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

Sunday, May 29, 2011

What's Wrong With This Picture?

                                                                      

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

X-amining X-Men #110

"The "X" -Sanction!"
April 1978

In a Nutshell
Warhawk turns the Danger Room against the X-Men.

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Tony DeZuniga
Letterer: Annette Kawecki
Colorist: Andy Yachus
Editor: Archie Goodwin

Plot
It is Moira's last day in New York, and the X-Men are relaxing with a game of baseball. Moira leaves the game to greet the telephone repairman, but he turns out to be the villain Warhawk, who shoots Moira with a tranqulizer dart. Warhawk enters the computer center and reprograms Cerebro, removing the safety interlocks from the Danger Room. As he works, he is telepathically contacted by his master, who warns him against failing in his mission or betraying him. As the X-Men return to the mansion, Warhawk surprises Professor X and Phoenix, stunning them, and locks the X-Men in the Danger Room.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Last Week in TV #35

Crazy busy last week, so let's take these real quick (like, one sentence quick in some cases).

American Dad: Flirting with Disaster
A pretty standard episode (which is to say, funny but not terribly groundbreaking). Roger's usual craziness in the subplot was the highlight, but I also enjoyed the randomness of Steve's birdhouse building hobby and raunchy Patrick Stewart is always appreciated.

Steve: That's why I wasn't surprised to read in the papers that he OD'd not 10 seconds later.

American Dad: Gorilla's in the Mist
Oddly enough, the Roger subplot kinda fell flat, but the Roger/Steve stuff was fun (I especially liked the discussion of bros vs. hoes and the cracks about Francine faking it, but the stuff the gorilla did with Steve probably elicited the biggest laughs from me.

Dick: What's wrong Stan, you didn't like it?
Stan: Actually, I thought it was very well crafted, the perfect combination of dirty and smart. It was really quite elegant.

Friday, May 20, 2011

X-amining X-Men #109

"Home are the Heroes!"
February 1978

In a Nutshell
The X-Men fight Weapon Alpha

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: John Byrne
Inker: Terry Austin
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Andy Yachus
Editor: Archie Goodwin

Plot
The X-Men return to the mansion and quickly separate to enjoy their downtime. Storm tends to her plants as Jean meets with her parents to discuss her transformation into Phoenix. Meanwhile, a mysterious figure watches the mansion. In his room, Nightcrawler arranges a date for the evening while Colossus writes a letter to his family. Teleporting downstairs, Nightcrawler finds Cyclops brooding and attempts to cheer him up, only to be interrupted by Banshee's invitation to join he and Moria on a picnic. Cyclops and Nightcrawler decline, but Storm, Wolverine and Colossus join the couple. At the lake, Wolverine stalks a deer, but is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Weapon Alpha, sent by the Canadian government to bring him home.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

SpringCon 2011

"X-amining X-Men #109" will post Friday, but in the meantime, I'd like to invite all our local readers to the Midwest Comic Book Association's annual two day SpringCon comic book convention at the Grandstand on the State Fair grounds. Great fun to be had for geeks of every age (but if you're over the age of nine, you'll have to pay to get in, and if you're under the age of nine, you probably shouldn't be reading this blog...).

More details can be found here, and if you do make it, be sure to stop by and say hello to me and Mrs. Teebore (we'll be there helping out all day, all weekend).

Monday, May 16, 2011

Last Week in TV #34

A short one this week as the run-up to SpringCon and birthdays busied up the week (and I'm out of town again). Hopefully I'll get caught up this week. 

How I Met Your Mother: Landmarks


Well, at least Zoey is gone. "Sometimes things have to fall apart to make way for other things," Ted said, a perfect coda to their relationship and, if not this season of HIMYM, then at least the portion of the season dealing with their relationship. Hopefully, now that the deck has been cleared of Zoey, something much better is on its way, for Ted and for us.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

X-amining X-Men #108

"Armageddon Now!"
December 1977

In a Nutshell
Phoenix repairs the M'Kraan Crystal and saves all of reality

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: John Byrne
Inker: Sam Grainger
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski, Denise Wohl

Colorist: Andy Yachus
Editor: Archie Goodwin

Plot
As the M'Kraan Crystal opens, Cyclops explains to the rest of the X-Men what is happening. Meanwhile on Earth, Dr. Corbeau confers with the President, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, but no one knows how to prevent future reality blinks. Back on the planet of the M'Kraan Crystal, the first of the crystal's guardians, Jahf, emerges. After knocking Wolverine into orbit, Jahf is destroyed when Banshee, guessing the guardian to be a robot, destroys it with a tightly focused sonic scream. As Jahf is defeated, the second guardian, Modt, emerges from the crystal.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Last Week in TV #33

A full night of Fox animation, so let's take those quickly then move on to other stuff.

American Dad: Home Wrecker


The whole "draw a line down the middle of the house" routine is a pretty standard sitcom cliche, but the show raised the bit to American Dad's usual surreal level by turning the line into a massive concrete wall. The montage of the family celebrating holidays on either side of the line was especially funny (moreso after the dialogue about how they did it all in one week). Like most such plots these days, the Steve B plot was pretty standard, though I do like how the principal's character has been expanded this season into being this unabashed asshole.

Friday, May 6, 2011

To Better Know A Hero: Thor

Forsooth! Verily, Thor doth star in a new film, in theaters now! Before seeing thy film, feast thy eyes on these runes to vanquish thine ignorance about the mighty Thor!

Real Name
Thor Odinson 

First Appearance
Journey Into Mystery #83, August 1962

Nicknames and Aliases
Dr. Don Blake, Sigurd Jarlson, Eric Masterson, Jake Olson, Siegfried, Siegmund,

Powers and Abilities
Thor possesses super-human strength, speed, endurance, durability and longevity thanks to his godly nature. He is also a skilled warrior.

Weaknesses and Achilles’ Heels
Pride, nurses, blonds


Wednesday, May 4, 2011

X-amining X-Men #107

"Where No X-Man Has Gone Before!"
October 1977

In a Nutshell 
The X-Men battle the Imperial Guard alongside the Starjammers

Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Dave Cockrum
Inker: Dan Green 
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Andy Yachus 
Editor: Archie Goodwin

Plot
The X-Men emerge from the stargate onto an alien planet dominated by a large crystal, and are faced with the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. When the Guard refuses to release Lilandra, the X-Men attack, despite being heavily outnumbered. On the crystal's dais, Emperor D'Ken summons the Soul Drinker to destroy Lilandra but she is saved by Nightcrawler. As the battle continues, Lilandra explains to Cyclops and Phoenix that once the nine death stars over the planet align and imbue the M'Kraan Crystal with energy, D'Ken intends to use that power to make himself all powerful, but she fears that power will destroy the universe.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Commercial Carousel

I watch a lot of TV. Let's not confuse what I said. I don't watch a lot of quality TV. Most of what I watch is the mind numbing crap that's melting my brain and making me feel like I need to take a shower after the show ends. Oh, and I watch sports too...Minnesota sports...which really means I watch people ATTEMPTING sports.
Anyway, my point is that with watching a lot of TV comes watching a lot of commercials. In general I hate commercials, but every once in a while I can't help but be amused. Like a recent ad campaign by Geico has me chuckling despite myself. Here are my favorites:

Monday, May 2, 2011

Last Week in TV #32

The Simpsons: The Real Housewives of Fat Tony


Originally, all of the Fox animated shows were going to be new last night, with American Dad, Family Guy and The Cleveland Show crossing over with each other. But since the impetus of that crossover was a hurricane whose effects would be felt on each show, Fox decided to pull those episodes in light of the historic tornadoes earlier in the week (presumably, the episodes will air at a later date). So instead we got just one new episode of The Simpsons.