He didn’t request it, but this is for Joe Grunenwald.
539. Lex Luthor
538
Last night, I went to a movie for a dollar. I saw Harry Potter and the Flatulent Corpse. Actually, I saw Swiss Army Man, which I would have gladly paid up to maybe 5 dollars to see. It’s definitely in my top 10 of weird-as-shit movies. It stars Paul Dano as a sad, lonely man who may or may not have been stranded on a desert island. Just before he is about to commit suicide, he finds Daniel Radcliffe – a corpse. A corpse with superpowers. And the rest of the movie a guy and his superpowered corpse friend, struttin’ around and trying to make it home, which might not be as far as they think. And there’s farting. Lots of farting. An incredible amount of farting. Recommended…?
534. Ragman
By request from one of my oldest internet-only friends, Hardy Gilbert, aka Shaggy Faust… I think…? Anyway, I have a fondness for Ragman that goes back to my early days of comic collecting. I don’t think I can explain it, but it’s a cool weird concept and a weird visual, and I dig the hell out of it. I would hate to have to draw this over and over again.
533. Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider motor cycle hero. Baby baby baby baby he’s looking so cute. Riding around in a blue jumpsuit.
Alan Vega of the band Suicide died last night. I’m not too familiar with the band, but I have heard the first album and the song GHOST RIDER. Though honestly, I am more familiar with The Rollins Band version. But, in tribute, I drew the motor cycle hero.
532. Scarlet Spider
Even if I had wanted to draw the version of Scarlet Spider featured in this comic (which I didn’t), he doesn’t appear in costume at all throughout this issue. Good move, Marvel. Besides, the OG Scarlet Spider is so deliciously bad, I just had to draw it. Anyway, I’ll be putting this up for sale in my newly revamped store, that you can find here. Not sure for how much, yet, but I can guarantee that the majority of the price will simply be because of Miles Morales’ costume. Jesus, that thing is hard to draw.
531
I saw the Ghostbusters remake last night with my friends Joe and Jennie. It was a delight. Is it a perfect movie? No. Too many in-jokes, nudges, and winks to the original, including cameos by most of the original main cast were a bit distracting and forced. A couple of wince-inducing scenes and gags. But for the most part, hilarious. Most of the jokes hit, most of them are character based. The effects are pretty good. I’m not a fan of Saturday Night Live, but Kate McKinnon is a goddamn dream. But the true revelation is Chris Hemsworth as the dim receptionist. Holy shit. I probably like the Thor movies more than most, but it’s never been down to Hemsworth in those. He is fucking fantastic in this movie. Is it better than the original? No, but it’s pretty close. I think if it had kept the original at more of a distance, with no references to it, or, if it had actually been more of a sequel, it would have worked better story-wise. Otherwise, it’s consistently funny and the performances are great. Surprisingly very family friendly, too. I don’t recall any swear words being spoken. On the other hand, I’m so desensitized to that, maybe they said “fuck” every other word and I just didn’t notice.
Anyway, see it. It’s really good.
530
I watched a movie the other night called The Invitation. A dull, trodding, painfully predictable, pretentious “horror” movie about grief, loss, and murder cults led by Tobey Huss. And Drew Carey’s crossdressing brother. You don’t learn anything about the characters to cheer any of them on, so when they suddenly starting dying in the final 10 minutes of the movie, I was honestly glad SOMETHING was finally happening, other than shitty people having the world’s worst dinner party. Also, terrible acting. There’s a scene at the beginning where our two leads accidentally hit a dog or something. The woman – I honestly couldn’t tell what emotion she was supposed to be expressing. It looked like she was gonna break out in laughter. I think she was supposed to be upset. I dunno. If she had laughed, at least it would have been interesting. If you feel like watching The Invitation, RSVP “No”.
On the other hand, back when it originally aired, I hated The Batman. It felt like a cheap knock-off of both Batman and The Jackie Chan Adventures (which was by the folks who eventually made THE BATMAN). Plus, some of the designs and characters just seemed super over-the-top and just out of “the norm” (The Penguin doing Wire-Fu, Mr. Freeze being a petty thief BEFORE the accident, etc.). But I’ve been watching it on Netflix the past few days and it’s growing on me in a way I didn’t think it would. It’s not a dark/grim/angry Batman. It’s like a merging of Batman from The Animated Series and the one from Brave and the Bold. Plus Alfred is charming. And my thoughts on the designs have lightened up, particularly in the wake of whatever the fuck is happening in the comics. So yeah, 180 on THE BATMAN (eventually, the series featured team-ups, and I wanted The Flash to have a spin-off cartoon called The The Flash).