Heroes in a Half-Shell

I love the Ninja Turtles. I own loads of merch, figures, flannel plants, plush, pillows, posters, bracelets, all sorts of stuff. I loved the 90's movies, and then the CGI movie in 2007 was pretty good, too. I was hooked from a young age. I mean, you have to get hooked when you're little, but now that I'm older I have spread out and now I read the IDW series of comics, and I want to start looking for back issues of the original series.
In case you didn't know, TMNT started as an underground comic, so there was none of that "Cowabunga Man!" stuff, the Turtles killed people and used guns and were absolutely violent. And people loved it. I mean right off the bat, the book was started in the early 80's and the late 80's is when the much more kid friendly TV show was brought on the air. The Ninja Turtles became more like teens of the day, friendly, pizza lovin' dudes with catchy sayings and relatable attitudes.
I've only watched the first two season of the classic series, but I enjoy it, I honestly can't stand a lot of the cartoons on today. I have to go to Netflix to get my classic toon fix. Krang is one of my favorite characters because he doesn't do anything, and the Shredder can take his mask off to weld a crystal onto it, but he has a holographic projector to look normal on the city street. I thought that the animation was pretty classic and the stories were pretty solid for the most part, it balanced the adventure with the gadgets and the fighting.
On to the live action movies. These original movies came out in the early 90's and they are pretty good, I'm not saying that they are perfect, I'm just saying that I really like them. The jokes and references are pretty solid. And you can't say no to the lair in the second and third movies, I always thought it was cool that they lived in a subway station that had such a cool vibe and a subway car that doubled as the rooms. The first movie's puppetry was done by Jim Henson I believe, but correct me if I'm wrong, I just know that by the second one he had passed away and the turtles looked different. I thought that the animatronics got better with each movie. The ninja skills are always an interesting thing to look at. I had never even seen a Sai until Raph whipped them out. And I always thought that the swords Leo carried around were just that, swords, but they are Katanas. I'm glad I still enjoy these characters and movies, because the older I get, the more I learn and the more I enjoy the different aspects of the fandom.
Onto something that needs really no paragraph at all, but I feel obligated to add it. The Next Mutation.... it was in 1997 that this show blessed the small screen. I never watched it in its original run, nor syndication. I caught it on Netflix once... only once. It was the Teenage Mutant Power Rangers knock off. Nothing against Power Rangers, I haven't really watched much of either series, I just watched a couple of episodes and didn't really like the version of the Turtles in the TV series. I didn't hate Venus, but she was far from what I thought a girl Ninja Turtle would be. Magic is kinda not too terribly believable. Listen to me! Saying that anthropomorphic Turtles that study Ninja is more believable than one that uses like a form of fighting that uses magic spells.
I like the new animated series on Nick, it's super anime but not in a way that makes me not like it. It is different which is good. I may be biased because I have a super mega huge crush on Greg Cipes, who is Michelangelo. But that's not only actor who lends his voice. Jason Biggs, of American Pie fame, is the fearless leader Leonardo. Sean Astin, yeah, Samwise Gamgee from LOTR, is the perfect match for the hot headed Raphael who is a sweetheart on the inside, he even has a pet turtle named Spike, and it's just adorable that he has a pet turtle when he himself is a turtle. Last, but certainly not least, Rob Paulsen! He's a veteran in the Ninja Turtle game, he was the original Raph in the classic series. It threw me off the first time I herd Raph talk.... I was like that's Donnie... As you can tell I watched the Nick series before the original. The whole Donnie having a crush on April just makes me smile because it's sweet and sweet is not something you get a lot lately in any TV show. I think that fact that Splinter isn't a geriatric rat anymore is another total plus to the series. It's better when the Sensei can come kick butt with the gang.
There's going to be a new movie coming out next year which I have mixed feelings about. At first the writers were all like "LET'S MAKE THEM ALIENS!!!!" to which the fans replied, "SHUT UP RIGHT NOW YOU FOOL." So that idea got file 13ed thank goodness. Could you imagine? Makes me shudder to think about it. Any way, now that it's gotten back on track I'll probably go out and watch it, because I've seen some of the pictures that have been release and the turtles look pretty good for CGI.
 
That's all I have to say about that.

Keep it nerdy true believers.

Bamfs, Kid Omega, and my love for Doop

I love comic books, and I picked up the first issue of Wolverine and the X-men after it had been up and going for a few months. I read the first issue and loved it! I ran back to the store to get the rest of them. I've reread them and I still love the stories. It's only natural for me to have favorites. But let's start with the design of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.

I love the school, I think it just looks really amazing and is a very cool reboot to the old Xavier's. The art work makes me want a poster of it to put on my wall because I think you could spend hours just looking at all the little details and quirks of the campus, but that's just me. I think they utilize a lot more of the school now, the danger room spans the entire campus and that makes for quite a wild ride. I think that the staff really intrigues me, if you've never read the first issue, there is a course and activity list in the back of the book. "Professor LeBeau-- Sex Ed, Headmaster Logan-- The art of fighting without fighting. ect."  Dare I say it? I would much rather go to JGS than Hogwarts! I've been in the Marvel world longer than the Potterverse and I love it too much to quit.

I miss Nightcrawler. So much. I didn't even know he had died until I started reading Wolverine and the X-men. But the bamfs make up for it, a little. I mean who wouldn't love little Nightcrawlers that steal booze and watch karate videos? They also come in at the BEST times to save the day. They have teleported friends and foes to their fitting ends, whether that be safety or a hundred feet above the ground so that the villain will plummet to his demise. The last issue I read left off with a tantalizing cliff hanger; THE RETURN OF NIGHTCRAWLER?!!?!?!? I'm so excited, so there will be an update when I read this, all about my love of Kurt Waggner.

I also have this thing for polar opposite kinds of guys. Like Quentin Quire and Evan, or Genesis, the clone of Apocalypse. Quentin is a jerk, but he's a crazy smart jerk that made the Omega Gang and caused the fall of the house of Xavier (Sorry, I always try to work in a Poe reference around Halloween). He needs a one-shot origin story or a min-series just because I can't get enough of his pink hair and political t-shirts. I honestly photocopied the scene where he's in detention and has scrawled "I'm a political Prisoner" on the floor. and put it up in my room. He's the only real choice for class President, because he's just kinda the leading student of the comics. But let's get down to Evan, it's on my "to buy" list but I want to get the story arc of the Uncanny X-Force where Wolverine and the crew find Evan, just because I think that he, Evan, has the ability to set the world on fire or protect it from the universe and I'm excited to see which he chooses. He is a sweet boy from Kansas cloned from a mass murder's DNA. It's really and interesting thought, I mean, what if we cloned Hitler, or some other crazy murderer, would the clone be screwed up like the donor DNA was, or is it all in the rearing of the child. But I'm getting to far lost in  science / moral issue and I just want to talk comics.

That One Show Where There Is Drama and Zombies Show Up Sometimes

So just in case you've missed the million and a half posts on social media about The Walking Dead coming back on tonight, it is, season four starts tonight and I am officially excited.

I've never read a lot of Walking Dead comics, but I've read at least two, and I liked them, even if it was in black and white so you couldn't discern gore from shadows. Back to the TV show, everyone loves Daryl Dixon, well the ladies love him, I'm sure there are also a few men out there who love him too. He's developed a cult following since being introduced to the show. Is it the string of zombie ears he cut off while hallucinating after being impaled by a crossbow bolt and falling down a hill? Maybe. Or it could be the squirrels he shoves in his belt for later. I think it's the fact that he took his brother's motorcycle and now rides around on this crazy loud hog wearing a poncho that looks like he stole it from a wooden Indian (Iron Man 3 reference). But I think it's the fact that he's a shy, sad, little puppy dog you want to give a hug to but know he'll punch you if you try. The Carol/ Daryl relationship really started when Daryl went out looking for Sophia, I will have you know, I fell in love when he kept searching for Sophia and brought back a Cherokee Rose for Carol (Swoon). He was a jerk, and Merle was one person everyone loved to hate until he redeemed himself by letting Michonne go and then valiantly sacrificing himself for the greater good and trying to take out the governor and his goons while he was at it. That episode made me hate him even more and then love him and then made me cry when Daryl found his beloved brother as a handless, and now fingerless walker, when he cried, I wanted to go into the fetal position and not watch anymore. But I did, like every good Walking Deadhead.

Does anyone else here think that Chandler Riggs makes a great Carl, and by a great Carl I mean a great little d-bag who grew up too fast and made sure his mother didn't come back as a walker by shooting her in the head? He's my new least favorite character on the show, besides the governor. No one likes the Governor, the Governor's a jerk. I had a flicker of sympathy for him when he pulled out his little walker of a daughter and started brushing her hair, but then he pulled out a chunk of her rotting scalp and I was done with him... forever. At the end of season three I felt like he was going on the great American road trip with the two other survivors from his crazy attack on his own people. I loved the looks that they gave each other like, "You get in the cab with him." "No dude, you can totally ride in the truck with him."

I am excited for the new season, the man who plays Glenn described it as "Beautiful" so you know what that means, you WILL get emotionally attached and then the writers WILL kill them/ turn them into walkers/ turn them into traitors and make you hate the show but you know you will watch the rest of the episode and then you will watch the Talking Dead which just makes it even worse to go back to this show week after week. I will go back week after week, but just remember; If Daryl Dies We Riot.

The Saints of South Boston

So this is my first blog, and I've decided that I should do "episodes" for lack of a better word. I won't really do a super long blog on a deep subject, unless I feel especially rant-ish. I think I will start by talking about The Boondock Saints and vigilantism.


I've been really entertained with the rising support that "Antiheros" have been getting lately, Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl, and Big-Daddy have really opened my eyes to a new side of heroism. The Saints are killing for good. It's easy to say that if you kill bad guys then you are making the world a better place, but MLK said something along to lines of dark cannot drive out dark, only light can do that. Which means that we should trust our justice system to do the right thing in the long run. I honestly am torn between wanting to believe that killing bad guys is better than incarcerating them, and the older I get, the more I see the less faith I have in the government and judicial system, so maybe the age of vigilantism is upon us and this films become popular again. I must not be the only one who feels this way about this topic, so if you are reading this, please comment I'd like to have healthy discussion on these topics.

But back to The Boondock Saints, Norman Reedus is one of my favorite men in Hollywood, I mean he's the crossbow toting zombie killing bad ass, it'd be hard to not love him when he was younger with an Irish accent and a gun.

Sean Patrick Flanery is also becoming a new favorite, he has moments in the movie where he sounds more like a Lucky Charms leprechaun but that is still really cute to me.

The story told is a really cool twist on justice, but if you know anything about pre civil war America and the Blues Brothers, the two Catholic brothers are sent on a divine mission from God to purge the earth of evil doers, the result ends up more like John Brown's massacre in Kansas than the Blue's Brothers rollicking adventure through Chicago. Some might say that the graphic language, violence, and gore makes it seem like a Quentin Tarentino wannabe but I think that it's just similar to Tarintino's work.

The editing is really interesting, like when they will cut off right before a massive bloodbath and then when Agent Smecker gets there, they replay it with classical music overtones or in a flashback sequence that involves Smecker reenacting the firefights.

The Boondock Saints had a crazy limited release in theaters when it came out. I think the number was around five theaters for one week maybe? It was super small and boomed, critics panned it. But when it was released on DVD it had a crazy cult following. There is even a documentary called "Overnight" about the making of the movie.

I haven't seen the sequel yet, but I want to, next time I go to Wal-Mart I will have to delve into the $5 movie bins and pull it out from the depths of consumerism. I'm just kidding, I love Wal-Mart, I will probably end up Blogging about that too. I really enjoyed this, it's almost therapeutic for me to share my views and random tidbits of stuff I find interesting and informative.