November 14, 2013 by Billy Henehan

Thor: The Dark World – Review

It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning when we headed to the movie theater. The boys were seeing Thor 2 and the girls were seeing About Time. I hated having to decide between the two, as Rachel McAdams looks adorable in the About Time poster, but there was no denying the siren song of seeing Thor: The Dark World before it crossed oven with Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (next week!).

Adorable

I thoroughly enjoyed Thor: The Dark World. Like the previous Thor movie, the takes-themselves-so-seriously Asgard scenes were balanced out with slapstick comedy during the Earth-based scenes. Unlike the first Thor movie though, I never felt like we needed to get back to Earth right now whenever Asgard was on-scene. Asgard is fleshed out more in this sequel, and while the individual members of the Asgard supporting cast are not on the screen very long, they are on just enough to make me want to see more of them in Thor 3.

There has been rumors circulating recently that Jaimie Alexander, who plays Sif, will be playing Wonder Woman in the upcoming Superman/Batman movie. After seeing her in Thor: The Dark World, this seems like the most perfect of perfect casting. Because her Sif armor isn’t that far removed from Wonder Woman’s current costume, it almost seemed like Wonder Woman was guest-starring in Thor: The Dark World.

Sif or Wonder Woman?

Tom Hiddleston as Loki steals every scene he is in. It’s amazing what Hiddleston and the Marvel movies have done for the character of Loki. Before the first Thor movie, Loki was one of Marvel’s lamest villains. With the exception of when Walter Simonson was writing him, I can think of few comic book examples of Loki pre-Thor movie in which Loki didn’t come off as lame. But Hiddleston has helped to reinvent the character. But now, thanks to writer Kieren Gillen, Loki is one of my favorite comic book characters. I wonder if Marvel would have given Gillen his shot at reviventing Loki in the comics if Hiddleston didn’t create so many fans of the character in the movies.

We need to start the Tom Hiddleston for 13th Doctor campaign right now!
#Hiddleston13thDoctor

Often fantasy and science fiction are squarely separated from each other, but Thor: The Dark World does a good job of blending the two. The evil dark elves ride in starfighters that could have been in the latest Star Trek movie. Science and magic are weaved together, which I liked, because Thor exists in the same world as Tony Stark. Odin makes a point in this movie to state that Asgardians are not actual Gods. And the story plays that out. They’re more like mythological extra-dimensional aliens.

If you saw Thor: The Dark World already, hopefully you stayed until after the credits. Does anyone leave the theater any more before the credits are completely over in a Marvel movie? The scene with the Collector made me NERDGASM. No, not because of the Collector himself. Who cares about him? Because of what the Collector says, namely that THE TESSERACT AND AETHER ARE INFINITY GEMS!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Avengers 3: The Infinity Gauntlet? Yes, please! If you haven’t read the Infinity Gauntlet, I highly recommend buying it today and reading it. It’s one of my favorite comic book stories ever, it will fill you in on who that big purple guy at the end of Avengers is and why his appearance was the signal of something awesome coming.

November 8, 2013 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD – S1E6 – F.Z.Z.T. – REVIEW

Spoilers abound! Read this only if you’ve already watched F.Z.Z.T!

Episode 6 of Agents of SHIELD, “F.Z.Z.T,” starts out normally. There’s a new super-powered mystery to be solved. This time, it’s a scout leader whose dead body is both electrically charged and hovering in the air. The good news is that it takes the team only half the episode to solve this one. The source of turns out a be a Chitauri helmet carrying some kind of space virus.

It was cool that the Agents of SHIELD TV show went beyond just passively referencing the Avengers movie here and brought in an actual prop that kickstarted this episode. It definitely helps the show feel like it’s securely grounded in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What was also cool about this plot was that there was no sinister villain hungry for power. The people who died thanks to the Chitauri helmet weren’t murdered. It was just wrong place, wrong time. Of course, it at first looks like one person is out to kill his friends, but when he dies and the SHIELD team recovers the helmet, everything is resolved and there’s no villain lurking in the shadows.

What follows is without a doubt the most intense half an episode we’ve had so far this season. I honestly had no idea if Simmons was going to make it out of this one alive. When she and Fitz failed in their final attempt at creating a cure, I was ready to yell at my TV, “You can’t kill Simmons!” But this is Whedon we’re talking about. He totally could.

Part of the reason that I love this episode so much is for the amount of screen time that Fitz and Simmons get. There is definitely chemistry between the two of them. We’re treated to their back story, which is great,except that it’s given to us in this frame that Simmons is about to die. If this was Lost, she’d definitely be dead for all the back story we got on the two of them.

When it’s revealed that the EM pulse from Simmons as she dies will blow the whole plane out of the sky, killing the entire SHIELD team, I breathed a sigh of relief. They can’t kill the whole team. There’d be no show. Then Simmons jumped from the plane…just as Fitz realizes they figured out a cure. It’s like a nerd version of Romeo and Juliet.

IAIN DE CAESTECKER, ELIZABETH HENSTRIDGE

If Simmons dies, we riot!

I literally cheered when Fitz tried to get that parachute on and Ward jumped out of the plane to save Simmons. This episode was INTENSE. At the end of the day, Ward saves Simmons and I don’t throw my remote at my TV over her death. Whedon, you played with my emotions like an episode of Parenthood here, and I thank you for it.

In Agent Coulson news, we get a BIG reveal tonight. Coulson undoes his shirt and shows off the massive scar where Loki blasted him in The Avengers. Someone told me that this is proof that Coulson is not a Life Model Decoy. I still think he’s a LMD, and that whoever designed the Coulson LMD went into very good detail. I’m guessing we won’t find out until the end of this season at the earliest.

Agents of SHIELD is crossing over with Thor: The Dark World in two weeks. In other words, make sure you see Thor: The Dark World. See you next week!

November 7, 2013 by Billy Henehan

Uatu Know About This

I found this postcard in my mail today. The image is a chalk outline of The Watcher, with the tag line “May 2014.” All is says on the back is “From Your Friends at MARVEL.” I believe this was sent to me because I am a Marvel Digital Unlimited Plus subscriber.

For those of you unfamiliar with the character, The Watcher is a cosmic being who shows up when really big events are going down. Uatu is The Watcher of Earth. There’s a whole race of Watchers, watching events all over the universe. They’re the ultimate couch potato, sworn never to interfere (though that rarely seems to stop Uatu). How do you know you’re looking at a Watcher? Well, they stand about 50 feet high, like to wear high-collared togas, and have extremely large craniums and pupil-less eyes.

Uatu likes to watch.

It’s those pupil-less eyes that are all seeing. That’s what has be interested about this image. Not only is it the chalk outline of what I presume is a dead Watcher, but some extreme violence has been perpetrated on this Watcher’s eyes. It’s the only part of the image that has bloodstains, and there is a lot of blood there.

This has me thinking, “Why would someone want to kill a Watcher?” Is is someone trying to hide a secret? It’d have to be a big secret in order to need to take out a Watcher. What did The Watcher see that he shouldn’t have?

There’s no way to tell for certain if this is Uatu or another Watcher. They tend to look and dress alike for the most part. But since Uatu is The Watcher assigned to Earth, it makes sense that this would be Uatu. The high-collared silhouette certainly looks like Uatu’s.

I’m guessing The Watcher didn’t see this coming.

November 7, 2013 by Billy Henehan

My 2nd New York Comic-Con

This year, I had the pleasure of attending my second NY Comic-Con. My first one, in 2011, was a dizzying, eye-opening experience of costumes, nerd love, and getting faked out by the promise of cupcakes. In 2012 I, sadly, was attending a wedding instead of witnessing the marriage of geekdom and even deeper niche geekdom. But this year, I was back and so was a beautifully renovated Javits Center.

I love traveling to the Javits via subway. Looking around in my car, I was wearing my 10^th Doctor t-shirt and looked like the only one heading to this thing. But then as I got out on 7^th Ave and walked west, I was slowly joined by more and more throngs clearly heading exactly where I was. How did I know? The capes gave it away, mostly. Also the inordinate amount of spandex.

And then, a block away. I witnessed this:

Why, yes, that is Boba Fett on an accordion. And he was playing the theme song from Zelda.

Anyway, the Javits was a big buzz of excitement, art, merch, and—my favorite part—creative costumes. As someone who throws a yearly themed birthday party, you know I have an appreciation for costumes—most especially the homemade ones.

Like this girl who came dressed as a character from Oregon Trail:

Or this homemade Dalek:

In fact there were a lot of Doctor Who related costumes this year, which I appreciated. Though, I thought, a dearth of Harry Potter costumes. Something I think I must remedy next year. (Luckily, I have thrown a Harry Potter themed party before so I am prepared.)

And speaking of Doctor Who, I was pretty thrilled that I had an opportunity to see John “Captain Jack” Barrowman—especially since I missed him at the convention I accidentally happened upon in Dusseldorf, Germany this year whilst on my honeymoon. (True story: you can read about it here).

The line to get his autograph and a photo with him were c-razy long. I mean, I have a photo of it, but I’m not sure how much you can surmise from it since I am a) short and b) not wearing a costume to compensate for that. (Another note to self for next year. Perhaps I can go as Madame Maxime.)

But trust me, it was long. And, also, we had missed the photo portion, which made me sad since JB was wearing his suspenders and giving out hugs. He looks like a good hugger.

Luckily, we just managed to eke into the Q&A session with him. It was standing room only but we got to stand pretty close to the front. If you’ve ever wondered what John Barrowman is like in person, think Captain Jack—but not toned down for television. And I include the sometimes X-rated Torchwood in this scenario. In other words: charming, hilariously inappropriate, and raunchy as all get-out. Oh, and very purty, of course.

JB answered questions ranging from the practical jokes the Torchwood cast played on each other (involved nudity) to whether he likes Thai food (also, surprisingly, involved some nudity. And diarrhea). It was a really fun hour, punctuated by his husband Scott “swishing” out on stage in a Superman costume (“Superman doesn’t swish!” John protested), and John planting one on him. Who doesn’t want a bit of romance inserted into their Comic-Con, I ask you?

My Comic-Con experience ended at the art auction. I’ve actually never been to an auction before at all, so it was fun to sit there with a paddle and see people get razzed over some really beautiful art. The fact that all proceeds went to charity made it that much sweeter.

And what does one do after a rejuvenating celebration of stories and arts and people’s unbridled passion for the above? Channel it into karaoke, of course. So, really, you might say that my Comic-Con experience ended with a rousing duet of “Beauty and the Beast.” There may have also been a Grease 2 song in there…but I’ll never spill which one.

Written by Sarvenaz Tash. Check out her debut novel, The Mapmaker and the Ghost. Photos by Graig Kreindler.

November 2, 2013 by Dave Tomko

Arrow S2E2: “Identity”

I shall call myself Arrow.

We left off last episode with Oliver pondering a new identify while staring at an Arrow (CW, you’re so good at being deep). And this episode follows up with the title “Identity.”

Ok before we go on here I kind of want to take note of DC Entertainment’s super-hero naming conventions in media other than comics. In Smallville they did everything the could to not call Clark Kent Superman or Superboy. He was called the Blur or the Red Blue Blur. The Red Blue Blur? Really? That sounds cooler that Superboy? Selina Kyle was never called Catwoman in the Dark Knight Rises. Oliver Queen stars in a show called Arrow where he called the Hood. There was even a joke how dumb the name Green Arrow would be in the first season of the show. Now it looks like he will take the name Arrow. To me it feels like DC is slightly embarrassed by the names of their heroes. This Amazon show that is now on hold will feature Wonder Woman as the protagonist probably won’t call her Wonder Woman. She’ll probably be called the Amazon. Anyway, I hope Oliver takes the name Green Arrow before the last episode of the show.

This episode revolves mostly around FEMA trucks not being able to get supplies to hospitals in the Glades after the quake because they are being hijacked. This places Roy as the scene first. It doesn’t go to well for him. This provides the spark for more tension between him and Thea, and for Ollie and his crew to get involved.

Now that Oliver is all about being more proactive, not killing, his trick arrows, and figuring out what his new heroic identify will be he decides to reorganize “Team Arrow.” Felicity Smoak who was created for the television show and plays the tech support character gets “promoted” to Ollie’s personal secretary. This helps them stay in close personal contact but pisses Felicity off. Not too great for the resume but great for humor. Case in point, this leads to one of the two best lines in the show, both by John Diggle. In response to Felicity’s freak out, “It could be worse. My secret identity is ‘his black driver.” Boom. Hands down this guy is one of the best parts of the show. He follows with another great line later in the episode in response to one of Ollie’s “deep” statements talking about his two different identities, “You know I’ve been meaning to tell you it really weirds me out to no end the way you refer to yourself in the third person like that.” Could he be the Han Solo of the Arrow series? It is no wonder this made-for-TV character is jumping to the comic book pages.

Once Team Arrow sets up an operation to intercept the people stopping FEMA, shit hits the fan. They find out that last season’s villain China White and a new character from DC Comics the Bronze Tiger are behind it. Ahem, I mean we can’t use the name from the comic books. I mean Tiger. Hey does Tiger look familiar to anyone? That’s Michael Jai White who played Gambol, the thug that was not to happy with the Joker in The Dark Knight. In any case we find out that Tiger took the job just to challenge the Hood. They fight the fight is broken up. They’ll fight again later and hint, hint… Arrow wins.

Michael Jai White apparently loves sharp objects and DC Comics.

Things aren’t so neatly wrapped up. A new player is introduced as an advocate for the Glades, Alderman Sebastian Blood. He is an activist for the victims of the quake and being set up for as an antagonist for Oliver. He has comic book connections (see below). In the island flashbacks Oliver copes with his first kill with Shado and Slade. They find a cave containing World War II Japanese soliders. Here Oliver finds a stone that he gives to Thea when he comes home. She gives it to Roy when she breaks up with him and asks him to get his life on track. Speaking of which the Hood tracks down Roy and convinces him to stop fighting in the Glades, but instead become his “eyes and ears” in the Glades. The episode leaves off with Laurel setting a trap to catch the Hood. We leave with Oliver surrounded by Police.

SPOILERS/NOTES/COMIC BOOK CONNECTIONS

Below I’m going to go into some source material things so SPOILERS ahead.

From left to right: Green Arrow: Year One writer Andy Diggle, and actor David Ramsey who plays John Diggle, with Jeff Lemire who is bringing John Diggle from the TV screen to comic book panels.

From left to right: Green Arrow: Year One writer Andy Diggle, actor David Ramsey (who plays John Diggle) with Jeff Lemire who is bringing John Diggle from the TV screen to comic book panels.

John Diggle. He was created for the TV sereis. His last name is a nod to Andy Diggle, who wrote my favorite Green Arrow story, Green Arrow: Year One. It gorgeous stylized art from the artist known as Jock. Diggle’s character has entered DC Comics this past month in Green Arrow #24 written by Jeff Lemire.

China White: She first appeared as the main villain in Green Arrow: Year One (so good) by Andy Diggle.

Bronze Tiger: Ben Turner is is a character that first appeared in a prose novel called Dragon’s Fists, written by Dennis O’Neil and Jim Berry. He first appeared in comic books in Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #1. Turner started out as an anti-hero and became brainwashed and forced to commit criminal. Later in his career he is deprogrammed more of a straight on hero. I hope to see him take more of a hero role in future issues.

Alderman Sebastian Blood: He is a character in DC Comics known as Brother Blood. He was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez and first appeared in New Teen Titans vol. 1 #21 – 22. He is currently appearing in Animal Man written by current Green Arrow scribe Jeff Lemire.

Roy Harper: Roy Harper’s first appeared at the same time as Oliver Queen the Green Arrow did, in More Fun Comics #73 way back in 1941. After Roy’s father, a park ranger, died in a fire, he was raised by Brave Bow, a Navajo medicine chief. During this time Roy became a remarkable archer. After Brave Bow’s death, Roy was adopted by Oliver Queen and became his sidekick Speedy. Roy went on to join the a group of sidekicks called the Teen Titans lead by Batman’s sidekick Robin. During the 1970s he went down a troubled path when he became addicted to heroin in Green Lantern #85 – 86. He had an affair with a super-villain Cheshire, which resulted in him becoming a single father at a young age. He eventually changes his code name to Arsenal and eventually Red Arrow and then back again to Arsenal. Don’t ask. He seems to have as much trouble with names as DC Entertainment. If you’re looking for some good Roy Harper reading I would suggest the one-shot Batman plus Arsenal #1 and the 1998 mini-series Arsenal. Both are written by Devin Grayson and take place during a time where Oliver Queen is dead. Currently Roy is appearing in Red Hood and the Outlaws.

Written by Dave Tomko. Check out Dave’s site, newearth2.com.

October 30, 2013 by Billy Henehan

Welcome to The All-New Tuesday Night Movies!

Welcome to the All-New Tuesday Night Movies! Sit down, make yourself at home. I hope you like what we’ve done with the place. After a few years hosting the site at Blogger, the opportunity arose to give the site a major face lift. Sadly, that meant leaving the familiar confines of Blogger behind.

But I think you’ll agree that this new site is a lot nicer! The new design is thanks to TNM contributor Dave Tomko, who graciously offered to give Tuesday Night Movies this major makeover. Posts will now be categorized and labeled with what they deal with, for example movies, television or comic books. Besides looking cooler and being friendlier to navigate, you can access the Tuesday Night Movies Facebook and Twitter pages straight from the homepage.

Also, you might have noticed The Store on the homepage. The Store takes you over to a curated showcase of some of our favorite things on amazon.com. If you plan on making any purchases at Amazon, please click over to Amazon through our Store link. You’ll find the same experience and prices as if you had go to Amazon yourself, and you’ll be helping keep Tuesday Night Movies around to provide you with movies and television reviews, convention reports and other fun stuff.

In the top navigation bar is a link to The Billy and Bryan Show podcast. I co-host a podcast! What? You didn’t know? It’s true! On the podcast, my co-host Bryan and I talk about a different topic each week, often with guests. We do a Top-5 list related to that episode’s theme every episode. You can download the podcast free on iTunes, or stream it from The Billy and Bryan Show page.

I’m hoping you enjoy the All-New Tuesday Night Movies!

Billy Henehan – Editor-in-Chief

October 30, 2013 by Dave Tomko

Arrow S2E1: “City of Heroes” – REVIEW

The last season of Arrow finished with a bang or more like a quake. Part of a devious plan, “The Undertaking” put into place by Malcolm Merlyn/The Dark Archer and a group of businessmen to level the Glades section of Starling City. The plan was partially successful despite Oliver Queen/The Hood/Arrow, Felicity Smoak, Detective Quentin Lance, and John Diggle’s efforts. It left Moira Queen incarcerated, the Glades in shambles, and Malcolm and his son Tommy dead along with over 500 civilians.

Within the first couple minutes we find out that Oliver Queen has blamed himself for not saving his best friend Tommy or the 500 other some odd dead people in the glades. And so like any emo 14 year-old who just broke up with his girlfriend or full grown super-hero, he exiles himself to his room to listen to Morrissey. Or in this case the island where he originally found himself spiritually and emotionally, Lian-Yu. And like any best friend or sidekick would, Felicity and Diggle venture to the island to shake him out of his funk. They’re all like dude everything sux now without you around. And they’re right. But Ollie is all like, hey I’m coming back but only as Oliver Queen guys not the Hood!

So non-Hood-Ollie returns to Starling City to find the Glades a mess. A new player, Isabel Rochev has purchased 40% of Queen Consolidated and is looking to purchase the last 10% to gain control of the company. A group called the Hoods co-opted Oliver’s look and are running around killing rich people. His mother, Moira is locked up in Iron Heights. Laurel Lance has taken a job at the DAs office and she has a new . Her father Quentin Lance has been demoted to a beat cop. Oliver’s sister Thea has been running his nightclub with Roy Harper which is above his “Arrow Cave” unbeknownst to them. Also, Roy is running around playing Hood Jr. in the Glades, which doesn’t make Thea very happy.

So Ollie comes back and takes care of all this stuff and by becoming the Hood again. The one difference is he won’t kill anymore. The show highlights this theme nicely with the fashbacks to the island that lead up to the first time he takes a life. The Hoods aptly illustrate how his mission can be skewed and taken off course. He decides he needs a new identiy and he stares at the Arrow.

It’s an okay jumping on point for new viewers. Definitely a strong start to the new season.

SPOILERS/NOTES/EASTER EGGS/COMIC CONNECTIONS

Below are notes and Easter eggs that will provide insight and connections to the comics that may spoil some future twists if you are not a comic book reader.

The news story on the TV screen when Ollie returns to Starling City gives us a hint of the character who will be coming to Arrow. The line, “In Central City, S.T.A.R. Labs’s particle accelerator will be finished by Christmas, ” is a nice way to set the stage for The Flash. S.T.A.R. Labs is a research facility that first appeared in Superman vol. 1 #246 (December 1971). It stands for Scientific and Technological Advanced Research. Barry Allen (The Flash) is a forensic scientist from Central City that gets struck by lighting while being dowsed in chemicals. This accident gives him the the power of super-speed. It think changing the chemicals to a particle accelerator is a good way to update the origin of Barry Allen. Barry first appeared in Showcase #4 (Oct. 1956),

It’s also funny that Channel 52 where the news stories are being played is the name of the two page teaser comic in the back of DC Comics teasing what is to come in their new books.

Isabel Rochev played by the sexy Summer Glau comes straight from Green Arrow comic books. She was created by J.T. Krul and Diogenes Neves and first appears in Green Arrow vol. 4 #1 (August 2010). She is an adversary to Ollie’s that goes by the name of Queen. Born in Siberia, she lived a life of servitude in a diamond mine. When Oliver Queen’s father came to her village, she was inspired by the man, who she saw as a symbol of one’s inner power. She found him a great source of inspiration and vowed to make something of herself and rise from her humble status as a slave girl. She achieved this goal years later by purchasing stocks of Queen Industries and taking control of the company. This should be interesting.

In the last scene of the episode, Roy is fighting some street thugs in the Glades. He says he just ate a Big Belly Burger. This is a fast food restaurant in DC Comics that first Adventures of Superman#441 (June, 1988). He is helped out by a surprise vigilante. She is supposed to be the Black Canary. This is a big twist. The only Black Canary characters in the comic are Laurel and her mother. This must be a new take on the character. I’m looking forward to seeing more of her.

Written by Dave Tomko. Check out Dave’s site, newearth2.com.

October 28, 2013 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD S1E5 – The Girl in the Flower Dress

Big things happen in the fifth episode of Agents of SHIELD. Centipede returns! Skye’s loyalty is seriously questioned!

Centipede has returned! You knew it was only a matter of time. Centipede not only returns, it also makes substantial progress in its Extremis-based super serum. Debbie, the Centipede scientist from the pilot episode is here in this episode. She definitely comes across as being lower in rank in Centipede than I originally thought, and I don’t think we’ll be seeing her character again in the future. Being engulfed in flames with do that to you.

“Okay, fine! You don’t have to call me Scorch!”

We’re introduced to two new important Centipede members this episode. Ruth Negga plays Raina, the episode’s titular character, the girl in the flower dress. Seriously, that’s all she ever wears. She seems to have gotten a bulk discount on the same dress in different colors. Raina definitely exhibits sociopathic tendencies in her emotionless handling of Scorch and Debbie. In the scene after the credits, Raina meets with a jailed Centipede member. At first it seemed like he was a higher up, but by the way Raina was talking to him, I get the feeling is mid-level at best. I don’t expect him to be in jail for long.

Someone likes floral prints.

Skye’s loyalty is called into question this episode, and for good reason. She lets a fellow Rising Tide hacker friend know that SHIELD is coming for him. She’s then caught in a compromising position by SHIELD in his apartment. Her betrayal hits both Coulson and Ward very hard. It’s hard to tell who it hits harder. Coulson gave her a fresh start by inviting her into SHIELD, despite Ward and May telling him it was a bad idea. And while Ward didn’t originally like or trust Skye, that’s definitely changed over the course of the season, with the two of them spending their downtime together playing Battleship at the beginning of this episode.

Battleship? Really, Coulson? Such a high tech plane and you couldn’t get some Catan or Ticket to Ride up in there?

There was no cameo by Nick Fury, Maria Hill or any of the Avengers this week, but viewers were presented with a just under a full two minutes of Skye in her bra and panties. I was surprised by how long she was shirtless in this scene. But if your goal is get people to keep their eyes on the screen and get returning views on Hulu and abc.com, this is one way to do it. Showing a bit of gender equality, Miles, Skye’s hacker friend/fuck buddy is shirtless for this entire scene as well. Random thought: Bearded Austin Nichols looks a lot like bearded Henry Cavill.

The special effects in this episode were top notch. I think the production values here were the highest they’ve been so far this season. With ABC now signed on for a full season, maybe the budget will be increased. If so, I expect the show’s effects will continue to improve.

What I really liked about this episode is that we’re shown that there are people out there with powers who SHIELD is keeping track of. It’s not all just weird artifacts and the Avengers.

The SHIELD agents are getting a week off next week. There’s no new episode until November 5^th. Looks like I’m watching Brooklyn 99 live this coming week.

October 25, 2013 by Billy Henehan

Brazilian Breakfast Club

This past summer, Bleeding Cool ran a story with the headline Get a Brazilian Breakfast With Ivan Reis and Joe Prado at NYCC. The article talked about an art book called Ícones dos Quadrinhos (Comic Book Icons) being crowdfunded on Catarse. Catarse is like a Brailian Kickstarter. The book sounded cool. It had illustrations by 100 different artists. Each of the artists drew one of their favorite characters from their childhood. One of the support levels included a “Brazilian breakfast” with Ivan Reis and Joe Prado, a hardcover copy of Ícones dos Quadrinhos and sketches from Ivan and Joe in the book. Needless to say, I was intrigued. Not only are Ivan and Joe two of my favorite artists in the comics industry, but at NYCC 2012 I helped thwart a big art theft at their tables. Also, for years I’ve wanted a Hal Jordan sketch by Ivan, but have never been able to get one. Here was my chance!

I jumped to support the project. The Brazilian Breakfast option was limited to 6 people, and I figured that with Bleeding Cool running this story, it would sell out quickly. The price looked steep initially at R$500, but thanks to the magic of exchange rates, R$500 at the time turned out to be only about US$210. I was the first person go for the breakfast option.

When Bleeding Cool posted about the project, it was in its final day of crowdfunding. I figured the breakfast (and sketches!) at NYCC would be too hard to pass up and the other five spots would sell out quickly. Because of this, I was very surprised when I checked back on Catarse throughout the day and saw that no one else had gotten in on what to me was a tremendous deal. Later that day, the crowdsourcing period ended, and I was the only one who had signed for the Brazilian Breakfast.

WHAT?!?

Seriously, how did not one other single person decide to get in on this? I cannot put into words how excited I was. Getting breakfast with Ivan, Joe and 5 other fans would have been cool. But just me? AWESOME.

When I told a friend my news, he asked “What’s a Brazilian breakfast entail?” I said I wasn’t sure. “It sounds like a weird sex act,” he said. “I think you just signed up for a 4-way with these guys,” he added.

Shortly before NYCC , Ivan Freitas Da Costa, the man behind Ícones dos Quadrinhos, got in touch with me to coordinate when and where we’d meet up for the Brazilian breakfast. As it turned out, the Brazilian in Brazilian breakfast referred to the company I’d be in, not the food (also, thankfully, not the sex act). We we agreed to meet at the Market Diner near the Javits Center at 8 AM on Thursday morning, the first day of NYCC. Because they were all operating on a tight schedule, Ivan Freitas Da Costa told me to get to the restaurant by 8 AM sharp. I arrived at 7:45.

Since I was the first one there, I grabbed a table for four. Shortly thereafter, Joe and the two Ivans walked in, along with two other guys. Looking at my four-man booth, I immediately thought we’re going to need a bigger boat. The two other guys turned out to be Daniel HDR and the Brazilain giant from the art theft story from last year, whose real name it is Breno Tamura. I’m glad Breno came to the breakfast, as he had become such a mythical figure in mind from the way he apprehended the thieves last year.

After we moved to a larger booth, sat down and introduced ourselves, I mentioned that I had met Ivan, Joe and Breno last year when I helped stop the theft at their table. The table erupted. Joe Prado exclaimed “I knew I recognized you when I walked in!” Joe, Ivan, Breno and I related the art theft story from our different points of view to the other guys at the table.

Ivan Freitas Da Costa presented me with my copy of Ícones. If I could only use two words to describe this book, they would be gorgeous and huge. The art is printed on thick, high quality paper and really pops off the page. Opposite the art is a text piece by each artist, presented in both Portuguese and English. The book really is big. It’s about the size of a DC Absolute Edition, which definitely helps show off the artwork inside. You can tell just by looking at it that it was a passion project. This book is very limited. If you can get your hands on one, I definitely recommend doing so.

The cover and slipcase to Ícones dos Quadrinhos. This book is gorgeous!

It was cool getting to hang out with all of these artists in such a casual environment. They’re a tight knit group, some of them having known each other for 20 years. Ivan Reis, Joe and Daniel told me the stories about how they each broke into the industry. I didn’t realize that Ivan Reis’s first pairing with Geoff Johns wasn’t at DC, but was at Marvel, during Geoff’s Vison limited series from 2002. It’s amazing to think this iconic pair has been working together for over 10 years now.

During breakfast, Ivan Reis drew a Green Lantern logo on a bottle of Tabasco and signed it. He then reached for the mustard and began doodling on that. Pretty soon, all the artists at the table were drawing comic book character faces on all of the creamers.

After everyone had drawn on something, Ivan Reis handed me a pen and said, “You do one.” I’m no artist, but I managed to draw a half-decent Spider-Man face on a creamer. Ivan Freitas Da Costa took a picture. He posted to Facebook that Ivan Reis was doodling on condiments at the Market Diner. No joke, less than 5 minutes later, two very fan boy looking dudes walked into the diner all wild eyed, spotted our booth and immediately sat in a booth near ours. I leaned over and said, “I think those guys are here for the condiments.”

The Legion of Super Condiments

Ivan, Joe, Ivan, Daniel and Breno are all super cool dudes. There was a lot of laughter at our table during our breakfast on the first morning of New York Comic Con. If you get a chance to meet these guys at a convention, do it. Each of them are awesome.

Ivan Reis signing his Astro Boy illustration in Ícones dos Quadrinhos.

After we finished a very good breakfast (thumbs up to the Market Diner’s Leo Omelette), and got back to chatting, Ivan and Joe each drew sketch for me in my copy of Ícones dos Quadrinhos. I asked Ivan for a Hal Jordan Green Lantern and Joe for a Hal Jordan Black Lantern.

As he was finishing up his sketch, Ivan pulled out a silver pen and began crosshatching in the background. Ivan then said, “3D cover!” We laughed. The two sketches by Ivan and Joe look amazing. They are on opposite pages and mirror each other. Ivan gave his Hal a word balloon that said “Thanks for saving my covers!” and Joe gave his Hal a word balloon that said “Thanks for the save, brother!”

As we left the diner, one of the guys in our group turned back and yelled “Those guys just grabbed the condiments!” Apparently, they didn’t even wait until we were all completely out the door before pouncing. Ivan Freitas Da Costa joked that we’re going to see “Ivan Reis Tabasco” on eBay. With a wry smile, I said, “They didn’t get the Tabasco.” I opened my sport coat to reveal the Tabasco bottle that has the ability to overcome great fear. There were howls of laughter. I’m glad I grabbed the Tabasco bottle on my way out of the diner, but I did feel weird about it. These were the guys whose artwork I stopped from getting stolen last year. Now I was showing off a purloined bottle of Tabasco in front of them.

If you’re the guy who took the Spider-Man creamer thinking it was drawn by Ivan Reis, sorry.

I walked the guys back to their hotel before heading back to Brooklyn to get ready myself. We were still hours away from NYCC officially opening to the public (though there were people lined up at that Javits that drizzly morning at 9 AM waiting for the doors to open at 3 PM). When we made our goodbyes, Joe asked if they’d see me at their tables. I said, “Of course!” I don’t know if you saw it, but the Brazilian artists basically took over the F aisle in Artist’s Alley this year. During the show, I started calling their row Brazil.

It’s funny how fate has linked me to Joe Prado and Ivan Reis over the past twelve months. From the art theft last year to breakfast this year, it feels like things have come full circle. Thank you Joe, Ivan, Ivan, Daniel and Breno. This breakfast really was the perfect start to my NYCC 2013.

Left to right: Ivan Freitas Da Costa, Daniel HDR, Joe Prado, Billy Henehan, Ivan Reis, Breno Tamura

October 18, 2013 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD S1E4 – Eye Spy

The episode begins with a group of men all wearing matching suits and red masks and all carrying steel briefcases boarding a train. A woman observes them and follows. This was a nice set-up. I feel like we, as an audience, are more likely to be suspicious of the men in the red masks. They definitely set off my inner “If you see something, say something.” But as it turns out, it was the lone, silent woman who we should have been on the look out for. Well played, SHIELD screenwriters.

I do question the sanity of the passengers who boarded the train with those masked men. Is there anything more suspicious than a group of men in asks carrying steel briefcases? I would definitely wait for the next train. Actually, I think I would go upstairs and hail a cab.

For the love of God, if you see something, say something!

Once SHIELD is assigned to the case, Agent Melinda May is given another compliment that further increases her bad ass quotient (She seems to average about one of these per episode). Coulson says he knew it had to be Akela behind these robberies. When May asks how he knew, he says he can think of only two people who can pull this off, and other one is on the plane with him. I’m really hoping we get to see May in full-on ass-kicking mode soon. I’m talking Wolverine in Uncanny X-Men #133.

I want Agent May to recreate the final panel of Uncanny X-Men #132 on an upcoming episode.

It’s interesting how adamant almost everyone on the SHIELD team is that telepathy and ESP don’t exist. I know Marvel’s merry mutant movies aren’t handled by Marvel Studios, but you would think even in a world where the X-Men don’t exist, the existence of beings like Thor and Loki would cause people to have an open mind about what powers are possible.

Pascale Armand has mastered “The Michonne Stare Down” for her portrayal of Akela Amador on Agents of SHIELD.

We get more in the “How did they resurrect Coulson?” mystery. Akela asks Agent May, “What did they do to him?” and going by her tone of voice, she’s not talking about Coulson’s personality. Akela’s surgically replaced eye has a back scatter function that basically allows it to function as an x-ray camera. Did she something not quite human in Coulson’s insides? My guess is yes.

Skye and Ward look like they’re developing feelings for each other that extend beyond being coworkers. There’s a lot of subtext and subtle flirting in their dialogue. Whatever. Give me more FitzSimmons!

The list of the SHIELD team’s enemies continues to grow. Whoever the mysterious bad guys are behind this series of break-ins, could they be part of the same group supplying the power brokers in the first episode? If so, I think we’re going to see the emergence of Hydra or AIM by the end of this season.

Agents of SHIELD continues to be a solid show. I think this might be my favorite episode since the season opener.