Michael D Hamersky On Comics Presents Vinnie's Take On...   Project: Hero by Rick L Phillips

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3621 - 

Today I am reviewing the novel "Project: Hero" by Rick L. Phillips. My dad recommended this book to me, as he knows I am an avid sci-fi fan. This 141 page book is about a man, Daniel Urich, a retired super hero who has created a foundation to help financially support these new and coming superheroes. He decided to do this after he learned of the death of a 90 year old homeless man who died in the gutters of a street. The importance of this to him, was the fact that this 90 year old man was the retired superhero Flag-waver, a WWII superhero in the aid to fight against Hitler. Daniel did not want this same fate to happen to these people who help keep his community safe.

The story was very nicely done. It was interesting and unique, and it gave more life than a retold tale of super heroes with the same powers. The author, Rick L. Phillips, also created unique names and abilities of the heroes that had never been done before (besides the obvious "Mr. Stretchable"). Rick had told the story with great detail, but didn't fill the pages with useless information that had little to nothing to do with the story. It was good he kept this in balance. He also developed all of the characters very well, not giving their whole life stories in the first paragraph, nor leaving the reader without knowing who the main characters were.

My two rating deductions are for a small amount of grammar/spelling incorrections, and repeated words. For example, on page 92, I quote " 'What is going on here?' ask Sprite." There are a few other situations where this occurs, and it is borderline annoying if you are a "grammar nazi" such as I am. The repeated words also have an example taken place on page 92, in which a conversation between the whole group of heroes has most of their speech quotes ending with "ask <Their Name>". Not only is it with "ask" and not "asked", but in this entire book, the only word used to describe a question was "ask". Just off of the top of my head, I can replace ask with ponders, questions, wonders, and others.  I feel like the editor of this book paid less attention after the first half of the book. I feel this way because it was roughly halfway through the book when these incorrections started to appear.

All in all, I really enjoyed this novel. I am being a little harsh on you with my previous paragraph, but your idea for this novel was just so great and original, you just needed to fix those couple of issues. I want to see you make another story, and I would love if you took these tips into consideration. I will be looking forward to your new books, Rick. Anyway, I give the novel "Project: Hero" a comic book grade of Very Fine Plus (VF+), an 8.5 out of 10.0 grade scale. I really do hope you see this review, and make use of my tips in your further publications. Many thanks for a good read.

~Vinnie

P.S. Here is where you can purchase a copy of this book! 

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,620 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,716 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

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In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Reviews... John Carter The 2012 Theatrical Film

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3620 -  I'm back from the theater, after checking out the new 'JOHN CARTER' film from Disney.

Here’s the official synopsis for “John Carter”:

"From Academy Award(R)-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes “John Carter”–a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). “John Carter” is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands."

Here is who is in the film:

"Taylor Kitsch, Willem Dafoe Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Polly Walker, Bryan Cranston, and Thomas Hayden Church."

So what did I think of this film?

Well... It's been a long time since I read the John Carter books. And no, I didn't read all of Edgar Ric Burroughs 11 volume Barsoom series of novels that were published from 1912 - 1943!

Yet, I found myself fascinated by the storyline of this film.

I found it hard to believe that this film is during the Centennial of this John Carter character!

Even though it has been many years since I read a few of the John Carter books, and the John Carter comic books that were published, I found it very easy to get involved with the film's storyline.

Rather easily come to think of it!

The film is well written, and smoothly goes from one time to another.  I didn't need to know the background of John Carter to follow the film. 

The CGI didn't get into the way, and was quite useful in capturing the time on Barsoom / Mars!

Although the film is 2 hours and 12 minutes long... There wasn't any too long of a time period in any of the action!

I gotta admit... I was pleased to have seen this film on the Big Screen!

You can too, as it just was released on March 9th!

I would give this film a Near Mint (NM) 9.4 out of a 10.0 possible comic book grade!

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,620 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,716 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Is Sad To Mention... Jean Henri Gaston Giraud aka Moebius 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3619 -  Sad to mention the passing of Jean Henri Gaston Giraud, aka Moebius. (8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012.)

At the top of this blog is a photo of Moebius, and also one of the works of his that I enjoyed.

Here is the link to his Wikiepedia entry.

Here is the link to his Grand Comics Database entries.

My condolences to his family and friends. 

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,619 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,716 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3618 -  Well... It looks like Tina and I will be attending the upcoming 26th Annual WonderCon!

This one will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim, Orange County, California, instead of in the usual San Francisco Bay area.

I haven't been to this comic con for a while... And am looking forward to attending this comic convention while it is in the Southern California area this time!

Here is the Facebook Fan Page for the WonderCon.

Here is the web site for the WonderCon.

Here is the start of the programming for the 2012 WonderCon.

After seeing all of those, and you want to go... Here is the link to the registration page!

And, last, but not least... Here is the link to the album where I will be posting pics from the con at my Facebook fan page!

See you there next week?!

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,618 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,715 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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Michael D Hamersky On Comics Reviews... The Science of Superheroes By Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3617 -  Although the title of the book is 'The Science of Superheroes'... This book is actually 'readable'! 

Yes, it is a 'popular science book', but it also has an interesting hook, in that the superheroes are actually used to introduce discussions of different scientific questions.

What kind of questions?  Well, Batman brings up the topics of gadgets; Spider-Man brings up spiders;  and Green Lantern has black holes and color theory, for example.

Each chapter brings ups a superhero and then a discussion.

For example:  More Powerful than a Speeding Locomotive: Superman - The Superman Legend Beings, What Makes Superman super?, Alien Visitors, The Drake Equation, Rare Earth?, and A Question of Gravity, all within Chapter 1!

Chapter 2 is:  Rays --Cosmic and Gamma: The Fantastic Four and the Incredible Hulk - Humble Beginnings, A Fantastic Foursome, Frankenstein's Monster--Marvel Style, The Perils of Technobabble, the GFP Hulk.

These two chapters are worth the price alone, but there are eight more chapters! With Ant Man and the Atom, The Flash, The X-men, and even Donald Duck!

Plus there are also two appendices: The first appendix mentions the material that wasn’t covered in the book, plus why it was left out. The second appendix is a collection of brief interviews with comic book creators, including Len Wein, Mark Wheatley, Brett Booth, Buddy Scalera, Mort Castle and Max Allan Collins.  Good reading in both appendices!

One of the things that I realized in writing this blog... Is that the book authors concluded that Marvel’s characters were more likely to be based on inaccurate science than DC’s were.  That's because DC’s writers were supposedly more familiar with popular science theories and science fiction.  I'm not 100% certain of that, but it was interesting to see that in print here.

In summary, this book has just the right 'tone' for someone interested in superheroes, or in this case, 'The Science of Superheroes'.  It is relatively easy to read, with straightforward, but not overly stuffy or serious. It was nice to see that the authors aren’t making fun of superheroes.

I would give this a VERY FINE PLUS (VF+) 8.5 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Wiley; 1st edition (September 29, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0471468827
ISBN-13: 978-0471468820

Here is where you can purchase this book,  The Science of Superheroes!

~Michael D Hamersky On Comics

NOTE FROM Michael D Hamersky On Comics:  My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now at 3,617 total posts in number!   I do appreciate your continued reading and support of this Blog!

BTW, You can 'follow' this blog by clicking the 'Follow' Button at this NetworkedBlogs app link!  We currently have over 2,715 'Followers'!  Thanks to ALL of YOU that have already clicked that button!  And for those of YOU that haven't yet... I would appreciate it if YOU would!!!

Note:  My online 'Local' Comic Book Shop (LCBS), carries many different genres of comics, magazines, graphic novels, and comic con promotional items. Possibly even copies of the item(s) that was mentioned here today...!  If I have it, you'll find under the BIG TOP of Comics, at Comic Books Circus.com, including the book 'Gotham City 14 Miles' that I am shown holding to the left. I'm 1 of 14 essayists in that book! !     

Web Page Note:  This blog post is written per the IE Browser standards.  Chrome, Safari, Netscape, Firefox and the other browsers serve the page up slightly differently, sorry about that!  The screen display resolution is best seen at the setting of 1024 x 768 on your laptop or desktop computer.  Note:  Your computer's resoulution may be set differently, but the above resolution is the most commonly used resolution at the time of this blog post. 

NOTE: All images and characters within this blog post are copyright and trademark their respective owners.

Comics Creators: If you are breaking into, or already work in the comic book industry or other pop culture productions, you are welcome to email or mail us press releases, news items, and updates that you feel would be of interest to our blog readers. Including YOUR own works! To mail printed items to us for possible review, send to:  Make It So Marketing Inc., PO Box 130653, Carlsbad, CA 92013

 Also, if you are a Facebook member, I would have liked you to send me a 'Friend Request'. However, I have reached the maximum limit of 5,000 Facebook Friends and Fan pages already, so I've added a New 'Facebook Fan Page' so that even more of YOU can 'Like' what I am doing, and be interactive with me and others there.  Here is the link to that 'Facebook Fan Page': Michael D Hamersky On Comics! Please click the 'Like' button on that page!

---------------            

      

In Addition, I started a YouTube Channel just before the 2011 Comic-Con International, where I am slowly uploading videos from conventions or other events that we attend that are also pop culture related.  You are invited to 'subscribe' to that channel also!  As found at 'HamerskyOnComics'!

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