Previews and Reviews that are Z's Views
Last night Mickey Rourke was ringside for Wrestlemania 25. As you can imagine, Rourke got some ring time and even laid the smackdown on Chris Jericho. Sounds like fun.
Of course some folks will probably bash or at least question Rourke’s participation in “rasslin’.” Not me though. I say if Mickey Rourke wants to get in the ring and have some fun, more power to him. The only thing that would have made it better is if he’d have won the Oscar!
Sean Phillips announced that he will be providing the covers for the 28 days later comic series. Sean is an excellent choice for cover artist. I’m interested to hear whose going to be writing and drawing the stories. It might be cool to have a rotating art team.
I’m a fan of “28 days later” and its sequel “28 weeks later” so I was happy to read Boom Studios announce that a new comic series will premiere in July bridging the events between the two movies. Although a creative team has yet to be announced, this project sounds like it could be a winner. Especially if the art for the new series is as good as the cover above.
Today I posted a quick sketch that I got from Gary McKee in 2007. Gary, Jason Walker and Mike Torrance were offering free head sketches to anyone who purchased their sketchbook. That’s always an enticing deal!
In fact Jeff Wamester just made the same offer and being a fan of his work, I couldn’t pass it up. Here’s the link if you’re interested, but check to make sure he still has sketchbooks available! [link]
Satisfied
Although I loved professional wrestling when I was a kid back in the 60’s and early 70’s, I haven’t regularly watched it since my sons lost interest more than a few years ago. Still, I enjoy seeing clips of old matches/interviews and reading biographies of professional wrestlers. You wouldn’t believe some of the stories — and that’s just the ones that they’ll share!
Last night the WWE Hall of Fame Inductions included “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Ricky “”The Dragon” Steamboat, “Cowboy” Bill Watts, Dory and Terry Funk, announcer Howard Finkle and the Von Erich family.
Here’s a bit of trivia: Did you know that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is set to co-star with Sly in The Expendables and Terry Funk had featured roles in Sly’s Paradise Alley and Over the Top?
My nephew, Josh Gonzaga, plays college baseball for the East Tennessee Buccaners. Today they had a doubleheader against North Florida in Jacksonville. Since Josh was starting pitcher in the second game, the family decided to drive up. When I say family, I mean family. In attendance were Josh’s mom, dad and brother Justin, my nephew Joey and his wife, my wife, my son Mike and his girlfriend Erin, and Grandma Peggy.
Now the one thing you have to know about Grandma Peggy is that she has little interest in sports and knows even less about them. You could tell her that the pitcher just threw for three touchdowns and she’d not question it. You could say that the batter just earned a TKO and she’d believe you. Grandma Peggy was just there because Josh was playing and she loves being with her family.
As the game got underway there were the normal cheers. “Go Bucs!” “Give him your best pitch!” “Great pitch, Josh!” “Battle back, kid!” “Come on blue, get in the game!” There were also a few new [at least to me] cheers: “Hey Blue, I thought only cows slept standing up!” “Hey Blue, don’t be chicken to call a foul (fowl)!” As the game tightened up and got down to the middle innings it seemed that everyone in the family was cheering something. And that’s when Grandma Peggy yelled:
“That batter swings like a pole dancer!”
Everyone in the family suddenly got quiet and all eyes went to Grandma Peggy who was proudly smiling. “Uh, mom, what does that mean?” I asked. “I don’t know, I just thought it sounded right” came her response. We all busted out laughing. For the rest of the game, every so often, you’d hear someone yell, “That batter swings like a pole dancer!”
So if you’re ever at a baseball game and you hear that cheer… remember you read it here first at the ZONE! [Take THAT, Joey!]
Entertainment Weekly.com listed their choices for the 20 All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture. (Sadly the list is no longer available.) I decided to play along. Just using their list, I came up with my top ten:
10. Spider-Man: Who wouldn’t want spider-senses, be able to swing through the city, and girlfriends like Mary Jane Parker and Gwen Stacy? I’m talking the comic book versions of course.
09. Superman: When I was a kid I loved tv series. The first movie with Christopher Reeves also rocked. Everything after that — not so cool.
08. Mad Max: If it wasn’t for Beyond Thunderdome, Max might have rated higher!
07. Dirty Harry: Who doesn’t love Clint as Harry Callahan?
06. John McCane: Yippe-kiaaaaaa!
05. Indiana Jones: Harrison Ford’s signature role is nerdy cool!
04. Batman: So many versions [Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, Frank Miller, Adam West, Tim Burton’s, Christopher Nolan’s, etc.] and each one works.
03. Jack Bauer: No matter how bad things get, Bauer stays cool.
02. James Bond: Like Batman, so many versions, but Connery and Craig are the coolest Bonds.
01. Captain James T. Kirk: Star Fleet Captain and ladies man. Now THAT is cool.
Okay, I played fair and used EW’s list… but what about John Rambo, Riddick, Marv from Sin City, and James West to name just a few who didn’t make the cut?
Did you know that DC Comics — the folks that publish Batman, Superman, 100 Bullets, Incognito, Criminal, well, you get the idea — has their own official blog?
I can’t wait to pick up my copy of Ivan Brandon and Nic Klein’s first issue of Viking. If you feel the same, I hope that you’ve already put your order in with your local comic retailer. If you haven’t you could be out of luck — at least if you’re hoping for a first printing.
What’s crazy about this unprecedented situation is that the comic hasn’t even reached stores yet and won’t until April 22nd. It’s sold out at from Image Comics and the distributor. Stores will still get the copies that they’ve ordered, but once they’re gone, they’re gone. The good news is there will be a second printing.
