BLAMMO #6

Season’s Greetings and welcome to another edition of What Are You Reading?, our weekly look at what we’ve been reading lately. Today our special guests are Geoffrey Golden and Amanda Meadows, editors of Devastator: The Quarterly Comedy Magazine for Humans. Their latest issue has a video game theme, with contributions from James Kochalka, Corey Lewis, Danny Hellman and many more. And if you head over to their website between now through Dec. 16, the code ROBOT6 gets you 20 percent off single issues.

To see what Amanda, Geoffrey and the Robot 6 crew have been reading lately, click below.

*****

Michael May

Amulet

I’ve been wanting to read Kazu Kibuishi’s Amulet for a while now and have finally gotten to the first volume. It begins a lot like so many other fantasy stories for young people: with a single parent taking her children to an old, secluded, family property because lack of money has driven them away from the city. There, the family’s dark history and a magic item or two involve the kids in an adventure to save their parent and possibly the world. It’s an old premise, but a powerful one. Every kid longs to discover that there’s something cool and powerful in their family history that will change their lives.

What separates the good versions of this story from the bad are the details and what happens once the secret is uncovered and the young heroes are engaged. In this case, Kibuishi unleashes his considerable imagination to plop his protagonists into a world of magic, robots, dark elves, and cephalopod monsters. It’s an exciting, visually impressive story with a great deal of heart.

Chris Mautner

Things I read recently:

Feynman

Feynman by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick — As the title suggests, this is a basic biography of the famed physicist and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman. Ottaviani attempts to mimic the scientist’s wayward, anecdotal manner of speaking, which can take a bit of getting used to, but once you do, it’s a pretty smooth ride. Myrick’s loose, wobbly style fits Feynman’s loose, haphazard manner rather well. This is a pretty basic biography, aimed clearly at readers who may have heard Feynman’s name, but are unfamiliar with his life and work. In other words, it’s a starting point, and not for someone whose already read one of the many biographies about the man. This graphic novel won’t replace any of those books, either, but as a “basic intro” guide, it suits rather well.

The Adventures of Herge by Bocquet, Fromental and Stanislas — Another biography, this time about the famous cartoonist George Remi, i.e. Herge, the creator of Tintin. Rather than attempt to completely chronicle the artist’s life, the authors instead aim for a “significant snapshots” approach, dramatizing every two pages or so a particular event in artist’s development. A picture does emerge of the artist as a conflicted, driven, relatively genial fellow, but it remains a rather cursory glance in the Herge’s life. The book is really best suited for Tintin fans or fans of Stanislas’ art, which is lovely.

Carla Hoffman

Defenders

I don’t know, man. I just don’t know. Defenders #1 has all the elements a gal like me should love: Matt Fraction (FRACTION 3:16), slick and stylish artwork, Doctor Strange and an assortment of quality characters who deserve a place in a book of their own, rather than a guest star role in an event tie-in. Betty Banner is here (kind of), Danny Rand is back, and oh my Lord there are tiny out-of-frame comments on nearly every page!

And then… we have two awkward hook-ups from guys who should be above making such freshman choices (okay, maybe not Danny Rand), the continual “I hate myself and want to die” theme from people who seem to be wallowing in it, the Silver Surfer seems to have powers that contradict his appearances in Thor (Fraction should talk to the writer of that book and get things straight!) … I don’t know. I’ll give it three issues, but it seems to me like (yet another) Doctor Strange mini-series might have been a better idea.

X-Club #1 is a better first issue, strangely enough, probably because I am not expecting it to blow my tiny little brain. It’s giving me what I want, the same quality of faux-Ellis techno-sarcasm I got from the past “X-Club” outings from Simon Spurrier, the snickering humor and delightful dance of characters that normally just bring exposition in the regular X-titles. A shady corporation builds a sky elevator with the help of Utopia and then monsters. This won’t be Sandman, but it will be funny, and that’s a rare quality in comics.

Which is why I continue to buy Deadpool MAX. It also confuses me as it makes me laugh, bringing an uncomfortable humor that makes me wonder if I’m a terrible person for finding any of it funny. Remember reading a MAD Magazine as a kid and finding it so unlike anything else normally marketed for kids that there was almost a thrill to getting an issue? Yeah, it’s a little like that. Grab a copy of the Deadpool MAX X-Mas Special and hide it in a copy of Grant Morrison’s Supergods.

Brigid Alverson

Habibi

I’m sort of all over the place this week. I read Craig Thompson’s Habibi yesterday–I picked it up thinking I’ll just attack it in small bits and ended up reading the whole thing in two sittings. I can’t do it justice here, except to say that after all the discussions I was expecting it to be all literary and boring, and it wasn’t. There were things I liked and things I didn’t like, but the story kept pulling me along.

Everything else was on the light side, though. I picked up BOOM! Studios’ Peanuts graphic novel, Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, and while it’s very attractive, the opening sequence is basically a bunch of one-page gag strips, mostly about Linus and his blanket. I’m pretty sure some of them are old, because the gags seem very familiar, but at any rate, the structure makes for some disconnected storytelling. I’m hoping we get something closer to a linear story as the book goes on.

I’m also reading volume 17 of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack. I’m always reading Black Jack, because Vertical puts out a volume every two months, and it’s one of my favorite comics to just relax and enjoy–I don’t feel like I have to analyze Black Jack or find a deeper meaning, it’s just short stories about a bad ass surgeon. He starts this volume by doing surgery on himself, which is a pretty tough act to follow, but this is the last volume that Vertical is putting out. It does include a nice extra: A list of every Black Jack story, in chronological order, along with the volume of the Vertical edition it appeared in. That makes for a nice project for obsessive Black Jack fans–to read all the stories in order–except that there are a few that, on Tezuka’s orders, were never collected in English or Japanese.

Tom Bondurant

Manhunter

I started picking up Marc Andreyko’s Manhunter only after its first cancellation, so this week I finally started from the beginning. Maybe it’s the collected-edition effect, but I am through the first two paperbacks and didn’t want to put either one down. Andreyko and penciller Jesus Saiz tell Kate Spencer’s story in compelling fashion, with snappy dialogue and expressive artwork, making her transition from prosecutor to vigilante seem natural and seamless. What’s more, these stories take place on the margins of Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis, but Andreyko integrates those events into his narrative pretty well too. The same goes for various references to DC history, like Hawkman’s past with the Shadow-Thief, Cameron Chase’s knowledge of Checkmate, and Superman’s relationship with the (then-late) Firestorm. I thought Manhunter was good already, but I didn’t know it was this good.

Mr. Mautner will be delighted to hear that I also got a chance to watch the “Ultimate Cut” of 2009′s Watchmen movie. This is the one which incorporates the “Black Freighter” sequences, and some other previously-deleted scenes as well. Anyway, it turned out to be more of the same: faithful to a fault, except when it’s cranked-up with Zack Snyder attitude. I still didn’t hate it, though. I just think it’s ironic that it tried too hard to be a big-budget Superhero Movie! instead of the more subdued work the comics depicted. Snyder’s Watchmen is like Ralph Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings–enough of an effort that you hope someone gets it right later on.

Tim O’Shea

Action Comics #4

Action Comics #4: Not sure which annoys me more: writer Grant Morrison having Superman enemy Sam Lane ask Superman to save his daughter, or the fact that this storyline is delayed until issue #7. On the first point, a case could be made that the guy who was holding Superman prisoner in issue #2, is a pragmatic military man who will use whatever resources he has (even an alien he does not trust) to save his beloved daughter. But still, the shift in Lane’s demeanor (going after Superman to seeking Superman’s aid) was made more jarring by the fact I swear that’s Lane’s only speaking line (and second appearance [the first is him running alongside Luthor in a panic) in all of issue #4. As for the delay of story, I am unsure if I am interested enough (yes, I know it’s Lord Grant Morrison and all, but still) to come back with issue #7.

Stormwatch #4: I bought Stormwatch because Paul Cornell was writing it. Am the only one annoyed that after settling in for a nice long run, I just found out he is leaving with issue #6? I do not know all of the behind the scenes machinations, Cornell may have taken the assignment to help out DC editorial as a favor, never intending to write past issue 6. Maybe he barely had anything he wanted to say after issue #6 and if he stayed on the book, issue #7 would have sucked. I kind of doubt it. Cornell is a good writer. So as much as I enjoyed this latest installment (what I loved about old Authority stories? The team’s ability to pull a victory or at least gain an upper hand in the midst of chaos, but typically a worldscale chaos, even)—this issue reminded me of the best of the Authority in that regard. The lack of leadership in the team is an intriguing aspect that gets some major play (and allows Cornell to do some great character bits) in this issue. Before I forget, artist Miguel Sepulveda continues to impress me.

X-Club

X-Club #1: I almost did not buy the first issue of this X-Men miniseries because I thought it was a rave book (I am only 90 percent kidding on that point). I have never read writer Simon Spurrier before–and know next to nothing about the characters, but there was a humor amidst the action (particularly with Dr. Nemesis) that I enjoyed the issue. I am not reading all of the X books, but I am starting to see a pattern of Cyclops (jackass) and Wolverine (golden boy). Not sure if it’s that way across the board, but I wonder how many longtime Cyclops fans are feeling alienated by this approach (more informed X-Men readers, feel free to chime in in the comments with any counterpoints/info you may have).

The Amazing Spider-Man #675: I generally opted out of Spider-Island, no matter how much fun people said the event was gonna be, the folks turning into monsters did not look like fun to me. So I was glad to get back to Spidey fighting garden variety crooks (or in this case the seeming murder of crooks). What really hooked me to buy this two-parter (which wrapped in this issue) was the art of Giuseppe Camuncoli, inked by the great Klaus Janson. Many of the current Spider-Man artists seemed to have a sketchy quirky style to drawing the lead character. In the case of Camuncoli and Janson though, I get an element of Jim Mooney or Gil Kane. What I always loved about 1970s Spidey comics was when Spidey leapt into action, some artists would draw the progression of his movement from point A to point B, and that’s another element that Camuncoli works into a few scenes. Did I mention Spidey even uses a new and improved Spidey signal light in this issue? Yeah, I am a kid comic reader at heart sometimes.

Hulk #45: Writer Jeff Parker continues to give me an enjoyable supporting cast with this comic. In this issue, Machine Man uses his head to fight a foe. No really, literally just his head. Some might accuse this issue of being light on action, as Parker tries to connect the dots of the plot to position more action in the next issue. And yet, artist Patrick Zircher’s layouts are so dynamic there’s an energy to them that made me not care that a great deal of the story was flashback/background info. In fact, if you had told me I would be dazzled by a two-page spread of a microcosm, I would have doubted you… until I read Hulk #45. Zircher is enjoying himself on this arc, no doubt. Folks that bailed this title in the Jeph Loeb era should revisit this book ASAP, as it’s a different and better title under Parker and company.

Geoffrey Golden and Amanda Meadows

Hark! A Vagrant

Hark! A Vagrant – Kate Beaton signed her exquisite Drawn and Quarterly collection for us at a signing at Skylight Books in Los Angeles, and this week we’re revisiting all our favorite entries in her beloved webcomic. 80s Business Woman, Mystery Solving Teens, and of course, several AP classes’ worth of mocked historical figures, with equally funny margin notes accompanying the strips. Fun fact: every single guy we know wants to marry Miss Beaton. Good luck, gents!

BLAMMO #6 – First of all, it’s hard to argue against purchasing any comic with the title BLAMMO. Amanda found the latest comics collection from Denver cartoonist Noah Van Sciver at this year’s APE and it was a stand-out purchase from our yearly haul. Amanda liked the honest dialogue, artfully crude illustrations and realistic characters in the autobiographical strips. Geoffrey liked the comic called “Punks vs. Lizards,” in which a gang of 1980s British street punks murder a bunch of giant lizards and say things like, “anarchy and shit!” Van Sciver’s humor is versatile, offering something for everyone.

Club Wolverine #14 – Logan and his nightclub’s all-mutant staff continue to experience prejudice and pure ecstasy in mid-70s New York City. We love that writer Mort Bendis (not related to Brian Michael, though he keeps claiming otherwise) finally takes us into appropriately seedy territory as Mojo holds the club hostage for a swingin’ orgy, in honor of Dazzler’s new disco album, Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, Oh My. Wolverine, warning Mojo that the club doesn’t have a proper orgy license, says our favorite line yet in the series: “time to do the hustle on outta here, bub.”

Buffalo Speedway #3 – Admittedly, we picked up the first Buffalo Speedway book at Meltdown Comics on a whim because Geoffrey’s from Buffalo, New York and we thought a graphic novel series about a pizza delivery boy sounded like fun. Though the characters are actually from Texas, this series by Yehudi Mercado “delivers” the goods (Mmm… pizza puns). Charming characters, snappy dialogue and a fun story involving the busiest day ever in pizza delivery history — the day of O.J. Simpson’s Bronco chase — the final volume was satisfying to the last bite. (Mmm… additional pizza puns.)

Pogo

Pogo Vol. 1: Through The Wild Blue Wonder – Geoffrey has been eagerly anticipating this collection for years, making it the perfect early Christmas gift! Walt Kelly’s classic comic Pogo was an inspiration for many brilliant cartoonists like Berkeley Breathed and Jeff Smith, in addition to a comedy magazine called The Devastator, which we’ve never heard of. Kelly’s illustrations are masterful, with expressive characters who are warm and friendly. Pogo‘s deft social satire makes this collection about Pogo Possum and friends a must own for humor comics fans and people who just like good things in general. “We have met the enemy,” and he is not getting this for Christmas.

King City #9

Happy Comic-Con week, and welcome to What Are You Reading? This week our special guest contributors are Jim Demonakos and Kyle Stevens from the Seattle nerd rock band Kirby Krackle. The band, whose newest video features Wolverine, is currently in Florida for Nerdapalooza, and will be in San Diego later this week at booth #1803. So stop by and say hi if you’re going.

See what the boys from Kirby Krackle, as well as the rest of the Robot 6 crew, have been reading lately after the jump …

Chris Mautner

Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 1

Having gotten through Blackest Night the other week, I spent some time with Blackest Night: Black Lantern Corps Vol. 1 and 2. These are the books that collect the various non-GL tie-ins, like Black Lantern: Wonder Woman, Black Lantern: Teen Titans, etc. It’s about as up and down in quality as you can imagine, most of it being rather bad. The Teen Titans and Wonder Woman sequences struck me as being particularly noxious due to poor storytelling. The only one that really worked for me was the Flash tie-in; I suspect that’s because Geoff Johns was the writer in that instance and therefore had the best affinity to the material. For the most part, this felt like a long run of placeholder comics, warming the bench until the next chapter in the main saga, which, I suppose, is the case for just about all tie-in comics in these multi-part crossover stories these days. Though I seem to recall Zero Hour had a lot less baby-killing.

Tom Bondurant

There won’t be a lot of specifics from me this week. If this feature were called “What Are You Planning To Read?” I would be a lot better at it. This is because I am planning to read the 15 issues of Secret Society of Super-Villains — if there’s no Showcase Presents, I might as well buy the back issues — as well as the last volume of Diana Prince: Wonder Woman. Comics I have enjoyed in the past seven days include the four issues (so far) of American Vampire and Superman #701 (to which, of course, I devoted Thursday’s GOF). I am also re-reading the five Scott Pilgrim books and regretting once again coming to that particular series so late.

Gorilla Man #1

I was very disappointed that Atlas has been canceled yet again, especially since this week’s Gorilla Man #1 was so good. I don’t think Jeff Parker has written a bad issue of anything Atlas-related, and if there were any way I could pay him directly every month to tell me stories about these characters, I would.

Otherwise it was a pretty good week for the superheroes: I liked Batman #701, the first issue of the Astro City: Silver Agent two-parter, the double-shot of JLI with Booster Gold and Generation Lost, and X-Files/30 Days Of Night #1. I thought Girl Comics #3 was fairly well-done, but I didn’t recognize either of the characters featured in the last two stories.

Finally, I have to say that the Watchmen Ultimate Edition DVD set is an impressive package. It’s about as thick as two or three Scott Pilgrim books, and it has 5 discs: one for the extended (‘Black Freighter”-ized) version of the movie, one for the regular version, one for special features, and two for the motion comic. I had mixed feelings about the movie when I saw it in the theater, so I’m driven mostly by curiosity here….

Michael May

Captain Long Ears

I don’t think it’s spoiling anything to say that Diana Thung’s Captain Long Ears is not a rip-roaring adventure about a rabbit-hatted space ninja and his bowler-wearing gorilla pal. I mean, it’s not marketed that way or anything and even the cover is much more sweetly playful than aggressively awesome. But even so, I wasn’t prepared for how dark the story actually was. There’s no twist ending or anything; you figure out very quickly that Captain Long Ears is actually a young boy named Michael who has an active imagination, that Jam the ape is actually a stuffed toy, and that the Captain Big Nose they’re searching for is actually Michael’s missing father. The mystery is in what actually happened to Big Nose (though that’s not hard to guess either) and – more importantly – whether or not Michael will survive the search. There may not be actual monsters and pirates to threaten him, but Michael is sick to the point of being feverish and he’s been missing from home for almost a day. I worried about him in a way I never would’ve worried about a space ninja with an ape sidekick. It’s a powerful book, but reading it was an emotionally wrenching experience.

The Aviary reminded me a bit of Lost. Crazy, non-linear storytelling, but everything comes together in the end to not quite make sense. At least it had a gin-swigging robot, a talking dog, and some genuinely deep observations about love and loneliness.

from pood #1, by Sara Edward-Corbett

Sean T. Collins

A couple of anthologies and the coolest Swedish import this side of Ikea were what I read this week. Click the links for reviews!

pood #1, edited by Geoff Grogan, Kevin Mutch, and Alex Rader: I really dig the format and production values in this Wednesday Comics-sized newsprint alternative-comics anthology, but I’m lukewarm on the content overall.

The Troll King, by Kolbeinn Karlsson: I was hugely impressed by this ballsy (in more ways than one) and beautiful monster-comic parable from Top Shelf’s Swedish Invasion.

Mome Vols. 17-19, edited by Eric Reynolds and Gary Groth: Fanta’s venerable anthology series turns a corner with three issues’ worth of darker, stronger material.

Brigid Alverson

You'll Never Know Book One: A Good and Decent Man

I picked up Carol Tyler’s You’ll Never Know, Book One: A Good and Decent Man from the library on the strength of recommendations I have seen for it all over the web, and it didn’t disappoint me, although I feel it could have been better edited. Tyler has a nice diary style that seems intimate and friendly but is also quite sophisticated. The book is ostensibly about Tyler’s father, and how he experienced the trauma of war and was left with deep psychological scars, but the book ends before the climax, the terrible thing that left him scarred for life. At the same time, a lot of the book is about Tyler—her curiosity about her father’s experiences, her attempts to cope after her husband leaves her, her relationship with her teenage daughter. In the end, I felt the book was too much about her trying to get her father to talk and not enough about what happened to him. Still, that criticism aside, I really enjoyed the book. There aren’t too many comics about middle-aged women, and it was nice to read about something other than youthful rebellion and angst for a change.

Two Cents Plain is another memoir by a contemporary of Tyler’s, and it touches on the war in a different way. Martin Lemelman’s parents were Jews who lived through the Holocaust and met in a resettlement camp after the war. They moved to New York and eventually settled in the Brownsville area of Brooklyn, where they ran a candy store. Memoirs of growing up Jewish in New York used to be so numerous that they were practically a genre of their own, but mostly they were heartwarming and glossed over the bad stuff. Lemelman tells his story matter-of-factly, sparing no detail—his father’s drinking, his mother’s attempts to shield him from the evil eye, the cramped quarters they lived in behind the store, and eventually, the animosity that sprang up between them and their new neighbors, as the neighborhood changed and mutual acceptance turned into violence. Lemelman breaks the book into a series of vignettes, and his realistic style, peppered with photos of real documents and knickknacks from the store, brings this bygone era to life.

Kirby Krackle’s Jim Demonakos

B.P.R.D.

B.P.R.D.

Having been a fan of Hellboy for what seems like forever (I actually bought it when it first came out in… (wait while I check the always accurate Wikipedia), yes, confirmed as forever, 1994!), it’s been really great that more and more of Mike Mignola’s universe is being explored in the pages of B.P.R.D.

The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense’s history spans all the way back to 1944. The B.P.R.D. comics are cleverly presented and easily digestible in basically a monthly miniseries format, anything from one-shots to six issue arcs. In fact, there have now been more B.P.R.D. comics than Hellboy comics! What’s great is that, with Mignola at the helm co-writing most everything along with John Acrudi, the B.P.R.D. has created a massive story that both intertwines with Hellboy’s own story, but also lives on its own with fantastic stories and an array of characters who I’ve come to know and care about. Not to mention the fabulous art by Guy Davis, who has illustrated a majority of the stories.

I’ll also add that it’s been cool the last couple years that B.P.R.D. has explored the past history of the organization with it’s 1946 and 1947 miniseries’ (and soon to come, 1948), adding weight to the entire Hellboy mythos and enhancing the current comics at the same time! Great stuff!

King City

I love this book and I’m pretty thrilled it’s been coming out regularly from Image Comics lately, saving it from limbo. I first discovered this book as part of TokyoPop’s line of Original English Language graphic novels and was totally taken by it from the get-go. Sadly, there was only ever one volume and then TokyoPop folded its OEL business. Thankfully, there was an agreement made with Image Comics who started re-publishing King City as a monthly book, starting with all the material from the OEL and then transitioning to all-new material!

Enough history, back to the book. It was like Brandon Graham (the creator/writer/artist) took a bit of all the things I love like girls, monsters, hip hop, video games, comics (both US and foreign), food, aliens, anime and so much more and put them in a blender to make King City just for me. Everything about it screamed ‘awesome,’ from the main character Joe’s use of a cat as his main weapon (he gives the cat shots to make it do what he needs it to do) to brain thieves, sexy girls, secret organizations, weird puns and so much more.

The book really grips you from the get-go and has an overwhelming sense of ‘cool’ to it. Graham’s art is also very open, no extraneous lines, I wouldn’t insult it by calling it simple, but it’s very graphic and the double page spreads are filled with a ton of hidden gems.

I could go on and on, it’s a top-of-the-pile book for me and I highly recommend it! Also, check out Graham’s blog — it’s perpetually entertaining and full of cool art, what more do you want?

Kirby Krackle’s Kyle Stevens

The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead #17

When I was asked to contribute what books I’m reading, the first answer popped into my head, as it always does, was The Walking Dead.

It’s a book I’ve exposed many a new comic reader to and still years later, a series I must instantly read in the car after buying my books every Wednesday. Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard have done a beyond amazing job at taking the reader on a journey (next week #75 hits the stands) though the darkest and most tantalizing of human paranoia; what happens when life as you know it stops and you’re forced to pull your will to survive from a depth you never knew existed?

The black & white tone of a comic has never looked better in my opinion as it does in TWD, and month after month I find I care more and more about the characters that, as we’ve seen, can be wiped out without any time for regret. And really how can you when roamers could pop out of the bushes at any time? I can’t wait to see what the years ahead hold for this book, and you’d be hard pressed to find anyone more excited than me about the upcoming TWD TV series.

Our song “Zombie Apocalypse” was a direct tribute to our love for TWD, and should be a must read for any fan of comics in general. I only wish I had the luxury of discovering it again for a long rainy day of trade reading. If you’ve been holding out, do yourself a favor and do the same. Lucky bastards…

PunisherMax

It feels just like yesterday when I had to hide my Punisher War Journal books from my parents behind the dresser in the room I shared with my sister, and despite what my KK bandmate Jim will tell you… that wasn’t last week. I grew up on Frank Castle and his special brand of crazy, and like you all, have loved his recent runs with Ennis and Way behind the writers helm.

Recently though, I’ve been made a revived believer of vigilante justice thanks to the new run by Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon. Dillon’s thin-line style and amazing facial expressions on paper have always been something special to the world of The Punisher, but has bloomed into something completely different thanks to Aaron’s take on the origin of The Kingpin and especially Bullseye. He’s made the character somebody who is actually scary again (cringing at the thought of Colin Farrell with the forehead scar), and taken us into the mind of the the killer.

The scene in issue #8 where he “joins” a family like Castle’s to “live like Frank lives, and think like Frank thinks” is truly disturbing right up until the meet their predictable if not necessary end. I can’t wait to see where this book goes and how it keeps up the already high bar of pace and creativity I feel it’s reached to all of our benefit. For those looking to fall in love with justice again…check out PunisherMax.

(Thanks Ian!)

Jon Favreau

Between panels, autographs, world premieres, sneak previews, merchandise, booths and meeting other fans, the San Diego Comic Con offers a full plate for the movie fan. Here are six things — a small sampling, really — for the movie fan to do at the con:

1. Check out some clips from Iron Man 2: I haven’t seen any announcements about who exactly will be at the Iron Man 2 panel yet, but no doubt with principal photography finished up, a few of the folks involved probably have an opening in their schedule. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke or any of the other cast members show up for the con. And no doubt they’ll bring something cool to show the audience. (4-5 p.m. Saturday, Hall H).

2. Hear from a few visionaries: Entertainment Weekly has a panel scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. called “Entertainment Weekly: The Visionaries,” where directors James Cameron and Peter Jackson will sit down to chat. But they aren’t the only visionaries appearing at the con; you can also hear from Robert Zemeckis and Tim Burton on Thursday at 11 a.m., and animation visionaries Hayao Miyazaki and John Lasseter at 12:45 on Friday. In any case, come prepared to be inspired.

Watchmen

3. See the complete director’s cut of Watchmen, live with director’s commentary: If you don’t want to just hear about movies, you can also watch them at the con, too. From 8:30-12:15 Saturday night, Zack Snyder will host a live “director’s cut” of his own, showing the complete film … and even folks who bought the Watchmen DVD will be able to participate in this at home. (Room 6BCF)

4. Feel the force: Friday is Star Wars Day at the con, which means they’ll have several panels focused on the classic space opera. But one panel in particular is going to be a must-see — the first-ever panel broadcast live from Comic Con. Lucasfilm: “Star Wars Spectacular” promises to reveal all the “latest news from the Star Wars universe—including some of Lucasfilm’s most tightly guarded secrets.” And what’s cool about this panel is you don’t even have to be in San Diego to watch it … just tune into G4. For those of us who might have a conflict, just remember to set the TiVo before you leave. (5:15-6:15 p.m. Saturday, Hall H).

5. See Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins before everyone else: So maybe Watchmen doesn’t do it for you, or you have kids in tow and want to find something they can enjoy. On Sunday, the direct-to-DVD prequel to the Scooby Doo movies will be shown in its entirety. Zoinks! (Sunday, 12:30-2:30 p.m. Room 6DE)

6. Get scared: This Comic-Con horror is in full effect, as zombies, werewolves, vampires and other things that go bump in the night make their way to San Diego. The cast of Zombieland will be on hand to talk about their upcoming horror comedy. Leslie Nielsen will be there to promote his next film, Stan Helsing. Sony’s Legion, which features angels and the Apocalypse, sounds pretty cool, while Thursday night bring Halloween early, as Trick ‘r Treat is shown in its entirety. And if you want vampires and werewolves, fight your way into the New Moon panel on Thursday.

Although if you want real horror, there’s always those squids …

If you’d like to submit an event for inclusion, please email them directly to me. Please include the venue, city and state, start time, event details and any related websites where we can send folks for more information. Virtual events, like online creator chats, are also welcome.

Today, June 26

Toronto | Pulp Fiction, an art exhibit featuring the works of Marc Bell, Amy Lockhart, Peter Thompson, Seth Scriver and many more Canadian cartoonists, opens at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art. The exhibit kicks off with an opening party tonight at 7 p.m. and runs through Aug. 23. More details can be found here.

Saturday, June 27

Brooklyn, NY | The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund kicks off their “Conversational Comics” series with David Heatley, Lauren Weinstein and Julia Wertz talking about autobiography in comics. Details here.

Chicago | Challengers Comics will host Kathryn Immonen, writer of Hellcat and Runaways, for a signing, cookout and fund-raiser. All proceeds raised at the cookout will benefit the Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago. Details can be found here.

Dallas | Detective Comics writer Greg Rucka will sign at Zeus Comics from from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Details available here.

London | Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, Marc Ellerby, Jamie McKelvie, Kieron Gillen and many more will attend LUC@176, which runs from noon to 7 p.m. at Project Space 176. Details here.

Los Angeles | Golden Apple on Melrose hosts the Berserker release party with Heroes actor Milo Ventimiglia, co-producer Russ Cundiff and artist Jeremy Haun. Details here.

Wenham, Mass. | Superhero Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. as part of the Wenham Museum’s summer exhibit, “Colorful Characters: Storytelling Through Comics.” Details here.

Sunday, June 28

Dundee, Scotland | Warren Ellis, Alan Grant and many more will attend the Literary Dundee, a day of comics programming at the University of Dundee. Details here.

Wednesday, July 1

Bellflower, Calif. | Metropolis Comics hosts Bongo Comics’ Bill Morrison, Tone Rodriguez and Batton Lash for Free Donut Day from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Details here.

Los Angeles | Batman & Robin writer Grant Morrison will sign from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Meltdown Comics on Sunset Blvd. Before the signing, horror writer Clive Barker will host a conversation with Morrison. Details here.

Santa Monica, Calif. | Bad Kids Go to Hell writers Matthew Spradlin and Barry “Bazza” Wernick will sign at Hi De Ho Comics from noon to 8 p.m. More details here.

More in July

July 8 | Christian Alamy in Chicago

July 10-12 | Screaming TikiCon in Cleveland

July 11 | The Asian American ComiCon in New York

July 11 | 100 Bullets event benefiting the Hero Initiative in Los Angeles

July 16 | Dave McKean in Chicago

July 17-23 | Watchmen director’s cut screenings in L.A., NYC, Dallas and Minneapolis

July 18-19 | Frank Santoro teaches a class on line drawing and composition in New York

July 22 | Spider-Man #600 exhibit in San Francisco

July 23-26 | Comic-Con International in San Diego

Watchmen

A rep for Warner Bros. dropped us some information on the Watchmen film, which will return to theaters in July — only this time, it will be the director’s cut — “Zack Snyder’s full interpretation,” which will include deleted scenes. It is about 24 minutes longer, clocking in at a little more than three hours.

It’ll only be showing in four different cities July 17-23:

• AMC Empire 25, 234 W. 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036
• AMC Media Plaza 6 (AKA Town Center 6), 770 N. 1st Street, Burbank, CA 91501
• AMC Mesquite 30, 19919 IH 635, Mesquite, TX 75149
• Kerasotes Block E 15 Theaters, 600 Hennepin Ave S., Minneapolis, MN 55403

Update, July 2: Due to scheduling difficulties, Warner Bros. sent over a new list of theaters that will be showing Watchmen in the four cities. Also note the date change for Texas:

Mann’s Chinese 6 Theater July 17th – 23rd
6801 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, CA. 90028
Bypass # 323-461-9624

Landmark’s Sunshine Cinema July 17th – 23rd
143 East Houston St.
New York, NY. 10002
Bypass # 212-358-0573

Carmike Cinema 15 – July 17th – 23rd
15630 Cedar Ave.
Apple Valley, MN. 55124
Bypass # 952-431-4859

Rave Motion Pictures Hickory Creek 16 – July 17th – 20th
8380 S. Stemmons
Hickory Creek, TX. 76205
Bypass # 940-321-2836

Note that the film’s release will coincide with the San Diego Comic-Con (July 22-26). If you’re getting to San Diego early and really want to see the extended film, the drive to Burbank may be worth it. (Although driving through L.A. really sucks, so be prepared).

Also, Watchmen is set to come out on DVD and Blu-Ray July 21. The Hollywood Reporter has more information on a screening at the San Diego Comic-Con and how they’re using Blu-Ray voodoo to allow you to participate in the screening and panel from your living room.

Sword of My Mouth #1

Digital comics | Jim Munroe follows in the footsteps of PictureBox with an interesting sales offer for his post-Rapture comic Sword of My Mouth. He’s published the first issue as a comic, and issues #2-6 will be available online only. Next year it’ll all be collected into a trade paperback.

So for $12 + shipping, you can get the digital versions of each issue, as well as a signed and personalized copy of the printed graphic novel when it’s published in early 2010. The first 40 orders will also receive a screenprint. And for $6 you can get the six digital issues.

“In a time when the economy and other forces are making the print pamphlet model unsustainable for many indies, we’re excited to see how this will work,” he wrote. “The digital format isn’t going to replace the print book, but it’s an interesting format that allows for cheaper prices and more direct interaction between creators and readers — one we hope to foster by adding commentary.”

e-Devices | Here’s an often-linked to post by Scott McCloud about the new version of the Kindle and its size.

Social networks | The Hollywood Reporter reports that Warner Home Video is set to “announce a plan to sync up ‘friend’ networks on Facebook with the interactive community-screening features of Warners’ Blu-ray Disc releases, starting with the release of ‘Watchmen Director’s Cut.’”

Internet | Valerie D’Orazio points to this interesting article in the Chicago Tribune about TV executives reacting to the success of Hulu.com, the NBC/FOX joint venture (Disney recently signed on as well).

Here’s the money quote:

“If you give away your premium content for free, you are basically hastening your own demise, signing your own death warrant,” said Laura Martin, a media analyst with Soleil-Media Metrics. “There is a choice that companies have to make.”

Webcomics | He’s a no-nonsense cop. He’s a former cash register. Together, they fight crime.

Social networks | Marvel.com lists all the social media sites where the company has a presence.

Tales of the Black Freighter

Let it be known that I did not care much for the Watchmen movie. While it had some already much-discussed merits (the opening credits sequence, some of the performances), I felt the Zach Snyder’s adaptation focused too much on getting the tiny details correct and missed the comic’s grander themes in place of adopting a “kewl” bone-crunching aesthetic — a clear case of not seeing the forest for the blood-smeared smiley buttons if you will. (The possibility that Snyder was being tongue-in-cheek, as some claim, doesn’t make the juxtaposition between the content and the visuals any less jarring.)

So it was with some trepidation that I popped the new Tales from the Black Freighter DVD into my Xbox. For those who don’t know, this is a supplemental animated version of the “Black Freighter” story that runs co-currently in Watchmen alongside the central plot. Rather than excise the sequence completely, the filmmakers decided to create a separate cartoon that supposedly will be incorporated into the final, four-hour (or whatever) version of the film.

Having been so disappointed with the screen adaptation, I expected this to be a dreary more of the same.

Surprise! I actually liked it. Mind you, the film (and the other supplementals found on the disc) is not without its problems, but it’s certainly more entertaining and truer to its source than the feature film that it spawned from.

The original Black Freighter sequences were some of the most gruesome bits in the comic, with the narrator building a raft of bloated human corpses in a mad attempt to save his village from the pirates that slaughtered his crew.

So, as you’d expect with a faithful adaptation, the cartoon doesn’t shy away from the gore at all, and there’s lots of severed heads and birds eating eyeballs and whatnot. At times the level of violence comes off as more gross than disturbing or horrific, such is one of the problems with adapting a work from comics to film — even in animation the violence becomes more “real” and literal.

The other problem in adapting this sequence lies with Moore’s deliberately purple prose, as he was both trying to evoke the florid type of writing found in those types of comics and evoke the speech an mannerisms of a 18th-century sea captain. Again, I had little trouble with the way the liberal use of Moore’s writing here, a large part of that is no doubt due to Gerald Butler, who inveighs a good bit of humanity and earnestness in the tortured sailor.

I liked the look of the film too. The animators (all of them from South Korea apparently) don’t attempt to ape Dave Gibbons style so much as approximate it. The end result is something that’s neither quite Gibbons or anime but an odd blend of the two. Some may bristle but I thought it helped set the film apart from the source material and made it feel a bit more like a standalone work.

Which brings me to my final point. If I had to complain (and trust me I do, doctor’s orders) it’s that by surgically removing Black Freighter from Watchmen’s larger narrative, a good deal of its emotional resonance and impact is lessened. Although its purpose may not have been apparent at first glance, its placement in the story was integral for the mood and themes Moore and Gibbons were trying to explore. Shorn of those, Black Freighter feels more like a grim but clever EC story than anything else. All that’s missing is a “choke” and “good lord!”

A nice touch: Playing Nina Simone’s rendition of Pirate Jenny over the end credits.

Tales of the Black Freighter

In addition to the cartoon, the DVD also features Under the Hood, a short, live-action attempt to adapt some of the supplemental material that graced the back of the various chapters in Watchmen, most notably the “excerpts” from Hollis Mason’s memoir.

The filmmakers wisely avoid attempting any literal dramatization of the first Nite Owl’s early life and times and instead frame the material within the context of an old, 60-Minutes style TV program. Thus, we get Larry Culpepper of The Culpepper Minute, circa 1985, pulling out his old interview with Mason from the 1975 archives. I really liked the attention to period detail that director Eric Mathies invests in the film, right down to the old commercials for Seiko watches and Sani-Flush. It looks and feels like the sort of news magazine programs my parents watched (much to my annoyance) back in the late 70s and mid-80s.

In the short, Mason (played by Stephen McHattie) expounds on his life as a crimefighter — most of his dialogue is lifted directly from the comic — and we see newsreel footage of himself and the other Minutemen hard at work. Carla Gugino and Jeffrey Dean Morgan reprise their roles as the Silk Spectre and Comedian respectively, to offer their own perspectives (or, in the case of the Comedian, not). For my money, though, the best part was watching Matt Frewer as an aging Moloch.

Watchmen fans will no doubt enjoy the cameo appearances of newsdealer Bernard, Silk Spectre’s manager, wally Weaver and the (as yet unscarred) psychiatrist, although I was annoyed by his declaration of how much he’d love to be able to psychoanalyze a superhero. Blatently obvious foreshadowing has that effect on me.

Still, it’s a fun, amusing little mockumentary, one that gives a nice bit of backstory for those who only saw the film and want more info on the Watchmen universe. Fans, meanwhile, will enjoy the interpretation and seeing text passages brought to life.

Tales of the Black Freighter

The special features included on the disc (I watched the non-blu-ray version) are more than a little anemic and consist of the first episode of the Watchmen Motion Comic (and the less said about that the better) and Story Within a Story, a documentary that basically attempts to explain why this DVD exists in the first place. Various DC execs, movie honchos, comics folk (so that’s what Len Wein looks like) and Dave Gibbons talk about the significance of the original material. There’s a lot of annoying blather and back-slapping puffery about how groundbreaking the book was (the Black Freighter story was a precursor to the Internet? If you say so.), though it’s always interesting to hear Gibbons and Wein talk about how the comic came together. It’s the least interesting segment on the disc.

Overall, Black Freighter, though far from essential or revelatory, manages to avoid a lot of the pitfalls and problems that plagued the feature film. One would have thought it would be the other way around.

You can watch the complete episode at South Park Studios.

Watchmen

With Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Watchmen here, a few of us Robot 6ers got together to talk about it through the magic of e-mail. Now, fresh from movie theaters around the world (well, the United States plus Luxembourg), here are Tom Bondurant, Chris Mautner, Carla Hoffman, Melissa Krause and Lisa Fortuner. Join us, won’t you?

(Naturally, there will be SPOILERS for the movie and book.)

Does it work as a movie?

Tom Bondurant: I’m not sure that it does. The beginning felt very episodic, because it was sticking so closely to the structure of the first two issues, but on the whole it didn’t establish a good rhythm. By the time Laurie had her revelation on Mars, I had forgotten what the movie had specifically established about her relationship with the Comedian. Not that I wanted the movie to drum it into my head, but including the scene (or a version thereof) where she confronts him about the rape would have helped. I thought the ending was problematic too, because the revisions took a lot of the “mystery” elements out of the plot.

Chris Mautner: It really wasn’t very good. There were moments, but overall the film felt disjointed and Snyder’s flashy, uber-machismo style really did not fit the material.

I think the biggest criticism — that trying to cram Moore and Gibbons’ epic story into a three hour movie instead of a lengthy HBO miniseries — and yet still remain completely and utterly faithful to the original material — was a bad idea hold true. As a result the movie really doesn’t have any narrative arc. It’s more “Let’s learn about this character. Now this one. Oh look, here’s the Comedian. Here’s a meat cleaver being repeatedly shoved in someone’s head. The end.”

Carla Hoffman: Remember when you were still in high school and discovered critical literature? Guys, this might have been when you donned your first corduroy blazer, girls, your first horn-rimmed glasses. Either way, this was you being a budding intellectual with a head full of thoughts that you were certain no one else had ever thought ever. Your friends and you would discuss Kafka like no one else had ever read it and watch movies because they were in the Criterion collection and that was in the boring section of Blockbuster! You were young! You knew it all! And then your little sister would come in with her iPod and tell you that these songs are soooo meeeeaningfull and embarrass you in front of your buddies. Man, does she have to have that stereo so loud?

This is that movie. Trying so hard to be so smart and having a 14 year old girl at the mixer.

Short answer: not as a film, but a movie, sure.

Melissa Krause: I think it [worked]. I was as emotionally involved with the story as I was with the comic. Actually, for certain characters, such as Dr. Manhattan, I was more so. In the comics, I’d never cared that much for the character and thought he was flat and dry. The movie really emphasizes that as strange and different as he is, there’s still a human being or something close enough to count, in there somewhere. In the end, I actually think he was my favorite character in the movie, and that’s something that when I read the comics, I never thought I’d say.

Lisa Fortuner: Yes, [it works] very well. They kept the most essential plot and character elements from the series storyline, but changed things just enough to make it fit tightly together. I may be in the minority among comic fans, but I like the ending change because it reinforces Dr. Manhattan’s effect on the world.

What really gets me in movie adaptations of books or comics is the addition of a soundtrack. Adding that extra dimension can draw you in emotionally if done right, and while there were a few weak selections for the most part the music enhanced the scenes for me.

Does it set a new standard for superhero movies, like Iron Man and The Dark Knight apparently did?

TB: No, but it did make me want to see a better sex-in-super-vehicle scene.

CM: Yes, but only, as Tom notes, in the “really laughable sex scene” department. That’s a moment that will be talked about in years to come as Exhibit A in “what not to do.” Unless Snyder was deliberately being tongue-in-cheek. I’d like to think he was, but I really doubt it.

CH: If anything, it set the bar lower. Let’s face it, Dark Knight is smart. Watchmen? It’s like a B-, still good but there’s that minus staring you in the face. This movie is going to make a pile of cash and people might start thinking that camp has the edge again.

MK: Honestly, I don’t think that’s a fair question. It’s such a different kind of movie than Iron Man and Dark Knight. For me, it’s kind of like trying to compare Psycho to Scream in terms of horror movies. When really, they’re so different that they probably ought to be considered a different genre entirely.

And I really don’t think we can call it a “superhero movie” with any sort of non-tongue-in-cheek seriousness.

I think though it has the possibility to inspire movie makers to make more movies surrounding costumed heroes that don’t necessarily fit the traditional comic book superhero mold, and that could be a really interesting effect.

LF: Here’s the thing, Dark Knight and Iron Man weren’t notable because they added new dramatic dimensions to the superhero movie or because they were especially artistic but because they were actually good movies. Moviemakers are finally learning to put some thought into the quality of the story and acting of superhero movies instead of just special effects. The cast and crew went into them to make the best, most entertaining story possible. That’s the bar Watchmen shot for, and it reached it.

I do figure that since it offers a lot more complexity than the normal moviegoer expects in a superhero movie we’ll see a definite effect. I expect much the same effect that it had on comic books in the ‘80s. It’ll convince moviegoers that superhero stories aren’t automatically trash at the same time it inspires a lot of trash from moviemakers trying to imitate it. A brand new standard, though? No. This is just thankfully the level we’re at now.

How did your theater’s crowd like it?

TB: My crowd was mostly silent, except for a few moments. They laughed at “you’re in here with me,” Dan’s “I need a couple of minutes,” and Archie’s fiery ejaculation, and they gasped a little at the rape. No clapping at the end.

CM: I suppose I can thank Watchmen for reminding me why I don’t go to the movies much anymore, namely that they’re filled with irresponsible and rude fuckheads who wouldn’t know good manners if it slashed a broken bottle across their face. Listening to the MST3K-lite repertoire of the ladies behind me; the guy next to me who decided it would be perfectly fine to turn on his BlackBerry and answer text messages during the opening sequence; the father who decided it would be perfectly alright to sit in the front row WITH HIS 10-YEAR-OLD SON (every sight of blood on screen during the film made me wonder how deep this kid’s trauma would be): I hate you all with a deep, pure fire that burns in the center of my heart and will never die out. Goddamn you all to hell.

OK, I feel better now.

Most of the crowd, the ones that weren’t texting, hacking up their lungs (I forgot to mention that guy) or making loud, snide comments seemed to be interested in the movie, though they were taken aback by the violence and nudity and laughed at inappropriate times. No clapping at the end.

CH: Yeah, everyone got some satisfaction from [“you’re in here with me”] but the audience I saw was a little laughed out. The opening credit sequence got chuckles all the way up until the bloody death of the ‘lesbian whores’, where everyone felt bad for laughing and then it was back to titters.

I honestly cannot imagine what it would be like for someone to have never read the book and seen this (can you imagine seeing the make-up ridden tiger in Antarctica without the book’s explination and just wondering WTF??). One of the people I went with saw it at the premiere the night before went so far as to leave before the ending on his second viewing.

MK: My group was very quiet, except for the prison scenes. It got some sparse applause at the end, but ultimately, I don’t think it’s the sort of movie that really inspires applause. Considering the end and all. I listened to a lot of reactions around me though, and they sounded generally positive.

LF: Well, the coworkers I saw it with all loved it, and we were a mixture of people who’d read the story and people who went in with a blank slate. The rest of the crowd seemed happy at the end, but they were mostly speaking French so I can’t say for certain.

Would you recommend the movie to someone who hasn’t read the book? To someone who has read it?

TB: A reluctant yes on both counts. I enjoyed enough about the movie to want to see it again (at least an extended director’s cut), and there’s enough superhero spectacle in it to justify a matinee ticket.

CM: I would definitely not recommend this movie to someone who hasn’t read the book yet. Honestly, I think non-comic-reading audience are going to be confused and probably a little upset by this movie. I think box office will drop sharply after opening weekend. I’d recommend it to fans only with the understanding that it’s more of a “failed experiment” than anything else.

I should admit though, that there’s a strong part of me that’s really curious to see the extended director’s cut. Either I’m a horrible masochist or just really hoping that with more time and added scenes the movie would be able to breathe a bit.

CH: I will continue to put the book in people’s hands. People who don’t feel like going through such a tome will get a nudge towards the movie but out and out ‘Go see!’? Nah. I can turn up a comic-snobby nose.

MK: I would [recommend the movie] to both. I was very surprised by how Zack Snyder managed to stay so loyal to the comic. Even to elements that I didn’t necessarily think would work on the big screen. I liked that they replaced the “threat” with Dr. Manhattan himself rather than the giant squid. It not only avoided a level of surrealism that would probably have lost the casual moviegoer, but it was a very personal blow to Manhattan that I felt led into his departure better than if they had stuck with the comic. (The way that Manhattan was portrayed in the movie, I don’t think it would have felt right to see him just ditch the planet otherwise. He needed the added emotional push.)

However, I definitely would caveat that I think anyone who hasn’t read the book probably ought to be warned that this definitely is NOT a standard superhero story.

LF: [Would you recommend the movie?] Definitely.

What were the movie’s biggest strengths?

TB: Jackie Earl Haley as Rorschach and Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl. I thought they sold their characters very well, and I thought Wilson made the most of Nite Owl’s Antarctic hissyfit.

CM: The movie really works best when it tries to reconstruct certain panels or sequences from the comics verbatim. I’m thinking of Rorschach’s conversation with Moloch or Dr. Manhattan’s origin sequence — for my money the best part of the movie by far. I thought most of the actors acquitted themselves accordingly, especially Billy Crudup, Jackie Earl Haley (though he was a little overemotional at times. I always thought the creepiest thing about Rorschach was he was so unpeturbed) and Patrick Wilson.

CH: If they had made three movies of the Comedian’s story, Dr. Manhattan’s ruminations on Mars and just Rorschach Rorschach Rorschach!, I’d have paid for each and every one.

MK: I thought the actors were the movie’s biggest strength. I’m the opposite of Tom in that I think Matthew Goode did a phenomenal job as Ozymandias. I was surprised that he was so young, but I thought it worked. It fit with the “boy king”/Alexander the Great thing he has going on.

I mentioned Dr. Manhattan above. But I kind of feel the need to say it again, since I can’t imagine what it’s like trying to act when you’re pretty much going to be replaced by a giant blue naked CG figure. But Billy Crudup did such a phenomenal job with his voice (and also, the graphic engineers did very well with expression too) that I really felt for the character.

Everyone else was fantastic too, though shallowly, I kind of think that Patrick Wilson’s too attractive to play Nite Owl. He’s a fine actor and does a good job, but once he’s in the suit… yowza!

LF: Dr. Manhattan [is] a character I couldn’t care less about in the comic, but he was the most sympathetic person in the movie and he wasn’t radically different. He just had a face and a voice now. Billy Crudup was a really good casting choice.

I thought I’d be picky about him since he’s my favorite character from the original story, but I really liked Matthew Goode for Ozymandias. He’s young and boyish looking, which drives home not only the “boy genius” persona but the weird innocence in the character.

For the mystery to work, Adrian Veidt has to work as a character. He has to be someone people trust, actually the very last person even Rorschach the High Priest of Paranoia will suspect. In the movie Rorschach follows his own ex-partner around before he even considers Adrian. Hell, those two are in the office looking at suspicious items and basically have to find a computer file labeled “My Evil Plan for Saving the World” before they suspect him. With a young and disarming actor like Goode, that actually works.

Goode’s job doesn’t stop at convincing the rest of the characters that Adrian wouldn’t harm a fly. He also had to convince the audience AFTER Adrian’s become a mass murderer that he would only kill a fly if he absolutely had to and that even then he would feel very very sad about it, and do this without being cheesy. This isn’t a bad guy who stands around pretending to be innocent and then gloats to the rest of the cast on how he fooled them. This is a guy who kills several million people then tries to convince the guys who confront him that it was worth it so that he won’t have to kill another two people rather than just killing the other two people. You have to get an element of ruthlessness and craftiness that’s actually backed up by idealism and hidden behind genuine gentleness rather than pretended gentleness. I think Goode managed it.

What were the movie’s biggest flaws?

TB: Honestly, I think substituting Dr. Manhattan for the squid did more damage than I’d have thought. Not only did it take away a lot of story material, it basically left the whole world as angry at Dr. M as the mob at the TV studio was. (I don’t think the movie reveals what happened to them, either.) There’s dark humor in both endings — Veidt essentially redirects the world’s paranoia — but the movie’s seemed more ugly and personal.

As Melissa said, I didn’t like Matthew Goode as Ozymandias. I thought he was too young-looking (to me, the Robert Redford of 20 years ago would have been ideal) and too aloof. I thought I would have the biggest problem with Malin Akerman, and she wasn’t all that special, but she had more good moments than Goode did (sorry about that).

CM: Lots of bad things have been said about Malin Akerman and they are deserving, though I think a good deal of the blame must be shared by Snyder, who gives her absolutely nothing to do. Here’s one of the most interesting, complex female superheroes in comics and they really neuter her. I didn’t feel any connection with her or her backstory at all and couldn’t tell how she felt about her relationship with her mom, being a superhero or finding out about her dad.

Oh, and Carla Gugino looked younger than Akerman, which was real distracting (especially on top of her overacting).

More to the point though, it seems as though Snyder just doesn’t know what to do with actors. He can film a pretty nifty action sequence, but when it comes to dialogue they just stand there, ram-rod straight and spout there lines at each other. There’s a scene where Laurie comes to Dan’s after leaving Jon. They stand at opposite ends of the screen and talk. I wanted to stand up and yell “get a copy of coffee. Walk. Move. Act for Christ’s sake, don’t just stand there with your hands in your pockets.” And yet scenes like that happened again and again and again.

Oh, and like Tom, I didn’t like Matthew Goode either. Though the changed ending didn’t bother me that much.

CH: NOISE! It didn’t stop!! The “Ride of the Valkyries” got audible guffaws and a wince from everyone I saw it with, I stopped hearing anything Veidt said talking to Iaccoca because of the Tears for Fears music, [and] moments of great drama or acting were just BLOWN TO TINY BITS by the oh-so-poignant soundtrack. Hearing “Hallelujah” makes me nauseous. And it’s not just the soundtrack. That fight scene with Silk Spectre and Nite Owl in the prison? Every gesture of their heads, every whip of hair made noise like a Sunday afternoon kung-fu special.

Speaking of Silk Spectre and Nite Owl … mind you, this might have been just me, but I felt that the rest of the Watchmen were wary of Rorschach because of his uncompromising views and easy-to-open violence. HOLY CRAP THAT GUY’S ELBOW JUST CRACKED OPEN TOWARDS THE SCREEN AAAAAH! And these were the “modest” heroes. It’s like Zack Snyder knew he had to make an “adult” movie and therefore cranked up the violence, sex and soundtrack and ripped off the knob. I’m really wondering about that camp aspect now, if it was intentional. Schumacher???

Sorry, the ending didn’t have half of the book’s impact or thoughtfulness. It felt like a waste.

MK: Well, by the end, I was VERY tired of the 300-esque slow-motion-effect thing. Once or twice, I thought it worked, but it really started throwing me out of the story and giving me flashbacks to Ms. Garrison making coffee on “South Park.”

The soundtrack also alternated between moments of brilliance and irritation for me. I was rolling my eyes through “Sounds of Silence” and “Hallelujah.” I really liked the use of “99 Luftballoons,” “Ride of the Valkyries,” and “The Times They Are A-Changin,’” though.

Finally, I wasn’t a big fan of the way that the ending didn’t really make it as clear/overt that Dan and Laurie did actually choose to side with Ozymandias. I mean, obviously, they didn’t let the secret get out, but I thought their reactions gave a bit too much vindication for Rorschach. I suspect this was done for the theater-going audience though. Dan’s probably the closest character that the movie/comic has to a recognizably heroic character, so I suspect they wanted to strengthen that impression.

LF: I cringed when they played “Hallelujah” for the love scene. They really could’ve found a better song for that. And maybe done the whole scene a bit better.

Malin Akerman was a bit wooden as Silk Spectre.

I have heard some griping about the world’s smartest man having the password to his computer in plain sight, and having a really obvious cover company but I can file that along with how he tried to get rid of Dr. Manhattan at the climax under Reed Richards Stupidity. I can’t see him keeping his porn on the same disk as the business stuff he’s trying to hide, no matter how much of a giggle Zack Snyder got from that. He’d keep it on a separate disk marked “Recipes” like everyone else.

Though discussing that part with Melissa, we agreed that “Boys” would have been the most clever title for a folder containing detailed technical plans, launch times and any other information Nite Owl could have used to actually stop Ozymandias.

So, on a scale from Steel/Elektra to Spider-Man 2/Dark Knight, how was it?

TB: I’d say about a Superman III – not unwatchable, but not really groundbreaking.

CM: Superman III sounds about right, though I might move it a mark down or two (what’s below that, V for Vendetta?). It’s never boring and there’s stuff that works, but it’s far from coherent and I would never label it as “good.”

CH: It really wanted to be Dark Knight and tried so hard but Elektra just keeps creeping in there.

MK: I don’t know that I think it really fits on a scale like that at all, for reasons mentioned above. But I’d put it on the high end as adaptations go. It was fairly loyal to the source material. I had some quibbles, but really no more than I do with any comic book adaptation. And in the end, I had a really good time just watching the movie.

LF: [Tom,] you thought Spider-Man 2 was as good as Dark Knight?

If all else fails, was it worth it to see the Star Trek preview on a big screen?

TB: Oh my yes.

MK: Definitely!

CM: Honestly I was more excited about the Up preview.

LF: They didn’t show the Star Trek preview in Luxembourg.

CH: I wasn’t given the Star Trek trailer because I’m a dirty Marvel zombie. Maybe if I had seen that I would have been more forgiving.