Comic Books

Review: Wonder Woman (Animated Film)

| artofthecartoon

Wonder Woman (animated film)/ dir. Lauren Montgomery/ 2009

0723n_wwdvdcoverFrom what I remember, there have only been two iterations of Wonder Woman in animation history. The Super Friends version, which was cool, albeit a watered-downed kiddy version of Wonder Woman (still classic though!). And the Bruce Timm Justice League Wonder Woman, where she kicked more ass than Superman. This version of Wonder Woman (the Bruce Timm version) was hardcore and was one of my favorite characters in that series. Alas, Wonder Woman was always part of the “team”, and unlike the other of the big 2 DC Superheroes (Batman & Superman), she never had a solo show of her own. 

This all changed with the release of the Wonder Woman animated film. Still not her own show, at least she gets her own animated film. With Bruce Timm producing, this Wonder Woman sets herself apart from the other iterations of animated Wonder Women.  (Hit the jump for the rest of the review) Continue reading →

Advertisements

Review: Tales of the Black Freighter

| artofthecartoon

Tales of the Black Freighter/ dir. Mike Smith, Daniel DelPurgatorio/ 2009

tales_of_the_black_freighter_dvdHere’s a quote from my review of the Watchmen live-action movie on March 6:

The side stories, “Under the Hood,” “Tales of the Black Freighter,” “New Frontiersman” articles, psychological reports, etc. that were in the comic that seemed like filler, became more appreciated after I saw the movie. These “fillers” served as pillow moments to help you, the reader, understand not only the characters in this world, but also give you an analogy of the choices many of the “heroes” had to make. Their omission from the film was necessary for time (who wants to see a 4 hour movie?), but came at the expense of the flow and rhythm of the narrative.

The “story within the  story” Tales of the Black Freighter was released on DVD on March 24, but it wasn’t until yesterday after watching an episode of Lost (not one of my favorite episodes of the season last night, but still eventful…) that I was able to watch it. Thanks Brett for bringing the DVD. 

Tales of the Black Freighter is a good companion piece to the Watchmen movie. Admittedly it does lose some of its analogous edge since it is a stand alone piece, but unlike the Watchmen movie, which I felt was more of  a supplement to the comic book, Tales of the Black Freighter can actually stand on its own as an animated  short. 

Hit the jump to read the rest of the review (btw, the Under the Hood Documentary is also included in the Tales of Black Freighter DVD, however, I will stick to the animation for this review). Continue reading →

Progress…?

| artofthecartoon

In the midst of a busy week of work and the first week of school, I decided quickly sketch out a comic. It’s crudely done (once again not the greatest artist in the world), but whatever. It deals with the question “How far have we progressed in 12 years?” I think the comic answers that:

progressAww…progress…look how far we’ve come.

Review: Wolverine and the X-Men “Hindsight” parts 1-3 (pilot episodes)

| artofthecartoon

“Hindsight” Parts 1-3 (pilot episodes)/ Wolverine and the X-Men/ 2009

wolverine_visuel

Wolverine and the X-Men is the new X-Men animated series that debuted this past January on the NickToons network (With teenage Iron Man heading to NickToons as well, it seems like NickToons is the place for your new Marvel Comics cartoons).

I’m going to come right out and state this, I am a BIG fan of the X-Men: Animated Series from the 90’s , my taste favors the more Jim Lee style X-Men designs, and I believe that the X-Men: Animated Series from the 90’s was the most faithful to the comic book.

The next X-Men Series, X-Men: Evolution, even though many people enjoyed it and thought it was a better series, was a disappointment for me. Yes, the character designs were more streamlined to help with the fluidity of animation (as opposed to the bulky un-evenly animated X-Men from the 90’s), but the big No-No was making most of the characters teenagers and in “regular” high school.

So how does the Wolverine and X-Men pilot episodes stack up?

Two words: Very Promising…

Hit the jump for the rest of the review… Continue reading →

Iron Man: Armored Adventures

| artofthecartoon

It took them a while to capitalize on the huge movie success of Iron Man. Here’s the trailer for the new upcoming animated series on NickToons.

Let’s be real, I’m not sure I’m sold on the Tony Stark as a teenager premise. It didn’t work for me when X-Men: Evolution turned most of the X-Men into teenagers attending a regular high school. If done right, like Batman Beyond or Next Avengers, where the original heroes were homaged and played a vital role, maybe it could’ve worked. But Tony Stark just doesn’t work as a 16 year old kid for me. Tony Stark needs to be Robert Downey Jr. 

I’ll actually watch some of this before I pass more judgement. I will say this though, it already seems better than the last Iron Man animated series.

Actually, based on that catchy theme song, I’m not too sure anymore.

“I…I….AM…IROOOON MAAA-A-AAAAN!” Don’t tell me that’s not catchy.

More research required definitely!

Filipin@s: Jac Lim

| artofthecartoon

International Working Womyn’s Day was this past Sunday March 8. I feel bad since I missed the event that happened in Seattle =(. 

7be10a0d6fb998a30887330dd2746d1a1Anyway speaking of strong womyn, I thought I would pass along this dope Filipina artist that I recently discovered about a week ago. Her name is Jac Lim, and on her deviantART page says she’s  currently residing San Pablo City. She’s a Game Developer, cosplayer, artist, comic stripper, facepainter, model, graphics designer, senior penciller, video editor. 

I’m not sure if she’s still doing her online web comic strip called “Pilya” which translates to naughty girl in tagalog.  Some of it’s really funny. Here’s two examples:

pilya_5_by_jactinglim1

 

pilya_18_by_jactinglim

Check out some of the other “Pilya” strips here

Review: Watchmen (Film)

| artofthecartoon

Watchmen/ dir. Zack Snyder/ 2009

watchmenposterfinalWell it was a fun week of blogging. Watchmen week comes to its conclusion with this review of the live-action Watchmen film. 

Many thanks to those who came to dinner at Sea Garden to celebrate the birthday of a certain Art of the Cartoon blogger. Many more thanks to the 10 folks who also came out, waited in line in the freezing cold for about 3 hours, just to indulge my geek ego and watch the midnight showing of Watchmen. 

Now for the main event.

The Review

Ever since the end movie credits started to roll I have been trying to think of what to put in this review. At the very end, I just sat there trying to process what just happened on the big screen and in my head doing a quick comparison to the legendary comic book. Here are some of the questions that raced through my mind when Watchmen was over:

“Was it complete? Were the characters okay? Did this capture the essence of the graphic novel? Were the changes significant or were they easily overlooked? Did the film feel right? Was the original messages from the comic book also on the big screen? Should I take into account those who have not read the book? Do I compare this to the book? etc….”

For those who want the bottom line, here it is:

Go see this movie.

Be forewarned. You should read on though, because the reasons why you should see this movie is different from what you would expect. (I will try to keep the spoilers to a minimum, but there may be some minor spoilers ahead… hit the jump!) Continue reading →

Set the VCR: Alan Moore Speaks! (The Simpsons “Husbands & Knives” 2007)

| artofthecartoon

Alan Moore, writer of Watchmen, genius. He is one of the first writers to establish a literary and structural tone to comic books that rivals traditional novels. It’s no secret that Alan Moore is not a fan of the care-free licensing that major comic book companies (Like DC) take with writers’ characters. He has always decided to take his name off writing credits when a movie is made based on one of his many genius comic stories. With the disaster that was The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie, Alan Moore became more frustrated with the whole licensing process. 

Because of this, I don’t think he gets out in public that much. Actually, for many years I just knew him as that dude with the beard…
alan_moore

Yup, thas him! That’s all I knew of him. He never really seemed human, like if I ever met the dude I would cower in his presence. I never really heard him speak or got a sense of his personality until this fateful Set the VCR Moment: (there’s the jump!) Continue reading →

Watchmen: The End is Nigh (Video Game)

| artofthecartoon

Below is the opening cinematic and some gameplay footage of Watchmen: The End is Nigh video game. It’s a prequel of sorts, taking place before masked vigilantism was outlawed in the graphic novels. It follows the adventures of Rorschach and Nite Owl as they fight crime.

I hate to say this, but this game looks like it’s going to SUCK! Don’t get me wrong, the animation looks cool (moreso on the actual gameplay than the opening flash animation), but they always screw up these movie tie-in games.

And I hate that they’re doing this shit to Watchmen…

I hope I’m wrong…

UPDATE: The reviews are in, its official, this game SUCKS!

(shakes head in disappointment)…