LIKED
– Zombieland is exactly as good as you were hoping it would be: it’s not Citizen Kane or anything, but it’s a consistently fun horror/comedy with the emphasis on the latter half of the equation and some very solid action sequences as well, plus a number of clever visual tricks that help keep the viewer engaged and entertained. This is what B-movies should be like, and I await the inevitable sequel with bated breath.
– The Jim/Pam wedding on The Office would have actually served the series very well as a finale, as others have noticed elsewhere, but even as a portion of the series it was a particularly good episode – not just for the obvious romantic/emotional catharsis but because it was just a well-written episode of a show that’s notable because it missteps so rarely. (Also: Oscar voguing. How can you not love Oscar voguing?)
– Planetary’s conclusion was about as good as could be hoped for – a note-perfect end to a near-perfect series (that, yes, only managed to produce 27 issues over nearly a decade, but that’s why it’s near-perfect).
DID NOT LIKE
– Doctor Voodoo manages the rare feat of making Dr. Strange look like a pussy-ass loser (I mean, even more than previous Marvel comics have done so) while making Doctor Voodoo look like a self-important twat. (And in the bargain, once again makes Dormammu look like a pathetic joke.) The only character to come out of the first issue not looking like a schmuck is Dr. Doom, and let’s be honest: Dr. Doom doesn’t need any help to look cool. On top of that, the comic itself is just pretty goddamned bad: heavy, ponderous dialogue that already felt a bit outdated in the 1970s combined with art that is just ugly and murky makes for a nigh-unreadable pile of slurry. Understand that, as a Dr. Strange fan, I am ostensibly the target audience for this comic. I wanted this comic to be good. Instead, it’s probably the worst new offering from Marvel in quite a while.
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God bless rednecks.
I almost bought that Doctor Voodoo yesterday. Maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t.
But I really want to know what idiot thought his name should be Doctor Voodoo. Was it Bendis? Doctor is not a title for the Sorceror Supreme. When the Ancient One was in charge he was never Doctor Ancient One. And Doctor Strange was called Doctor Strange long before he was Sorceror Supreme. He got the name because he was a doctor.
It is true that Jericho Drumm is a doctor as well– a psychologist, I think, but I’ve also heard him called a psychiatrist– but he never called himself Doctor Voodoo until now. Brother Voodoo is simply a much better name– he gets a great deal of his power from his dead brother, after all.
I just wish there was a real ongoing Doctor Strange series to read.
Well, if I want to read about Brother Voodoo, he’s also been appearing in Marvel Divas. And if you think he looks like a twat in his own series, I’m guessing his portrayal in Divas is worse. He really looks like a dork in that. But he’s never been any good at romance. (Am I the only one that remembers he date-raped a girl in Marvel Super-Heroes #1?)
I thought, and this may not be true, that the Dr. Voodoo started as one of those online exclusives? Cuz those seem to have less quality control in some cases (in part cuz the writers doing them by and large (Jeff Parker, for exmaple) need none)
Instead of being titled Dr.Voodoo, wouldn’t he just be Dr. Drumm sorcerer supreme since that is his real name? It is just like Marvel to take two potentially great characters (one with a rich history that has been for decades unexplored, and the other a near blank slate to create some compelling new stories) and make them both equally suck-worthy.
Stay golden Marvel.
True as this is, I think calling the new Voodoo series “Doctor Voodoo” and the new Strange series “Strange” is a helpful, concise tip to the reader that something has changed for both of these characters. It’s probably the only reason I’ve noticed Strange isn’t Sorcerer Supreme anymore and Drumm is. In any case, both titles are allowed–Drumm is a doctor and could always himself Doctor Whatever-I-Damn-Well-Please, and there’s no law that says you always have to address Stephen by his title.
Also, I’m really weary of the habit in comics of “bury everybody except Batman and Doctor Doom.” It doesn’t make other characters look flawed and more human, it makes them look like losers that only a dork would pay to read about. It’s okay to let Doctor Doom show ass to make some other character look strong by embarrassing Doctor Doom. Unfortunately the only character who gets to do this anymore is Squirrel Girl.
Which is a shame, as Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Luke Cage have all handed Doom his ass in the past, and it’s been really fun. The Richards Doom time travel duel is a favorite of mine.
Mary Walker: Marvel Divas is absolutely atrocious. Of the three series of late to feature Patsy Walker, it is EASILY the worst.
And when one of the others is Models Inc, with it’s ‘LOOK, LESBIANS! WE’RE “WITH IT”!’ content, that’s saying something.
And why the hell does there need to be like 5 distinct and incompatible versions of Daimon Hellstrom running around?
Agreed on Planetary.
As for Voodoo/Strange…eh, don’t expect much better with the current regime at Marvel.
I’m gonna miss Planetary. 🙁 It’s good even for Ellis, and that’s saying quite a lot.
Hopefully this frees him up for Nextwave 2: Agents of Electric Boogaloo, however.
Can we declare a moratorium on Citizen Kane as the comparative benchmarks for all films, particularly popcorn films?
It’s an odd meme.
I haven’t bought anything from Marvel on a regular basis in a long, long time, but as a Doctor Strange fan from way back I picked up a few recent issues of New Avengers for the Sorcerer Supreme storyline, and there should be a copy of Doctor Voodoo waiting for me at my local comic shop. Dunno how long I’ll bother with it, but then who knows how long it’ll last. Maybe if I keep my expectations low enough, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Somewhere, Fred Hembeck is screaming into his phone, “QUESADA YOU FUCKER! I WAS SUPPOSED TO WRITE BROTHER VOODOO! ME!!! AND WHAT IS THIS DOCTOR SHIT?!?”
At least, I like to think so. 🙂
(And seriously, Dr. Strange can read the fucking Vampire Verses and there’s no real consequences… but he drinks a demonic potion and he loses the title of Sorcerer Supreme? WTF?)
Divas at least has some small interesting character moments and believable dialogue.
Much unlike, say, “Gotham City Sirens”, or as it should be called, “Fuck Everything, Here’s Some Wank Material!”
I love Zomieland, too. It was a lot of fun, cathartic violence and some engaging, funny characters. I loved the reoccurring list gag.
That said, the movie should be ashamed to call itself a zombie movie. For one, the obvious running zombies argument, which is old and I won’t go into further. But also the distinct LACK of the zombies, up until the end. Seriously, I think I counted maybe, MAYBE a dozen deadheads throughout the movie. The city streets should’ve been packed with them and what was the point of fortifying *secret celebrity cameo*’s mansion if you don’t even SEE any zombies outside?
As lackluster as Dr Voodoo was, I was more disturbed by Dr “Stalin” Strange… WTF is up with drawing Dr Strange like some Russian Czar?
MightyRa, you’re right that Marvel Divas is much worse than last year’s Patsy Walker series, which was absolutely brilliant. I haven’t read the Models one, so I can’t judge there. I didn’t even know Patsy was in it. (I probably would’ve bought it if I’d known.)
Anyway, Patsy Walker is one of the greatest characters ever, and I wish other people would notice that sometime. (She also pulled off the greatest genre-switch of all time.)
It’s hard not to look like a pathetic joke with a name like Dormammu. I bet all the other mystic warlords with flaming heads are always taping signs up on his back that say “Turn me into a newt”, like some Doctor Strangey version of Matthew from Newsradio.
Zombieland – best cameo I can ever remember seeing in a movie.
As far as the “Patsy Walker trilogy” goes:
Patsy Walker: Hellcat: Brilliant series. I wish it had become an ongoing. I want Kathryn Immonen to write the next Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane series.
Marvel Divas: They took the Sex in the City premese why, why to literally, but I’ve liked it so far.
Models Inc.: They only brought up the bisexual thing once in the first issue. In fact I think they’re treating this a lot more realistically then they could be.
If by “you,” you mean you and not me, I suppose that’s fair. All those positive reviews (that I didn’t bother to read, so that might have tipped me off) got me thinking that Zombieland might be a good movie rather than just good for a zombie movie, which is a fairly low bar.
To be fair, despite the lack of a real plot, the aforementioned lack of zombies and the abuse of voiceovers, I left the theater relatively pleased.
Is it bad that I thought Emma Stone was Lily Allen?
Not at all. I thought the kid was Michael Cera, even after I left the theatre. Didn’t know otherwise until someone told me it wasn’t. I swear, they cloned him, because there was no difference.
Why not Baron Voodoo? Seems to fit better than Doctor. Or is that taken?
Jericho Drumm is an accredited psychologist, so the Doctor tag fits.
Why not MIGHTYGODKING VOODOO?
Saw Zombieland. Michael Cera should fire his agent. Then again he is doing Scott Pilgrim.
As for ‘that’ cameo, well can it beat The Magic Christian, which is just one big series of celebrity cameos, but has Yul Brynner in drag seranading Roman Polanski?
Did I read that right? The final issue of Planetary came out at last?
I bought the penultimate issue shortly before I stopped buying comics altogether and that was three years ago.
I may actually have to darken the comic shop door once again to buy this one, if only to have a complete set.
Meh, same thing happened to me last time :\