A Preview of Heroes Convention 2011

We stopped by Heroes Convention last year on the way home from my parents’ home in Wilmington. It was astonishingly different from Dragon*Con. It is an actual comic book convention and that makes for a huge difference in the atmosphere. You can read about it here if you like.

I’ll be there Friday this year and am looking forward to an even better time thanks to the fact that we actually planned to do it this year. We’ll be arriving Thursday might and staying in a hotel, so if anybody has any partying suggestions let me know. I know Heroes Con isn’t the same as Dragon*Con, but somebody has to be partying, right?

Memorial Day 2011

I don’t have anything much today, but it’s also one of the few important things I’ll write about all year. I’d just like everybody to take a minute to pray, or think about or whatever your personal beliefs allow for; just be thankful for the men and women who have given their lives for this country. It doesn’t matter what you think about the United States of America’s politics now or at any time in the last two hundred and thirty-five years. The people who have fought and defended the liberties we enjoy today deserve just a few moments of your thankfulness and respect.



When you pass those flags and crosses on the side of the road think about what they stand for and the fact that there are thousands of similar displays all over our country.


I’m not saying you should feel guilty or sad or anything. Feel proud and privileged to be in a place that inspires that kind of devotion.


-Phantom

Toy Review - Ghostbusters Classics: Vinz Clortho By Mattel

I don’t know why Mattel chose to call this figure “Vinz Clortho” rather than “Louis Tully”. Neither really sounds any cooler and people who aren’t already familiar with Ghostbusters sure as shit aren’t going to recognize the Keymaster’s moniker any more readily. And you can’t tell me that the figure is technically of Clortho because it comes with that dog statue head and he was Louis Tully again when he had that thing on. I think somebody at Mattel was just irritated by everybody thinking the name was “Vince Glortho” and wanted to get printed proof out there of the correct spelling. What a nerd.

Remembering Macho Man

Pardon me if I ramble a bit more than usual here. This is all just off the top of my head. I’m not trying to write a retrospective or a tribute or anything significant. I just want to get across some thoughts about an icon.

Comic Book Wednesday - Phantasmas Casting Agency: X-Factor The Movie

I’ve been a huge fan of Peter David’s X-Factor since he first wrote the team back in the 90’s. His has always been a humorous and involving take on what are essentially cast-offs from the main Marvel mutant titles. So today I’m going to waste some time by writing about who I think should play whom in the X-Factor movie that is obviously never going to happen.

Phantom Troublemaker’s Custom Dictionary

Copy and paste this into your own custom dictionary IMMEDIATELY!

This list of 2,125 words that I have added into the Word dictionary since I started writing for my blog is VITAL TO YOUR EXISTENCE.

Toy Review – Masters of the Universe Classics: Catra By Mattel

As much as I have enjoyed not having o get on Mattycollector.com for sale days (for the most part), it has left me with a stack of figures I don’t want. I’ve got a Shadow Beast, Sy-Klone, Preternia He-Man and Battle Armor Skeletor just sitting there waiting for the right moment to unload on eBay.

I had thought that Catra was going to be another one of those figures, at least until I noticed she had an Evil Horde crest on the front of her dress. I am a sucker for anything Evil Horde.

Toy Review Star Wars: The Vintage Collection Weequay (Skiff Captain) By Hasbro

While this guy is kind of plain and we have gotten an awful lot of Jabba’s employees recently, I do have a dream (that will never be fulfilled) of having a Jabba’s Palace playset one day. And it’s going to be so fucking huge that I’m gonna need at least a hundred figures of tertiary characters and menial servants just to make it look reasonably well staffed.

Of course, this guy isn’t even from Jabba’s Palace. He’s the captain of the skiff that carries Corellians, Jedi and Wookies to the Great Pit of Carkoon so they can be Sarlacc chow. That plan didn’t work out so well. I wonder exactly how many dead guys I have standing on my Star Wars shelves.

Comic Book Wednesday - Update: 5-2011

ACTION COMICS

(I don't think David Finch is an appropriate Superman artist)I guess I’m pretty much done with this one, but Paul Cornell’s run sure has been a good time. I was disappointed that #900 incorporated a bunch of Doomsday bullshit that I didn’t care about, but I get that they wanted to try and hook readers with a new story. Didn’t work for me. If Cornell and Luthor are out, so am I. The wrap-up of the Luthor arc was very satisfying, though. Luthor defeating himself was fantastic. If you didn’t read this one you should really pick up the trade when it comes out.

I guess I should probably address the whole Superman renouncing his citizenship thing. Here’s what I said on Facebook:

My initial reaction was the same as Hama's (he blew a fuse over it and the friend I was writing to unfirended Hama over it; which I think is pretty stupid). Then I thought about it and realized that regardless of the direction of the story the concept makes a whole lot of sense. Superman is not disowning America, he's keeping America at a safe distance from repercussions from his actions around the world. There's no dissing America here. I can't believe I just bothered to write that. I don't even like Superman - I just wanted the end of Cornell's fantastic Luthor story.

And that’s pretty much it. While I do believe that the large majority of comic creators (and Hollywood types like David S. Goyer who wrote this short story) are liberal pantywaists who want to turn America into something that is not America; that has nothing to do with this short story.

For the record, I don’t like conservative moralists any more than I like liberals. They both want to take away my freedom and I think that’s pretty shitty.

2011 Summer Movie Preview - August

Welcome back to the least informative Summer Movie Preview on the internet! If you somehow missed May, June or July you can click on the magic words and read them now. Here's August!:

2011 Summer Movie Preview - July

Man, there's even more going on in July than June. I've had a lot more fun thinking about movies this year than I did last year.

2011 Summer Movie Preview - June

Here's whats happening in theaters in June. There's a lot, so let's get to it!

Movie Review: Thor

I wasn’t as stoked about Thor as I was about all the other comic book movies coming out this summer.

Actually that’s not entirely true. I’ve been going back and forth between Thor and Captain America as to which one I was least excited about, and that’s no knock because I was really stoked about both movies. It’s just that Green Lantern looks so damn good and X-Men: First Class is a Matthew Vaughn movie (Yes, I know there are other movies based at least loosely on comic books coming out, but these are the big four). The thing that gave Cap the advantage a month or so ago was that last theatrical trailer. It totally sold me on a movie that I wasn’t sure was going to work in the first place.

2011 Summer Movie Preview - May

Alright! Time to knock out three days worth of material in one night!

Yes, it’s time again for my BIG SUMMER MOVIE PREVIEW! Written – as always – with the help of Entertainment Weekly’s Summer Movie issue. I’m actually getting this done early enough this year that the first big movie hasn’t hit yet – Thor (Oops – yeah it has. I didn’t get this done as fast as I thought I would).

I am already super-stoked about what Hollywood is offering us this year since the massive disappointment that was SuckerPunch has already come and gone. We have a lot of comic book movies that all look great but surely can’t all be great. There are also some big comedies coming out that I’ll have the benefit of waiting until they hit home release to see.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

I have to work tonight, so I won't be enjoying adult libations like the rest of you. Fear not! I'm having a big, kickass birthday movie night on Saturday, so I'll save up my drunk 'til then.

For now, please enjoy what is by far one of the dumbest things I've ever wasted time on:

 That is every mustachioed toy I currently have on display. You're all dumber now.

You're welcome.

Until next time, stay creepy

-Phantom 

Toy Review – Masters of the Universe Classics: Evil-Lyn By Mattel

I skipped Evil-Lyn the first time around. I wasn’t as deep into the line yet and wasn’t planning on buying any of the human figures. Obviously that has since changed and I needed to get a figure of Skeletor’s main squeeze. Well, Keldor’s main squeeze. The subtext in Lyn’s bio seems to suggest that his face wasn’t the only thing Skeletor lost due to his disfiguring deal with Hordak. If you know what I mean. Apparently Skeletor and Evil-Lyn’s relationship became strictly platonic at that point, which is also when the Evil Warrior Goddess started plotting against her former beau.

Beastie Boys

Since the Beastie Boys’ new album – The Hot Sauce Committee Part 2 – arrives today I thought I’d write a little something about the three loud Jews who were at one time my favorite band in the world.

Don’t take that to mean I stopped loving them. They’re still in my top five at any given time, it’s just that like every other band in my life they were at the top of their game years ago and some of the fondness has been worn away by the intervening years of mediocrity or lack of material. Or in the case of the Beasties; both. But don't think this is going to be bagging on the Beastie Boys. I've got a long history with them that you can read about now if you've got some time.