Get the inside scoop on Lost Season 3… and Comics-Laden Goodness!
Songs that Should Never be Covered, Ever
"Midnight Rider" by the Allman Brothers Band. This is the textbook definition of a bunch of guys recording a song, then looking at each other and going "we fucking NAILED it." This is a perfect song. Utterly, completely perfect. The only way it can be done, is if it is done worse.
The Idiot Box Proper
This week I'm pillaging a great website called Spoilerfix.com. You should really check out this site. It's chock full of great tidbits.
Courtesy of Spoilerfix, here are the tidbits concerning Season 3 of LOST. Curious as to what direction the show will take next? Read on…
"The Others are an important part of season three, and there's a lot of mysteries and a lot of questions about the Others that the audience is going to be curious about going into season three," said executive producer Carlton Cuse in an interview. "And those are the things we're going to explore." Cuse added: "There will definitely be some new characters on the show next year... Obviously, Michael Emerson, who plays Henry Gale, he's someone who's going to be very prominent in the show next year." Fans were also introduced to a new character who promises to figure in next season's storylines: Penelope Widmore, played by Sonya Walger. [...] "I'm excited about love in season three," said executive producer Bryan Burk, adding: "Don't forget now the people have been on the island for 60-plus days. They're now obviously more familiar with each other. ... The concept of love is there, and... it weaves its way through all of our characters. It's going to be much more prevalent in season three."
More…
Next season will be about the Others, as led by the oblique Henry Gale (played by Michael Emerson, who will join the regular cast). Mr. Cuse listed what viewers will learn about the Others by this time next year: "Who are these people? How many of them are there? What is their history? What are they trying to accomplish?"
Still more detail!
Summary of spoilers given by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse: Next season, we will understand the real ramifications of Desmond activating the failsafe and what that did. The central issue of season three will be what did happen. It sounds like Desmond's coming back. They said they want him back, we want to know why he was in prison, we want to know what happened when he turned that key that affected the entire island. That will become very important. The island was visible but only for an instant. It was also visible for an instant on 9/22/04 when the plane crashed. The foot statue represents the history and archeology of the island. Season three will explore what happened on the island before Dharma arrived in the late 70's and who was there. The smoke monster will definitely be back in Season three. There is a good chance we saw the monster this year and didn't realize we were looking at it. By the end of next year we will realize what it was and when we saw it. Why did the Others take Jack, Kate and Sawyer? Where is their home? That will be the story told over the first six episodes. Season 3 will also be about the main characters and their relationships. They want to service the relationships next year more than the mythology. How Locke got in the wheelchair, how Jack got his tattoos will be revealed in Season three
Of course, this is the summer aka the off season for TV, and spoilers are light. But trust me, this is a damn good site. And from the sounds of it, LOST should be off the hook next year.
The Pull List
Top 20 Mini Series (by request!)
These are my personal favorite mini-series (also known as limited series, also known as comics with a set number of issues to tell a complete self-contained story)
1.Sin City – the original, and still the best. Frank Miller at his finest.
2.Dark Knight Returns – More Frank Miller, in top form.
3.Watchmen – Alan Moore's seminal classic on the nature of being super.
4.Punisher Born – Garth Ennis rebuilds Frank Castle from the ground up, telling this tale of how Frank was a born killer long before his family died.
5.Pride and Joy – More Garth Ennis, in a tale of a retired hitman and the past that comes back to haunt his family.
6.Saint of Killers – Still more Ennis, in this Preacher offshoot about the classic villain.
7.Desolation Jones (in progress, but off the hook to monumental degrees so far.)
8.We3 – Grant Morrison won a bunch of artsy fartsy awards for this book, and for damn good reason. This is a rare comic story that will stir emotions within you, still while kicking some serious fucking ass. One of the books good even for people that don't like comics
9.The Long Halloween Somber, quiet, with art by Tim Sale that is haunted-beautiful (new word, trademark pending)
10.From Hell Alan More again, with a plot-heavy tome on the real story of Jack the Ripper. Riveting stuff, so good you just go ahead and believe that it's true.
11.Secret Wars When I was a kid, this was the dream book of all dream books. All the greatest heroes together in one place. It was amazing stuff. Reading it now is not so amazing, but it still gets eternal props from this old-school fan.
12.JLA Earth 2 Grant Morrison spins a yarn of a heroic Lex Luthor battling an evil Justice League. It's got grade A ass-kicking action, and a solid Morrison-style crazy storyline that never slows down.
13 and 14.League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 Both of the League minis are excellent, but I think the Vol. 2 is even better than the original. It is the great Alan Moore yet again, with a tale of classical fictional heroes (The Invisible Man, Captain Nemo, Mr. Hyde) teaming up to battle supernatural villains. Absolutely amazing, in every regard.
15.Blood and Shadows In the old west, a horrible entity called the God of the Razor travels from person to person, inspiring atrocities and soaking the sand with blood where ever he goes. This is vintage Vertigo, from author Joe Lansdale, who would go on to write…
16 and 17. The Jonah Hex DC Vertigo minis by Joe R.Lansdale
"Two Gun Mojo,"
and "Riders of the Worm and Such."
Along the lines of the previous entry, this took the classic western comics character Jonah Hex and placed him squarely in that bizarre, horrific part of the Old West called Lansdale-Country. Hex battles zombies and subterranean lizard-tentacle men. Good stuff.
18.Identity Crisis While it was no doubt overhyped by the DC publicity machine, this story by Brad Meltzer and Rag Morales was still one of the high points of the comic world that year. An excellent superhero story that will appeal to all comic readers, and many non-comic fans.
19.Villains United The best of the recent batch, this one was fun and exciting, with a great cast of characters. Worth a look.
20. the Hood Marvel goes dark, as this mini tells of a low-rent hood who gets some super powered artifacts and becomes a low rent super villain. A great story, early work by Brian K. Vaughn.
This list is not in any order, other than the order in which I thought of them. Give me another week, and I can probably hook up another ten.
Also, I'd like to qualify this list by saying that I'm only a mortal man, not in tune with the Speed Force, so I haven't read every comic out there. If there are any great ones I omitted, let me know. Maybe I haven't read them, and I need to be schooled.
Upcoming Topic and possibly weekly feature – The Definitive Runs. My personal picks for the writers and artists that made their tenure on a comic book the benchmark standard for that book. You won't agree with all of my picks… especially the first one.
Merle Vaughn is an ex-soldier, an ex-bodyguard for a Vietnamese druglord, an ex-con, and an ex employee for a local dope trucking operation. After his new wife is murdered, this lifelong killer and thug is now the single father of a four month old baby girl. Merle wants to protect his daughter, and he'll kill the entire city to do it.
I'm using the blog to post updates and chapters on a crime novel. It's tough, violent, brutal in spots, even – but there is more going on than crime. Check it out
And after that, head over to theGainesville Sun
where you'll find a bi-weekly Podcast, featuring yours truly expounding upon B movies, music, and dumb shit with a couple of actual journalists. It's called Scene and Heard. This week we've got my buddy Jeff from Philly on the cast with us, and throwing down in an iPod battle.
