daredeville

@Glitch_Spawn: Haha... is he considered pretty liberall..? I don't even know, I guess maybe he is. Love him regardless (obviously).

@god_spawn: Haha that's real interesting... So where do you stand in the Schism then, eh...? Or more importantly, what has happened in your life over the past year to go from the hairy canuck to slim...?!

I also love that my #3 is Madman.. that's probably more accurate. Fun-loving, goofy, occasionally naïve, an affinity for retro slang, a weird thing extends from my forehead when I get some psionic messages. It's pretty swell.

@mickoreo_LZ: Exactly what I was thinking...! Haha.. he doesn't look pissed he just looks... gassy..?

Although, he is a very talented dude, so he shouldn't be too cheezy in the movie...

Well I've never been crazy about Ghost Rider, and certainly skipped the first movie since it was directed by the same bum who directed the Daredevil movie like he was the next Joel Schumacher...

However, after watching this trailer, I have to say, I want to see this sequel.

Sure it looks utterly ridiculous – and the peeing fire is just plain silly – but Ghost Rider is kind of off-the-wall anyway. What I like about this trailer is that it has all the makings of an old grindhouse flick: over-the-top action and violence, super dramatic camera angles, and tongue-in-cheek moments like the aforementioned fire-pee and another bit where he spits bullets.

I think that is a great tone to take in adapting Ghost Rider to film. You simply can't buy into him as a character on the big screen if you try and do it realistically gritty... but if you go over-the-top, make the film aware of its absurdity and let it revel in it like a pig rolling in its own you-know-what... I think you've made something unique that distinguishes it from the pack of other superhero movies. And not only that, its taking an approach that the other occult-comic movies haven't tried yet, in doing so it helps it to stand out further.

So I think it is a pretty brave direction, and I will be interested in seeing how it delivers on that concept.

@maelevikus: No. I disagree. You don't have to reboot to streamline things. Rebooting is the least creative way to do things. Too many characters is not a bad thing. It lends diversity and differentiation... if they are different. I agree with that point – that not ever male character needs a female counterpart.. but Spider-Woman for example is a great and very different character with a similar name. Spider-Girl, on the other hand is similar. It does no favors to a new female character to have them a derivation of a male one.

To streamline things, you don't have to reboot or kill everyone off, just take them out of action for a little while. I'm actually surprised that I like the Red Hulk, as the underlying personality is General Ross, which gives him different motivations and bend than Hulk and his weaker-willed Banner.

I think Marvel does a great job with some things and they are on the better path offering graphic novels for new readers, while making their books accessible with stuff such as the re-cap page. When I first started reading, I jumped into the middle of continuity in the 90's. I didn't know who was who, and I was navigating my way through all the X-Men books with ease. And this was before the cartoon debuted, but after X-Men #1 (I think that's right..?) My first event was Phalanx Covenant, which was a whole lot of new stuff, but I went with it. Generation X soon followed, and they were my new team, my young-team, my New Mutants.

I lapsed as a reader as I went through high school and the quality of books declined (right around Onslaught), and I think Heroes Reborn may have had me pick up one larger Marvel book, but for the most part I actually stopped reading for a year or so around that event. I came back when Daredevil started up with Kevin Smith, and soon expanded from there and haven't looked back.

The key to bringing in new readers is getting them informed about characters and books and drawing them in. The best way to do that is to produce the highest-quality books you can for affordable prices. I think the ".1" initiative is a great way to get comic readers to pick up new series and know that it is a good starting point. I just started X-Factor off of a .1 issue.

For new readers, push the graphic novels, then have "Next Steps" like Vertigo had after the Watchmen movie, with $1 reprints of first issues. A lot of it is in the marketing and the public image of comics as well. Reading comics is still seen as "geeky" by the larger culture, and they don't realize the breadth and depth of comics available. I believe the movies are helping. But the audience isn't always aware that the films are based on comics, or they don't go see the films enough. Road to Perdition, Ghost World, History of Violence, Walking Dead are all comics, but many people are not aware of this. Others like Scott Pilgrim were excellent, but did not do so well in the box office. However, Scott Pilgrim comics have pulled in a larger audience since the film's release, as has Walking Dead. Game of Thrones, although only just now a comic, had amazing first season on HBO, and although the books sold exceedingly well to begin with, they have skyrocketed.

One plus for the larger culture of comics, although at the chagrin of many of the faithful, is the way San Diego Comic Con has blown up. My 15 year old female cousin told me she wanted to go to SDCC when I saw her this summer. This is a girl who read and loved the Harry Potter books, and I believe read the Twilight books (but didn't care for them in the end), and has not read a comic book before. She didn't seem interested in Thor or Cap films, but seems to be interested in Amazing Spider-Man. Her reasoning for not wanting to see Thor or Cap was they were "boy movies" or things like that, but she saw other movies like "Super 8", and is open to some of the culture.

So... that became a rant, but my short answer is "No." They can renumber all they want, that I am fine with.. the new Daredevil being a fine example. I think Marvel just has to keep hiring the best creative staff and upping the marketing of the books.... My answer to this is so long and not coming across here, so I'll just write a blog post about it, I suppose.

The answer is simple: YES.

Get or borrow the first two volumes, Legends in Exile and Animal Farm, or pick up the first hardcover, and see how you like it.

This will set you up with what you need to know about the world, and introduce you to major players, and the regular creative team with Mark Buckingham drawing Animal Farm, so that will show you what it looks and feels like on a regular basis. (Of course Mr. Buckingham is always upping his game, and the art only gets better...!)

I've been reading Fables since The Good Prince storyline was new on the shelves, which is the 10th volume in trade format. I started because it looked fun and I was a big fan of James Jean's artwork. I didn't get into the Legends in Exile trade on the first read, but then picked up Animal Farm anyway, and read them both straight through. It gave me a better feeling for the series and I liked that second arc better, as tends to be the impression I get from others too. Once you read that, it is an easy transition through the next volumes, with Storybook Love covering a fun heist and two characters being pursued by a crazy, crazy Fable... and then you are in the throws of an invasion of Fabletown in March of the Wooden Soldiers where things really start to heat up... At that point, you should be fully and thoroughly hooked.

Throughout its run, Fables is one of my all-time favorite series. I always say if I had to cut down on the comics I buy, I would limit myself to my three consistent favorites: Fables, Daredevil, and Criminal/Incognito. I have not only bought every single issue I could, but it is the only series that I buy the trades for as well, because it is that much fun to re-read. I am constantly recommending it to comic readers and non-comic readers alike. I have friends that barely read comics, that don't go to the store regularly, but pre-order each new trade as they become available on Amazon. It is also one of the few series that I know a lot of females who love it as well as older readers. My friend (the aforementioned pre-order-er) has his brother and his mom (a 50-something woman) read the series... and she loves it.

Fables is great because it has new spins and continuing adventures of classic characters you may have grown up hearing about. To see how Bill Willingham interprets what they do next is always entertaining, and the characters are so rich, you will find yourself wishing to know more about even the background characters. And the series slowly delivers on that. What is also fun is seeing a character involved in the story and trying to piece together what fairy tale they are derived from, and then getting a nice reveal... Hansel and others from his fable are some of the most interesting. It is also a great series because of the magical nature of the characters and the world(s) they inhabit. There are also many great mysteries and questions that develop throughout... such as, which came first the Fable or the Fairy Tale they are known to us from..? It is also fun because how he turns their stories on their ear, or really relies on the original fable version, and not the Disney-fied interpretation. So it all comes from the original Grimm, etc. tales and tends to be a little darker or more real than the modern-popularized-watered-down kid's tale. He also plays with the themes, concepts, and characters that re-occur in different stories. For example, Prince Charming is not only Snow White's Prince Charming... but Sleeping Beauty's, and Cinderella's...! As a result, he is a bit of a cad. A lovable cad, but a cad just the same. Another is that the character of Jack is the one from not only Jack and the Beanstalk, but Jack Be Nimble, Jack Frost, Jack and Jill, etc. Or another example is that originally he wanted the great villain to be Peter Pan, and depict Hook as having become a hero (licensing prevented this from being the case, but I think I like the way it turned out better...).

In summation, Fables is a wonderful, exciting series, and I find it to be a highly rewarding one. I recommend it with the highest praise. Sorry if I rambled, but hopefully that is a helpful tease of what the series is like, and I hope you go pick it up and love it!