Bond is Back in Quantum of Solace!

SPOILER WARNING

(Don't Read the Below If You Don't Want to Know!)

My second favorite Bond, (Daniel Craig), hit theaters with a vengeance this weekend - just in time for my birthday! 

So Michael and I celebrated by taking in the 22nd Bond  movie. 

I've seen them all - except the George Lazenby 'Her Majesty's Secret Service'. (Just could never bring myself to watch it.) 

I've suffered through the Roger Moore years. (Michael loves him as Bond!)  I enjoyed Pierce Brosnan. But when I first saw Daniel Craig I thought -- finally a Bond who looks like he can actually do what he does so well; We haven't seen that since the ultimate Bond, Sean Connery!

Craig handles the physical work well, and there's a lot of it.  What's surprising is how well he does with the more emotional elements of the story. 

The movie opens on the heals of the previous film.  Bond is bent on revenging the death of his love, Vesper.  So we have a Bond who's not sleeping, drinking heavily (out of martini glasses, of course!) and relentlessly pursuing (even killing) any lead to the dismay of his boss, M (The marvelous Judi Dench).  We get more insight into this Bond than in all the other films combined. 

The movie grabs you immediately with a harrowing car chase which practically destroys the fabled Bond car.

Then, alas, no more car, indeed, we have no gadgets, no bag of "Q" tricks in this movie - no "Q" of course, and unfortunately no John Cleese either.

The movie peaks early.  From the opening car sequence to the surprise interrogation to the rooftop chase in beautiful Sienna - this is classic Bond.  The studio knows it; most of the shots you see in the movie's ad campaign are from the beginning of the movie.  Unfortunately, the story doesn't keep pace. 

The story is a sequel which has its upside (more emotion and depth to the character).  The downside is it's tough to follow despite the references to Vesper most viewers aren't going to remember the betrayal in the previous film, so the storyline is confusing.  And the whole eco-global monopoly villian isn't very villanous. 

The other downside to the sequel storyline is that Bond is out of his normal routine.  We're used to his gearing up with his new gadgets, toys and car, instead he's cut off by M - she even terminates his credit cards!  It's a sign of the times: Bond needs a financial bailout!  The pacing of the movie is very different than other Bond films and it suffers.  You never see Bond plotting and planning, just relentlessly pursuing.

That said, I still enjoyed it, it just wasn't as satisfying as the previous film.  I'll give it an 8 out of 10.

A final note:  Michael was very disappointed by the opening credits montage.  The little homage that began the closing credits didn't cut it for him.  (I liked the signature song.)

Jesse's Story....

A Work In Progress...

For those of you new to our Blog, I usually blog about comics or graphic novels that are already in print, or about to be released.

This blog post is about a graphic novel that is in progress right now....

Geoff Brenneman is one of my new Facebook Friends, and he is in the process of developing a graphic novel called "Jesse's Story".

It is  based on a true story and thus far there have been 16 pages completed in the telling of this story.  

The artists on the project are doing it pro bono because the graphic novel is being published to benefit 'Emmaus Ministries', which is the only ministry of its kind in the USA, with offices in Chicago and Houston.

The Emmaus Ministries organization reaches out to men involved in prostitution. The graphic novel contains a story that tells of one such young man, and hopefully this graphic novel project can make others aware of what goes on, and how such men can be helped.

Of the artists contributing art pages to this graphic novel are several artists, mostly amateurs, plus pros like Fran Matera.

JS Earls did the script; he is a semi-pro in the small comics business.

Readers of this blog who want to contribute their time or treasure can reach Geoff at geofffl@yahoo.com for more info on the graphic novel.

For those of you already on Facebook, just search for the group 'Adonai Comics', where you'll see Part 1 of the script, and the pages in process illustrating Part 1.

Part 2 is in script form, and funds are being raised to finish this project.

Adonai Comics' tag line is 'Christian Comics For A 21st Century World'.

When this graphic novel is ready for release, I'll blog about it again before pre-publication.

Thanks for reading this blog post today, and please join us again!

~  Michael

Mark Texeira

At The National!

This week I blogged about the fact that Michael Golden will be attending the National ComicCon November 14th thru 16th, 2008 in NYC.

Now word comes that an additional Guest Artist attending this Con is Mark Texeiera!

Mark "Tex" Texeira is currently the penciler on Marvel Comics' "MoonKnight" series and is certainly known worldwide for his Ghost Rider work. Matter of fact that series has been my personal favorite work of his until I saw his Wonder Woman artwork below, (LOL)! 

Tex is equally lauded for his illustrative style that always adds a bit of “New York know-how” to any project--painting or interiors-- that he tackles.

His career has spanned work in not only comics, but in film, magazine publishing, album covers and more.

Tina and I have been to the National before, where we picked up several long boxes of comics to ship back to SoCal. (Use the FedEx in the same building if you also do that!)

Mark Texeiera will be on hand all days of The National, running November 14-16th 2008 at the Penn Plaza Pavilion in Manhattan, along with other comics creators including Carmine Infantino, Dick Ayers, Herb Trimpe, Irwin Hasen, Michael Golden, Jim Salicrup, Jim Shooter, Jim Steranko, John Romita Sr., Larry Hama, Peter David, Roy Thomas, Russ Heath, and Walt Simonson among others.

For those of you that are new to our blog, we also have an ongoing 'Comic Con and Pop Culture Show' ourselves here at "Make It So Marketing Inc.", what with our daily blog posts and new listings of items for sale in our online store!

Thanks for reading this blog post today and please join us again for more!

~  Michael

Q & A With

Kim Deitch

Veterans Day - Intrepid Museum - War Comics!

Today is our nation's day for honoring all of the Veterans that have served the country.

While watching TV this morning and having breakfast, I saw that CNN was airing their morning program from the deck of the USS Intrepid. It is part of the Museum in Manhattan that Tina and I saw on a recent trip.

I thought it strange that being from San Diego, with all of its' Navy Ships in port, that I would want to see this floating museum, but it was well worth the extra hours spent there!

My dad, (pictured below), served in the US Navy for 21 years.

One of his earlier cruises was on the USS Yorktown, a sister ship to the USS Intrepid.

So touring the USS Intrepid was 'like' looking at the same ship my dad served on those many years ago.

BTW, the USS Yorktown has also been converted to a museum, and is ported in Patriots Point, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.

My dad's dad was also a veteran, serving for his country in WWI.

Ollie Hamersky, (pictured to the right below), served under General John J Pershing in Europe, and made it back home after being gassed in the trenches.

Unfortunately his childhood buddy, Henry Zerener, (pictured to the above left), never left Camp Funston at Fort Riley, KS. He died from one of the illnesses that was rampant in the States during 1918.