Superman: Red Son (Comic Book Review)

Red Son

Here I am awake on a Saturday morning and with no inspiration to write about anything meaningful I’ve decided to write a review on one of my favourite Superman books; Superman: Red Son!

Originally published in 2003, Superman: Red Son is part of DC’s Elseworlds series of books that takes a different spin on their characters by re-imagining them in alternate universes. The most interesting thing about Red Son is the fact that Mark Millar re-imagines Supes as a Soviet hero and a Communist and yet he still manages to retain the heart of what makes Superman super. It’s pure genius!

Red Son seems to be simple on the outside but once you get into its pages there’s loads to explore. Mark Millar brilliantly writes in deeper themes such as capitalism vs. communism and also the decay of the U.S. into the story; all the while using Superman as a vehicle to explore these issues.The best part about it all that even in such an alien setting, Superman still stands out as the hero that he is.

If you’re a huge DC fan it’s a real thrill to catch Red Son incarnations of fan favourites such as Batman, Wonder Woman & Hal Jordan as Green Lantern (or more accurately a member of the Green Lantern Marine Corps, heh). Red Son is made even more super with its attention to details such as this.

Batman, Wonder Woman & Green Lantern

Dave Johnson & Killian Plunkett’s art is pretty amazing too. Somehow the art evokes a 1950’s to 1970’s kind of feel yet it retains a modern take on things too. The Red Son version of Batman is totally awesome especially with his militarisque outfit and ushanka cap that’s part of his costume. Hal Jordan’s character design is pretty awesome too.

I give Superman: Red Son nothing less than a glowing RED 5 out of 5. No comic book fan should miss out on this brilliant book. I just loaned it out to one of my colleagues whom I’m indoctrinating into the world of comic books so let’s see what he has to say once he’s done with it.

The Great But Short June 2011 Singapore Adventure

In 3-and-a-half hours time I leave Singapore. This weekend has been a hit & run and I’m thankful I’ve made the most of it. I managed to pick up a few things too in The Great Singapore Sale which is on right now from 27 May till 24 July plus some other items that aren’t as easy to find back in good ol’ Kay-El.

1. 2 Polo T’s from Cotton On for just SGD30
2. 2 Converse T’s for SGD29.90 (one for me and one for my buddy)
3. Geometry Wars Galaxies for just SGD10
4. Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble for just SGD15
5. Very hard to find imports of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Kick-Ass on Blu-Ray

And let’s not forget being able to see baby Shane as he was the main reason why this trip happened. Congratulations Gabriel & Grace, may you both have the wisdom & strength to raise him to be a man after God’s own heart just like David. We need more people like that in the world today. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of the small yet big thanksgiving thing that you guys threw.

Baby Shane, Mommy & Daddy

To top it all off I also got to take a peek of NUS and wow… NUS has got a really beautiful campus.The thanksgiving was held at Kent Ridge Guild House and the food was excellent. I must really tip my hat off to Singaporeans cos’ of the great effort they put to excellence. Mind you that the food was prepared by the folks on campus. Very cool.

On the way to Funan DigitaLife Mall I spotted something very interesting. Here are a few pix I snapped of some very cool evangelistic displays at St. Andrews in the heart of the city. Here’s hoping that these displays will speak of Jesus to people who pass by the church. It’s true that we will never know how the small & simple things can sometimes make a huge difference in a life; especially in the life of a stranger & passerby.

Connect, Connect, Connect

We Can Make a Difference

The Way

Kay-El, I shall see you soon.

Till next time.

The US of A

The Land of the Free & the Home of the Brave

I’ve decided! After putting this off for years I am gonna be planning a trip to the States towards the end of the year. The tentative plan right now is this:

Fly with a stopover in London so I can see my cousin Wen Wei there for a bit (not sure if this is feasible but we’ll see)

• Hit San Francisco and L.A. for a bit
• Break off to Boston & NYC on the Eastern Seaboard
• Maybe Disney World in Florida

I’m gonna need at least 2 to 3 weeks to cover all the above. Can I wing the time from work to be away for so long?

If any of you have any advice  on accommodation, travel & food in the US it’d be great to hear from you. I really don’t know how much to set aside and a friend of mine said I should set aside at least RM15k at minimum.

So from now till then it’s planning time and I’ve got a ton of research to do in order to make this happen.

Till next time, have an awesome week guys.

Conversations with a Comic Book Store Owner

“Are comic books a dying medium?”

Brightest Day

That was just one of the things that we talked about on Tuesday night when I stopped by The Mind Shop in Centrepoint to pick up my copies of Geoff Johns’ latest opus “Brightest Day”. It was great being able to talk to Alex (the proprietor of The Mind Shop) and to just talk comic books and talk about the different creators that we enjoyed in the entire time we’ve been into comics.

The coolest thing about the conversation was discovering that Alex has actually been to a number of comic book conventions in the U.S. which made me go “wow”. The awesomest thing was finding out that on one of his trips, Alex actually got the opportunity to have lunch with Joe Quesada back before he became such a big creative force over at Marvel. My jaw sorta dropped when he told me that and that made me feel all the more that it’d be great to experience a comic-con one of these days. It’s kinda sad that we don’t have anything of that sort in a big way here in Malaysia. *sighs*

Oh well, I’ll have to plan for that day one day cos’ I’m already 32. Ha ha ha ha ha! I doubt it’d be easy to do something like that once I’m attached or married so I better save up and do it quick before it’s too late. Anyways, we spent quiet a fair bit of time talking a lot about Valiant Comics because of the recent announcement that Jim Shooter is coming back with a new Solar, Man of the Atom book courtesy of Dark Horse Comics. Valiant was such a hot property back in the late 80’s and early 90’s with great titles such as Magnus Robot Fighter, X-O Manowar, Turok Dinosaur Hunter and lots more. It’d be cool to see these characters come back and I must say that I’m really tempted now to swing by Kinokuniya over at KLCC to pick-up the X-O Manowar trade that I found there last week.

The Valiant Universe

It was a nice conversation and even though I just picked up Brightest Day #0 & #1 that day; I spent about an hour just chatting there. It’s always nice to meet like-minded people and it’s a relief to realise that there are still a lot of us out there who still believe in comic books as an art-form and who refuse to download comic books online. Nothing beats the feeling of thumbing through the pages of a comic book and admiring the care & love that goes into each panel and each speech bubble. I’ll always love comic books and maybe I’ll be able to get to be involved creating one, but where do I start? I’ve always had wild ideas of writing a script or plot line and sending it over to Marvel or something. We’ll see.

Creative Evolution

The Evolution of a Creative

I stumbled upon this whilst researching some ideas for a series of creatives I’m working on. Felt like I just had to post it even though it’s working hours. It’s so difficult to keep to a one post a day regime. Random I know.

Celebrating Iron Man Month with More Wallpaper

Here are more wallpapers courtesy of Marvel.com that have been re-sized perfectly for phones that have a 480 by 640 screen.

Cheers!

Iron Man Month at Marvel.com

Iron Man 2 TONITE! Yeah!

Iron Man Month at Marvel.com

Yay yay! Iron Man 2 is on tonite! We’ve got our tickets. We’re all revved up for it and it’s systems GO for a repulsor-driven rocket ride to adventure at the cinemas tonight! Jon Favreau, you’re our only hope!

To celebrate the opening of Iron Man 2 in Malaysia, here are two more wallpapers made just for phones with a 480 by 640 resolution that’d fit most smartphones. I made them a couple of days ago courtesy of images I found off Marvel.com that feature the artwork of Iron Man fan fav Adi Granov.

Fully painted artwork always leaves me with a sense of awe. I don’t know if Granov works with traditional mediums or if he’s into digital-painting but I’m sure you’d agree with me that his work is pretty phenomenal. No one comes close to him when it comes to illustrating ol’ Shellhead.

Enjoy!

Iron Man Science Pt. 2

Iron Man Science Continues

Iron Man Month continues with a brand new article on the science behind Tony Stark’s armour. This time Ryan Haupt  takes a look at the user interface (UI) in Iron Man’s suit and some possible tech that could be used to control it.

Have a read of the article here.

On another note, I already have my tickets for Iron Man 2 and am so looking forward to catching it tomorrow. Expectations are running high for this one and I’m kicking my fingers crossed that Jon Favreau does a great job with the sequel or does a one-up on the 1st Iron Man flick.

Iron Man 2 is Coming!!!

Iron Man Month at Marvel.com

Iron Man! Iron Man! Iron Man!

Iron Man 2 opens this week and tickets are already available starting this Thursday! Yay! Now I just need to round-up more people so we make an evening out of it. Mua ha ha ha ha. In the meantime enjoy some exclusive clips off Marvel.com by following these links:

• Iron Man 2 Movie Clip: The Mark V Suit
• Iron Man 2 Movie Clip: Prison Cell
• Iron Man 2 Movie Clip: Tony’s New Assistant
• Iron Man 2 Movie Clip: Grabbing A Quote

If you’ve got the time check out this link for a pretty complete run down on Iron Man and who he is in the Marvel Universe.

Celebrating Iron Man Month

Good news!

Iron Man Month at Marvel.com

I was driving down the LDP just past 1U and noticed much to my surprise that Iron Man 2 actually opens early in Malaysia. If the billboard is correct, Iron Man 2 hits us April 30th! Awesome!!!

I suspect this would be the biggest movie for me this year especially since I’m such a big fan of the first movie. To date I think I’ve watched my Iron Man Blu-ray 10 times at least in the past 2 years. In fact, Iron Man was the very first movie I picked up on Blu-ray so I have a very special place in my heart for the franchise.

To celebrate the coming of Iron Man 2, here are three avatars from the Iron Man universe (for Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, GoogleTalk, etc) and three 480 by 640 wallpapers that would fit a phone that supports that resolution (I’m using em’ now on my HTC Touch Pro).

Wallpaper – Iron Patriot

Wallpaper – Iron Man

Wallpaper – Tony Stark

Avatar – Iron Patriot

Avatar – Tony Stark

Avatar – Iron Man

Have fun!