ArtisticallyChill

After my last day of work at the $top, I hung out at Keith’s Komix with friends for Avengers Day! They had been hanging out all day, playing games, and watching their own Marvel Movie Marathon in preparation for the midnight premiere of The Avengers movie. After a few rounds of Magic and some dinner from Mario’s Pizza, we headed to AMC South Barrington for an awesome midnight showing!

THE AVENGERS WAS FRAKKING AWESOME!

The Avengers was well executed by Marvel, Joss Whedon who co-wrote the story with Zak Penn and directed the flim with executive producers by Jon Favreau, Avi Arad, and Stan Lee. And of course with the screenplay by Joss Whedon, the dialogue gave the characters, wonderfully portrayed by the actors, the right amount of depth that shows the audience why they are called Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

All 5 Marvel movies leading up to the Avengers are mere bits of awesomeness when compared to this film that brings these heroes together. It is a hero ensemble, finally done right, and it just makes you scream for more, especially after the credits finish rolling.

Even if you aren’t a die hard comic book fan, The Avengers is a MUST SEE chill flick and is an awesome way to start off your summer movie season!

Happy May 1st everyone! Starting off the month with a road to the AVENGERS movie marathon to get excited about The Avengers movie premiering this Friday morning at 12:01 AM! As you can see, I’m viewing them in chronological order, not broadcast order. AMC is doing there movie marathon on Thursday but that’s in broadcast order. Since I’m a comic book geek, I thought I’d do the marathon in true geek fashion! As for the reasoning behind the chronological order, I’m just gonna quote my friend Ryan who sent me the following in an email:

1) Captain America. This is fairly obvious. The only sticky point here is when Cap was revived. We probably won’t know that until Avengers. But given that versions of Cap’s shield showed up in both IM 1 and 2, the argument could be made (however unlikely). Plus, it directly foreshadows Blomsky’s turn into Abomination (via some dialogue), and features the Cosmic Cube, which pops up at the end of Thor. Also defines Howard Stark’s character, as a point of reference to Tony in the next two films.

2) Iron Man. Has the official name change of SHIELD. Plus, Fury mentions that Stark isn’t the only superhero out there (another possible reference to the fact that Cap’s already been found). This is the starting point for the modern era.

And here’s where it gets a bit tricky…

3) Iron Man 2. This should be the next one, because of the epilogue. During the final scene with Fury, you see the news report from the college campus attack in Hulk. This means that when IM 2 is done, Hulk is still wrapping up (although they do seem to go by fairly concurrently). Also, it’s at the end here that Stark officially becomes the Consultant, which will become relevant in a minute. Fury also references Howard being a founding member of SHIELD, which fully makes sense after seeing Captain America. And the end ties directly into the start of Thor.

4) The Incredible Hulk. As mentioned above, this does run fairly concurrent with IM 2. However, it does seem to end a bit after IM 2, and from the short “The Consultant,” we find out that Stark went to go see General Ross at the end of Hulk after he’d taken that role. Therefore, the events in IM2 have to have happened first before Hulk’s resolution. Plus, it references the super soldier program/serum, which by now we know all about from watching Cap.

5) Thor. Thor starts just as IM 2 finishes up, which means it also takes place after Hulk, per the reasoning above. Here we have references to Dr. Selvig’s friend who knows about Gamma radiation. The obvious reference is Banner (although I have my doubts) from Hulk. It’s a full explanation of the 9 realms that were briefly shown in Cap, and shows where the cube has ended up after being found by Howard Stark. It also directly sets up Dr. Selvig’s role in Avengers and Loki as the villain.

So there you have it!

Happy viewing this week and on premiere night!

‘THE DREAM OF A MIDWINTER’S NIGHT’ The stunning double-size finale of the penultimate arc! Karic has lain comatose for an entire season?yet the realm of dreams is a portal to the Outer Darkness where Donas rules. Cut off from the physical world, Karic wages a desperate battle for his very soul against overwhelming forces of ancient evil. Meanwhile, the druids confront the Readers of the Wheat, and the priesthood doesn’t stand a chance against the dark powers of Black Anaius, the fearsome druid-witch of Kildre Hill!

One of the few perks of being the boyfriend of a truly talented professional in the Comic Book Industry is getting early copies of the books she worked on! After meeting a very tight deadline 2 weeks ago, Serena pulled off the impossible of coloring 16 pages in a week with the total page count being 36! The deadline was so that the comic would be printed in time for Image Expo at which Image Comics would be celebrating it’s 20th Anniversary. The epic conclusion to an already stunning series co-created by Bryan J.L. Glass and Mike Avon Oeming, written by Bryan J.L. Glass with artwork by Victor Santos and colored by Serena (Guerra) debuted at Image Expo this past weekend and is set to hit your local comic shop next week on New Comic Book day. Even Veronica Gandini, Serena’s predecessor, came back to color the epilogue of this volume!

After reading the issue, twice, I am simply humbled by how much passion for comic books went into this issue. The series has given me a lore much grander and deeper than one would first think and a world filled with characters you can love, hate, root for and boo with such emotion much like when reading Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings or watching Lucas’ Star Wars. I am especially proud of Serena. This issue definitely tested her mettle and she has succeeded, showing that she has what it takes to work, improve, and thrive in this industry.

I want to thank Mike, Victor and Veronica for supporting Serena throughout these last two issues of the series and a big thanks to Bryan for reaching out to Serena in the first place. You took a chance with her and she has returned your kindness a thousandfold with each stroke of the pen on her wacom.

“two cups of glory, and a half cup of sunlight…”