Talking about comic books, TV shows, movies, sports, and the numerous other pastimes that make us Gentlemen of Leisure.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Last Week in TV #30

A short one this week, with many shows gear up for May sweeps starting next week and the Fox Sunday night animation block skipped in favor of the network's 25th anniversary special (which I did watch but didn't write about, because there wasn't much to write about, so if you too watched and want to comment on it, have at it).

Game of Thrones: Garden of Bones


So apparently Melisandre's womb is dark and full of terrors, amiright? That was a pretty crazy ending, so let's start there.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

X-aminations in May

I skipped this on Tuesday so Dr. Bitz's post wouldn't get overposted, but here's the monthly look ahead to what we'll be covering in X-aminations next month.

May 2nd: Uncanny X-Men #153
May 9th: Uncanny X-Men #154
May 16th: Uncanny X-Men #155
May 23rd: Uncanny X-Men #156
May 30th: Uncanny X-Men #157

Pretty straight-forward batch. 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

X-amining Uncanny X-Men #151

"X-Men Minus One!"
November 1981 

In a Nutshell 
Storm and White Queen swap bodies as Kitty Pryde leaves the school. 

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artists: Jim Sherman, Bob McLeod, Josef Rubinstein
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Bonnie Wilford
Editor: Louise Jones
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Plot
The X-Men gather in Professor Xavier's study where they are told that Kitty's parents are pulling her out of Xavier's school, wanting her to study with students her own age. Though all the X-Men object, there's nothing they can do about it, and an upset Kitty runs to her room. Storm comforts her, but Kitty tells her that she's being sent to the Massachusetts Academy, the school run by the White Queen. Kitty leaves a week later, Professor X having confirmed that her parents are acting of their own free will, with Storm driving her to the academy. As Kitty receives orientation, Storm is visited by the White Queen and blacks out after a flash of light.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Dr. Bitz Ranks Every Television Series Ever...Sorta (Part 7)

Hey, I'm back! I say that for almost every post...probably says something about the frequency of my posts. But it's not my fault, it's Skyrim's.
Anyway, I'm doing some more rankings and we're getting very close to shows I'd recommend! In fact, some of these I would recommend...to the right people.

30. Life On Mars: I should note that I'm referring to the American version, not the British version. This series is about a detective from the 2000's who ends up in the 1970's. How and why he ended up there (or is it all a dream!) is the crux of this show's mystery.
So you have the Lost-esque mystery of the time travel mixed with a police procedural mixed with a fish-out-of-water scenario. (Apparently, much to the surprise of the main character...and me, in the 70's search warrants, police brutality, Miranda rights and due process are all things cops don't have to worry about. It's the 70's man, you're guilty if the police say your are!)

Monday, April 23, 2012

Game of Thrones Humor


So my buddy Blam has gone to town lately with a series of hilarious images inspired by Game of Thrones, my favorite of which is above. For any GoT fans who haven't checked out these posts yet, be sure to do so. You can find them here and here.  

Friday, April 20, 2012

Last Week in TV #29

I did watch last night's Community and Parks and Rec, but I'll cover them in next week's post, especially since the former is going to take some time to unpack. In the meantime, here's thoughts on the rest of the stuff I watched this week. 

The Simpsons: Beware My Cheating Bart


It could certainly be my bias showing, but I greatly enjoyed all the Lost spoofs in the Homer B-plot ("Oh my god. Inside the coconut...my pet cat, from when I was little."). I was tempted to ding them once again for failing to mock something at the height of its relevance, but the fact that Homer was only now getting into the show was part of the plot, so it worked (his refusal to watch the pilot with Marge when it originally aired was classic). The main plot was a pretty basic Bart-has-a-crush story, with all the limitations therein caused by the fact that he is still only ten. Perfectly adequate, nothing groundbreaking, though notable for being the first time Bart has seen a girl's boob.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

X-amining Marvel Fanfare #1-4

"Fast Descent into Hell!/To Sacrifice My Soul.../Into the Land of Death.../Lost Souls!"
March-September 1982 

In a Nutshell
The X-Men battle Sauron in the Savage Land.

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Michael Golden (issues 1-2), Dave Cockrum (issue #3), Paul Smith (issue #4)
Inker: Michael Golden (issues 1-2), Bob McLeod (issue #3), Terry Austin (issue #4)
Letterer: Jim Novak (issues #1-3), Janice Chang (issue #4)
Colorist: Michael Golden (issues 1-2) Glynis Wein (issues #3-4)
Editor: Allen Milgrom
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Plot
Issue #1: Tanya Anderssen visits Angel at his Aerie and asks him to help her journey to the Savage Land. Thanks to a recent article, she believes her lover, Karl Lykos, is still alive and living there. Though Angel worries that Lykos may be in the Savage Land to keep his villainous alter ego of Sauron in check, he agrees to help Tanya. When word of the expedition gets out, J. Jonah Jameson, sensing a story, sends Peter Parker along with Angel and Tanya. Reaching the Savage Land, their helicopter is destroyed by a Pterosaur. Reaching the ground safely, they are attacked by the Savage Land mutants created by Magneto. Tanya escapes, but Angel and Spider-Man are captured, taken to Garokk's destroyed citadel, and used to test a machine meant to devolve them.  
Issue #2: Tanya is found by Ka-Zar and is finally reunited with Karl, but the group is attacked by barbarians led by the horribly devolved Spider-Man and Angel, and Tanya is captured. At the citadel, the Savage Land mutants' leader, Brainchild, uses the devolution machine on Tanya. Ka-Zar and Karl attack the citadel, destroying the machine in the process, but Karl is able to drain the mutant energy from Spider-Man, Angel and Tanya, restoring them to normal. However, the influx of energy causes Karl to transform back into Sauron, who flies off, declaring war on the Savage Land. As Angel and Spider-Man leave the Savage Land, Tanya decides to stay, still hoping to help Karl, and Angel promises to ask the X-Men for help.

Friday, April 13, 2012

Last Week in TV #28

This week we get to travel back in time to Valentines Day AND St. Patrick's Day as I play a little catch-up. But don't worry, I'm still behind on plenty...

Game of Thrones: The Night Lands


More like Game of Incest and Baby Killing, amiright? This episode taught us all an important lesson: if you're going to stick your hand down a random woman's pants, make damned sure she's not your sister first.

Seriously though, this episode continued the slow build from the premiere, catching us up with a few players missed in last week's episode while introducing a few more. Moving forward with these reviews, I'm going to steal a page from David Sims' book over at the AV Club and discuss things location by location.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

X-amining X-Men Annual #5

"Ou, La La -- BADOON!"
1981 

In a Nutshell 
The X-Men help Arkon free his world from the Badoon. 

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Brent Anderson
Inker: Bob McLeod
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Editor: Louise Jones
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Plot
The Fantastic Four respond to a police call regarding a woman with a laser gun. They arrive on scene and discover the woman is a Shi'ar agent, battling a group of invisible Badoon troops on her way to seek Professor Xavier's help. The Badoon kill her and capture Mr. Fantastic, Thing and Human Torch, leaving Invisible Girl to seek out Professor X. At the X-Mansion, Storm awakens from her latest recurring dream of fighting alongside Arkon as Invisible Girl arrives with her son. She informs the X-Men of the situation, and her information combined with Storm's dreams is enough to convince the X-Men to return to Arkon's world and help free the Fantastic Four. When they arrive on Arkon's planet, they are greeted by Sashia, apprentice to Arkon's Grand Vizier, who explains that she sent the dreams to Storm in the hope they would bring the X-Men to help free their world of its conquest by the Badoon. Though heavily outnumbered, Cyclops devises a plan which sends Storm and Invisible Girl to infiltrate the citadel to rescue the FF while Nightcrawler, Wolverine and Sashia attempt to destroy the Badoon stargate to prevent reinforcements from arriving, with Cyclops, Colossus and Sprite hanging back as reinforcements.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Last Week in TV #27

I didn't get a chance to watch last night's Community yet, so that'll have to wait til next week, unfortunately. But here's what I did find time to watch.  

Bob's Burgers: Burgerboss


A marvelous episode, one of the show's best, which gave everyone something to do and highlighted the show's strengths. From Bob's "peeing race" with Jimmy Pesto to his wrist braces ("Please tell me they shoot webs!") to a fantastic guest appearance by Aziz Ansari as DRL to Linda's random obsession with sailing which dovetailed perfectly into the episode's climax and finally the great 8-bit style closing credits, this episode was pretty much a laugh a minute, and perfectly showcased the show's whacky, crazy, hilarious world.

Louise: He had sex then we happened. Deal with it!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

X-amining Uncanny X-Men #150

"I, Magneto..."
October 1981 

In a Nutshell 
The X-Men attempt to stop Magneto's latest attack on humanity. 

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Dave Cockrum
Inkers: Joe Rubinstein and Bob Wiacek
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski and Jean Simek
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Editor: Louise Jones
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Plot
From his island headquarters, Magneto issues the leaders of the world an ultimatum: destroy all their nuclear weapons within a week, or face his wrath. As Magneto debates the merits of his actions with a powerless Cyclops and Lee Forrester, the Russian submarine Leningrad launches an array of nuclear missiles at the island, which Magneto easily dispatches before sinking the sub. He then uses a device he's created that allows him to control the Earth's crust to turn the Russian city of Varykino into a volcano in retaliation and as a show of force. That night, as the X-Men are searching nearby for the shipwrecked Cyclops, their jet encounters a magnetic force field that sends it crashing into the ocean. Though the nearby Professor X loses telepathic contact with them, the X-Men survive and begin swimming towards a nearby island.