Item! So I saw X-men: first Class last night. It was pretty boring. The set-up was the most interesting part, sort of like Munich-meets-Misfits-of-Science-meets-Mod-Squad, but it went on too long and for a summer action movie there really wasn’t enough interesting action to keep up a sense of momentum and jeopardy. And speaking of jeopardy, the plot hinges on whether or not the X-men will stop the Cuban Missile Crisis (spoiler: World War 3 didn’t happen in 1962). Tons of plot holes/continuity problems (ie, why didn’t Magneto kill Kevin Bacon after he murders Magneto’s mom? He kills everyone else in the room and destroys the room itself while leaving the man with the smoking gun alone. And at film’s end, how does Mystique know exactly what Kevin Bacon is wearing so she can distract Red Nightcrawler? Has Xavier’s telepathy worn off on her?) Pretty sloppy, but at least it was bright and not in 3-D.
Item! Tom Spurgeon interviews David Boswell at the Comics Reporter. This is the TCAF talk they did. Lots of good tidbits from the gentlemanly Boswell, including news of the upcoming second volume of the complete Reid Fleming (new Reid story alert!).
Item! Jillian Tamaki illos Irish Myths and Legends.
Item! Conflict of interest: my wife is one of the sponsors of the Royal City Roller Girls teams in Guelph that Seth did the logos for.
Item! Michael DeForge is the diarist this week at The Comics Journal. Boy, they’re really on a Canadian spree with these diaries! Lots of great process details, sketches, and workaday secrets.
Item! The Shusters have announced that Ajay Fry and Teddy Wilson, the Hypa-Space hosts from the Space channel, will be the hosts of the Shuster Awards in Calagary at the end of the month.
Item! I have sympathy with this comic shop owner because he has the same last name as me.(via Robot 6)
Item! The most interesting thing I’ve seen from the folks at Comic Book Daily is Walter Durajlija’s look back at the end of Charlton, a subject close to my heart. (Or maybe this non-news, about Steve Rude not returning to DC, is actually the most interesting post of the week? I mean, Big Brad and her Female Furies by Rude? How could that not be great!)