The Stop Button
blogging by Andrew Wickliffe
Category: 2002
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Really, Brian Michael, really? Makes him sound like a teenage pop star. So this issue was either written with the eventual trade in mind–since half of it is a retread of the previous issue (more on that aspect in a bit)–and the other half is a really boring chase sequence, only to end with the…
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Another half on, half off issue. Bendis writes this great scene between Peter and Nick Fury (Ultimate Nick Fury should definitely go undercover in a high school in a Bendis written series, it’d be hilarious), but then he skips out on finishing it. He’s then got a way too fast scene between Peter and Aunt…
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Again, not a fan of Ultimate Norman Osborn. Given I’ve never read the original series’s version of Norman Osborn, maybe I just don’t like the character. He seems like the “Saturday Night Live” version of Lex Luthor. Only one who turns scaly and green. Anyway, Norman isn’t the focus of this issue. Instead, it’s about…
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Bendis gets a double-sized issue–almost–and what does he with it? Well, he uses about the first part, twenty or so pages, to write a full comic book. Then he uses the second half to do some more of his speed storytelling. The whole Bendis “decompressed storytelling” term is so wrong–if it’s decompressed, it should take…
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I can’t believe I forgot the Kraven outcome. I also forgot about Doc Ock remembering Peter is Spider-Man. But I did remember, somewhat, the argument with Aunt May. Aunt May’s been something of a cursory character these last issues I’ve been reading, so it’s nice to see Bendis give her the attention she deserves. He…
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Oh, if only Stan Lee had thought of Spidey pulling down Doctor Octopus’s pants. Bendis doesn’t do a lot this issue. About half is dedicated to Spider-Man fighting Doc Ock–I can’t remember if his victory in any way resembles the one in Amazing–while the other half goes to Kraven getting ready for the hunt. Bendis…
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Well, I finally get my Mary responding to Gwen this issue and it’s… incomplete. Bendis cuts it off for dramatic effect, which feels wrong. It feels out of character for Mary Jane to sulk off on Peter here. This issue features more of the Ultimate Spider-Man than Bendis has shown lately. I just say Spider-Man…
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And Bendis is back to his old pacing tricks. This issue zooms past, even if there are some good things about it. Well, not Ultimate Sharon Carter; she’s really lame. But there’s Spidey getting his ass kicked during his first fight with Doctor Octopus just like in the original (though… back when Lee and Ditko…
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This issue might be the most content-filled one so far. Bendis has a bunch of scenes in it–he’s got the classroom scene where Gwen comes back and Mary Jane gives Peter a somewhat inexplicable dirty look then Liz Allen goes nuts. But before that scene, he has one establishing Ultimate Kraven. Then there’s a scene…
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Recasting Kraven as a reality TV boob might have been one of Bendis’s greatest achievements (so far) in Ultimate Spider-Man. It just works perfectly. But this issue really isn’t about Kraven, it’s about some lead-up to stuff. The time Bendis takes to create “cinematic” scenes… it sort of wastes pages, yes, but it also makes…
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This issue has some Spider-Man, even has some Spidey messing with Jonah, but it’s a really light read. Peter convinces Kong he’s not Spider-Man by taking a kick in the rear–I like how Superman always had to go through great lengths, while Kong is easily convinced. Gwen is revealed as a troubled youth–probably because her…
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I wonder what kind of movie Spider-Man would have been if the filmmakers hadn’t been so concerned with a “proper” film post-9/11. I know they added the New Yorkers attacking the Goblin to defend Spider-man and I’m wondering if that American flag ending was another addition… this kind of inane jingoistic nonsense ruins movies, but…
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See, if you make the Nazis aliens… you can sell your comic books easier to Germans…. Millar’s “Secret Invasion” thing here–shocking he didn’t get mad at Bendis, also shocking there’s a big rip-off of a Men in Black moment–is a huge cop-out as far as real problems go. It’s sensational and bombastic, but it also…
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Maybe they just enlarge Hitch’s artwork. His full page close-up of Captain America, out of uniform, to close the issue is just as lacking in detail as his other Captain America full pages. It’s really awkward. He doesn’t go light on any other character…. This issue’s half terrible and half mediocre. Millar’s treatise on spousal…
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Another all action issue. Sort of. There’s the dinner party with Captain America, Thor and Iron Man–lots of awkward close-ups here… Millar’s obviously trying for a movie feel, but it’s like Hitch doesn’t know how to frame for those kinds of panels. There’s also the whole Hank versus Janet thing going on. It’s a really…
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For an all action issue, it’s decent. It’s very cinematic in a boring, expository way (Grand Central’s cleared so they fight there, how convenient), but Millar does occasionally get in some good moments. I remember when Brubaker took over Captain America and talked about the character as an FDR democrat, full of idealism. Millar writes…
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It’s the outfit. Hitch can’t draw the Captain America outfit. All his detail goes out the window and it looks like something off a TV shirt or an action figure package. Some of it could be Currie’s inking, but I doubt it. This issue, again, is strong. It’s like Millar can’t do strong issues twice…
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Lots of this issue is really good. The Captain America going to see Bucky stuff, all great. Brings a tear to my eye. Like Millar watched Fields of Dreams to prep for that one. Then the scene in the cemetery, where it’s like he watched Aliens to go over the dead family. It’s too bad…
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My favorite thing about Mark Millar, now and forever, will be him thinking Oregon is a city with a downtown. Just the man who should be writing American characters…. Actually, Millar’s geographic ignorance aside (Ultimates will be, I think, forever dated with its Dubya references), the second issue’s a lot of fun. He introduces all…
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I forgot how fast these Ultimates comics read. Millar doesn’t seem to recognize a difference between ending with the reader wanting more and ending with the reader feeling ripped off. This issue’s basically a prologue. It’s a visual rip-off of Saving Private Ryan‘s opening with Captain America added. What’s so funny on Millar’s take on…
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Matt Schulze worked again? Wow, I’m a little surprised. Schulze’s performance in The Transporter–wait, hold on, physical presence might be a more accurate description–is one of the worst things about the film. There really aren’t very many good things about it, though, to be fair to Schulze (is he worse than leading lady Shu Qi,…
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IMDb doesn’t mention it, but I thought one of the problems with getting Phone Booth made (it went through countless potential leading men) was the script and screenwriter Larry Cohen’s contract–i.e. no one could be brought in to make it, you know, good. The film’s a piece of crap and it’s too bad because some…
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It’s hard to know what to think of Red Dragon. While it’s an adaptation of a novel, it’s also a remake of Manhunter, whether the film wants to acknowledge it or not. It’s got Danny Elfman doing the score, so it’s scary (though he does seem rather influenced by early 1990s Morricone) and director Ratner…
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Burns must have cast Elijah Wood because of Lord of the Rings, figured his presence would boost Ash Wednesday‘s salability. At some point during filming, as Burns watched Wood’s useless, laughable, whiny performance… he must have regretted it. It’s not like the film’s only problem is Wood–far from it–but he’s just so terrible, so incompetent,…
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Fun. I’m trying to think–besides the Ocean series–of fun Hollywood blockbusters these days. It seems like fun is out. Certainly with James Bond. Die Another Day is a lot of fun. In fact, unlike some of the other Bond movies–the ones I can remember well–it seems to be more concentrated on being fun than anything…
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So, Now You Know is an odd mix. It’s one part romantic comedy (where the problems between Jeremy Sisto and Rashida Jones aren’t just conveniently solved, but shallowly too), one part talking comedy a la Clerks, and one part low budget inventive movie. The last part is the most interesting–Jeff Anderson gets some familiar faces…
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Avenging Angelo plays like a Sandra Bullock comedy from the late 1990s, except it’s Madeleine Stowe in the Bullock role and… I don’t know Stallone in the Keanu Reeves role, if Keanu Reeves did romantic comedies. Maybe still-on-“ER” George Clooney or someone. There aren’t any Italian movie stars in Hollywood right now… oh, obviously, Antonio…
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At some point during Dirty Pretty Things, maybe the half-way point, I didn’t check, I realized the film’s non-traditional approach was holding it back. It’s ironic (or maybe not, I’m sure I’m using the word wrong) since the third act is the most predictable thing I’ve seen in recent memory. I sat and waited for…
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I wanted to see Bubba Ho-Tep back when I first read about it because it sounded weird–Bruce Campbell as an old Elvis versus a mummy with Ossie Davis as JFK as his sidekick. The pairing of Davis and Campbell is weird enough–they seem at odds, style-wise, not to mention Davis is actually old while Campbell’s…
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An action slash thriller requires a couple things… action set pieces and, well, thrills. Seoul‘s got a couple action set pieces, beginning and end, and not much in the way of thrills. There’s a mystery angle and there are scenes with the cops inspecting crime scenes, but there’s no real investigation at any point. Both…
The Stop Button 