So you say you like Iron Man?

[dave_littler]

As anyone who pays attention to such things knows, the recent (and still-in-theatres) movie Iron Man is magnificent. It honestly stands comfortably shoulder-to-shoulder with such Super-Hero movies as X-Men 1 & 2, Spider-Man 2 & 2, and Batman Begins. It is a nearly flawless execution, not only standing on its own merits as a film, but (and herein

Comments

[dave_littler]

Well, this is the first film put out by Marvel Films; the new division of Marvel Entertainment, which is the same company which does the comics. The previous Marvel movies have all been put out to different studios, and so Marvel has had very little actual control over the way their characters are portrayed. With this film, that all changes.

Tony Stark is one of Marvel's great, daring concepts as a character. He was originally created on a dare: Create a character who is a womanizing, alcoholic, middle-aged multi-millionaire weapons manufacturer... and make him a compelling protagonist.

This movie really captures that.

He's basically this brilliat scumbag who is forced - basically at gunpoint - to face up to the consequences of his mis-spent life, his excess, his greed and lack of concern for the world around him... and recoils in horror. He decides to turn it all around; try to redeem himself, make himself a positive presence in the world, and moreover, clean up the terrible mess that he has made for the world around him.

It's a great protagonist, and Robert Downey Jr. really, really GETS the role, and makes that journey a very interesting one.

[eowynz]

Cool. That certainly explains the Spider-Man movies.

Do you read Hellboy comics? I heard they were pretty good.

[dave_littler]

I keep meaning to! I was resistant to Mike Mignola's artwork for a long time, which kept me from reading any of it. My first real exposure to the character came when my friend BJ gave me the Director's Cut of the first movie, and I quite, quite liked it. I've since watched the animated films they subsequently made (of which Blood and Iron was the only good one< i felt), and I'm eagerly looking forwards to seeing the second one.

It's just one of those things where there's so MUCH story out there that it's daunting to get into it; I'd feel the need to start at the beginning, and when I do, if I like it, I know I'll feel compelled to get the rest, which ... well, it'll get a little pricey.

I mean, a year or so ago, I became aware of Mike Carey through his writing on X-Men. He blew me away. Best X-Men writer I had read in... well over a decade, at least. He made all of the characters come alive so amazingly. So I figured "Well, why don't I see what else he's written?". His magnum opus, it turned out, was a series from Vertigo called Lucifer. I picked up the first collection on a whim, and enjoyed it enough that I was then trapped into buying the next ten! Three hundred dollars later, I've satisfied my curiosity.

I know it would be the same with Hellboy. I just know it.

[eowynz]

That makes sense. I did see bits of the first movie, and besides the fact that Hellboy had a few cliche lines, it looked pretty good. It's just such a cute story, about someone who was meant to be so evil turned out to be good. Aw. :D

Normally I don't like a lot of comics, though. The Batman ones are too dark and bland, Superman ones are okay but not great, the Spider-man movies discouraged me from ever reading that comic...meh.

I need to draw my own.

[dave_littler]

Strange that you would leave me this just now; I was just down at the comic shop and picked up - among a slew of other things - the first Hellboy collection; "Seed of Destruction". I'll let you know how it is.

As to comics you might like... well, keep an eye on my to-be-ongoing entries on good comics and why you should like them. I'm sure there will be something which will pique your interest in there.

[eowynz]

Cool. Sounds like you know more about comics anyway. How many series have you read?

I ain't gonna lie...I like Sailor Moon. Though I'm pretty sure those comics only come in Japanese.

[dave_littler]

My dear girl, you never cease to amaze me with your naivety! The Sailor Moon comics have all been translated faithfully into English for years.
Observe thus: http://www.amazon.com/Sailor-Moon-Vol-Naoko-Takeuchi/dp/189221301X

As to what I've read... it would be easier to ask what I haven't read in the past 20 years. I have a collection of literally tens of thousands of comic books; fourteen long boxes filled to capacity with comic books from all genres and companies are stacked neatly one atop another. Here, by way of illustration, look at this:

http://www.bjorn-comic.com/dandv/strip7.htm

The background image there is of my bedroom. See on the left of a lot of those images, there are big white boxes? Those are filled with comic books. Note how the pile of them is taller than the computer sitting on my desk, and four boxes wide. And this was some years ago. The collection is substantively larger now. :)

[dave_littler]

(Or rather, "naïveté". Bah. I need to not write when I'm chemically starved and tired. Food and caffeine and THEN literacy)

[eowynz]

Sheesh, I didn't notice your spelling. :D Hm, I always spell it "naiivety" because I like the two Is....dorky, I know.

Yeah, well, I just got into Sailor Moon. I don't know too much about it yet, and I haven't read paper comics (besides newspaper comics) for a long time. I really should, because webcomics aren't always the greatest. No offense to them, but there's a lot of noobs out there, which could be said for any web art.

I wonder how much you've spent on comics over the years.

[dave_littler]

Oh, I don't even want to speculate how much I've spent. I can spend over a hundred dollars in a month, easily. My one comfort is that with the crashing and burning of your American dollar, the comics that I buy are now about 33% less than they were a year or two ago. It allows me to pretend that I'm not spending irresponsibly when I pick up three or four collections in a month in addition to individual issues.