The NZA

I've recently picked up New X-Men - while i dont like Frank Quitely's art like Wizard does, Grant Morrison's still a great writer (JLA, The Invisbles - a vertigo book loosely adapted into The Matrix). Fun, smart team stuff, like X-Men hasnt had in a long-ass time. The team's just Wolvie, Beast, Cyk, White Queen & Phoenix but its suprisingly good, new villians & everythin. My regular stuff, tho: -Ultimate Spider-Man: Some of the best dialogue and pacing ive seen in a comic, and Mark Bagley's still my favorite Spidey artists. This shit's so good, ya dont notice its been 20 issues and he's fought like 3 people, maybe. -Ultimate X-Men: Artistic is right that Wolverine shouldnt be 6', but otherwise, a good book gettin better each month. The Weapon X stuff was great; last month's book was my favorite of the series. -The Ultimates: Only 2 issues out so far, but no complaints at this point. #1 is a Captain America "Saving Private Ryan" type battle scene, lotta run. -Ultimate Team-up: The artist changes ever arc, but this book is conistently good. The Punisher/Spidey/Daredevil Teamup was badass, and the joke issue of Fantastic Four was fuckin hilarious. -Amazing Spider-Man: J. Micheal Strazinsky can do no wrong. New villians, some of the best Spidey ive read, and ive read tons. -The Hulk: Also featurin new writing and John Romita Jr's art, new creative team started only 3 issues ago but its gettin interestin. This one looks promising. -Green Arrow: Kevin Smith is quickly becomin one of the better comic writers out there, pick this one up before its prices go through the roof, if they havent already. This one's worth it just to see Smith write the JLA in some issues. -Powers: Brian Micheal Benids is a machine, doin this many books a month. This is his flagship one tho; the usual great dialogue in a supehero crime story. Surprisingly good. -The Red Star: Doesnt show up too often, but its a really good fantasy/war book, lot of its own mythology behind it & excellent digital art. -Bone: This bi-monthly classic is in its final story arc, i believe. Ive never seen such a lighthearted book go epic so seamlessly, if you enjoy fantasy and humor, this might be a favorite. -Rising Stars: Today's equivalent to Watchmen: how a real superhero team would exist in today's society. Phenomenal, wish it'd show more often tho - damn movie rights are holdin it up. -Midnight Nation: Along with Rising Stars, also by Strazinsky. This guy used to do Babylon 5 episodes, apparently...anyway, he's very innovative, new ideas are all over these books. Borth books are lookin to end in a year or so. Anyway, this is a short tale of a cop whose literally lost his soul & has to travel to the other side to get it back; sounds cliche, but i assure you its not. -Transmetropolitan: Sadly in its last year...Warren Ellis' opus tale of a bastard journalist against a corrupt President, amongst other things. Political, yet funny/nasty as shit. Not for the light hearted, but a great fuckin book that more folks oughta be readin. -Hellblazer:: Written by Azarello (Banner, 100 Bullets), this one's the best its been since Ennis wrote it. Dark, moody stuff as usual: current storyline has investigators lookin into who killed John Constantine (!). You must read: -Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again: Miller's second go at it doenst feel like milkin a sequel at all; its one book shy of finishin, but damn, the last book made me think if it keeps this pace, it might just end up on par with the original. If youre used to Lyn Varley's art (300, Dark Knight Strikes Back), this book'll really shine. -Origins: Yeah, i know, im a huge Wolverine fan, but fuck this is some really amazin shit comin from Marvel. 4 of its 6 books are out, which is killin me how theyre draggin their feet to tie it up, but then again, take your time - each book has been a blast. Paul Jenkins (Vergito, amongst other things - think he won an Eisner once) is carefully allotin a new secret each issue, some huge, some more subtle. The direction he seems to be goin in makes the character 10x better, for me....Adam Kubert (favorite Wolvy artist) dont hurt the book either. Less recommended but still OK: -Wolverine: Sweet merciful crap, this one's finally pickin up! Next month, now that Wolverine's lost healin factor (yeah, again), he gets to take on a teamup of Sabertooth, Lady Deathstrike & Omega Red....yeah, im a dork & a huge fan of this often poorly written book, but its gettin better again, so im excited. -Outlaw Nation: Yeah, im just buyin this one 'cause i was 15 issues into it before i realized it wasnt that damn good, and now its just bout to end. Took it for a Preacher clone, but nah. -Punisher: Dear god, please put Ennis back on this book. I cant wait till issue 13 when he & Dillon are supposed to return...the first issue after Ennis left, its Frank teamin up with Mr Fantastic to travel back in time to take down Al Capeone...:ill: :ill: Yeah..that bout covers my monthly books, or so. Still sad Fury's over...so what's everyone else's recommendations? Anyone got books im missin? For what its worth, im curious bout 100 Bullets.

...and so far, the Joker's a runaway sucess! Odd, i really thought Reeves would take it by a landslide. Well, keep it goin... PS were always willin to accomodate. The man couldnt even wear a skull on his shirt.. ???

See, thats one of my concerns with XP: i know it looks nice & runs faster/smoother an all, but i dont wanna lose all my customization. It comes from a lotta programs that barely work with 2000, not lookin to find replacements all over again. Thanks for the advice tho, was wonderin bout the new OS.

Neither do I! But i was thinkin bout "House of Ideas". Sounds a lot better. Not necessarily a Marvel theme, just liked it as a title - tho Danger Room is fun, and so is Men In Tights...lookin for halfway artistic but not necessarily/more clever than anythin i guess, not to make fun of comics tho since enough folks do that. "Books with pictures"...... Maybe ill do another poll. House of Ideas, Danger Room...these are good options. Keep em comin if ya can. PS - bacchus, artistic, others - were now takin applications...

I know it, but :kitty: told me so i dunno if its fair...ill stay quiet.

Junker - When does Unbreakable 2 come out? I here its a trilogy & Bruce is lovin it, im dyin to see more. Again, didnt like the cop-out endin but otherwise great movie. Bucket - Ha...post s'more and we'll see if we can get ya moderatin. But feel free to start your own thread on guitar tabs over there in Culture, that sounds like a great fuckin idea, actually. Gotta let BigChiefSlapaho know tho, he plays a bit too. :D

Eh...Nirvana's good, but cmon people... Window Licker is a funny ass video, if the other one's better, i gotta see that. nine inch nails definietly deserves a spot, but not for closer necessarily. As for Oasis, my personal fave of theres is "D'yer Wanna be a spaceman?", but that might just be me. Oh, and Orbital's Halcyon + on + on, that'd get really high up there, i fuckin love that song.

First off...how does everyone like "The House of Ideas" as part of the fourm's name? I know, its one of Marvel's names and prolly kinda lame, but ive been throwin it around. Anyway, lookin for moderators here to join me. Here be the prequisites: -Youve read the greats - Watchmen, Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come, even Maus cause its so damn popular. Mad bonus points for Preacher. -Youve read a ton o' shit, too: Marvel cosmic shit, DC team shit (im talkin 80's here folks), etc. You must honestly be able to say a good chunk of your youth was wasted on crappy plotlines like "Cap-Wolf!", etc. Knowin the mind-numbin continuities of Zero Hour, Crisis on Infinite Earths, Infinity Gauntlet & the subsequent battles, Secret Wars, etc. If nothin else, at least know "Age of Apocalypse", that shit was cool. -Youve watched good comic films like Blade, Crow, Matrix, X-Men etc as well as bad, like Captain America, Crow sequels, The Punisher, etc. Again, mad bouns points for seein the Fantastic Four bootleg flick, i never saw it but man it looked shitty. -Familiarity/love for superhero books, past & present, as well as for human/realist books, such as Vertigo's Hellblazer, Transmet, etc - Im lookin for variety here, people. Anyway, ya'll get the idea. I think Bacchus wants to help out, maybe artistic if he can keep it in his pants, but its not set in stone yet, so lemme know if youre interested or just have a good sub-name for this place. :jay: :bob:

My film class had me thinkin bout this one... Was gonna put a "Greatest comic movie of all time" poll but i thought this'd be more fun. Personally? I figure everyone's gonna go for Reeves, god knows the man was/is Superman, no doubt about it, but watchin bits of X-Men again.... Jackman has the look, the movements, the voice, even the growl down pat. Plus, im obviously a huge Wolvy fan, so this all but made the film for me. Where do the rest of ya stand? And no bullshit replies like "Matt Salinger" as Captain America!

Yay, our first flame battle! Anyway...yeah, KOS raises a good point...i dunno if Ennis can top Preacher, it certainly dont seem like he wants to give it a go these days. Granted, those mins i told ya & Fury, Punisher etc are as good as those books get, but i see what youre sayin: its a different calibre. Have you read the next few things he's lookin to do? I hear its another Just A Pilgrim series, then a book 'bout Super Powered Ho's (!), then back to Punisher for a wee bit. Like i said, im dyin to see the man make his own book again sometime, even if it aint Vertigo. Ill ask ya this, tho: What do ya think of Dark Knight Strikes Again? Its still 1 book shy of finishin over here, but while i cant honestly say it tops the original, its pretty fuckin good, if it finishes strong i think it has a shot with bein on par, to be honest. My point is: no, youre prolly right, i dont expect Alan Moore to outdo Watchment or Miller to top DKR, but their follow-ups were stuff like 300, Sin City, Top Ten, From hell, etc... I think writers like these just had their opus, their be-all-to-end-all stories, got em told & off their back, and went on to still dominate the world of comic writing. I see where youre comin from, but i just cant say theyve past their stirde yet; sounds to much to me like "lets put me out to pasture, and make way for real writers like Rob Liefeld!"...:ill:

I..am a philosophy major with a lax security job and good typin skills...I have all the time in the world! Cmon man, lookit my post number. You realize this place has only been around since wha, December or so? Id say were safe till i move/lose my power. So no one finds it confusin, then?

Yeah, ive heard of that Ghost World one. For the record tho, if there's mostly superhero stuff, it's cause this forum was invented last nite (!), hasnt had time to grow yet - feel free to preach more stuff like this, ill hopefully have threads up for recommended Vertigo shit, includin best of Ennis & Warren Ellis as well. Ill check that one out tho Bucket, thanks.

Uh...right. *Steals a few more hamburgers* So...cmon, gimme some feedback here, what does everyone think of the subtle changes? Good, bad, ugly, more confusin, ingenious, etc? It's your board, people....

Like I said, topics got moved, so post #'s went up & down: I honestly tried to put relevant shit in its folders. If ya notice a particular thread you liked missin or dont agree with a certain move, by all means, lemme know. Fear not, with your new 3rd admin, im sure the topics you kids have been croppin up (or in Jumbie's case, taken from NYtimes.com) will skyrocket over the Lyceum soon enough. Congrats on seein whats supposed to be the two most intellectual forums as a "race"....remember, quality/quantity? Ah well. Yes, apparently I'm the hamburglar, then. "Theyre MINE! All mine! Gimme all the posts!!"

Eh...i dunno. I dont think the well's run dry, but yeah the man has his particular genres he wants to stick with: war, western, religious etc. For every fuckface, there's some original, great shit in Punisher's plot that makes me wish the book was like that year-round, or the twist on Fury's S.H.I.E.L.D. as this altruistic black-ops group. I dont think he's near done, but im dyin to see him back on a regular series - Hitman, Preacher, Hellblazer etc were fuckin badass. The man obviously prefers minis, which makes sense, and god knows there's been some really great ones like War Story, Pride & Joy, etc, but still, the books he works on - Fury, Punisher etc - he leaves his mark, and they usually suck after he leaves (see the current Punisher). But hey, even m'boy has his bad days (see his Batman books..:ill:). Wasnt a fan of his Spidey: Tangled Web stuff either, writin was ok and art really blew (not his fault but didnt help), so ya didnt miss much KOS. I think the guy just knows what he wants to right about and likes to fuck around with older ideas is all. Preacher's still the best shit ive read, and i honestly think ive read more comics than anyone here, for what its worth. PS Artistic, way to contribute to the new forum....folks, never listen to the opinoin of a guy who likes Prime.

Ok, here's my go at it, lemme apologize in advance to the modem folks out there... Another classic. This one's just too cool.... Fuckin great album, too. Ha, before Jumbie 'could use it... Great historical image, worked great for the album too. Too damn famous not to mention... one of my favoirtes, not sure if its a cover but fuck it. And all the girlys say...:cowboy:'s pretty fly... part of the inside booklet to VAST's first album.

damn, that shit was long. Anyone still readin this? :embarrassed:

*Phew*. So what does everyone think? Here go the changes: -New catergories: I need a name for the entertainment section, lemme know people, yours might be it, tho prolly not (dont hurt to try tho, eh?). Now, each catergory has 4 relevant forums. Bascially, you can pick an area ya feel like hangin in: Pantheon if youre feelin intellectual/wanky/nowhere at all, Colloseum for entertainment, and the Dork Side for misc madness. I did this in hopes that the addition of a 12th forum (!) wouldnt overwhelm folks, especially those new here, by one giant run-on forum list. Lemme know if ya think its effective or simply more confusin; i really hope it helps tho, i personally think its cool - hats off to Yahven for the idea. -New forum: Culture has enough to handle with novels, music (again, mostly music), and anythin else; comics deserve their own corner, dammit! I need moderators with much experience in traditional super-hero as well as vertigo-type shit; if youve never read Frank Miller, Alan Moore etc ya need not apply. Its a new pet project tho people, help me out (artistic, bacchus, KOS etc). Im thinkin of a new name that doenst sound lame and drawin blanks, might just leave it as it is, but also takin suggestions. -Spring Cleaning: Moderators might notice a change in their topic content/ total number of posts. I tried my best to put things in their relevant forums, completely regardless of which corners are popular (Vagabond King/admin Yahve sided with pimpin out weaker forums; i prefer quality over quantity). Just so we're clear here, here's my quick interpretatinos of the various forums: General: Misc shit with no place elsewhere, various announcements such as this one & birthdays, an intro to the forum. Current Events:News, largely politics. New moderator makes it a bacchus family affair, lets hope she posts more now. Aristotle's Lyceum: Philosophy & various abstract thought (such as love vs sex, etc). Culture: Yet again, mostly music, but some novels and anythin else that applies. Movies: That, and TV. Standard stuff, now featurin 75% more Junkerseed. Anime: Japanese anime & any other type of animation that's not comic-related, includin American stuff like Disney, Pixar etc. Comic Books/Graphic Novels: Reviews of comics, polls of what works better (ie, Marvel's new line of Ultimate books vs regular continuity). Comic fights still stay in Fight Club. I wanted this largely to let folks know what's worth readin/what theyre missin out on. Nintendorks: You folks seem to like this name...? Hope so, lemme know. Chiefy's here to balance out PC gamers as well. Check out City of Heroes! Letters to the Editor: This one needed the most clarification: Yahven's corner, yes, but here is where rants go, not General. Sure, if theyre philosophical, theyre Lyceum stuff, etc but general rants nonetheless. Hey Yahven, how bout puttin Dork Party announcements here? I think itd be cool to make this spot the DP (heh ) HQ. Monty Python & Web Crusaders: Youll notice this one got huge alla sudden; ive included this one to be good forwarded internet jokes, cool links, and PC talk, so MP3 disucssion an such goes here from now on, givin it more purpose. Fight Club: Still the largest place around, it is not necessarily troll central, so newbies feel free to mosey on in, but be sure to read the rules: if youre sensitive, good ol' madman may very well hurt your feelings. Oh yeah, fights happen here, vote for who you think is better/cooler/doesnt fuckin matter. Earn your college degree online: still one of my favorite forum names; this is the Crap Shack, the last resort of posts. When shit gets outta hand or too much sheep-fuckin is involved, it goes here. Moderators should put completely irrelevant shit here, or in Fight Club (like anybody'd notice, eh?). Hope that mess helps. One of my largest goals is to clarify the gray area between the forums & give them all more definition so we all know what goes where, exactly. If its a political piece about a philosophical fight, just uh use your best judgement. An example of what got moved: MP3 discussion is in Monty Python, Devil's Advocate brawl made the Lyceum, "Hello!" posts are in General now, etc. Moderators: Dont like where i took/put threads? Lemme know, PM me, we'll find a way. Anyway, as your current admin, i want more postin & to really get the moderators goin, and help out where i can. This doesnt work if ya'll dont speak up; its just as much your forum as the next guy's. Dont be afraid to ask any questions either; if anythin, theyll go on the Drunken FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), created sometime this week. I'm here to help people, dont be shy with the questions/complaints/ observations on sheep. Gouge away.

I dunno man, i dont recall Tekken 2 bein impossible...it was more like, whoever the computer wanted to fight you before the last guy was impossible no matter how sucky a character they were. I actually recall the last 2 or 3 characters before the Devil fight bein tougher than Devil himself, unless i was usin a slow character who let his ass get show with the eye beam moves. Eternal Champions was tough as well, but then i usually just get whupped up by any fightin game im not good at when i get too far - Marvel Capcom, when the button mashin dont work no more, etc. Tekken 4 didnt stike you as kinda hard, later on? Well, you played it a lot more, too. Id say 2 was the hardest of that series, anyway. Didnt play Guilty Gear X on 1 player so i cant say, but Alex isnt the only one who said its hard as balls later on.

"For a few Dollars More" was a great follow-up to Fistfull. Uh...Superman II, Rambo First Blood, part II...Do shows count? Cause Sopranos season 2 was fuckin great as well. Lotta sequels on the horizon - X-Men, Blade, Matrix, even episode II of Star Wars, so I'm sure ill have more to say in the comin months. Oh, and definitely Mortal Kombat: Ahhnialation. Sure, MK 1 was fun, but part 2 proved to me that, if ya really want to, damn near anyone can make a movie.

Christ, if ya wanna hear bout directors who make folks cry, John Ford was known to yell at the top of his lungs and sometimes even charge at & take down actors who angered him, includin the Duke. Then, from what Johnny Marr (fella on the Preacher board) tells me, the Duke once pissed right on the set of another director's movie. Cant argue, Ford treated him like shit but was a master director; some of the others he worked with were really fuckin awful - Dick Powell's "The Conquerer" had him cast as Ghengis Kahn, perhaps one of hollywood's worst casting calls ever. This, on top of the fact that ol' Dicky decided to shoot down by a nuclear testin facility in Arizona. Not coincidentally, much of the cast has since died of cancer, includin the Duke himself. Point was, there's worse directors: some'll get ya killed for a shit movie.

And now, more random images... :wasabi: everybody disco dancing :wasabi:

No hair cuts! at least, not shorter than in those pictures anyway...cmon really short hair on a chick its too...uh...political. *to quote Kee..."damn, check out superdike over there!"*

Yeah Nintendo fucked up a wee bit with the cartridge system, i admit, but N64 was still fun for a handfull of games - 007, Super Mario 64, Zelda 64 (1&2), Mario Party, etc. As for cube, i said it was gonna be good, more folks shoulda listened... oh, KOS - dont worry, Square isnt Nintendo-exclusive, meanin PS2 will still get Square games as well. It just means theyre back with Nintendo, which hasnt happend in about 7 years or so....good ol' Sqaure

Taken from The GIA special report Basically, this means Nintendo finally finished ranglin up all the big companies. The X-box, havin blown their damn near exclusive deal with Square, are now very far behind, and the competition with PS2 is about to get really fuckin lively - with Nintendo already havin had Konami, Capcom, Namco, etc (all the other big boys) under their belt, this was the last piece o' the puzzle for em, and now its finally done. Thank god - for one, this means when FF XI goes online here in the states, there'll be just that many more folks to go huntin with. 'Tis a great day for nintendo, the cube finally got squared.