or later every person gets knocked down in their life. The big difference between people is whether or not they can pick themselves back up and become stronger after getting knocked out. And that's what I intend to do.

Some things have happened to me recently in my personal life, almost none of them pleasant except for one potentially amazing thing, but also something happened to me that directly effects this blog: I've become disillusioned. With comic books in general, as honestly most of the books on my pull list I just flat out don't enjoy at all anymore. But, I also became disillusioned with this site, with my own blog, because I realized that I was trying to copy other people's sites and ideas and I wasn't concentrating on making my own stand out. The highlight of my year so far was getting my article on Dark Reign published at the Weekly Crisis, yet nothing I've written for my own site was anything like that article.

Let's start with the world of comic books though. My pull list up to a month ago was as follows: Dark Avengers, Siege, Blackest Night, Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Secret Warriors. Out of those books, the only title that I really liked reading and really felt like I didn't waste my time or money on was Secret Warriors. Blame it on event fatigue (ha, that's the name of this... never mind), but I just flat out do not give two shits about either of the big events anymore, and thank god that Blackest Night is over with. But, Blackest Night #8 has left me completely at a loss as to why I bother reading comics. (SPOILERS FOR BLACKEST NIGHT #8) In this issue, there were several heroes and villains that were dead brought back to life at the end of the issue, including the male Hawk, the original Captain Boomerang, and the original Firestorm. Look, we all knew that Martian Manhunter, Aquaman and Hawkman/girl were all going to be coming back from the dead and I'm totally cool with that, killing J'onn was the dumbest move DC has made even though FC: Requiem was such a terrific issue. But I have a serious problem with Geoff Johns bringing characters back for no reason other than he loves using these characters and loves the Silver Age. Captain Boomerang had his story end in a great, touching way and we saw the mantle passed to his son Owen who had nothing but potential. But, Johns doesn't want to use Owen, he wants Digger so fuck the fans of Owen since they don't matter. Well you know what, I really liked Owen Harkness and I thought that he could've been a really terrific character and I loved his time on the Outsiders and the new Suicide Squad, but it doesn't matter since my opinion doesn't count. It's the same way that I can't read good stories anymore about my two favorite DC characters, Kyle Rayner and Wally West, because every comic is about how AWESOME Hal Jordan and Barry Allen are. That's what Blackest Night #8 boiled down to: Hal and Barry are awesome and save the day, and the Silver Age is the only viable age in the DCU. Now, I can read GL Corps for my Kyle fix, but in the Blackest Night mini (a Green Lantern event mind you) Kyle shows up a grand total of 10 pages in the entire 8 issues. Oh and Wally? He only shows up as Barry's second fiddle and doesn't have his own book or team anymore.

Frankly, the best comics I've read have been independent comics, some that don't have anything to do with superheroes, or the Rhino story-arc in Amazing Spider-man which I bought because I heard it was so great. So I've decided that I'm cutting the fat and severing all ties to shitty books that make me not want to read another comic. I'm not even going to bother finishing Siege or Dark Avengers, and you better believe I'm staying away from Bendis's Avengers books like the plague after the Heroic Age launches. Instead, I'm going to get the trade for Hickman's Fantastic Four and start buying the issues of that. I'm going to keep buying stuff like Last Days of American Crime and the Boys. I'm not just going to buy things because I've always bought them, and I'm going to make sure that when I buy comic books I buy them because I'll enjoy them and they'll make me happy damn it! And I'm going to buy Hickman' S.H.I.E.L.D book too, because that looks like the best freaking comic ever.

Now, as for this site. Don't worry, Event Fatigue will still be going and going strong, but I'm not going to be posting every day and will most likely only post once or twice a week. I'm going to put thought into my articles and write about concerns that I have with the comic book industry or pop culture or society in general. I'm going to write mostly opinion and editorial pieces about things that matter to me and things that I want to write about. And I'm going to start writing more plays and even a couple comic book scripts to further that part of my life. Peter will still be reviewing comics, but I'm doing away with most of the features for now, scaling everything back until I'm sure what I want to do. Sometimes you have to tear things down to build something up.

And that's what I'm doing, throughout my life. I'm commited to building the best things possible and to that end I first have to tear things down. But things will be better because of it. At least I hope so anyway.

3.25.2010

Event Fatigue Comic Book Reviews - 3/24

Hello Event Fatigue readers. Before I get into my reviews I need to air a grievance I have with a trend very popular in comics(at least the ones I buy anyways). The trend I’m referring to is hero X is fighting villain X and at some point the hero will make some sort of comment about the villain not making any clever quips. This happens in every New Avengers issue and most recently in an issue of Siege. I just can’t stand it, expecially in a situation like Siege, that is supposed to be a dire battle between good and evil. It’s ok not to use the same tired joke in an attempt at humor. On to the reviews.

3.19.2010

Malevolent March: Day 19

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


I've had what can only be considered the weirdest and most turbulent seven days of my entire life. And I'm beginning to think that I've only reached the tip of the iceberg and shit's about to get real crazy from here on out. One day, I'm going to write a play about this past week but until then I'm afraid I'm just going to have to keep all the insanity bottled up inside me. So, to make myself feel better while maintaining my foray into a month long segment, I present today: Dr. Horrible.

3.18.2010

Malevolent March: Day 18

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


If you ever enjoyed the TV series Heroes, than you probably only really enjoyed the first season or the second season. The big reason for this? In my opinion it's because since then the best villain and arguably one of the best parts of the whole show started to get really overexposed and outright annoying at certain parts. But, today I want to honor the good parts of this villain, the man who is mostly known only as Sylar.

3.17.2010

Malevolent March: Day 17 - Single Issue Spotlight

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Today is going to be a special day, as you're getting two features for the price of one! Today was new comic book day, and far and away the best issue that came out this week centered around one of Spider-man's classic villains, The Rhino. Hit the jump for the issue review and the rundown of the Rhino!

3.16.2010

Malevolent March: Day 16

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!

Today I've going to focus on one of television's greatest villains. He strikes fear into the hearts of his adversaries and will stop at nothing to eliminate the Ventures. Today's villain is of course, The Monarch!

Links You Should Know - 3/16

Hey, it's 3/16! Happy Stone Cold Steve Austin Day everybody! And anyone who chuckled at that is a wrestling nerd like me. Anyways, dorkiness not withstanding, I want to share with you guys my new favorite website today. It's called Once Upon a Win, and it is filled with epic wins from the 80's and 90's - filled with to the brim with nostalgia for any child of the late 70's/80's. Personally, I get a huge kick out of this stuff and I long for those days, things seem a lot simpler back then they do now. Oh well, relive the memories with this site! It's awesome.


3.15.2010

Malevolent March: Day 15

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Today's villain is a souless, ruthless automaton who only wants the destruction of all carbon based life-forms so he can replace us with robots patterned after himself and his own twisted family. He is one of the Avengers greatest villains, due in part to his being created by a founding member of the team. He is Ultron! Hit the jump.

3.14.2010

Malevolent March: Day 14

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!

Today, we're going to revisit another terrific villain from film, one where the performance earned an Academy Award for the performer. This was the performance that finally earned one of the most likeable and consistently great actor's in Hollywood his Best Actor Oscar. It's Denzel Washington's brilliant turn as Alonzo in Training Day. Hit the jump.

3.13.2010

Malevolent March: Day 13

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!

There are often times when the same villain will show up either in different films (like Hannibal Lecter, Jack the Ripper, etc.) or across different mediums (like vampires who are in books, televison, movies, comic books, etc). But there is one villain who appears in every medium and sooner or later rears it's ugly head to ruin the lives of our protagonists. Who is it? Who could be one of the worst villains in every medium? Who?! I'll tell you who. Hit the jump.

3.12.2010

Malevolent March: Day 12

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Today, I'm going to shine a light on my favorite villain in the DC Universe. I know that I just did Sinestro recently, and as much as I love Sinestro (which is a lot) today's villain tops him. He's a normal guy who has a high-tech weapon, and a costume that is somehow rediculous and awesome at the same time. He's been a rogue to one of my least favorite DC characters and to one of my absolute most favorite characters ever, and every time he shows up (especially when written by Geoff Johns) than you can bet he's going to do something badass. Today's villain is Captain Cold.

3.11.2010

Malevolent March: Day 11

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Aside from Stringer Bell, today's villain is quite possibly my favorite from television in recent years. Like some of the best villains (Sylar) this character burned bright but he burned fast, to the point that I worried if he would be able to be sustained as the villain for the show as long as it was on the air. He was, thanks mostly to the terrific performance of Robert Knaepper, who is now trying to single handedly save Heroes, and because, sadly, Prison Break did not last nearly long enough. So here's today's villain from that awesome show: Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell!

3.10.2010

Malevolent March: Day 10

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


If you just started reading comic books in the last year or so, then you would think that the Dark Avenger currently known as Hawkeye was the biggest pushover/punching bag in all of the Marvel Universe. But once, a long time ago it feels like, that man was once the most feared and badass assassain, the right hand man to the Kingpin back when that name actually meant something. Today's villain is one of my all-time favorites, Bullseye!

Links You Should Know - 3/10

So first off, I did watch the Oscars on Sunday. I was planning on writing about it, since it is one of the things that I look forward to during the year ever since I was a kid, but this year's Oscars was just... there. It wasn't as terrible as others have been, but it wasn't good or interesting and there were no real surprises especially since it seemed early on that The Hurt Locker was going to walk away with everything. I liked that movie and all, don't get me wrong, but I watched District 9 again last night and I remembered just how amazing the end of that movie is. That was an absolute triumph and I wish that this year wasn't just a 2 picture race since I felt Avatar and The Hurt Locker were 2 of the weakest (with the Blind Side being the weakest) of the 10 films nominated for Best Picture. That's basically all I would've said about the Oscars, but it would have been spread out over pages and pages of nonsense and stupid jokes if I had written a piece on the Oscars.

All that said, here's a hilarious cartoon my friend Bordson showed me at her Oscar party. I guess this comes from some guy was tripping on acid and commentating while his friends channel surfed, so they recorded it and animated what was going on. It's really freaking funny, and NSFW.

3.09.2010

Malevolent March: Day 9

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Turning my attention back to comic books today, I'm going to be featuring probably my favorite villain in comics right now. He was once not only considered a hero, but one of the greatest heroes in the Universe. Now, his name strikes fear into the hearts of his own people. He started a powerful Corps and named it after himself, in an effort to ensure order and prevent Chaos from spreading throughout the universe. Let's here it for Sinestro!

3.08.2010

Malevolent March: Day 8

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Today's villain is one of the best villains from one of the best shows in TV history. A cold and calculating man, he went from being a strong right hand man to running the biggest drug trade in Baltimore. Hit the jump for the villain!

3.07.2010

Malevolent March: Day 7

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


With the Academy Awards tonight, I'm going to spotlight the villain who is more than a lock to win Best Supporting Actor, making it the third villain in 3 years (after Anton Chigurh and the Joker) to win that award. Today's villain is the Academy Award nominated performance by Christoph Waltz for Col. Hans Landa. Hit the jump for the villain.

3.06.2010

Malevolent March: Day 6

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Once again, today we've got a villain from film who earned the actor portraying them an Academy Award. Today's villain is considered one of the best in history, even beating out Darth Vader to be #1 on the AFI's Top 50 villains list. Here's Anthony Hopkins' award winning turn as Hannibal Lecter. Hit the jump for the villain.

3.05.2010

Malevolent March: Day 5

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


We continue our march to the Academy Awards by spotlighting great villains that have won Oscars. Today is one of my favorite villains, from an absolutely terrific film that I think is often overlooked in regards to the 1990's. Today's villain is old West monster, someone who ran his town with an iron fist. Today's villain: Little Bill Daggett. Hit the jump.

3.04.2010

Malevolent March: Day 4

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Continuing our look at villains that have won the Academy Award, we look back today at another recent villain, someone who is more of a force of nature than just a regular human being. In fact, in the original book from which the character comes from, it is greatly implied that he almost takes on the same attributes as Death. Today's villain: Anton Chigurh.

Event Fatigue Comic Book Reviews - 03/03

All right readers, I’m sorry I’m late on reviews. That said I have a ton of books to get to, so let’s quit wasting time and get on to the relief.

3.03.2010

Malevolent March: Day 3

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Because the Academy Awards are this Sunday, and the Best Supporting Actor Oscar is going to go to someone playing a villain for the third time in three years, I've decided to feature famous villains who's performances have won Oscars. Today, it's a villain who is from both comics and film, and is the most recent villain to have an Academy Award. This should be pretty easy to figure out. Hit the jump for the Joker.

3.02.2010

Malevolent March: Day 2

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!


Today, I'm going to spotlight one of my favorite comic book villains, someone with an awesome name and look, and who is finally making his return to super-villainy! He was involved in the one of the biggest surprises in comic book history, and he is the 13th in a long line of bad-asses. Hit the jump for the villain!

Links You Should Know: 3/2

So Nick (my roomate) and I finally got Netflix through our X-Box 360. So in other words, if I disappear for days on end than you can find me curled up in the fetal position in front of my new lord and master watching Sliders episodes for days on end while covered in crumbs and pizza boxes in my bathrobe. It's only a matter of time before the X-Box wins the battle of wills between my need to make money and my desire to watch the Rocky movies any time I want, as many times as I want. I've only had this for about 12 hours so far, and most of that time was sleeping and getting ready for work, but I am wondering how or why I ever thought I could live without it. What a fool I was!

Since Malevolent March has just started, I figured I'd keep things light and include a little video for you guys to check out. The guy shows off his mastery of the violin for a little while, but about 40 seconds in he busts out an awesome version of Gnarls Barkely's Crazy. Check it out, it's sweet as hell.



3.01.2010

The Main Event...Fatigue: 3/1

Yo, it's my weekly(ish) round-up of all things sports related! This week, I'm just going to talk briefly about USA v. Canada, Peavy and the White Sox, and the Bears. Hit the jump.

Malevolent March: Day 1

For the month of March, I'm going to try something new for the blog, so every day I am going to spotlight a different villain from comic books, movies, TV, etc. It's mostly going to be my all-time favorite villains, with some crazy random ones thrown in there for good measure, so check back every day to see the newest villain in Malevolent March!

I'm kicking this feature off with one of my favorite villains of the 2000's, and in fact one of the most interesting and compelling villains in recent years: The Operative from Serenity. Hit the jump for the villain!

2.28.2010

Single Issue Spotlight - Blackest Night #7

So far, I've been really hot and cold about Blackest Night. I know that events as a whole aren't always going to be awesome the whole way through, but usually the best events have more highs than lows. BN so far has been fairly middling, alternating between pretty good to pretty bad between every issue. Since #6 was the best issue of the series so far, were Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis able to keep it going in #7? Hit the jump for my take on it. And of course...


2.25.2010

Op/Ed: An Open Letter to Joe Johnston

At the end of last year, one of the things that I mentioned to be excited about 2010 for was the announcement of who was going to be playing Captain America in the Marvel films. Well, the time for that announcement is drawing near and as Ain't It Cool News reports, along with several other sites, it looks like the short list for actors to don the blue chainmail has been released. Chace Crawford (Gossip Girl), John Krasinski (The Office), Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights), Mike Vogel (Out of My League), Michael Cassidy (Smallville), Patrick Flueger (The 4400), and Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy) have all been invited to come in and do a screen test to be Cap, and Jansen Ackles (Supernatural) was invited to come in but couldn't due to schedule conflicts. What's my take on this bit of news? Hit the jump for my reactions.

2.24.2010

All-Time Awesome Lines From Comics - The Boys #15

We're back with another installment, this time with one of my favorite current running series, The Boys. I reviewed the first two trades, and I've now caught up to the series by reading the other trades that have been released, but I can't say enough how good Garth Ennis is on this series. He's always been one of my favorite writers of comic books, with classic series like Hitman, his run on the Punisher, and of course Preacher. Hit the jump for the ATALFC.

2.23.2010

Links You Should Know - 2/23

Yo yo. I know I've said this before, and I'll say it again, but I have been pretty swamped in my personal life and I feel bad for not being able to post as much content for you guys. Right now, this blog is just me and Peter, but worry not because plans are currently in motion to expand our stable and make this site even bigger and better. Until then, I'm going to try and work in a whole bunch of awesome posts this week, and then stuff should mellow out for me soon so I can crank even more goodness out to you. For today's edition of LYSK, I thought I'd share what's becoming another of my favorite comic book blogs, Ryan K. Lindsay's Stink Brown. Ryan just started writing on the Weekly Crisis and has busted out two pretty cool features on there already in addition to the other articles he's written. Give his blog a look through, it's a pretty sweet and intellectual look at comics.

2.21.2010

The Main Event... Fatigue - 2/21

Okay, so I totally dropped the ball this week. I was pretty busy at work, and I went to a screening of Shutter Island (which was great) and saw all of the Oscar nominated short films (live-action and animated) so I was busy socially as well. But, I'm sure that things are going to mellow out so I'm going to churn out some new articles for you guys to enjoy. Today's edition of the Main Event...Fatigue is going to focus on tonights Elimination Chamber PPV. Hit the jump.

2.18.2010

DC Names Didio and Lee Co-Publishers, Johns Also Promoted

Hey all, so there was a fairly big news story released today as it pertains to the future of DC Comics, as Dan Didio and Jim Lee were named Co-Publishers of DC Comics and Geoff Johns was named as Chief Creative Officer according to CBR. The press release from DC has a couple interesting quotes about the move, like this one from Diane Nelson, President of DC Entertainment:
“DC Entertainment’s new executive team is a creative ‘dream team,’ with accomplishments and talent unrivaled in the business,” said Nelson. “This announcement continues and underscores DC’s legacy as the ultimate destination for creators. We’ll benefit enormously from the deep experience this team represents, while re-energizing the direction and focus of the company. I’m excited and honored to have each of them with me at the helm of DC Entertainment.”


I for one am happy with this move, as Didio seemed like a lock to get the position anyway having him split power with someone as knowledgeable about the business as Jim Lee is a great idea. And I am very happy with what this means for Geoff Johns, one of the best writers in the game and the person most responsible for shaping DC the last decade. Kudos to all three.

2.16.2010

I've Given Up - The Office

Well, this is it folks. I've decided today that I'm throwing in the towel on the Office. I can't stomach through this season anymore and at this point I'm just going to resign myself to just flat out not watching what used to be my favorite show on TV. The sad thing is, that I really love the rest of the Thursday night TV line-up on NBC. Community and 30 Rock have both been stellar this year, but Parks and Recreation might possibly be the funniest show on TV right now to me, thanks in no small part to Aziz Ansari who steals every scene he's in. But as soon as Parks and Rec ends, I try and watch the Office in order to get to 30 Rock but the past three weeks I couldn't do it and ended up changing the channel or going off and doing the dishes (the dishes!) instead of watching it. So this is the end the Office. I'll always remember you from Seasons 2 and 3, some of the best episodes of any TV show. Single tear...

Links You Should Know - 2/16

Hey gang, so I'm here today with a news item of note for today's LYSK. Robot 6 wrote an article recapping the whole "Kevin Smith booted from a plane for being too fat" story, so I figured I'd post a link to it so I didn't have to write an article about it. Pretty sneaky sis. I think the whole thing is bullshit. Not that I don't believe it happened, because I do believe it, but I find such a policy to be insulting and flat out rude. What it boils down to is that airlines are too cheap and cash strapped to make seats to fit the average "obese" American, but also the seats are just already too small. I'm not what you would call a "fat" man, I'm by no means ultra skinny and could stand to be in better shape but no one would call me fat, and I have a hard time sitting in coach seats comfortably. The other thing is, it's Kevin Smith. Celebrities get special treatment all the time, and he was flying on Southwest for crying out loud, just cut the man a break. That's what I think.

2.12.2010

The Best of Event Fatigue!

Hey all. So I figured that since we might have some people that are brand new to the site, I'd collect links to the best posts from the blog so far. And, for our loyal readers, yet another link to The Weekly Crisis so you can read the guest post that I wrote for them about Norman Osborn's Dark Reign. Hit the jump for the Best of Event Fatigue (so far).

2.11.2010

A Special Links You Should Know!

Well readers of Event Fatigue, I've got some awesome news for you. I've made it onto my all-time favorite comic book blog with a new guest post, and I wanted to share it with everybody. It's a run-down by me of the directors of SHIELD before Norman Osborn took over, comparing and contrasting the things that they've done in their tenure to Osborn's actions. I've long held that Norman Osborn hasn't done too much evil since taking over, and I try my best to prove it. Anyway, give it a read and I hope that you enjoy it.

All-Time Awesome Lines From Comics - We3 #2

So through the time that we've been dating, I've been slowly convincing Jesse to read comic books. This past Christmas I bought Jesse We3, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly, because it's self-contained and incredibly moving. See, I'm often down on Grant Morrison, but it's only because compared to the work he's done in the past his work now is not nearly as good as it once was. But just because he is currently not putting out his best stuff does not mean that we can't enjoy his great comic books anymore. And with that, let's jump right into the awesome line from We3.

2.10.2010

Main Event... Fatigue - 2/10

I usually post this on Monday, but I've been really busy getting ready for the staged reading of my play tonight, so I hope you guys forgive me. Today, I'm going to be talking about the Super Bowl from Sunday, and also some quick sports news stuff thrown in. Hit the jump for the rest.

More Pimping of My Shows!

So I finished writing a full-length play last month, and tonight at 7pm we are doing a staged reading of it at BoHo Theatre in Chicago. So anyone out there that enjoys my blog and enjoys good theater should come out and see the show! It's free, and we're going to have a talk-back afterwards so I can get feedback from the audience about the show. Hope to see some of you there!

2.09.2010

Links You Should Know - Awesome News Round-Up Edition!

Boo-ya. So this week is going to be a might hectic for me, but I refuse to deprive any fans of Event Fatigue their daily dose of inanity, so I'll be making some quick posts from time to time. Starting off, I just want to point out how I picked the winner, but failed to cover, for the Super Bowl which was a tremendous game. I'm going to do a Main Event...Fatigue tonight with my thoughts from the game and other sports related shenanigans. But for now, I'm doing a special over-sized edition of Links You Should Know because there were many awesome news stories that have broken this weekend and I want to cover all of them. Hit the jump for the links.

2.07.2010

Super Bowl Prediction Time!


Terrific. Now I think that this is going to be one of the better Super Bowls in recent memory, with a high powered Saints offense facing the dominant Colts. Everyone's making a big deal out of Peyton Manning being this great quarterback in big games, acting as if he's the best QB of his generation in big games. But I call shenanigans. Manning is 9-8 in the playoffs with one Super Bowl title. Kurt Warner is 10-3 in the postseason with one Super Bowl ring but the master is Tom Brady sitting at 14-4 in the postseason with three titles. So let's stop all the bullshit about Manning now shall we? The other thing to consider is that the Saints are this year's team of destiny, and they also have "Nobody believed in us" going for them too. So, I think that we're going to see a big upset with the Saints beating the Colts.

Prediction:
Saints 27 - Colts 24

Attention Must Be Paid!

Well, we're back for another installment of Attention Must be Paid! which means that another comic book character has bit the dust. Shuffled off their mortal coil. Ceased to be. Become an Ex-Hero. So who was it? What happened to them? And why should you care? Hit the jump but be warned....

2.06.2010

Put It Out to Pasture - Bendis' Avengers

I know that I often sound like a broken record. I have the creators that I support no matter what (Millar, Hickman, Johns, Meltzer, Aaron, Ennis, Tomasi, etc..) and I have guys that I rag on constantly even when they're writing something somewhat decent (Morrison, Robinson, Fraction [Uncanny X-Men], Grant Morrison, Dwayne McDuffie, Winick, Grant Morrison again). It's the nature of the beast for comic book fans to attach themselves to writers whose style they really like or who they think tell great stories. Mark Millar, for example, gets his fair share of detractors on the internet but I really enjoy the way he writes, and I especially get a huge kick out of his bombastic wide-screen action stories. Meanwhile, I've given James Robinson chance after chance to earn anything except my hatred and disgust with Justice League, but the man is just terrible now-a-days and has taken one of my favorite DC characters down with him. But there is one man who went from the first group to the second group practically overnight. Someone who I was always high on and always supported through the bad stories and massive plot-holes, until finally I had enough and now am swearing off his work as much as I can. That man: Brian Michael Bendis. How did I reach this point? What happened to send me over the edge? Hit the jump for the answers.

2.04.2010

Event Fatigue Comic Book Reviews - 02/03

This week all of the reviews are Marvel books. Sorry for anyone out there that reads more DC than me, but times are tight and I can’t pick up all the books that are on the new comic rack. On to the reviews.

Avengers Members Announced


Hey all. So after the Siege is over, all four Avengers books are coming to an end. In their place, there is going to be only one core Avengers book featuring a more classic roster. So far, there have been four members announced via various websites this week, with more to come I'm sure. As the announcements come in I'll be sure to update this story as more people are announced. So who made the list? Hit the jump to find out!

2.03.2010

All-Time Awesome Lines From Comics - Justice League #8

I know that there are a lot of internet haters out there, but I'm not afraid to say that I loved Brad Meltzer's DC work. His run on Justice League of America was far and away better than just about anything that came afterwards, and I would rather have his take on the characters than James Robinson's anyday. So with that said, I'm going to present one of my favorite moments from Meltzer's run of JLoA. Hit the Jump for it.

2.02.2010

Links You Should Know: 2/2

Yo yo. I gotta say, this is my favorite week of early winter. This week we've got the Academy Award nominations announced, the Super Bowl, basketball heading into the All-Star break, and my brother's birthday. With the Oscar nominations out this morning, I already did a post listing them and my early thoughts on the nominations and who I think should/shouldn't win, so if you haven't already, scroll down and check that out. And with the Super Bowl/my brother's birthday on Sunday, I figured to gear up for it I would post a Super Bowl related story from the Onion that made me laugh heartily. Hope you all enjoy it! Let's go Saints!

2009 Academy Award Nominations Announced!

It's that wonderful time of year again, when the Oscar nominations are announced and the blog-o-sphere heats up with discussions of who got robbed, who should win, and what in the world is Angelina Jolie going to wear??!! That last one, I could give two shits about. But I love the Academy Awards, mostly because I love films so much that I appreciate the idea of honoring people's work in the arts and this is the biggest and best award that an actor/actress can win in my opinion. After the jump you can few the full list of nominees, plus my rundown of who I think got robbed, who should win and who shouldn't win.

2.01.2010

The Main Event...Fatigue - 2/1

So I'm only stopping in briefly tonight, my good friend has been sick with Mono for weeks and relatively isolated from people. So instead of blogging tonight I'm going to go and cheer her up. I do hope you'll forgive me. But, I do have some quick sports thoughts for you, hopefully that will tide you over, and I'll be back tomorrow with an Awesome Line from Comics and I should be able to finish my Put it Out to Pasture on Bendis' Avengers run tomorrow also. Hit the jump the rest of this article.

1.31.2010

The Royal Rumble!!

Tonight, is the first time I'm watching the Royal Rumble in almost a decade. I'm actually really excited about this, cause no matter what wrestling is like at the time, the Rumble is always entertaining. Even when it's bad, which the current WWE is not completely bad, the Rumble was still great. So, because I'm excited and cause I don't honestly know that much about what's going on, I'm going to do my predictions for tonight based on almost nothing. Let's do it, shall we?

1.30.2010

Single Issue Spotlight - 1/30

So this week was a fairly eventful one comic book wise, as Justice League: Shitty for Justice and the new line-up of Justice League #41 debuted in addition to other books that were actually good as opposed to those I've just mentioned. With Peter's reviews forthcoming, I'm going to focus on my favorite issue that I read this week, an issue which was very good: Green Lantern #50. I'm going to be talking about this book in some detail, so for safeties sake, I'm going to introduce our newest character here at Event Fatigue: The Spoiler Pirate! Take it away, matey!


Terrific. Hit the jump for the review.

1.28.2010

All-Time Awesome Lines From Comics - Watchmen #12

I finally watched the Ultimate Cut Watchmen film, and I was sorry to see that the major problems were still completely intact. And not only were the biggest problems not rectified, but in the case of the Tales of the Black Freighter and some of the other additions all it does is make it abundently clear that Zak Snyder was just not smart enough to direct this film. He didn't really grasp what was going on in most of the scenes it felt like, and that was most clear in how botched the ending was. I'm not talking about the lack of the space alien (or the "squid" as people call it) but what was missing was all emotional impact of the big event that happened, as the deaths were rendered almost meaningless by showing only an empty and smoking crater, but also the unneccesary changes to one of the most beautiful moments of the book. So today, I'm going to show you the scene that always stuck with me from Watchmen, probably my favorite from this last chapter of one of the greatest comics. Hit the jump for it.