I can't say I wholeheartedly recommend Ultimatum.

And the award for most homoerotic panel in Ultimatum #1 goes to...

Man, what a terrible comic. Seriously. I know Jeph Loeb sucks at writing comics, but man...it's like, I have read menus with more compelling stories. And they had better-constructed characters.

I did enjoy Dr. Doom's musical number, though:

I loved this promise at the end:

Oh, Jeph. It couldn't possibly.

Iron Man is a Terrible Friend

Here's an adorable and hilarious cartoon that was emailed to me. It was done by Silver Snail (Toronto) employee Anya Lipchak. It really made me laugh. I love it!

More Iron Man PIctures!

Because you can't have too many...

Here's FCBD volunteer helper Hillary with Iron Man:

And, since Halifax has been hosting the IIHF World Men's Hockey Championship for the past week or so, here's Iron Man with some German hockey fans:


And some Slovakian hockey fans:

All the world loves Iron Man!

Free Comic Book Day With Iron Man!

I've been meaning to post these for days. Here are some pictures from the Strange Adventures Free Comic Book Day 2008 Celebration. It was once again held in the St. David's Church Hall up the street from the shop. There were 20,000 free comic books available to the public. Also...Iron Man was there!

I really can't get enough photos of Iron Man walking around doing stuff.


Here's Iron Man with Darwyn Cooke, who was once again kind enough to spend the day doing free sketches for people:

And here's Iron Man with me:

The man in the iron suit is the guy I'm marrying. He can't take credit for making this awesome costume, though. It's the handiwork of the talented Jay Silver.

Here are some more photos, these ones taken by Spencer Cantley:

Aw, it looks like Iron Man's snaps came undone in that last one.

Needless to say, Iron Man was a huge hit with the kids (and the grown-ups). I'm glad it was a nice day for once.

IRON MAN DAY!

The day that Iron Man opens is finally upon us. I'm sure most of you, like myself, saw the movie last night at an advance screening. It's AWESOME.

The Invincible Iron Man #172 is also awesome. Check it out:

With a cover that romantic, you know it's going to be good!

It opens with a drunk Tony Stark in a museum, wearing a suit of armour and being crazy:

Oh man I love it!

The cops take him down:

Tony Stark is drunk and sweating mayonnaise. He gets taken into a holding cell, but is quickly released on bail. This is pretty sad:

Oh, Tony.

Fortunately, James Rhodes is doing a great job being Iron Man while Tony is busy drinking it up.
I really appreciate the contrast between those two pages.

Ok, so now Captain America enters the story, and someone is very romantically describing him in the narration:

"The way his muscles flex and lock to give him a purposeful lope." I don't know who's doing the talking there in those narration boxes. I like to think Tony. Or maybe it's just Denny O'Neil who has the crush on Cap.

Anyway, Captain America finds Tony in a seedy motel room:

Oh come on, Cap. Just join him in a drink. It would be a such an entertaining comic. Obviously this is a very cool party that you've just walked in on.

Now it's Cap's turn to get romantic about Tony:


Tony doesn't have any answers, which makes Cap more angry. Get ready for a very special episode of Iron Man:

Oh come on, Cap. Your dad was an alcoholic? It was the thirties! Everyone was an alcoholic.

During all of this, Firebrand has decided to make a comeback. He wants to burn down the very motel that Tony is staying in. Since Tony isn't going to save himself, Cap has to do everything:

Rhodes is also there to help out (and say funny things):

When the flames are out and the people are saved, Cap and Rhodes go to get their pal Tony. Only Tony, even totally hammered Tony, has managed to outfox them:

Lookin' good, Tony!

Oh, and the OTHER thing going down in this comic is that, because Tony hasn't been around, Stark Industries has fallen apart and has now been sold to...

LEX LUTHOR!

No, wait. Obadiah Stane I mean. Yeah.

This comic is great. And so is the movie. It was worth the wait!

Rating the Super Hunks #18: Iron Man

This is for everyone (including me) who wanted to bump Booster Gold out of the bottom spot on the list of rated super hunks. I give you the man you love to hate, the decidedly unsexy

IRON MAN, aka TONY STARK

Costume/Appearance: Tony Stark looks like the douchebag that he is, with his dochebag goatee.

His armor, however, is sweet. Very sweet. Costume on, he is one of my favourite looking super heroes. But he also looks like a robot.

Are robots sexy? No. Well, kinda...but in the way that a Lotus Elise is sexy.

Yeah. I'd hit that.

Anyway, the armor is real nice. And Tony designed and built it himself. So that's something. Plus...it hides his face.


Maybe I am being a little hard on him in the looks department. I mean, I guess he's got a dashing classic Hollywood kinda look about him. And he clearly works out.

For my money, though, he looked better in the old days with his pencil moustache. And when he was sexily pulling up his stockings.


5/10

Personality: Well, let's see...he's a giant douche. And a recovering alcoholic. But he's also a super genius. And I guess he is sorta fun sometimes.

The thing is, Tony Stark has always been undeniably cool. That's basically his signature trait. It used to be all white tuxedos, martinis and cigarettes.

Nothing like enjoying a smoke after a long day of battling evil. And look at those slender, feminine fingers!

Anyway, he isn't cool anymore.

4/10

Day Job: Billionaire inventor and owner and CEO of Stark Industries. Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Full-time douche-bag.

6/10

Sexiness of Super Powers: Well, he has a sweet-looking suit that he built himself which makes him practically invincible. It also lets him fly really fast, and he can shoot lasers out of his hands.

As always, I award points to heroes who don't have any natural super powers, but I don't know how sexy a guy is who gains powers when he puts on a big heavy robot suit. I mean, anyone could be Iron Man. I could be Iron Man. But I guess I couldn't invent and build an Iron Man suit, so I gotta give props.

6/10

Cons: It would be faster to re-name this section "Pros," because listing all the cons could take awhile. Briefly stated, though: an alcoholic whose hobbies include forcing other super heroes to register with the government, and shooting former teammates into outer space.

- 10

Final Score: 11/40

That's what you get, Tony. Truth be told, I actually like Iron Man a lot. But I like him because he's such a tool. You just gotta love that guy.

Captain America #33 in 30 Seconds

EDIT!! I just realized I forgot a whole panel! I've now added it.

This is for the Invincible Super Blog contest over at Chris Sims' place.

I think this should prove, beyond any doubt, that I am the worst drawer in the world.

I thought that since I didn't get to review last week's comics, I would draw up a little summary of Captain America #33, which was awesome.

Alright, here we go...



Meanwhile, in S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters...






Tony suits up and goes looking for Winter Soldier:





Differences are set aside...



THE END.

And this is why I gave up my dream of being a comic book artist long ago.