Are You Psychopathic?

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According to Professor Kevin Dutton…

Psychopathy is a condition that causes people to display anti-social behaviour, lack of empathy and remorse, and fearless dominance.  Everyone has these characteristics to some degree – take the test and find out where you sit on the spectrum.

I took the test and think the results are pretty accurate. The good news is that I didn’t rate all that high on the spectrum scale.  The even better news is that my wife rated lower than me.  Whew!  Who wants to live with a psycho?

If you’d like to find out where you fall on the psychopathic spectrum, you can here.

 

Z-View: “Gravedigger: The Scavengers”

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Gravedigger: The Scavengers #1 of 1

Original comic published by Rorschach Entertainment

Free Web Comic published by Christopher Mills at GravediggerComic.com

Script, Tones, Letters: Christopher Mills

Pencils and Inks: Rick Burchett

Cover A (shown): Rick Burchett

In his world, there are only two kinds of men: the Dead and the Deadly.

Gravedigger: The Scavengers  is available in two forms: a one shot comic published by Rorschach Entertainment and as an ongoing free web-comic.  The paper comic is worth tracking down, but if you can’t get your mitts on a copy, the web-comic contains the original one shot and more.  The comic is printed as you see it online in a widescreen format.

Gravedigger McCrae (Digger to his  friends) just got out of prison after serving three years of a five-year bit. Digger’s feeling old and looking for that one final score that he can use to coast into retirement.  He may have found his golden ticket when a crime associate that he’d worked with one time before brings him in on a $800 thousand caper.  All they have to do is hijack a gunrunner’s deal.  Digger and the crew can keep all the guns and the cash… of course they’ll have to kill everyone not in their crew to get away clean.

Digger is not sure who he can trust.  Bunny was brought in by Digger, so he should be okay, but how good is okay with 800 large on the line?  B.T. is good with a gun, but looks more like a punk than a shooter.  Goodis is the pilot that’ll fly them out of there, but will he stick around if things go sideways?  Red is the one who set things up.  He seems a bit jumpy… perhaps because he’s brought Angel, his hot looking wife, in on the deal.  That doesn’t sit well with Digger.  He knows a sure way to queer a deal is to bring in a dame.

Digger’s worries about Red’s wife screwing things up take a turn when she comes on to Digger. Three years in prison, a hot young babe and opportunity make Digger’s decision easy.  Angel offers Digger a plan that will leave the two of them with the cash and a smooth getaway together.  Sure, Digger will have to kill Red and maybe a few members of the crew, but isn’t she and $800 k worth it?  Digger is in deep.  He needs the deal and the money it will bring.  He’s enjoying Angel, but knows she can’t be trusted… no one can be trusted.  The cards are dealt, so he might as well play out the hand and see who wins.

Chris Mills and Rick Burchett have created a crime comic that is a treat to read.  Gravedigger: The Scavengers is like a love letter to fans of Lee Marvin, Richard Stark Parker novels, crime movies, crime novels and crime comics.   This is one of the best one-shot comics of any genre that I’ve ever read.

Chris Mills has created a unique character in  Gravedigger.  Digger’s not a good guy.  He knows and accepts this.  Mills has a feel for all the characters, a love of the crime genre and a way with words.  I hope someday to read a Gravedigger novel or book of short stories by Mills.

Rick Burchett is the perfect artist for this comic.  His art compliments Mill’s prose.  Burchett is truly amazing in that he knows where to focus the readers eyes for the most impact. Should anyone ever do a Gravedigger: The Scavengers movie, the storyboards are done thanks to Burchett.

I am glad that Mills and Burchett are deep into their second Gravedigger story –  Gravedigger: The Predators.  My hope is that the two Gravedigger stories will lead to a Kickstarter so that we’ll get a hardcover worthy of showcasing these stories.

Gravedigger: The Scavengers is a comic for mature audiences due to adult language and situations.

Rating: 5 out of 5

 

James Robinson & J. Bone: The Saviors

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After just one issue The Saviors became one of my favorite comics currently published.  

The Saviors is a fun story with great art, so why wouldn’t it be?

In case you’re late to this party, let’s catch up.  The Saviors is about a slacker who discovers that evil aliens are secretly among us.  He doesn’t have the skill set to deal with the situation, doesn’t know who he can trust or who will believe him.

James Robinson, the writer of the series says that he wanted The Saviors to have…

… elements from the old “Invaders” TV show and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” but also (had) enough gore and violent horror and scares that it would also feel like John Carpenter’s “The Thing.” As I began to develop the idea, some other aspects came to mind like the idea of it having a large cast. You won’t know who lives or dies

You can learn more about The Saviors in this interview with the series’ creators, James Robinson and J. Bone.

Source: CBR.com.

Z-View: “The Fastest Gun Alive”

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The Pitch: ”Hey, let’s do a western and call it ‘The Fastest Gun Alive.’ The title alone will sell it.”

“Let’s do it!”

The Tagline:  “WHAT HAPPENS in the next few minutes makes one of the most dramatic climaxes of any story you’ve ever seen!”

The Overview:  Broderick Crawford is Vinnie Harold the leader of a trio [along with John Dyner and Noah Beery, Jr.] of bank robbers and the self-proclaimed fastest gun alive.   Harold takes every opportunity to challenge and kill other fast-draws.

Glenn Ford plays George Temple, a shopkeeper in a frontier town.  Temple doesn’t drink, doesn’t wear a gun and has more than a couple of secrets.  One is that his real name is George Kelby, Jr. and the other is that he may be the fastest gunfighter ever to strap on a gun belt.  Temple/Kelby just wants a quiet life with his wife.  He knows that if the townspeople find out his real name, his prowess with a gun or the notches it contains, his life in the town is finished.

Yet, keeping the secret is killing Temple.  The men in town look down on him.  Temple isn’t considered a real man – he doesn’t drink or carry gun.  Temple doesn’t work with his hands — he’s storekeeper who sells dresses and candy.  When the men begin talking about how fast Vinnie Harold was when he gunned down Clint Fallon, it is more than Temple can take.  He starts drinking and talking about how fast he is with a gun.  No one believes him until he proves it.

Unfortunately for Temple and the town, Vinnie Harold and his crew are on the run from a posse and all roads lead to their quiet little town.

*** Beware – minor spoilers are found below ***

The Good

  • The story for The Fastest Gun Alive is deeper than your typical 50’s cowboy/gunfighter movie.  The psychology of being the “fastest gun alive” makes it clear that being #1 is not only an obsession, but frightening to everyone (including the person who is the fastest).
  • Glenn Ford is excellent as this flawed hero.  As his secrets come out, you realize the depth of his character’s struggle with being “the fastest gun alive.”
  • The supporting cast contains a lot of familiar faces: Russ Tamblyn, Lief Erickson, John Dehner, and Noah Beery, Jr.
  • Special props to John Dehner in his role of Broderick Crawford’s second in command.
  • Broderick Crawford’s hand motions and body language before he enters into a gunfight.

The Bad:

  • Broderick Crawford as Vinnie Harold. Harold is obsessed with being the fastest gun alive and will go to any lengths to prove it.  Harold is a big, loudmouth bully with the gun speed to back up his mouth.
  • How quickly the townspeople are ready to turn.

The Ugly:

  • How out-of-place and how much I liked Russ Tamblyn’s dance scene.

Rating:

Facts About the Batman TV Series

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Although the Batman tv series is close to 50 years old (!), it’s still popular and shown regularly throughout the world.  

Neatorama recently posted Facts You Might Not Know About the TV Series Batman.  If you read the piece, you’ll learn…

  • Batman was originally conceived as a serious take on the cape crusader.
  • Lyle Waggoner was up for the role of Batman.
  • Batgirl was added in the third season to increase female viewers, but actually ended up increasing male viewership.
  • Frank Sinatra was a big fan of the show and actually expressed interest in playing the Joker.

Click over if you want to learn even more!

Z-View: All Crime Comics #1

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All Crime Comics #1 published by Art of Fiction.

Writer: The Art of Fiction

Penciler / Inker (Chapters 1 & 3): Ed Laroche

Penciler / Inker (Chapter 2): Marc Sandroni

Colorist: Tony Fleecs (Chapters 1 & 3)

Colorist: Andrew Siegel (Chapter 2)

Cover: Bruce Timm

Cars, murder, revenge. Not recommended for children of any age.

All Crime Comics #1 leads with a beautiful Bruce Timm cover that is sexy, provocative with an undercurrent of bad things to come.  The design of the cover makes All Crime Comics #1 look like a beat-up pulp from the 50’s.  It definitely sets the tone for things to come.

Chapter One starts: Marko, a big Russian enforcer, beating a group of men to death in an effort to obtain information for his partner, Dodger.  Marko and Dodger stop to torture a dopehead before going on to meet up with a Dodger’s associates.  Dodger lays out his plan to kill his old partner Louie despite the fact that Louie has become a big time mafia boss and is currently doing time in a federal prison.

In Chapter Two we flashback 23 years.  Louie and Dodger are in high school.  We learn how they became friends and drifted into a life of crime.  They both fell for the high school hotie, Carla Blackman.  Carla was out of their league until Louie became a big man in the crime syndicate.  Carla then falls for Louie which of course drives a wedge into Louie and Dodger’s friendship.

Chapter Three brings us back to Dodger and his crew as they execute their plan to get into the prison and kill Louie.  Unfortunately for them Louie knows they’re coming.  A lot of people are going to die and not according to either Dodger or Louie’s plans.

All Crime Comics #1 is a comic for mature audiences due to extreme violence.  The story covers a lot of ground and spends about a third of the book with Louie and Dodger in high school.  That’s not the crime story that interests me.  It was hard to get Dodger’s fascination with Carla.  Sure, Carla was the school fox, but she had time for everyone but Dodger.  Twentythree years is a long time to carry an obsession and deciding to break in to a federal pen to kill a crime boss is a bit outlandish.  With that said, there are a couple of cool twists of plot at that point.

The packaging is great, the cover is awesome.  I liked the idea of the story.  The art was well done.

With all that said, if you think I didn’t like All Crime Comics #1, you’d be wrong.  I did.  I just didn’t like All Crime Comics #1 as much as I wanted to.

Rating:

Z-View: “Jack Reacher”

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The Pitch: ”Hey, let’s do a movie adaptation of one of Lee Child’s best selling Jack Reacher novels and get Tom Cruise to star.”

“But Jack Reacher is described in the novels as being 6′ 5″ — a modern day giant.  Tom Cruise is pretty short and fans of the novels will hate the casting.”

“Tom Cruise is in so who cares about the miscasting.  What do you say?”

“Let’s do it!”

The Tagline:  “The law has limits. He does not.”

The Overview:  James Barr, a former military sniper, kills five random people.  He’s quickly caught in what appears to be an open-and-shut case.  The evidence is overwhelming.  Barr claims he didn’t do it and tells his defense attorney to get Jack Reacher.

Reacher shows up on his own.  Reacher is a former Army Criminal Investigator who is now living off the grid.  Reacher is there to prove that Barr committed the crime since Reacher knows Barr got away with a similar killing when deployed overseas.

Reacher looks at the evidence and fairly quickly determines that Barr was used as a patsy and didn’t kill those murdered.  As he digs into the case, Reacher becomes the target of those behind the killings and a bigger conspiracy.

*** Beware – minor spoilers are found below ***

The Good

  • Tom Cruise plays Jack Reacher as if he knows he is not only the smartest but also the baddest man in the room.  Reacher doesn’t flaunt either ability, but he won’t back down from showing either ability when pressed.
  • Because Cruise isn’t a 6’5″ hulk, it is even more impressive when Reacher refuses to back down.  You can see Reacher enjoys the chance to show how smart he is or whoop some butt if those who are pressing him refuse to stop.
  • The story is a good one.  It is fun seeing Cruise unravel the mystery and put together the killings so that they make better sense than the sequence of events that the prosecutors laid out.
  • The car chase is one of the best in years.
  • Cruise has a number of great lines.
  • Rosamund Pike, Werner Herzog, Jai Courtney and Alexia Fast are impressive in their roles.  It’s always nice to see Robert Duvall show up.

The Bad:

  • Lee Child fans who refused to see Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher.
  • The scene where two thugs attempt to beat up Reacher in a bathroom.  The first part of the scene almost plays like The Three Stooges, but then takes a turn and the second half of the fight scene works much better.
  • It would have been nice had Werner Herzog been given more to do.
  • Telling someone you didn’t see them so they won’t have to kill you and getting the response, “It doesn’t matter.”

The Ugly:

  • Being given the choice to break or chew off a finger or take a bullet to the head.

Rating:

White Suits by Frank Barbiere & Toby Cypress

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That’s a preview page for White Suits a new mini-series coming from Frank Barbiere [writer] and Toby Cypress [artist].  Barbiere summarizes the series saying…

The White Suits is an action/crime story about a mysterious group of killers known as, you guessed it, The White Suits. The group has history dating back to the Cold War… they have resurfaced in NYC and are systematically eliminating the city’s gangs. The crime lords of the city have banded together to deal with the problem, while a rogue FBI agent who has a history with the Suits is plotting her own battle. She’s been on the tail of a man she suspects was once a member and finally corners him, only to discover he has amnesia — so the two of them are on a quest for truth (and revenge) against the Suits. The story is fueled by the mystery of exactly who the White Suits are — which will come to light by the end of the mini-series.

You can learn more about White Suits here.  If it sounds like something you’d like, you can pre-order through your local comic shop.  I did.

Source: CBR.com.

“The Black Cat” Starring Karloff & Lugosi / Z-View

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The Pitch: ”Hey, let’s take two of Universal’s biggest stars, Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, and stick them in a horror movie that will end up being the #1 money-maker for Universal the year it is released.  We can even name it “The Black Cat” after the Edgar Allan Poe story — even though the movie will have no real ties to it.  What do you say?”

“Let’s do it!”

The Tagline:  “Things you never said before or even dreamed of!”

The Overview:  A young, newly married couple find themselves seeking refuge in a creepy mansion after the bus that they were traveling on crashes during a dark, stormy night.  Along with the couple is Bela Lugosi playing a psychologist who was just released from a prisoner of war camp after 15 years.  Lugosi led the couple to the mansion. He was going there to confront Karloff who Lugosi knows was a traitor who caused the death of thousands including Lugosi’s wife.

Karloff welcomes them in.  On the surface he seems a genial host, but is actually a Satanist who plans to murder the young bride in a ritual.  The movie has all the hallmarks of a 1930’s horror movie: big name stars, a mad scientist, an old dark house full of secret passages/rooms, the dead coming back to life, a strange manservant, revenge and more.

*** Beware – minor spoilers are found below ***

The Good

  • Karloff and Lugosi in the first [and perhaps best] of their many on-screen team-ups.
  • The overriding atmosphere of things being slightly off-kilter created through creative set design, costume choices and the physical appearance of Karloff and others.
  • Playing chess for the lives of the newly weds.
  • The banter between Karloff and Lugosi where what is said it subtext for the true meaning.
  • Lugosi’s manservant is creepy, but loyal to the end.

The Bad:

  • What Karloff has in his secret rooms below the house.
  • Lugosi is the hero, but has there ever been a creepier one?  [Like when he is caught touching the hair of the sleeping bride.]
  • Being trapped in the house of a mad, Satanic murderer.

The Ugly:

  • Lugosi’s fear of cats.
  • What happens to people who are Satanic, traitors who steal the wives of their friends.  [I’d hate to have to live in his skin.]
  • What happens when it appears you are harming a man’s bride despite the fact that you’re saving her from a fate equal to, if not worse than death.

Rating:

Z-View: Dead Body Road #1

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Dead Body Road is a six issue mini-series published by Image.

Writer: Justin Jordan

Penciler / Inker: Matteo Scalera

Colorist: Moreno Dinisio

The men involved in his wife’s death must die.   All of them.

Dead Body Road #1 sets the bar high.  Great writing, great art and a crime/revenge story that hits all the right marks without being cliché.

Gage is an ex-cop.  His wife Anna (also a cop) was killed in what looks like a robbery gone bad.  Everybody in the building was murdered and the bad guys got away… just not together.  When the robbery turned into the OK Corral, one of the thieves (the one with the item being stolen) high-tailed it.

Now he has Gage, and the other crooks hot on his trail.  It won’t be good for him no matter who catches him first.  And how bad would it be if the crooks and Gage get to him at the same time?

Justin Jordan has created a crime story that starts with a bang and doesn’t let up.  There’s a lot going on and each scene propels us deeper into something that is much more than your typical ex-cop seeks revenge against those who killed his family tale.  This could have been a simple story of revenge, but Jordan has layered in much more.

Matteo Scalera creates visuals that have the maximum impact for each scene.  Car chases are usually boring — especially in comics.  Scalera pulls off a four page sequence that not only advances the story, but makes you feel the speed and danger of the chase.  His characters have character.

Dead Body Road #1  is a comic for mature audiences due to violence and language.  If you’re a fan of crime/revenge stories then this is for you.  Dead Body Road #1 gets my highest recommendation.

Rating:

Hi-Yo Silver! – The History of The Lone Ranger

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If you’re like most folks, when you hear the finale to the William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini you think of The Lone Ranger.  Did you know that they selected the William Tell Overture as the Lone Ranger’s theme song because Rossini was long dead and there would be no royalties to pay?

You’ll learn that and a lot more about The Lone Ranger and Tonto if you check out Hi-Yo Silver, Away! 

Source: Uncle John’s Fully Loaded Bathroom Reader and Neatorama.

The Saviors #1 / Z-View

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The Saviors is an on-going series created by James Robinson & J. Bone published by Image.

Writer: James Robinson

Artist: J. Bone

When Tomas Ramirez stumbles upon an extraterrestrial conspiracy to take over the world, his life is changed forever.  He must now seek out those few souls who share this terrible knowledge.  But even united, how can they hope to defeat a shadowy alien cabal that is both indestructible and eager to kill anyone who threatens it?

Tomas Ramirez is a slacker content living in a small town where he works at the local gas station. When Tomas isn’t working [and sometimes when he is] he spends his free time getting high, hanging with a few friends and enjoying life.

All is good.

All is good that is until Tomas accidentally discovers that there are lizard-looking, shape-shifting aliens living among them!

Who will believe a pot smoking loser like Tomas?  More importantly, how will a slacker like Tomas find a way to stay alive long enough to get the word out, now that the aliens know that he knows?

James Robinson lulls us into the story at a small town pace — we meet Tomas and learn about the town and the people living there through Tomas’ eyes.  While most of his friends wanted to break out of the small town and get into the big world outside the town’s borders, Tomas wants nothing more than a few friends, a cold beer, cable tv and a his weed.  It’s a leisurely life and the pace of the story reflects that.

Everything changes once Tomas sees the aliens and they see him.  The action moves at a breakneck pace and death can come in an instant.  Is there anyone that Tomas can trust?  And who is the mysterious stranger that happens to show up at just the right/wrong time?

J. Bone’s art is amazing.  He was the perfect choice for this series.  I love Bone’s use of double page spreads not as pinups, but to expand the horizon to tell the story.

The Saviors  is a comic for mature audiences due to drug references and language.  If you’re a fan of 50’s alien invasion movies [“I Married a Monster from Outer Space,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” etc.], ,or well written, well drawn comics, then The Saviors is for you.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Big News for Frank Miller’s Sin City

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We have some news, some big news, for fans of Frank Miller’s Sin City.

On July 8, 2014, Dark Horse will release Frank Miller’s Big Damn Sin City.  This baby will come as a hardcover edition and clock in with over 1300 pages — and contain every one of Miller’s seven Sin City yarns!

On July 8, 2014, fans will also be able to pick up Frank Miller: The Art of Sin City  which will appear for the first time in a trade paperback edition.  I have a copy of the hardback edition, and give Frank Miller: The Art of Sin City  my highest recommendation.

To round out the trifecta, on July 8, 2014, Dark Horse will re-release in hardcover, Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

These books will be a great lead-in for the movie adaptation of A Dame to Kill For which will be released on August 22, 2014.